Can I keep bees on my property in BC, and do I need to register the hives?

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Anyone keeping honey bees in BC must register as a beekeeper with every apiary, renewed every two years; the local zoning bylaw decides whether the lot may hold hives and how many. The Province regulates the bees themselves: who may keep them, where they're registered, how they're moved, sold and checked for disease. The local government's zoning bylaw decides whether a lot may hold hives at all, how many and how far from its lines; in the farmland reserve and on farm-zoned land, beekeeping is a farm use. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Register first: Keeping an apiary, or owning, moving or holding bees or used hive equipment, is a regulated activity under the Animal Health Act. No one may do it unless they're registered as a beekeeper and keep bees only at an apiary registered to them, or work for a registered beekeeper (Bee Regulation s. 2 (1), (2)). The beekeeper and each apiary are registered together; the Province's chief veterinarian issues a producer number and a number for each apiary, and the registration lapses after two years unless renewed (s. 3). The Province takes registrations through its Premises ID system, and the old Bee Act was repealed on January 19, 2015. Bees on your land, someone else's hives: An owner or occupier may not let anyone keep bees on land they own or control unless the beekeeper is registered and the apiary is one the owner reasonably believes is registered (s. 2 (3)). A beekeeper must post their name, contact details and producer number where it can be seen at each apiary (s. 5). Letting a neighbour or a pollination business set hives on the lot is allowed on those terms: ask to see the producer number (our reading). Moving, buying and selling bees: Bees from outside Canada come in only under a federal import permit, and bees or used equipment from elsewhere in Canada only under the Province's permit, straight to a registered apiary (s. 6). Moving bees or used equipment between the Province's 13 bee districts takes a permit too, free of charge, valid 30 days, unless a quarantine order covers the move (ss. 7, 8, Schedule). Selling or giving away bees or used hive equipment needs a free permit first, issued once the chief veterinarian is satisfied they're free of disease, and the seller keeps a record of who got them for 5 years (s. 9). How bees are kept: Bees are kept only in hives with removable frames or combs, and kept away from equipment, honey and cappings outside the hive; feeding bees by leaving food out, or any way likely to start robbing, is not allowed (s. 10). Disease and the inspector: A person responsible for an animal must promptly report a notifiable or reportable disease, or an unusual illness or death, to the chief veterinarian (Animal Health Act s. 20). An inspector may enter a place where animals are kept to check for disease at any reasonable hour, usually after taking reasonable steps to tell the owner or occupier, though some entries need no notice, and a home needs consent or a warrant (ss. 23, 25). Bees and equipment may not leave an apiary while a report is owed or an order is outstanding, unless the chief veterinarian or an inspector permits it (Bee Regulation s. 11). The Province's apiculturists and apiary inspectors also answer questions and visit sites on request. Breaking the rules: Keeping bees unregistered, letting an unregistered beekeeper use your land, and the other rules above are offences (Bee Regulation s. 13). An operator who doesn't meet a regulation's duties is liable to a fine of up to $75,000, up to 2 years in jail, or both (Animal Health Act ss. 10 (2), 81 (2) (e), 90 (1) (b)). The zone and the council's bylaw: Whether a lot may hold hives is the local government's call, through its zoning or animal bylaws, and the rules differ widely. The Cariboo Regional District allows backyard bees on its single-family residential zones as well as rural ones: two colonies and two nucleus colonies (small starter colonies) on a lot under 0.1 ha, six of each from 0.2 to 0.4 ha and six more for each 0.4 ha beyond, hives 7.6 m from every lot line unless raised 2.5 m or behind a solid fence or hedge over 2 m high, and 4.5 m from a road (its Backyard Honeybees page). Port Coquitlam allows at most two hives and two nucleus colonies on a lot at least 14 m wide in some residential zones, in a rear yard behind a 2 m solid fence and 2 m from the rear line (its Beekeeping page). Read the lot's own zone and ask the council. Farmland and farm status: Keeping animals is a farm use of land in the agricultural land reserve (Agricultural Land Commission Act s. 1), and the Right to Farm Act's protection covers keeping animals in a farm business (Farm Practices Protection (Right to Farm) Act s. 1); bees count as animals there (our reading). Apiculture is one of the agricultural uses that can qualify land as a farm for BC Assessment, if the farm's sales reach the income the regulation sets (Classification of Land as a Farm Regulation, Schedule s. 1 (a)): see farm status. Bears: Honey and brood draw bears. The Wildlife Act forbids leaving food or other attractants where people are, in a way dangerous wildlife could reach (s. 33.1 (2)), and hives can count as one (our reading). An electric fence around the hives is the usual answer (our reading): see bears and wildlife. What it means for a buyer: A lot with hives on it comes with no registration: the apiary is registered to its beekeeper, not the land, so a buyer who keeps the bees registers themselves and the apiary, and needs the Province's permit for the seller to hand the bees over (Bee Regulation ss. 3, 9; our reading).

Can I keep bees on my property in BC, and do I need to register the hives?

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