Per the California Food and Agriculture Code, all beekeepers operating within the state of California must register annually with their chosen home county. A beekeeper operating within the County of San Luis Obispo must place bees at a site that meets the requirements set forth in the San Luis Obispo County Ordinance Title 5 Agriculture Chapter 5.04 BEES.

Beekeepers, whose home county is San Luis Obispo County, shall register their hives by either of the following methods by January 1 of each year:

• Submit an Apiary Registration Form, along with the annual registration fee of $10, to the County of San Luis Obispo Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures.
• Register online using the BeeWhere database at beewherecalifornia.com, and submit the annual registration fee of $10 to the County of San Luis Obispo Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures.

Regardless of home county, all beekeepers shall notify the Department when moving registered hives.

When filling out the Registration Form or updating BeeWhere:

• Please provide us/the Department with the most accurate location of all hives, or consider using the new, easy, and secure BeeWhere database at beewherecalifornia.com.
• All hives registered through this department will be updated on BeeWhere by our staff, as BeeWhere is the method of notification for pesticide applications. 

When selecting locations to place hives:

• Each county may have additional, county-specific ordinance requirements for apiaries. In San Luis Obispo County, please review Ordinance Title 5 AGRICULTURE: Chapter 5.04 BEES.
• Adequate water must be provided and accessible to the bees at all times, and be of a quality and in close enough proximity that it is used.
• Apiaries must be well marked with the beekeeper’s name, city, state, and accurate phone number.
• Apiaries must be located no less than 200 feet from any public road, unless pollinating a crop.
• You must receive permission from landowners before placing bees in any location not owned by you.
• Let the grower(s) around your bees know of their existence and location.
• Request additional notification of pesticide applications directly from the grower(s) and/or PCA.

When moving hives to/from/within a county:

• You must inform the County Agriculture Commissioner(s) involved of the new location(s) of the hives, and/or of their entry or departure from the county.

 Fee:

• The annual $10 registration fee is only due to your home county.