To amend section 909.02 and to enact section 909.021 of the Revised Code to restrict the location of commercial apiaries under specified conditions.
Summary
HB 911 would amend Ohio’s apiary registration law and add new location restrictions for commercial apiaries. Under the bill, anyone owning or possessing bees would still have to register apiaries with the Department of Agriculture, and the director could issue an initial registration only if the proposed apiary meets one of the new spacing or exception requirements. The bill also requires registered apiaries to be identifiable by the owner’s name or assigned identification number, and it continues to treat the moving, raising, and production of bees, beeswax, honey, and honey products as an agricultural pursuit.
The main substantive change is a new rule barring a person from establishing a new apiary within three miles of an existing registered apiary unless one of several exceptions applies. Those exceptions include getting the existing apiary owner’s permission, not operating commercially, keeping fewer than ten hives, locating the apiary on property owned by the applicant, or where the existing apiary is not commercial. The bill also exempts apiaries used solely for personal or recreational purposes and apiaries used to pollinate actively flowering or blooming crops.
Impact
HB 911 would change Ohio Revised Code section 909.02 and create new section 909.021, adding a geographic siting restriction that would affect commercial beekeepers and new apiary applicants. It would give the Department of Agriculture a gatekeeping role in initial registration by requiring compliance with the new distance rule or an exception before issuing registration. The bill would likely reduce the ability to place new commercial apiaries near existing registered apiaries, while preserving flexibility for small, noncommercial, recreational, and crop-pollination operations.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been introduced and referred to the House Agriculture Committee, but there are no recorded votes or committee transcripts in the provided materials. As a result, there is no documented public debate or formal legislative sentiment available from the record here. Based on the bill’s structure, it seems aimed at protecting existing apiary operators from close-by commercial competition or interference, while still allowing several exceptions for noncommercial and agricultural uses.
Contention
The likely points of contention are the three-mile exclusion zone and whether it is too restrictive for new commercial beekeepers. Existing apiary owners may support the bill because it protects established operations, while prospective commercial beekeepers may object that it limits entry and expansion. The exceptions for personal/recreational hives, fewer than ten hives, owned property, and pollination use suggest an attempt to balance those concerns, but the bill could still raise questions about enforceability, property rights, and how the Department of Agriculture would determine commercial intent.
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