[Adopted 10-8-2009 by the Governing Body]
A. 
Honeybees are beneficial to mankind and to New Jersey, in particular, by providing agricultural fruit and vegetable pollination services in tandem with home garden vegetable and fruit production and by furnishing honey, beeswax and other useful products; and
B. 
Domestic strains of honeybees have been selectively bred for desirable traits, including gentleness, honey production, reduced swarming, pollination attributes and other characteristics which are desirable to foster and maintain; and
C. 
Honeybees can be maintained within populated areas in reasonable densities to fill the ecological niche and exclude unwanted and undesirable races of bees, without causing a nuisance if the honeybees are properly located, carefully managed and maintained.
The findings contained in the preamble of this article[1] are hereby adopted as part of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See § 93-26, Preamble; a complete copy of Ord. No. 09-25 is on file in the Borough offices.
As used in this article, the following words and terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context of their usage clearly indicates another meaning:
APIARY
The assembly of one or more colonies of bees at a single location.
BEEKEEPER
A person who owns or has charge of one or more colonies of bees.
BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT
Anything used in the operation of an apiary, such as hive bodies, supers, frames, top and bottom boards and extractors.
COLONY or HIVE
An aggregate of bees consisting principally of workers, but having, when perfect, one queen and at times many drones, including brood, combs, honey and the receptacle inhabited by the bees.
HONEYBEE
All life stages of the common domestic honeybee, Apis mellifera species.
A. 
The purpose of this article is to establish certain requirements of sound beekeeping practices, which are intended to avoid problems that may otherwise be associated with the keeping of bees in populated areas.
B. 
Notwithstanding compliance with the various requirements of this article, it shall be unlawful for any beekeepers to keep any colony or colonies in such a manner or of such disposition as to cause any unhealthy or potentially dangerous condition, interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of human or animal life of others or interfere with the normal use and enjoyment of any public property or property of others.
A. 
All honeybee colonies shall be registered with the Borough of Allendale Health Department. An annual permit fee of $200 will be charged. The license issued to keep bees shall automatically expire on the 31st day of December in the year in which it is issued. The license shall bear the date of issuance, the name of the person so licensed and a description of the property covered by the license. Every license shall be nontransferable and shall cover only the licensed property and the named licensee (beekeeper).
B. 
The licensee (beekeeper) must register with the proper New Jersey State Apiarist.
C. 
The licensee (beekeeper) must attend a training course on bee handling. Proof of registration with the New Jersey State Apiarist and proof of attendance at a training course must be provided to the Registrar of the Board of Health prior to the issuance of a license.
D. 
No earlier than 30 days prior to applying for an initial license, the proposed licensee must notify all property owners within 200 feet of the applicant's property by certified mail, RRR, of the applicant's intent to apply for a beekeeping license. Proof of mailing shall be supplied to the Registrar of the Board of Health on forms to be supplied by the Registrar. A list of property owners within 200 feet of the applicant's property shall be obtained from the Tax Assessor's office. Each property owner within 200 feet shall have 15 days from receipt of said notice to notify the Board of Health Registrar if he/she objects to the proposed license. If any property owner within 200 feet objects to the proposed license, the license shall be denied. If no objection is received within the applicable time period (30 days of mailing of original notice) and provided all other requirements herein are satisfied, a beekeeping license shall be issued.
E. 
The Registrar of the Board of Health shall be responsible for the application and registration procedures herein and collection of fees.
F. 
The Registrar of the Board of Health or her designee is hereby authorized to promulgate forms for the application/registration and notification procedures set forth herein.
A. 
It shall be unlawful to keep more than the following number of colonies on any property within the Borough, based upon the size or configuration of the lot on which the apiary is situated:
(1) 
Up to 1/4 acre: one colony;
(2) 
More than 1/4 acre, but less than 1/2 acre property size: two colonies;
(3) 
One-half acre tract, but less than one acre tract size: four colonies;
(4) 
More than one acre tract size: six colonies.
B. 
Any beehive must be protected by an appropriate fence, at least six feet in height with a gate being locked at all times to prevent the beehive from being accidentally disturbed.
C. 
No hive of any type shall be located less than 25 feet from any public or private property line of the property upon which the apiary is situated, as measured from the nearest point on the hive to the property line.
D. 
Any licensed colony or hive must be inspected at least once on an annual basis or more frequently, if needed, by the appropriate state agency having jurisdiction. Verification of the yearly inspection certificate shall be provided by the licensee to the Allendale Board of Health Registrar. Any cost involved in the inspection shall be the responsibility of the licensee.
E. 
Each licensee shall ensure that a convenient source of water is available to the bees at all times during the year so that the bees will not congregate at swimming pools, pet watering bowls, birdbaths or other water sources where they may cause human, bird or domestic pet contact.
F. 
All honeybee colonies shall be kept in Langstroth-type hives with removable frames, which shall be kept in sound and usable condition.
G. 
Each beekeeper shall ensure that no bee comb or other materials are left upon the property of the apiary site. Upon their removal from the hive, all such materials shall promptly be disposed of in a sealed container or placed within a building or other bee-proof enclosure.
H. 
The Allendale Code Official shall inspect all colonies no less than three times between March 1 and December 1 of any given year. Additionally, the Code Official shall have the right to inspect any apiary between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. in response to a complaint or for detection of honeybee pests and unwanted races of honeybees. Where practicable, prior notice shall be given to the beekeeper.
I. 
Honeybees shall be kept for noncommercial purposes only.
J. 
There shall be a limit of four licenses in the Borough. A licensee may renew any expired license no later than January 15. Thereafter, licenses shall be issued on a first-come, first-served basis up to the limit set forth herein.
K. 
Beekeeping licenses are not transferable.
A. 
Upon receipt of information that any colony situated within the Borough is not being kept in compliance with this article, the Code Official shall cause an investigation to be conducted. If it is found that grounds exist to believe that one or more violations have occurred, then the Code Official shall cause a written notice of hearing to be issued to the beekeepers.
B. 
Notice.
(1) 
The notice of hearing shall set forth:
(a) 
The date, time and place at which the hearing will be conducted;
(b) 
The violation(s) alleged;
(c) 
That the beekeeper may appear in person or through counsel, present evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and provide for a court reporter at his own expense;
(d) 
That the bees may be ordered destroyed or removed from the Borough if the Mayor and Council finds that they have been kept in violation of this article.
(2) 
Notices shall be given by certified United States mail or personal delivery. However, if the Code Official is unable to locate the beekeeper, then the notice may be given by publication one time in the official newspaper of the Borough at least seven days prior to the date of the hearing.
C. 
The hearing shall be conducted by the Mayor and Council. The burden shall be on the Code Official to demonstrate by a preponderance of credible evidence that the colony or colonies have in fact been kept in violation of this article. If the Mayor and Council finds that the colony or colonies have been kept in violation of this article, then it may order that the bees be destroyed or removed from the Borough for a period not to exceed 20 days and that bees not thereafter be kept upon the tract for a period of two years. In instances where the Mayor and Council finds that the violations were not intentional and that the beekeeper has employed corrective actions that will probably be effective to cure the violations alleged, then it may issue a warning in lieu of ordering the bees destroyed or removed. Upon failure of the beekeeper to comply with the order, the Mayor and Council or its designee may cause the bees to be destroyed and the hive structures to be removed. In each instance in which a bee colony is destroyed, all usable components of the hive structure that are not damaged or rendered unhealthy by the destruction of the bees shall upon the beekeeper's request be returned to the beekeeper, provided that the beekeeper agrees to bear all transportation expenses for their return.
D. 
The provisions of this section shall not be construed to require the conduct of a hearing for the destruction of:
(1) 
Any bee colony not residing in a hive structure intended for beekeeping; or
(2) 
Any swarm of bees; or
(3) 
Any colony residing in a standard or man-made hive which, by virtue of its condition, has obviously been abandoned by the beekeeper.
All other ordinances of the Borough, or parts thereof, including, but not limited to, Code § 93-22 relating only to bees and which are in conflict with this article are hereby repealed to the extent of such conflict herein.
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word contained in this article shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever, such decision shall not affect the remaining portions of this article, which shall remain in full force and effect, and to this end the provisions of this article are hereby declared to be severable.