Beekeeping in Port Coquitlam

There is a growing interest in keeping bees within the urban environment. Doing so contributes to maintaining bee populations and engaging in stewardship of the environment. Urban beekeeping can improve pollination of plants in yards and parks within the urban environment leading to improved vegetable and flower gardens. The City recently adopted new regulations to permit urban beekeeping in some residential areas. With good management practices, beekeeping is completely safe in residential areas.

Steps to becoming an urban beekeeper

If you are interested in keeping bees in your yard, there are two steps you need to follow:

  1. Review the City’s Animal Control and Zoning Bylaw for Beekeeping regulations.
  2. Register your beehive with the Province of BC.

Review the City’s beekeeping regulations

Before you decide to keep bees, residential areas must comply with the City’s regulations.

  • A maximum of 2 beehives and 2 nucleus colonies may be kept on one property
  • The property must be at least 14 metres wide
  • Beehives and nucleus colonies must be kept in the rear yard, which must be enclosed by a minimum 2 metres high solid fence or landscape screen
  • Beehives and nucleus colonies must be setback a minimum of 2 metres from the rear lot line and cannot be located in a side yard
  • The property must be registered with the Provincial Apiary Registry
  • An adequate water source must be provided on the property for the bees
  • Bee colonies must be maintained in a condition to prevent swarming, and
  • Measures must be taken to keep beehives inaccessible to wildlife

Beekeeping is permitted in the following zones:

Beekeeping is permitted as an agricultural use in the City’s A and RS3 zones. Beekeeping is also permitted as an accessory use in four residential zones: RS1, RS2, RS4, and RD. Properties within these residential zones must have a minimum lot width of 14 metres in order to accommodate bee hives.

Agricultural use

  • A – Agriculture zone
  • RS3 – large lot residential zone

Accessory hobby beekeeping

  • RS1 – residential single dwelling 1
  • RS2 – residential single dwelling 2
  • RS4 – residential single dwelling 4
  • RD – residential duplex

For further information please refer to the Zoning Bylaw and Animal Control Bylaw.

Register your beehive with the Province of BC

Once you set up your beehives, you must register them with the Province of BC:

Support Bees

Bees in the city rely on our gardens and green spaces for food and shelter.

In return, these beneficial insects pollinate our plants, crops, and fruit trees, giving us beautiful flowers, fruits, nuts, and honey.

But pollinators are disappearing due to growing cities, pesticide use, and the spread of diseases.

Four ways you can support pollinators in your garden

  1. Include pollinator-friendly plants in your garden with long bloom times over spring and summer (see the plant list below). Choose a mix of plants that produce flowers of different shapes, sizes, and colours to attract many kinds of bees. Even weeds like clover and dandelion are good. Try to add some native plants to encourage native bees.
  2. Keep your garden pesticide-free.
  3. Create nesting sites for bees. Buy or build a mason bee house of nesting tubes. Leave open, unmulched areas in your garden because over 70 per cent of native bees nest in dry soil below ground.

Plants that pollinators love

Resources:

Beekeeping

Urban beekeeping is an excellent way to improve pollination for plants in your backyard, community, and public gardens, which leads to better vegetable production. Learn the rules for keeping bees in your yard.

Contact

Planning Division
Tel 604.927.5442
Email planning@portcoquitlam.ca

Location and Mailing Address

City Hall Annex, (beside City Hall)
200 – 2564 Shaughnessy Street
Port Coquitlam, BC
V3C 2A8

8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding statutory holidays)