Backyard beekeeping is legal, booming in Florida

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Backyard beehives, which are boosting Florida's bee population and are popping up across Orange County, is perfectly legal under state law.
 
"My neighbor is not happy at all," backyard beekeeper Al Moreno said. "One of the neighbors has been a little stone on my shoe. She has contacted everybody she can, but I have complied with all the rules and regulations."
 
Since 2012, a beekeeper can register with the state and set up one hive on their property if it's less than one-fourth acre. On larger properties, the limit is three hives per quarter acre.
 
"What I have right now, I have three hives. And I just captured a swarm, so now I have four hives," Moreno said.
 
Beekeepers can learn from organizations like the Orange Blossom Beekeepers Association.
 
"We educate. We take an individual who's interested in getting into beekeeping and we show them hands on experience to educate them in the proper way to keep bees so they don't get started and in a month their colony is dead," Moreno said.
 
The result has been an explosion of beekeeping in the state with more than 100 new registrations each month.
 
It's very easy to get involved in beekeeping. The Florida Beekeepers Association can teach you everything in about 90 days.
 
Moreno, who has been beekeeping for about two and a half years, said he's had problems with only one neighbor.

WFTV