NONE, silly.  You shouldn’t keep apes at all.  Leave them alone in the wild where they belong, but I digress.  Apiaries are where you keep HONEYBEES.

This photo shows a typical apiary in a design that has remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years.

In Nevada County, California, a hobbyist beekeeper can manage up to 10 hives without registering with the Agricultural Commissioner.  Professional beekeepers can have no more than 20 hives per acre on lands that are zoned residential or residential.  There is no limit to the number of hives on lands zoned agricultural.  Hives are not allowed on lands zoned commercial or industrial.

Here’s the key regulation:  “No apiary shall be located within 100 feet of adjacent property lines without the consent of the adjacent parcel owners.”

This regulation makes sense if you stop and think about it.

How much honey is produced and sold in Nevada County?  Not much if you read the Agricultural Commissioner’s most recent report.  About $80,000 per year..

I bet most Nevada County honey is sold one jar at a time from farm stands and at one of the six on-going farmers markets.  I would also wager that not all sales are reported to the Commissioner.