Taxes can be lowered by keeping bees

    Texas law allows bees and bee hives to qualify for reducing property taxes on small plots of land.  Dennis Herbert drafted the original legislation for the current bee law that allows small-acreage landowners to receive their agricultural valuation if they wish by raising bees on their property.  Herbert will be at the 16th Annual Beginning Beekeeping School to be held on March 7 in Brenham, Texas.

     Herbert will host several sessions that will discuss this law and how you can use beekeeping to qualify for property tax savings.  He will share the history of this law and answer questions from landowners.  He shepherded this bill through the legislature in 2011, and it became law on January 1, 2012.  He has been a beekeeper in Bell County for 28 years.

     Beekeeping Valuation can be applied to plots of land ranging from 5 to 20 acres, similar to livestock or raising hay.   Property taxes on small acreages can now be lowered by keeping bees on the property.  The bees do not have to be owned by the landowner.

     Other aspects of beekeeping that will also be available at the one-day school include how to start keeping bees, how to harvest honey, and how to raise queens.  Weather permitting, there will also be a session that allows you to put on a bee suit and gather around a hive of live bees while it is examined by a beekeeper.  Ninety-Eight percent of classes are in a classroom situation and do not require a bee suit.  Bee suits will be provided for the live bee session.

    The morning sessions will include lessons for beginning, intermediate, and advanced beekeepers.  The afternoon sessions will have 69 time slots and 59 different topics from which to choose.

     For more information and to register, go to www.tinyurl.com/CTBA-2026-Bee-School  or call 979-353-1811.