Lease Bees For Your Agriculture Exemption To Reduce Taxes

In 2011 Texas law changed to include Beekeeping as qualifying for an Agriculture exemption. Texas has 254 counties and leaves the general conditions to the independent counties.

Effective in 2012. Section 23.51 states "Agricultural Use" includes but not limited to ... provided the land is not used for residential use. 

Article 46. AD VALOREM TAXATION OF LAND USED TO RAISE OR KEEP BEES; SECTION 46.01 Subdivision (2), Section 23.51, Tax Code, is amended to read as follows: (2) "Agriculture Use"_ _ _ The term also includes the use of land to raise or keep bees for pollination or for the production of human food or other tangible products having a commercial value, provided that the land used is not less than 5 acres or more than 20 acres. Land must also have an agricultural use for 5 years before an agricultural exemption can apply.

So if you own between 5 - 20 acres you can get an Ag exemption for raising your honey bees just like if you were raising livestock, crops, timber or wildlife. If you have your residence located on the property you would typically need to have a minimum of 6 acres which will allow you to assign 1 acre for the residence and 5-19 acres as an exemption. 

If you would like a Beekeepers Ag exemption but do not want to take care of the bees yourself then a Bee Lease is just right for you! 

Maybe, you have a property that is not often visited or you are inexperienced with handling bees and want to ease into Beekeeping. We offer a Bee Lease that takes all the hassle out of maintaining the bees for you. Bees require extensive care just like any animal. Most folks think that you can just put them in a box and leave them to do their thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. While feral bees do survive in the wild, they are susceptible to disease, starvation, predators, mother nature, parasites, etc.. the list goes on. One of the Ag requirements in most counties is that the bees be on the property for a minimum of 7 months out of the year. We guarantee and handle all maintenance for the bees and you collect the tax savings!