The Villages has over 3,000 activity clubs; if there is not a beekeepers club, you can start one. As for open spaces for a club hive, perhaps you could talk to the appropriate The Villages authority about setting it at the Sharon Rose Wichens Preserve. It has a very large open space with many flowering plants around the lake. They allowed nest boxes for Kestrel Hawks.

Stung by your neighbor's pet bee? Give me a break! You're more likely to be stung by lightning.

I've told this story before, but back in Texas, I opened the compost bin one day to discover that it had become a bee hive since the last time I'd thrown anything in. The poor bees freaked out at the destruction of their home. The combs hanging from the lid I'd just removed had fallen on the compost pile, and in the mess I could see the queen stuck in the honey and a mass of workers working madly to free her. I was so fascinated, I forgot to run, even with bees buzzing around my head. NOT A SINGLE BEE ATTEMPTED TO STING ME, and these were wild bees, not some farmer's tame hive. I carefully put the lid back on and left them to their misery. I had no idea that even wild honey bees were so docile.

The next day, I was feeling bad about them, so I decided to buy a proper hive and try to move them. But before I laid out the $250 bucks, I went back to check on them. This time, I carefully cracked the lid and peered inside. They were all gone.

Honeybees are bred to be docile, and unlike the wasps living under your eaves, they actually die if they sting you. They don't want to die any more than you do.

I think it would be great fun if my neighbor kept bees, so I'd get to watch them without all the work of caring for them.

Here in UK, we have a neighbor two plots up, who has a hive. You would never know they were there.
They are far too busy doing their thing, than bothering about us humans.
The plus side is, we have become so much more pollinator friendly with our planting, and found you really do not need gallons of pesticides to control the bad bugs.
Just a little effort and understanding of which bug eats which bug, and what non-toxic substance does the same job, and in many cases a better job, than the chemicals.
I know in Florida there is sometimes no other alternative with some of the pests, but I always thought the 'kill everything,' approach, really prevalent in TV, was a bit like using a sledgehammer to break walnuts.

It's almost that time of year to start new hives! I have always had hives at my previous homes and would plant an acre or two of clover just for the bees. Italian bees are the current norm and very calm. The only time they sting is when someone bothers the hive, endangering the queen. Honeybees sting once and die. A honeybee sting does NOT cause other bees to attack, unlike yellow jackets. One jacket sting brings the rest to the attack location.

Honeybees are actually a very smart colony with different groups of bees involved in only one process of the hive. A little smoke calms them down so you can move in and remove gallons of the golden liquid. Of course I would always share with my accepting neighbors. Afterall, it's their plants providing the pollen.

And for anyone worried about stings....my bees are non posso-eyetowelyens which are without stinger, so it must have been someone else's bee. :loco:

So, your deed restrictions are pretty clear: no additional structures allowed on your property. So - no sheds, or storage benches, or storage boxes - and a beehive is a structure. So, not allowed.

I'm sorry if anyone misunderstood my previous comment. It was NITV. I do have another home. I was only trying to explain why honeybees are better than other bees and I was trying to share some general information while being facetious.

I do apologize if anyone thinks I have an apiary here. It is NITV. When I talk about building a barn or building my own home, it was NITV. I have belted galloways behind the house drinking from the lake and wyandottes in a screened in run, but NITV, not drinking from Sumter Lake and not wyandottes in my lanai, NITV. I like to hunt pronghorns, but NITV. I also like to hunt alligators, but NITV. I enjoy rolling down the road on my mosquito UL, then feeling the lift as the copter takes me up, but NITV. My wife and I enjoy scuba diving in the lakes, but NITV lakes, too many critters down there and you can't see anyway.

All my summer activities are NITV - Not In The Village

Technically it’s not a permanent structure. With CYVs and Verandas, one would have no idea how many homes that back to open property are keeper’s

Beekeeping Area
 

For the longest time I believed that the open fields next to “Villages Grown” on Morse & SR44 would be just right for a Villages Beekeepers area, but now it’s supposed to become another Walmart…quickly paving paradise….🎶🎶🎵🎶

And many courtyard villa owners have sheds in their backyards. Pics of them have been shared on this forum. Not everyone who thinks they know everything actually do.

dna

Why? What have you heard?

Back in Washington state I kept Mason bees. Great pollinators, no hives, no stingers.
Here, a bird house or two in the lanai would afford protection from sprays while still letting them out for pollinating.
Sorry, no honey. But great for your, and neighbors, garden.
You could have dozens and only you would know.
I used to sit on the back deck with coffee and a cookie and watch them pollinating my fruit, veg, and flowers. I always got a little thrill when one or more would land on me to rest or check out me and my goodies. Not as pet's, but as tiny friends, each doing our part to help each other.

Plastic storage sheds aren't permanent structures either and they're not allowed. Neither are storage benches outside the enclosed lanai area. No structures. No rabbit cages, no dog houses, no hand-built beehive housing.

Just because they have them, doesn't mean it's allowed. They're not allowed. As long as it looks aesthetically pleasing, I'm not gonna call Community Standards to complain about it. But someone with a stick up their butt might, and then you'd have to remove it.

OUCH! That hurts! 😵😪