> One thing is clear: if the beekeeper does not ever produce significant income or > manage in a manner indicating clear intent to make a consistent net profit, then > he/she is a hobbyist in the eyes of all. Would that it were that simple. I did not give all the details behind my question. The latest chapter in the saga of my neighbor who poisoned my bees is tonight when I am to appear at a Zoning Board of Appeals hearing. My village does not have a local law banning beekeeping, and in fact, during the 8 years I sat on the Board of Trustees, the village passed a "Right to Farm Law" that explicitly includes apiculture as an encouraged activity! Small village politics have pitted me against the mayor, who cannot shut down my beekeeping activity (by virtue of the "Right to Farm Law") so I've been cited for running a commercial business in a residential zone. I'm hoping to at least gain a reprieve by showing I'm practicing a hobby, not running a business. In fact, the number of hives I normall run clearly puts me outside the hobby catagory, but as my current numbers are recovering from the neighbor's poisoning I am below my normal numbers. I'm hoping I can make this go away on a technicality. And for the record, I have moved my bees outside of village residential limits. Not to protect my neighbors from my bees, but to protect my bees from my neighbors. More details as they develop and time allows. /Aaron