> 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