Until 2010 beekeeping was illegal in New York City and the ban was enforced; scofflaws were fined thousands of dollars for aiding and abetting Apis mellifera. There was, of course, an underground movement whose clandestine hives were found on rooftops, in old pigeon coops and gardens, but they've come down from the hills and rejoined society by registering their hives with the city and promising to maintain them.http://www.cityfarmer.info/2010/03/16/beekeeping-no-longer-illegal-in-new-york-city/Hives%20in
