Chickens may be against the law, but bees aren't

Apparently in some towns, you have to notify your neighbors that you're keeping bees, and they can prevent you from doing so if they object. I heard second-hand that this happened to some friends of mine although it was in a town that nobody would really call "urban" (just outside 128).

Anyone know the actual law? We looked into bees for the community garden and were told bees had to be X feed from the road, which left us out. Maybe these buildings get away with is by going up X feet? Or maybe the city just gave us the wrong answer. :)