HOA Demands Texas Woman Move Her Bees, Sparking Court Battle and Park Closure

A Texas woman has spent years caring for her honeybees, but now her homeowners association wants her to move them. The retired Army veteran says the hives are part of a hobby that helps her relax, and she isn’t convinced her bees have done anything wrong.

Tyra Swanson lives in the Lake Forest Falls subdivision in Conroe, where she has kept bees for roughly a decade. Her colonies have occupied the same spot near the neighborhood’s Spillway Park for approximately five years.

The homeowners association says the hives are too close to a pavilion used by residents. Its concerns grew after reports that bees had stung HOA board members, although it hasn’t been established that Swanson’s colonies were responsible.

Now the disagreement has spilled into court, and the neighborhood park has been closed. Swanson is frustrated by the pressure to relocate her bees, especially when she believes moving them elsewhere on her small property could create new problems.

Let Her Bee

For Swanson, beekeeping is more than something to do in her spare time. The retired veteran considers working with her colonies therapeutic, and she has invested years in maintaining them.

The problem isn’t necessarily that the HOA wants every beekeeper in the subdivision to get rid of their bees (because Swanson isn’t the only beekeeper in her neighborhood). The HOA’s objection is specifically about where Swanson has placed her hives.

In April 2025, the Lake Forest Falls Deed Restriction Compliance Committee sent her a letter questioning whether her property complied with neighborhood rules.

The letter pointed out that her bee boxes were next to a pavilion where families gather and eat. It also raised concerns about chickens wandering toward the park.

Swanson was asked to move the hives farther from the common area, potentially to the opposite side of her house or another property. The letter warned that she could face a fine if she failed to respond.

But moving an established colony isn’t as simple as carrying a box across the yard.

Swanson told KHOU 11 that her property offers limited suitable locations. The trees near the current hives provide valuable shade, and moving the bees to a sunnier spot could make it harder to maintain the colonies.

She also worries about disturbing bees that have become familiar with their existing location.

Park Problems

While Swanson wants to keep her bees where they are, the HOA says it has a responsibility to protect people using the nearby pavilion.

An attorney representing the association told KHOU 11 that bees near Spillway Park had stung HOA members. The association considers the hives’ proximity to the gathering area a safety concern.

Swanson disputes the suggestion that her colonies caused the stings. The available reporting doesn’t establish which bees were responsible, and the association’s concerns haven’t resulted in a court finding that her hives are dangerous.

Other residents have also been affected by the disagreement.

Spillway Park was closed amid the dispute, preventing neighbors from using a community space that had previously been available to them.

According to The Independent, some residents complained about the closure and the condition of the park’s grounds.

Swanson has said she wants the neighborhood to return to normal. She would like the association to focus on maintaining the park rather than continuing the fight over her bees.

Still Buzzing

The disagreement has become more complicated than Swanson expected, with the homeowner and association taking their differences to court.

Swanson sought clarification about whether keeping her bees violated the neighborhood’s deed restrictions. She pointed out that other residents also maintain colonies and questioned why her hives had become the focus of enforcement concerns.

The HOA responded that it wasn’t trying to prohibit beekeeping throughout Lake Forest Falls. Instead, it maintained that Swanson’s hives were uniquely close to a shared neighborhood space.

A district court dismissed Swanson’s lawsuit and ordered her to pay $2,500 toward the association’s attorney’s fees.

On October 22, 2026, a Texas appeals court upheld that decision.

However, the ruling didn’t determine that Swanson’s bees violated neighborhood rules or that her colonies caused anyone to be stung. The judges concluded that her lawsuit was premature because the association had not formally determined that she had violated the restrictions.

The appeals court also acknowledged the association’s claim that another lawsuit had been filed, but it did not examine that case.

As of the latest reporting, there was no confirmed resolution to the dispute or announcement that Spillway Park had reopened. For now, the park remains closed, and Swanson has not moved her bees.