Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

If a serial number brand is used on wooden equipment, it shall be burned into the wood in numbers which are at least one-half inch in height. Hive bodies shall be branded on the upper left-hand corner. Frames shall be branded or stenciled on top bars. Other wooden equipment may b…

Serial number brands are transferrable.

(a) If the purchaser does not have a registered brand number, he or she may use a brand acquired by purchase if a bill of sale on the purchased brand number is forwarded by registered mail to the director accompanied by a transfer fee as established and periodically updated by th…

If ownership of branded equipment is transferred, the original brand shall not be defaced or obliterated. The brand, if any, of the new owner shall be placed below the original brand and as near it as possible.

It is unlawful for any person to have in his or her possession any apiary equipment which is branded with any serial number brand other than his or her own unless he or she has a bill of sale which he or she obtained from the registered owner of the serial brand number.

It is unlawful for any person to do any one of the following: (a) Use any serial number brand unless it is registered pursuant to this article provided that the National Crime Identification Center (NCIC) numbers may be used. (b) Alter, deface, remove, or obliterate the brand on …

Any funds collected by the secretary pursuant to this article shall be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, are hereby continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for administration, res…

(a) Any person relocating a colony of bees from a registered apiary in one county to another county, where the apiary is not registered for the current calendar year, shall notify the destination commissioner within 72 hours of the first movement or entry into the county. The not…

Any apiary operator or the apiary operator’s designated representative relocating a colony of bees within a county where the apiary is currently registered shall notify the commissioner of the movement within 72 hours of the relocation.

It is lawful for any person when under the supervision of the local county agricultural commissioner, except when prohibited by other provisions of this chapter, to do any of the following: (a) Transport any contaminated hive, together with its contents, to a suitable place for b…

No person shall move or transport any bees, comb, appliances, or colonies within the state that contain pests, except for abatement pursuant to this chapter or for research pursuant to Section 29074.

The inspector, in a summary manner, may destroy, where required, any and all colonies, bees, combs, or hives that contain pests that are unlawfully moved within the state wherever they may be found.

The secretary, by written permit, subject to conditions the secretary may determine are necessary to protect the beekeeping industry of this state, may authorize federal and state agencies to transport and maintain within the state diseased bees, comb, hives, appliances, or colon…

As used in this article and in Article 7 (commencing with Section 29100) “director” means the Director of Pesticide Regulation.

The director may, after notice and hearing, establish regions for the notification of apiary owners relative to pesticide applications if the director determines that the notification could be effectively accomplished on a regional basis and that there would be sufficient interes…

Upon the establishment of a notification region, the director shall designate one of the commissioners within the region as the coordinator for the region. The coordinator may receive, upon request, any necessary technical assistance from the University of California, other commi…

The coordinator may receive money from any source and shall deposit the funds in the Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund, or with the approval of the director, in the county treasury, for expenditure pursuant to the purposes of this article, upon appropriation therefor by the…

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that bees perform a valuable service to agriculture in this state. (b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the necessary application of certain pesticides to blossoming plants poses a potential hazard to bees. (c) The Legi…

(a) Each beekeeper shall report to the commissioner of the county in which the beekeeper’s apiary is located, on a form approved by the secretary, each location of apiaries for which notification of pesticide usage is sought. This report for notification may be filed with and be …

(a) The director shall adopt regulations necessary to minimize the hazard to bees, while still providing for the reasonable and necessary application of pesticides toxic to bees to blossoming plants. The regulations may be limited to specific blossoming plants. (b) Regulations ad…

Failure of a beekeeper to remove hives from a specific location, except during specific periods of time, as provided in subdivision (c) of Section 29102 after notification, shall not prevent the application of pesticides to blossoming plants if consistent with the pesticide’s lab…

The secretary may adopt by regulation and establish, maintain, and enforce a quarantine at the boundaries of, or within, the state, to protect the bee industry against the introduction or spread of any bee pest. The secretary may make and enforce such regulations as may be necess…

If any quarantine is established pursuant to this article, no person shall move any bees, comb, hive, or appliance, across the lines established by the quarantine except pursuant to the regulations of the director.

If an inspector finds any pest or disease which is known to be contagious in any apiary, the inspector may hold the apiary and may require that abatement be performed under his or her direct supervision. The inspector shall give notice that the apiary is held to the owner or bail…

If notice that an apiary is being held has been given pursuant to Section 29112, no person shall move the apiary, or any part of the apiary, or any other bee equipment from the location, unless the person is authorized by an inspector, until the hold order is released.

Upon request of the owner of any apiary which is held pursuant to an order by an inspector, the inspector shall release the hold order by issuing a permit to move the apiary if the inspector determines that the pest or disease has been abated. The permit shall state on it that th…

Except as otherwise provided in Section 29121, no person shall import or transport into the state any comb, bees on comb, queen bees, package bees, bee semen, or any used hive or used appliance, unless each separate load, lot, or shipment is accompanied by a valid certificate pre…

(a) A person may import or transport any of the following into the state without complying with the requirements prescribed by Section 29120: (1) Packaged comb honey. (2) Empty package bee cages. (3) Moving screens. (4) Bee smokers. (5) Bee veils. (6) Hive tools. (b) No importati…

Except as provided in Section 29123, the certificate required by Section 29120 shall be signed by the State Entomologist, State Apiary Inspector, or comparable officer in charge of apiary inspection for the state or territory of origin and shall certify to all of the following fa…

In lieu of the requirements of Section 29122, the certificate required by Section 29120 may be a California certificate of inspection issued pursuant to Sections 29140 to 29145, inclusive, and showing the comb, bees on comb, or hives or appliances has or had been inspected in Cal…

Any shipment of bees on comb, used hives, or used appliances arriving in this state which is not accompanied by, where required by Section 29120, a valid certificate shall be refused entry and returned to the shipper or destroyed, at the option and expense of the owner or person …

The certificates required by Section 29120 are valid only during the inspection season in which they were issued, except that a certificate that covers a shipment arriving prior to April 1 from a locality that has severe winters shall be valid if it shows the last inspection of t…

(a) If any bees, comb, hives, or appliances entering California are found to be diseased at the time of inspection in this state within 30 days after arrival, the inspector may hold the apiary, lot, or shipment. The inspector shall give notice to the owner or bailee, as prescribe…

Any American foulbrood disease or other disease found pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 29126 shall be abated pursuant to Article 14 (commencing with Section 29200) of this chapter.

After the American foulbrood disease or other disease has been abated, the inspector may release the hold order, if the release can be made without menace or harm from the disease to the bee industry of this state. If the release cannot be so made, after the disease has been abat…

As used in this article, “certificate” means the certification by a commissioner, or an inspector of the condition of any apiary which is to be transported to another state or country.

The board of supervisors of any county may estalish a schedule of fees for certificates for bees on comb to be paid by persons that request the certificates.

No fee shall be charged for certification required by any law, regulation, or requirement of the United States.

The schedule of fees for the certificates shall be based upon the estimated cost of the inspection.

A commissioner shall make reasonable inspection as may be necessary to determine the facts which are required by the state or country of intended destination and shall issue a certificate that states the facts which are determined upon receipt of the scheduled fee for a certifica…

It is unlawful for any person to alter, deface, or misuse any certificate issued pursuant to this article.

No person shall remove, salvage, or attempt to salvage, any bees, comb, honey, royal jelly, pollen, beeswax, or frames from any diseased colony, including American foulbrood disease, except pursuant to this article or Section 29074.

All wax salvage operations with respect to diseased colonies shall be performed in an enclosure which is constructed in accordance with specifications, and in the manner set forth, in regulations of the director.

The director shall prepare and furnish to interested parties upon request, uniform specifications for the construction of wax salvage plants, and adopt regulations for the operation of the plants in a manner to prevent the spread of pests or disease from the plants.

Any person that desires to maintain and operate a plant for the salvaging of wax, hives, and appliances from diseased apiaries shall apply to the director for an annual license for each separate wax salvage plant.

The director shall make such investigations as the director determines are necessary and shall issue the license without fee if the director is satisfied that the plant is constructed in accordance with specifications in, and that the plant will be operated pursuant to, regulatio…

A license is good for the calendar year within which it is issued and shall expire on December 31, of that year, unless it is revoked or suspended sooner.

Any license which is issued pursuant to this article may be revoked or suspended, or a license renewal may be refused by the director, after hearing, if the director finds that the licensee has not complied with this article and the regulations adopted pursuant to it.

To the greatest extent possible, the proceedings for all hearings under this article shall be conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The director shall have all the powers which are granted by the…

No person shall maintain or operate a diseased colony of bees, except pursuant to Section 29074.