CHAPTER 4-12.2
BEEKEEPING
4-12.2-01. Definitions. In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise
requires:
1.
"Apiary" means any place where one or more colonies of bees are kept.
2.
"Beekeeper" means any person who owns and maintains or leases and maintains<br>one or more colonies of bees and maintains the bees in this state.
3.
"Bees" means honey-producing insects of the genus Apis, including all life stages of<br>such insects.
The term is not limited to the common honeybee but includes
Africanized bees.
4.
"Certificate of health" means a certificate issued upon the request of a beekeeper to<br>verify normal standards of health set by the destination state.
5.
"Certified breeder queen" means a queen bee whose progeny can be certified as<br>being European by use of the fast Africanized bee identification system, the<br>universal system for the detection of Africanized honeybees, or any other<br>identification procedure approved by the animal and plant health inspection service.
6.
"Certified production queen" means a queen bee with larvae obtained from a<br>certified breeder queen. The term includes the queen emerging from a certified<br>queen cell.
7.
"Certified queen cell" means a cell containing the immature stage from a certified<br>breeder queen.
8.
"Colony" means the hive and its equipment including bees, comb and honey, and<br>brood.
9.
"Commissioner" means the agriculture commissioner, or the commissioner's<br>authorized representative.
10.
"Department" means the department of agriculture.
11.
"Equipment" means hives, supers, frames, veils, gloves, or any apparatus, tools,<br>machines, or other devices used in the handling and manipulation of bees, honey,<br>wax, and hives.
12.
"Normal standards of health" include the percentages of American foulbrood and<br>varroasis incidents.
13.
"Property owner" means the person, including a lessee, who has actual use and<br>exclusive possession of the land.
4-12.2-02. Rulemaking authority. Pursuant to chapter 28-32, the commissioner may
adopt rules and orders necessary to implement this chapter.
4-12.2-03. Emergency orders and rules. Repealed by S.L. 1993, ch. 55, § 12.
4-12.2-04. Beekeeper's license required.
1.
No person may maintain bees in this state without first obtaining a valid beekeeper's<br>license. On or before the first day of March in each year, each beekeeper shall
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apply to the commissioner, on a form to be furnished by the commissioner, for a<br>beekeeper's license.
2.
Each application for license must include the applicant's name, address, and<br>telephone number, the total number of colonies to be maintained in this state, and<br>the name and address of all persons, other than the applicant, who are responsible<br>for maintaining the bees within the state. The application must be signed by the<br>applicant and all persons responsible for maintaining the bees within this state. If<br>the applicant does not own the bees, the application must disclose the nature of the<br>relationship between the owner and the applicant.
3.
The license required by this section is not transferable.
4.
Each application must include the name, address, and telephone number of a<br>resident agent who is authorized to accept service of process, notice, or demand<br>arising from the beekeeper's activities under this chapter and for which the law<br>requires or permits service upon the beekeeper.
4-12.2-04.1. Application of minors for beekeeper's license - Liability for minor. A
person who is less than eighteen years of age may be licensed as a beekeeper, if that person's<br>application for license is signed by either the mother, father, or legal guardian of the applicant.<br>Any civil or administrative liability for violation of the beekeeping laws of this chapter by a<br>beekeeper who is less than eighteen years of age must be imputed to the person who has signed<br>the application of that beekeeper for a license, which person is jointly and severally liable with the<br>beekeeper.
4-12.2-05. License fees. A license fee of five dollars must accompany each license
application made pursuant to section 4-12.2-04.
4-12.2-06.
Assessment of fees.
In addition to the license fee required by section
4-12.2-05, an applicant for a license must submit fifteen cents per colony for each colony<br>maintained in this state.
4-12.2-07. Registration of an apiary.
1.
Each beekeeper shall register all apiaries that are or will be maintained by the<br>beekeeper within the state at the same time an application for license is made. The<br>application forms for registration must be furnished by the department.
The
applicant shall provide the following information on the form provided:
a.
The location of each apiary to the nearest section, quarter section, township,<br>and range, and, if within the corporate limits of a city, the number or name of<br>the lot, block, and addition in the city.
b.
The name of the property owner on whose property the apiary is located; where<br>the registrant is not the property owner, a copy of the written lease or other<br>document from the property owner granting the applicant permission to<br>maintain an apiary at that location. The written lease or other document is<br>adequate for subsequent registrations if the parties to the agreement remain<br>the same.
2.
New apiaries may be registered with the department at any time.
4-12.2-08. Revocation of location by property owner. The property owner on which
an apiary is located may revoke the permission granted a beekeeper to place an apiary at that<br>location by providing written notice to the department and the beekeeper. This section does not<br>relieve the property owner from any liability to the beekeeper for the violation of rights granted by<br>a lease or other legal agreement between the beekeeper and the property owner.
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4-12.2-08.1. Revocation of registration of an apiary. The agriculture commissioner
may cancel the registration of an apiary when the bees located on the apiary site are causing a<br>nuisance as defined in chapter 42-01.
4-12.2-09. Establishment of commercial locations - Two-mile radius restriction -
Sale of location. Repealed by S.L. 1991, ch. 64, § 15.
4-12.2-10. Establishment of pollination locations. Repealed by S.L. 1991, ch. 64,
§ 15.
4-12.2-11.
Establishment of property owner locations.
Repealed by S.L. 1991,
ch. 64, § 15.
4-12.2-12.
Establishment of noncommercial locations.
Repealed by S.L. 1991,
ch. 64, § 15.
4-12.2-13. Occupation of locations - Vacancy allowance. Repealed by S.L. 1991,
ch. 64, § 15.
4-12.2-14.
Identification of colonies.
Each beekeeper shall post a board or
weatherproof placard bearing the beekeeper's name, address, and telephone number at or near<br>the main entrance of each apiary or on a beehive. The board or placard must measure at least<br>eight inches [20.32 centimeters] high by eleven inches [27.94 centimeters] long. The letters and<br>numbers must be at least one-half inch [1.27 centimeters] high and must be legible.
The
commissioner may approve, in writing, alternative sign or lettering dimensions. Failure to post<br>each apiary causes the apiary, all equipment, and bees to be deemed abandoned and subject to<br>seizure by the state bee inspector.
4-12.2-15. State bee inspector - Appointment - Qualifications. The commissioner
shall appoint a person qualified by scientific training or practical experience as state bee<br>inspector.
The bee inspector must be furnished with all supplies, equipment, and support
necessary to carry out this chapter. The commissioner shall, on the recommendation of the<br>inspector, appoint and dismiss deputy inspectors to assist the inspector in performing the<br>inspector's duties.
4-12.2-16. Bee inspector - Duties - Powers. Upon request, the bee inspector shall
provide inspection services to beekeepers, provide assistance in the location of bee colonies for<br>pollination purposes, facilitate the interstate movement of bees, promote improvements in<br>apicultural practices, and work with institutions of higher education to promote the apiary<br>industry. If the bee inspector or a deputy inspector receives a complaint from a beekeeper, aerial<br>sprayer, or farmer, the inspector may enter private property during reasonable hours to make an<br>external inspection for the purpose of identifying a colony.
4-12.2-17. Bees maintained in hives with movable frames. Repealed by S.L. 1993,
ch. 55, § 12.
4-12.2-18. Certificate of health - Issuance. If a certificate of health is required for the
interstate movement of bees and equipment, the state bee inspector shall make an official<br>inspection for that purpose and issue a certificate of health. If for any reason an additional<br>inspection is required prior to the issuance of a certificate of health, the beekeeper shall submit to<br>the commissioner a fee set by the commissioner to cover the costs of the additional inspection.
4-12.2-18.1.
Africanized honeybees - Regulated areas.
If a swarm of bees is
captured, positively identified as being Africanized honeybees, and determined to be present as<br>a result of natural migration, rather than human intervention, the commissioner may designate a<br>limited geographic area as an Africanized honeybee area.
The commissioner shall allow
beekeepers to transport managed colonies out of the Africanized honeybee area for a period of<br>three months from the date of designation. Thereafter, the commissioner shall allow managed<br>colonies to be transported out of the designated area only if the queens were marked or clipped
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prior to the date of designation, or if the colonies have been requeened with certified breeder<br>queens, certified production queens, or certified queen cells. A beekeeper may not use a swarm<br>of honeybees positively identified as being Africanized in a beekeeping operation.
4-12.2-18.2. Africanized honeybees. The department in cooperation with the North
Dakota beekeeper's association shall develop a voluntary certification plan consistent with the<br>model state Africanized honeybee management plan developed at the United States department<br>of agriculture and national association of state departments of agriculture meeting in St. Louis,<br>Missouri, in October 1991.
4-12.2-19. Infected bees and equipment - Sale or exposure. Repealed by S.L. 1993,
ch. 55, § 12.
4-12.2-20. Shipment into state - Permit - Fees. Before any person transports any bees
or used equipment into this state, that person must obtain an entrance permit from the bee<br>inspector. Entrance permits for applicants whose applications are received after March first are<br>effective sixty days after the date of the application for a license. Immediately upon the arrival in<br>this state of any bees or equipment, the beekeeper shall comply with this chapter. Upon showing<br>of good cause, the commissioner may on a case-by-case basis waive the sixty-day waiting<br>period.
4-12.2-21. Abandoned apiary and abandoned equipment - Seizure, destruction, or
sale. Any apiary, equipment, or bees not regularly maintained and attended in accordance with<br>this chapter or any rules adopted pursuant to this chapter or which comprises a hazard or threat<br>to the beekeeping industry may be considered abandoned and will be subject to seizure by the<br>state bee inspector. Any bees not properly hived or hives or equipment not properly stored may<br>be considered abandoned bees or equipment. Any bees and equipment which have been seized<br>may, when necessary, be immediately burned or otherwise destroyed and any bees or<br>equipment not destroyed may be sold at public auction. The proceeds, after the cost of sale and<br>all costs resulting from the action are deducted, must be returned to the former owner or the<br>former owner's estate; provided, however, that before causing the bees or equipment to be sold,<br>the bee inspector shall give the beekeeper or agent a written notice at least five days prior to the<br>date on which the property will be sold. This notice is to be given by registered mail or by<br>personal service upon the owner, or person in charge, of such property.
4-12.2-22. Penalties - Criminal - Civil - License revocation or nonrenewal.
1.
A person who violates this chapter or any rules adopted under this chapter is guilty<br>of a class A misdemeanor.
2.
In addition to criminal sanctions which may be imposed pursuant to subsection 1, a<br>person found guilty of violating this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter is<br>subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars for each violation. The<br>civil penalty may be adjudicated by the courts or by the commissioner through an<br>administrative hearing pursuant to chapter 28-32.
3.
The department may, in accordance with the laws of this state, maintain an<br>appropriate civil action in the name of the state against any person violating this<br>chapter or rules adopted under this chapter.
4.
The commissioner may refuse to grant a license to any person found guilty of<br>repeated violations of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter, or to any<br>person who has failed to pay an adjudicated civil penalty for violation of this chapter<br>within thirty days after a final determination that the civil penalty is owed.
5.
Any person who knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or certification<br>in any application, record, report, or other document may be subject to the penalties<br>provided in this chapter.
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4-12.2-23. Confiscation and disposal. Any bees or equipment found to be transported
or maintained in violation of the beekeeping laws of this chapter may be confiscated by the state<br>bee inspector or the sheriff of any county where the offense may have occurred and must be<br>disposed of pursuant to court order or an administrative order issued by the commissioner after a<br>hearing held under chapter 28-32, unless the bees or equipment are disposed of under section<br>4-12.2-21.
4-12.2-24.
Service of process on beekeeper.
Whenever the beekeeper or the
beekeeper's agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence, the commissioner is an agent of<br>the beekeeper and service of any process, notice, or demand may be made upon the<br>commissioner. If any process, notice, or demand is served on the commissioner, service must<br>be deemed complete. This section does not limit or affect the right to serve any process, notice,<br>or demand required or permitted by law to be served upon a beekeeper in any other manner<br>permitted by law.
4-12.2-25.
Beekeeping considered agricultural enterprise.
Beekeeping is an
agricultural enterprise for all purposes under the laws of this state.
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Document Outline
chapter 4-12.2 beekeeping
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