Article 4. Registration And Identification Of Apiaries of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 13. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 4.

Every person that is the owner or is in possession of an apiary which is located within the state, on the first day of January of each year, shall register the number of colonies in each apiary which is owned by the person and the location of each apiary. Every person required to register under this article, shall do so on the first day of January of each year in which they maintain, possess, or are in possession of an apiary, or within 30 days thereafter, as prescribed in this article.

Notwithstanding the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), any information provided in accordance with this article or Section 29070 shall be held confidential, and shall not be disclosed to any person or governmental agency, other than the department or a county department of agriculture. The information shall also be considered privileged under the provisions of Sections 1040 and 1060 of the Evidence Code, with the exception of the location of apiaries for disclosure to pesticide applicators pursuant to Section 29101.

Every person who moves bees into the state or otherwise comes into possession of an apiary that is located within the state after the first day of January, shall register the number of colonies moved into the state or so acquired within 30 days after coming into possession of the apiary.

Registration of an apiary shall be filed with the commissioner of the county in which the apiary is located, or with the director if there is no commissioner in the county. The director shall adopt a form of registration to be used statewide, which shall include a request for notification of use of pesticide in accordance with Section 29101. All commissioners shall use the same form.

Each beekeeper, apiary owner, apiary operator, or person in possession of any apiary, shall pay, in addition to any other fees imposed under this chapter, an annual registration fee of ten dollars ($10) to the commissioner of the county where the bees reside on January 1, to cover the cost of apiary registration. The director shall by regulation adopt and periodically update a schedule of the fees, which shall include late fees for anyone who fails to register an apiary under Sections 29041 and 29042. The board of supervisors of any county may waive the registration fee for any beekeeper, apiary owner, apiary operator, or person, who is a hobbyist not in the business of beekeeping and who possesses nine or fewer colonies.

No person shall maintain any apiary which is not registered pursuant to this article. Each registration is valid until January 1 of the following year.

(a) No person shall maintain an apiary on premises other than that of his or her residence unless the apiary is identified as follows:
  (1) By a sign that is prominently displayed on the entrance side of the apiary or stenciled on the hive, that states in dark letters not less than one inch in height on a background of contrasting color, the name of the owner or person responsible for the apiary, his or her address and telephone number, or if he or she has no telephone, a statement to that effect.
  (2) If the governing body of the county or city in which the apiary is located has provided by ordinance for the identification of apiaries, in the manner which is prescribed in the ordinance.
  (b) No person shall locate or maintain an apiary on private land not owned or leased by the person unless the person has approval from the owner of record, or an authorized agent thereof, and can establish approval upon demand of the director or commissioner. The approval shall include the name and phone number of the person granting approval.
  (c) (1) No person shall locate or maintain an apiary on any public land without the expressed oral or written approval of the entity which owns, leases, controls, or occupies the land, and can establish this approval upon demand of the director or the commissioner. The approval shall include the name and telephone number of the person granting the approval. During the citrus bloom period, as established by the commissioner, including 72 hours prior to the declaration of the bloom period until 48 hours after the conclusion of the bloom period, the apiary operator shall obtain written permission to place bees on public land, and shall make it available to the director or the commissioner upon demand. Any apiary located or maintained on public land without lawful consent is a public nuisance and may be subject to seizure by the director or the commissioner.
  (2) The director or commissioner may commence proceedings in the superior court of the county or city and county in which the seizure is made petitioning the court for judgment forfeiting the apiary. Upon the filing of the petition, the clerk of the court shall fix a time for a hearing and cause notices to be posted for 14 days in at least three public places in the place where the court is held, if the person owning the apiary is unknown, setting forth the substance of the petition and the time and place fixed for its hearing. At that time, the court shall hear and determine the proceeding and upon proof that the apiary was located or maintained on public lands without approval of the entity, may order the apiary forfeited. Any apiary so forfeited shall be sold or destroyed by the director or the commissioner. The proceeds from all sales shall be used in accordance with Section 29032.

Any person who owns or is in possession of an apiary may bring an action to recover damages for any injury to his or her apiary by reason of any pest control operation if the person has complied with Sections 29070, 29043, and 29046, and with regulations adopted by the director providing for the protection of bees under Sections 11502, 14005, and 29080 when these requirements apply to the property where the alleged damage has occurred.

Any pesticide applicator who experiences any loss because of a beekeeper's failure to request notification of a pesticide application pursuant to Section 29070, or pursuant to any department rule or regulation, or who experiences any loss because of a beekeeper's failure to register bees pursuant to Section 29041 or 29042, may bring an action for the recovery of damages against that beekeeper.

The owner of any apiary equipment may apply to the director for a serial number brand for use on apiary equipment which he or she owns. The application shall contain the name and address of the applicant and shall be accompanied by a fee, as established and periodically updated, by the director by regulation.

Upon receipt of the application and fee, the director shall register a serial number brand to the applicant. The serial number shall include a county number followed by an individual number. The county number shall be and remain the same as the number of the class of the county in the classification which was adopted by the Legislature in 1931. As to counties with classification numbers 1 to 9, inclusive, the county number shall be preceded by a dash (--). The county number shall be followed by a dash (--) and the individual number.

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 be branded in any manner desired.

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 the director by regulation.
  (b) If the purchaser has a previously registered brand number, he or she may have other brand numbers transferred to his or her name, without charge, but he or she shall destroy any and all branding irons or branding devices acquired by the transfer and notify the director of the destruction.

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 apiary equipment to prevent the identification of the equipment.
  (c) Be in possession of any apiary equipment upon which the brand has been altered, defaced, removed, or obliterated.