Article 9. Importation of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 13. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 9.

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 prescribed by this article, and filed in a form and in the manner as set forth by the director, and unless the certificate is delivered to the commissioner of the county of destination or to the director, if there is no commissioner in the county, within 72 hours after the arrival of the load, lot, or shipment.

(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 importation shall be allowed if it would violate any quarantine regulation adopted by the director pursuant to Section 29110.

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 of origin and shall certify to all of the following facts:
  (a) The name and address of the owner or shipper and the place of destination in this state.
  (b) The number or amount of queen bees, package bees, bee semen, hives, or nuclei which contain bees, the number of used hives either empty or containing comb, and a complete list of any other used beekeeping equipment in the shipment.
  (c) The county and state of origin.
  (d) The date on which inspection was last made of the apiary in which the bees, comb, used hives, and appliances originated.
  (e) That the apiary was found free of all pests denoted as pests by the State of California, using detection procedures and methods approved by the director.
  (f) If the pest is American foulbrood, the total number of colonies in the apiary at the time of inspection, and the number of colonies found infested.
  (g) That all American foulbrood colonies of bees found upon inspection were destroyed, removed to a quarantine apiary, or removed to wax salvage, prior to the issuance of the certificates.

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 California within the 12 months prior to their return to California and at the time of the inspections had been found to have had less than 1 percent American foulbrood disease. Beekeepers or their agents shall carry a copy of the certificate with them and proof of ownership of the apiary and its contents, for production to the border inspectors on demand upon reentry.

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 in charge of the shipment.

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 the apiary was made on or after August 15 of the preceding year.

(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 prescribed in Section 29113, that the apiary, lot, or shipment is held.
  (b) If any load, lot, or shipment of bees, comb, hives, or appliances, entering California are found at the time of inspection in this state within 30 days after arrival to have more than 2 percent American foulbrood disease, that load, lot, or shipment of bees, comb, hives, or appliances shall be removed from the state and returned to the shipper.

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 abated, the remaining bees, comb, hives, and appliances shall be destroyed or shipped out of this state within 72 hours after the expiration of the abatement notice, at the option and expense of the owner or bailee.