Article 6. Assessments And Records of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 22. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 28. >> Article 6.

(a) The commission shall, not later than January 1 of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, establish the assessment to be paid by the producers of 50 or more colonies for the marketing season.
  (b) The assessment shall be levied annually on all bee colonies in California on March 1 of each year and not be more than one dollar ($1) per colony.

All proprietary information obtained by the commission or the secretary from any source, including the names and addresses of producers, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required by a court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding involving this chapter. Information on volume shipments, hive value, and any other related information required for reports to governmental agencies, financial reports to the commission, or aggregate sales and inventory information, and any other information that gives only totals, but excludes individual information, may be disclosed by the commission.

Every producer, including beekeepers exempt from the payment of assessments, shall keep a complete and accurate record of their total number of colonies used for commercial purposes. The records shall be in simple form and contain information as the commission shall prescribe. The records shall be retained by the beekeeper for five years and shall be offered and submitted for inspection at any reasonable time upon written demand of the commission or its duly authorized agent.

Any assessment that is levied as provided in this chapter is a personal debt of every producer so assessed.

(a) Any person who fails to pay any assessment within 30 days of the due date shall pay, in addition to his or her assessment fee, a penalty of 10 percent of the amount of the assessment determined to be past due and, in addition, interest on the unpaid balance at the rate of 1.5 percent per month.
  (b) In addition to any other penalty imposed, the commission may require any person who fails to pay any assessment or related charge pursuant to this article to furnish and maintain a surety bond in a form and amount and for a period of time specified by the commission as assurance that all payments to the commission will be made when due.