Apiary laws.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL SENATE

FILE

NO.
0003

ENROLLED ACT NO. 1, SENATE

SIXTIETH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WYOMING
2010 BUDGET SESSION

AN ACT relating to
apiaries; providing and amending definitions; providing for holding yard and spray yard locations; providing for variance agreements; modifying registration and inspections of apiaries; providing for export certificates; providing for a penalty
;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

W.S. 11
‑
7
‑
213 through 11
‑
7
‑
215 are created to read:

11
‑
7
‑
2
13
.

Holding yard apiary location.

(a)

The department may grant
a
certificate of registration for
a
temporary holding yard location to provide an area for holding hives prior to and after returning from pollination of a commercial agricultural crop in another state.

(b)

A t
emporary holding yard location
shall
not be used for planned honey production.

(c)

A
general beekeeper
shall
provide the department location information for
all
temporary holding yard locations by designating the yard name and latitude and longitude coordinates which
shall
be included on the yearly renewal application and designated with
"
HY
" for
holding yard
,
as the authorized
class
.

(d)

A c
olon
y may
be held at
a
temporary holding yard location for not more than
two (
2
)
months during
the
spring and
for not more than two (2) months during
the
fall.

11
‑
7
‑
2
14
.

Spray yard apiary location.

(a)

The department may grant
a
certificate of registration for
a
spray yard apiary location to provide an area for holding hives during pesticide application to allow a safe haven for the
health and safety of the bees.

(b)

A s
pray yard apiary location
shall
not be used for planned honey production.

(c)

Any hive

shall

not
be held at a spray yard apiary location for more than
sixteen (
16
)
days after
any
pesticide application and
the hive
then
shall
be returned to the registered location.

(d)

A g
eneral beekeeper shall notify the department or the apiary inspector when hives are moved t
o spray yard apiary locations.

11
‑
7
‑
21
5
.

Variance agreements.

(a)

U
pon request from a general beekeeper
,

t
he department may enter into a variance agreement
with the general beekeeper because of
drought conditions, crop rotation,
conservation res
e
r
v
e program
acres or other unforeseen circumstances adverse to a yard location.

(b)

F
ollowing a thorough investigation of each request
under subsection (a) of this section
,
t
he department
shall
determine whether or not to enter into the requested variance agreement.
If granted, a
variance agreement
shall
contain an expiration date
,
after which the bees
shall
be returned to the original registered loca
tion.
Failure to return the bees to the original registered apiary location
shall
cause that
registered apiary
location to be forfeited.

(
c)

Signed copies of a variance agreement between a beekeeper and the department shall be on file in the department’s
Cheyenne
office
and with the area apiary inspector and the beekeeper.

Section 2.

W.S. 11
‑
7
‑
130, 11
‑
7
‑
131(a)
(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(iv)
and by creating new paragraphs (xviii) through (xxiii),
11
‑
7
‑
201(b)(ii)
,
(iii)
,
(v)
and
(e),
11
‑
7
‑
202(a) and (d)(i),
11
‑
7
‑
205(a)(iv)
,

11
‑
7
‑
301(a)
(intro),
(i), (iii) and (iv)
and 11
‑
7
‑
302(a) are amended to read:

11
‑
7
‑
130.

Short title.

This chapter may be cited as the "Wyoming Apiculture Act
".

of 1983
".

11
‑
7
‑
131.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this chapter:

(ii)

"Bee diseases" means American or European foulbrood, sacbrood, bee paralysis or other disease or abnormal condition of
the

egg, larval, pupal or adult stages of bees
, including bee parasites and bee pests
;

(iii)

"Bees" means any stage of
the
bees
life
cycle

in
the genus Apis;

(iv)

"Colony" means the
bees,
hive and all equipment used in connection with the hive;

(
xv
iii)

"
Bee parasites
"
means
mites, including but not limited to
varroa
mites and
tracheal mites;

(
x
i
x
)

"
Bee pests
"
means
insects, including but not limited to
small hive be
etles
and
red imported fire ants;

(x
x
)

"
General
b
eekeeper
"
means a person who owns
more than
five (5) hives and manages and operates the bees and the hives
;

(x
x
i)

"
Global
p
ositioning
s
ystem or GPS
"
means a device that provides accuracy in positioning using latitude
and longitude coordinates;

(x
xii
)

"
Holding yard
"
means an area where colonies are temporarily placed prior to leaving the state or returning from
pollination in another state;

(xx
ii
i)

"
Spray yard
"
means a temporary location where
coloni
es are moved prior to
any
pesticide application in the area of the b
eekeeper's registered location
.

11
‑
7
‑
201.

Apiary registration; procedure; information; conditions; penalties.

(b)

Application for registration shall be made to the department on forms it prescribes and furnishes and shall include:

(ii)

The
total

number of colonies of bees
,

hives and equipment in the apiary

the beekeeper owns
;

(iii)

The location of the apiary, setting forth specifically the location by sectional division to the nearest quarter section,
and
the township and range and

the latitude and longitude coordinates
,
or

if within the corporate limits of a municipality, the number of the lot and block in the municipality including street address

and the latitude and longitude coordinates determined using GPS. All new registrations shall include latitude and longitude coordinates. Effective July 1, 201
2
, latitude and longitude coordinates shall be required for all apiary registrations
;

(v)

The date the apiary was first established

which shall be included for each location on yearly apiary renewal applications
; and

(e)

Certificates of registration shall not be issued for new apiaries which are within such close proximity to established registered apiaries that there is danger of spread of
disease

bee diseases, bee parasites or bee pests
or that the proximity may interfere with the proper feeding and honey flow of established apiaries.

11
‑
7
‑
202.

General apiary registrations.

(a)

In order to control, limit and prevent the spread of bee diseases
,

and other contagious or infectious diseases

bee parasites or bee pests
among bees, hives and apiaries and to control, limit and prevent interference with proper feeding and honey flow of established apiaries, general apiaries registered to different persons shall be located at least two (2) miles apart, except as otherwise provided in this article. The department shall not register or issue a certificate of registration for any general apiary that is located less than two (2) miles from a general apiary registered to another person, except as otherwise provided in this section.

(d)

A person with an existing apiary that is located less than two (2) miles from an existing general apiary registered to another person may register his apiary as a general apiary under the following conditions:

(i)

His apiary is established and registered with the department as a general apiary under the department's rules in effect prior to
May 27, 1983

December 31, 2009
; and

1
1
‑
7
‑
205.

Hobbyist apiary registrations.

(a)

The department may grant hobbyist apiary registrations to hobbyist beekeepers under the following conditions:

(iv)

If the department determines that too many hobbyist apiaries are being registered within too close proximity of each other or of other established apiaries so that there is danger of the spread of bee diseases
,

or other contagious or infectious diseases

bee parasites or bee pests
among bees or apiaries or that there will be interference with the proper feeding and honey flow of established apiaries, the department may refuse to grant any further hobbyist registrations in the locality and area of the danger.

11
‑
7
‑
301.

Apiaries; powers and duties of the department.

(a)

To prevent the spread of
contagious and infectious disease

bee diseases, bee parasites or bee pests
among bees and apiaries, to protect apiaries against depredation by wildlife and to assist law enforcement agencies in an effort to alleviate losses due to theft, the department may:

(i)

Order the transfer of colonies of bees from hives or containers which cannot be properly examined for brood or other
bee
diseases
, bee parasites or bee pests
to other hives or containers;

(iii)

Quarantine any apiary where foulbrood or any contagious or infectious
bee
diseases
, bee parasites or bee pests
are present and, during the quarantine, prevent the removal from the apiary of any bees or equipment except under a special permit issued by the department permitting the removal under conditions it prescribes. A person may not sell or offer for sale any apiary, bees or equipment which are under quarantine unless the department issues a permit authorizing the sale or removal. Written notice of quarantine shall be posted by the department, owner or person in charge at the quarantined apiary at a conspicuous place, and a copy shall be personally served or sent by certified mail to the owner of the apiary or person in charge. The quarantine continues in effect until it is ordered removed and a copy of the removal order served in the same manner;

(iv)

Inspect any apiary, hives, equipment or premises for the presence of
disease

bee diseases, bee parasites or bee pests
. Hives belonging to persons owning apiaries within the state shall be inspected for contagious diseases according to schedules established by the department
. Apiary inspectors shall establish the date for the inspection of any apiary with the beekeeper. The inspection date shall be agreeable to the inspector and the beekeeper and shall include a
total of
seven (7)
consecutive
day
s

upon which the inspection can be undertaken due to
weather and unforeseen circumstances. Any beekeeper
responsible
for an apiary who refuses an inspection
on any of the seven (7) agreed upon dates
is subject to penalties provided pursuant to W.S. 11
‑
7
‑
133
;

11
‑
7
‑
302.

Importation of bees, combs or hives.

(a)

It is unlawful to ship bees on drawn combs, combs or any used beekeeping equipment into this state unless the combs or equipment are certified and marked as disease free by an official responsible for apiary regulations of the state from which the combs or equipment are being moved. This inspection shall have been conducted not more than ninety (90) days prior to entry into
Wyoming
. Prior to entry of bees and equipment into this state, the certification of health shall be sent to the department. Any shipment must be accompanied by the health certificate. Upon entry into this state, an owner

must

A beekeeper shall
notify the department and request an inspection to be conducted at any specified registered location
or holding yard

not later than fourteen (14) days after entry
of
any colony

into this state.

Following an inspection for colony health, the department may issue an export certificate for
any colony
imported into
Wyoming
. An export certificate is valid for one (1) year and allows export from and re-entry into
Wyoming
at any port of entry.

Section 3.

W.S. 11
‑
7
‑
201(j) is repealed.

Section
4
.

This act is effective July 1, 2010.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

1