SECTIONS 29040-29056 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 29040-29056

29040. 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.

29041. 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.

29042. 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.

29043. 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.

29044. 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.

29045. 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.

29046. (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.

29047. 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.

29048. 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.

29049. 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.

29050. 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.

29051. 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.

29052. Serial number brands are transferrable.

29053. (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.

29054. 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.

29055. 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.

29056. 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.