SECTIONS 29120-29128 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 29120-29128

29120. 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.

29121. (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.

29122. 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.

29123. 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.

29124. 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.

29125. 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.

29126. (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.

29127. 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.

29128. 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.