Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND MARKETS › Sub-Agency 031 - PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION › Chapter 002 - VERMONT APIARY INSPECTION REGULATIONS › Section 20 031 002 - VERMONT APIARY INSPECTION REGULATIONS

Current through June, 2024
Pursuant to the authority vested by 6 V.S.A. Chapter
				172, the Commissioner of Agriculture hereby issues the following
				Regulations:
Section I
			 DEFINITIONS
1. "Abandoned apiary"
			 means any apiary in this state whose location has not been registered
			 with the Commissioner and for which the owner cannot be located after
			 reasonable effort.
2.
			 "A.I.A. Resolution 7" means Resolution # 7 as adopted at the 1985
			 Annual Meeting of the Apiary Inspectors of America, entitled
			 "Tracheal Mite Certification of Honey Bee Colonies," and which is set
			 forth, in full, in Appendix A of these regulations.
3. "Apiary" means a place where one
			 or more colonies of bees are kept and shall include hives and
			 bees.
4. "Bee" means the
			 insect commonly known as the honeybee (Apis mellifera), or other
			 species of the genus Apis, at any stage of its existence including
			 the egg, larval, pupal or adult stages.
5. "Brood comb" means a structure
			 of cells composed of beeswax in which bees lay their eggs and in
			 which immature bees are reared.
6. "Colony" means the hive and its
			 equipment including bees, comb and honey.
7. "Commissioner" means the
			 Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture or his or her
			 designee.
8. "Department"
			 means the Vermont Department of Agriculture.
9. "Destroy" means to burn bees,
			 combs and frames or other equipment which cannot be disinfected by
			 scorching or other approved methods.
10. "Disease" shall mean any
			 serious malady which is infectious, contagious, or injurious to bees
			 and shall include, but is not limited to: American foulbrood,
			 European foulbrood, or external or internal parasites or parasitoids
			 of bees.
11. "Equipment"
			 means hives, supers, and frames.
12. "Hive" means frame, hive, box
			 hive, box, barrel, log gum, skep or other receptacle or container,
			 natural or artificical[artificial], or any part thereof, which is
			 used or employed as a domicile for bees.
13. "Honeycomb" means a structure
			 of cells composed of beeswax in which bees store honey.
14. "Inspector" means any person
			 designated by the Commissioner to inspect apiaries and enforce this
			 chapter.
15. "Owner"
			 means a person who in any way owns, leases, possesses or otherwise
			 controls an apiary, colony, hive, bees, or equipment and shall
			 include the agent of such person.
16. "Person" shall include all
			 corporations, partnerships, associations, societies, individuals or
			 group of individuals or any employee, servant or agent acting for or
			 employed by any person as above defined.
17. "Reasonable hour" means any
			 time of day between 7:00 a.m. and sunset when the temperature is
			 above 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
18. "Serious disease" means a
			 disease that threatens the existence of the colony which includes,
			 but is not limited to, American foulbrood, European foulbrood, or
			 external or internal parasites or parasitoids of bees.