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Bee Industry Regulations

made under Section 17 of the

Bee Industry Act

S.N.S. 2005, c. 3

O.I.C. 2007-357 (June 22, 2007), N.S. Reg. 319/2007

as amended by O.I.C. 2012-213 (June 26, 2012), N.S. Reg. 133/2012


Citation

1     These regulations may be cited as the Bee Industry Regulations.


Definitions

2     (1)    In these regulations,

 

                (a)    “Act” means the Bee Industry Act;

 

                (b)    “BKCode” means a unique alphanumeric registration code assigned to a registered beekeeper;

 

                (c)    “certificate of inspection” means a certificate from the Apiculturist or an inspector reporting on the results of an inspection of bees or beekeeping equipment;

 

                (d)    “import permit” means a permit issued under Section 4 of the Act;

 

                (e)    “sell” means to sell, barter or give away or otherwise transfer ownership or control of.

 

       (2)    In the Act and these regulations, “import” means bring into the Province for permanent placement or residence or transport through or across any part of the Province.

 

       (3)    In subsection 16(1) of the Act, “immediately” means as soon as possible and no later than 2 days after.


Registering beekeepers

3     (1)    To register as a beekeeper, a person must submit a completed registration form.

 

       (2)    The Apiculturist must issue a BKCode to each registered beekeeper and record the BKCode on the beekeeper’s certificate.

 

       (3)    The Apiculturist must keep a register of beekeepers.

 

       (4)    The register must include all of the following for each beekeeper:

 

                (a)    contact information, including the beekeeper’s name, residential civic address, and residential and business telephone numbers;

 

                (b)    the beekeeper’s BKCode;

 

                (c)    the number of apiaries and hives by county kept by the beekeeper.


Marking BKCode in apiaries

4     (1)    A beekeeper must clearly mark and display their BKCode by doing one of the following:

 

                (a)    marking their BKCode on at least 1 hive in each apiary they keep;

 

                (b)    posting a sign displaying their BKCode within 1 m of each apiary, in a place where the sign can be easily noticed and read.

 

       (2)    The letters and numbers of a beekeeper’s BKCode marked in accordance with subsection (1) must be at least 2.5 cm in height.

 

       (3)    A posted sign must be at least 15 cm by 30 cm.


Information on location of apiaries

5     No later than 24 hours after being requested by the Apiculturist or an inspector, a beekeeper must provide all of the following location information to the Apiculturist or inspector:

 

                (a)    the number of hives at each apiary they keep;

 

                (b)    the civic address and geographic location of each apiary they keep;

 

                (c)    any additional information requested, in enough detail to assist the Apiculturist or inspector in finding the apiary, including specific hives on the beekeper’s land.


Import permits

6     (1)    In this Section and in Section 4 of the Act, a reference to bees includes the sperm and eggs of bees.

 

       (2)    Subject to subsection (3), an import permit may be issued by the Minister only if all of the following conditions are met:

 

                (a)    the applicant is a registered beekeeper;

 

                (b)    for bees or beekeeping equipment that are being imported from outside of Canada, the beekeeper provides the Apiculturist with a copy of the import permit or permit number issued by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada that permits the bees or beekeeping equipment to be imported and the Apiculturist is satisfied that

 

                         (i)     the bees or beekeeping equipment have been sampled in accordance with testing procedures that are acceptable to the Apiculturist, and

 

                         (ii)    the bees or beekeeping equipment meet the specifications set out in the Bee Health Importation Protocol published by the Department of Agriculture;

Subclause 6(2)(b)(ii) amended: O.I.C. 2012-213, N.S. Reg. 133/2012.

                (c)    for bees or beekeeping equipment that are being imported from another province or territory in Canada, the beekeeper provides the Apiculturist with a certificate from the Apiculturist, or the equivalent of the Apiculturist, of the province or territory from where the bees or beekeeping equipment were last exported certifying that the bees or beekeeping equipment have been sampled in accordance with testing procedures that are acceptable to the Apiculturist and meet the specifications set out in the Bee Health Importation Protocol published by the Department of Agriculture.

Clause 6(2)(c) amended: O.I.C. 2012-213, N.S. Reg. 133/2012.

 

       (3)    Before the Minister issues an import permit, the Minister must be satisfied that the importation is unlikely to increase the risk of disease or pests in the Province.


Certificates of inspection

7     (1)    The Apiculturist may issue a certificate of inspection for bees or beekeeping equipment that are to be exported from the Province.

 

       (2)    A beekeeper who sells bees or beekeeping equipment must obtain a certificate of inspection from the Apiculturist or an inspector for the bees or beekeeping equipment being sold.

 

       (3)    A certificate of inspection issued under subsection (2) must have an expiry date of no later than 6 months after its date of issue.


Permit to move bees and bee equipment to or from bee quarantine district

8     Before the Minister issues a permit required by Section 6 of the Act for moving bees or bee equipment into or from a bee quarantine district, the Minister must be satisfied that the movement of the bees or beekeeping equipment is unlikely to result in increased risk of disease or pests in the place into which the bees or beekeeping equipment are to be moved.


Designated diseases

9     All of the following diseases are designated as diseases:


Common Name

Scientific Name or Abbreviation

American foulbrood

Paenibacillus larvae

European foulbrood

Melissococcus plutonius

Nosema disease

Nosema apis

Sacbrood

 

Chalkbrood

Ascosphaera apis

American foulbrood resistant oxytet

rAFB


Designated pests

10   All of the following insects and parasites are designated as pests:


Common Name

Scientific Name or Abbreviation

Varroa mite

Varroa destructor

Varroa mite resistant fluvalinate

rVMf

Varroa mite resistant coumaphous

rVMc

Asian mite

Tropilaelaps clareae

Honey bee tracheal mite

Acarapis woodi

Small hive beetle

Aethina tumida

Africanized bees of the African races and hybrids of European and African races

Apis mellifera scutellata

Cape honey bee

Apis mellifera capensis

Asian honey bee

Apis cerana

Asian Nosema

Nosema ceranae

Asian giant hornet

Vespa mandarinia

Section 10 amended: O.I.C. 2012-213, N.S. Reg. 133/2012.


Reportable diseases

11   All of the following diseases and pests are designated as reportable diseases:


Common Name

Scientific Name or Abbreviation

Diseases:

American foulbrood

Paenibacillus larvae

American foulbrood resistant oxytet

rAFB

Pests:

Varroa mite resistant fluvalinate

rVMf

Varroa mite resistant coumaphous

rVMc

Asian mite

Tropilaelaps clareae

Honey bee tracheal mite

Acarapis woodi

Small hive beetle

Aethina tumida

Africanized bees of the African races and hybrids of European and African races

Apis mellifera scutellata

Cape honey bee

Apis mellifera capensis

Asian honey bee

Apis cerana

Asian Nosema

Nosema ceranae

Asian giant hornet

Vespa mandarinia

Section 11 amended: O.I.C. 2012-213, N.S. Reg. 133/2012.


Reporting diseases or pests

12   When notifying the Apiculturist of a reportable disease, as required by Section 16 of the Act, a beekeeper must specify all of the following about the reportable disease:

 

                (a)    the probable type of reportable disease found;

 

                (b)    when it was initially identified as a potential reportable disease;

 

                (c)    the location of the bees or beekeeping equipment affected by the reportable disease;

 

                (d)    any action taken by the beekeeper to address the situation as of the date of the notice.


Records

13   (1)    A beekeeper must keep all of the following records:

 

                (a)    a copy of the beekeeper’s certificate of registration;

 

                (b)    a copy of the form sent to the Apiculturist for registration;

 

                (c)    a list of all of the beekeeper’s apiary locations, specifying the civic address and geographic location in enough detail to locate each apiary on their land.

 

       (2)    A beekeeper who sells bees or beekeeping equipment must keep all of the following records for all bees and beekeeping equipment sold:

 

                (a)    the name and civic address of each person to whom they sell bees or beekeeping equipment;

 

                (b)    the BKCode for each beekeeper in the Province to whom they sell bees;

 

                (c)    the number of queen bees, queen cells, nuclei and colonies they sell;

 

                (d)    the shipment date for all bees or beekeeping equipment they sell;

 

                (e)    the apiary that bees or beekeeping equipment they sell came from;

 

                (f)    the destination that bees or beekeeping equipment were shipped to.

 

       (3)    A beekeeper must maintain the records required by subsections (1) and (2) for at least 2 years.