RULES AND REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE BEE AND BEE PRODUCTS ACT [Repealed eff. 05/30/2019]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Plant Industry Division

RULES AND REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF

THE BEE AND BEE PRODUCTS ACT - Repealed eff. 05/30/2019

8 CCR 1203-4

[Editor’s Notes follow the text of the rules at the end of this CCR Document.]

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Adopted April 11, 2019 – Effective May 30, 2019

Statutory Authority

The repeal of these Rules is proposed by the Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture

(“Department”) pursuant to her authority under § 35-25-105, C.R.S., of the Colorado Bee and Bee

Products Act.

Purpose

1.

The Colorado Bee Act and its Rules were adopted in 1963. Between 1963 and 1987, the

Department inspected beehives in Colorado to identify bee diseases and to prevent the spread of

those diseases from one apiary to another, requiring treatment or destruction of any diseased bee

hives.

2.

In the mid 1980s, the General Assembly mandated that the Department’s bee inspection

program, which had been state-funded via the tax payer/general fund, be self-funded via

registration/licensing fees paid by the owners of bee hives in Colorado. Given this change, the

Bee Advisory Committee began advocating for the decrease in registration fees almost

immediately. The Department discontinued routine bee inspections in 1987, and, by 1990, the

registration requirements had been repealed, essentially defunding the bee inspection program

and eliminating the Department’s responsibilities with respect to bee hive inspection and disease

control.

3.

As a part of the Departments Regulatory Efficiency Review Process between 2014 and 2017

CDA initiated stakeholder meetings with various beekeeping groups (i.e., the Colorado State

Beekeepers Association, the Colorado Professional Beekeepers Association, the Colorado

Commercial Beekeepers Association) and attended local bee club meetings to assess the need

for bee health regulation and the desire of the beekeeping community to be regulated in a self-

funded manner

etween 2014 and 2017

CDA initiated stakeholder meetings with various beekeeping groups (i.e., the Colorado State

Beekeepers Association, the Colorado Professional Beekeepers Association, the Colorado

Commercial Beekeepers Association) and attended local bee club meetings to assess the need

for bee health regulation and the desire of the beekeeping community to be regulated in a self-

funded manner. CDA learned through these meetings that the majority of the beekeeping

community did not want to be regulated by the Department, nor did it want to fund its own

regulatory program.

4.

Because the legislature determined that the bee inspection program should be self-funded, and

because the funding mechanism (i.e., registration and licensing fees) no longer exists, the

Department cannot engage in or mandate treatment and control of bee diseases and parasites.

5.

The most prevalent issue faced by beekeepers concerns the health of native and managed

pollinators. Based upon its meetings with members of the beekeeping community, both large and

small, the Department has determined that pollinator health can best be improved with proper

education regarding forage planting, pollinator nutrition, disease control, and proper bee

husbandry. A regulatory program is not a substitute for educational programming.

Code of Colorado Regulations

Secretary of State

State of Colorado

CODE OF COLORADO REGULATIONS

8 CCR 1203-4

Plant Industry Division

nd

small, the Department has determined that pollinator health can best be improved with proper

education regarding forage planting, pollinator nutrition, disease control, and proper bee

husbandry. A regulatory program is not a substitute for educational programming.

Code of Colorado Regulations

Secretary of State

State of Colorado

CODE OF COLORADO REGULATIONS

8 CCR 1203-4

Plant Industry Division

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6.

Pollinator health and bee husbandry is a crucial part of agriculture, and CDA will continue to

survey diseases, parasites, nutrition, and education of beekeepers in proper husbandry through

grant acquisitions in partnership with Colorado State University, University of Colorado, and the

federal Farm Bill.

7.

The repeal of these Rules does not and will not prevent beekeepers from working with the

legislature to re-establish a funding mechanism for a bee inspection and health program in the

future. In addition, should such a legislative change occur, the repeal of these Rules does not

affect the Department’s ability to promulgate new rules in the future.