§ 32 — Inspection and control of bees; chief apiary inspector; duties; preparation and distribution of literature on bee culture

Section 32. There shall be within the department a full-time chief apiary inspector to perform the duties of the department relative to a program for the inspection and control of bees, as provided in sections thirty-two through thirty-eight, inclusive. Subject to appropriation, the apiary inspector shall have a staff to perform said duties. With the approval of the commissioner, the inspector of apiaries shall prepare and distribute from time to time such literature upon the subject of bee culture as he deems advisable, shall make or cause to be made through his assistants such inspection of the bee colonies and beekeeping equipment throughout the commonwealth as is necessary to discover and suppress all bee diseases of a contagious or infectious nature inclusive of virus, fungus, bacterial or animal parasite and for this public purpose may require by regulation the registration of all bee colonies kept within the commonwealth and their location by the owners or caretakers thereof, the fee for which shall be determined by the secretary of administration and finance, which in no case shall exceed five dollars per registrant, regardless of the number of colonies so registered by him. The commissioner may make and issue reasonable regulations for carrying out this and sections thirty-three to thirty-eight, inclusive.