§ 173-C — Cooperative honey bee health improvement program

§ 173-c. Cooperative honey bee health improvement program. 1. In\nsupport of the duties outlined in this article, as well as the goals and\nobjectives for pollinator protection; the commissioner shall create a\ncooperative honey bee health improvement program which will require\nthat:\n (a) All beekeepers shall provide to the commissioner the number of\nmanaged colonies; the county in which each of these colonies is located;\nand current contact information of the individual or individuals\nresponsible for the care of these bees. All beekeepers shall also\nindicate whether they intend to sell nucleus colonies. This information\nshall be updated and provided to the commissioner on an annual basis.\n (b) The department shall use this information to communicate the\nincidence of infectious diseases and parasites at the county level to\nbeekeepers and bee clubs and to notify beekeepers of the potential need\nfor the department to prohibit the movement or selling of diseased or\ninfested bees or require the destruction of such bees. The department\nshall also use this information to establish the boundaries of disease\nand parasite infestations in the area surrounding a confirmed disease or\nparasite infestation.\n (c) Any individual or business that intends to sell nucs or queens\nproduced within and offered for sale to other persons in New York must\nfirst have an inspection of its apiaries, as authorized by section one\nhundred seventy-three-b of this article, by the department which\ninspections shall continue on an annual basis, so long as nucs or queens\nare offered for sale. These inspections shall ascertain whether such\nbeekeeper's apiaries are free from American Foulbrood and whether levels\nof other infectious diseases and parasites in the operation render the\nnucs or queens unfit for sale. Any individual or business whose nucs or\nqueen rearing colonies are found to be infested with American Foulbrood,\nafter laboratory confirmation, shall be prohibited from selling nucs and\nqueens until the affected apiaries are reinspected and found to be free\nfrom American Foulbrood. If upon re-inspection, symptoms of American\nFoulbrood are found to persist, the prohibition from selling nucs and\nqueens shall continue, and the department shall take samples for\nlaboratory testing for the continued presence of American Foulbrood.\nShould the laboratory test results show the samples free from American\nFoulbrood, the department shall promptly notify the individual or\nbusiness of the test results and the termination of the prohibition of\nthe sale of nucs and queens.\n (d) No person shall knowingly transport, move, buy, sell, possess,\nbarter, offer for sale or barter, deliver, or offer for transportation\nany species or subspecies of bees which have been determined by the\ncommissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to the public\nhealth or welfare or to this state's managed bee population, crops, or\nother plants; provided, however, that the commissioner may, at his or\nher discretion, exempt the transportation, sale, possession, movement,\nor delivery of such bees used for scientific or educational purposes\nunder such safeguards as deemed necessary by the commissioner.\n (e) Every shipment of live bees in cages or packages without comb into\nthis state from another state or foreign country, shall be accompanied\nby a permit issued by the commissioner, or by a certificate of freedom\nfrom disease executed by an official of such state or foreign country\nrecognized by the commissioner.\n (f) Every shipment of a colony of bees, used brood comb, used\nbeekeeping equipment, or live bees on comb into this state from another\nstate or foreign country, shall be accompanied by a permit issued by the\ncommissioner or by a certificate of freedom from diseases and parasitic\norganisms adversely affecting bees and from species or subspecies of\nbees which have been determined by the commissioner to cause injury\ndirectly or indirectly, to the public safety or to the state's managed\nbee population, crops, or other plants; and certifying that a proper\ninspection was made not earlier than sixty days preceding the date of\nshipment. Such certificate shall be executed by the certifying official\nof such state or foreign country. A duplicate of such certificate must\nbe received by the department before any such shipment enters the state.\nEvery transportation company that knowingly receives such shipment shall\nimmediately notify the commissioner thereof, giving the name and address\nof the consignor or consignee.\n 2. The goals of the cooperative honey bee health improvement program\nshall be to:\n (a) document the health of the state's managed pollinator population,\nincluding the presence of parasites, diseases, and environmental threats\nto the state's population of managed pollinators;\n (b) provide information on honey bee health to beekeepers,\nstakeholders and academia to inform research and best management\npractices related to pollinator health;\n (c) document the annual population of managed pollinators in each\ncounty within New York state; and\n (d) collect contact information for each beekeeper to allow for better\ncommunication among the department and beekeepers relating to the\nincidence of parasites, disease and other health threats that could be\ntransmitted within the flight range of managed pollinators.\n 3. There shall be no fee or other registration cost for participation\nin the cooperative honey bee health improvement program.\n 4. A beekeeper required to submit information to the commissioner\npursuant to this section may request that such information be exempted\nfrom disclosure pursuant to subdivision five of section eighty-nine of\nthe public officers law.\n