The State Entomologist shall, to such extent as he or she deems necessary or expedient, examine apiaries and quarantine such as are diseased, harboring insects, mites or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees or species or subspecies of bees, which have been determined by the State Entomologist to cause harm, directly or indirectly, to the bee population, crops or other plants and treat or destroy cases of the disease known as foul brood, insects, mites or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees or species or subspecies of bees, which have been determined by the State Entomologist to cause harm, directly or indirectly, to the bee population, crops or other plants. The State Entomologist may appoint such inspectors as he or she deems necessary or expedient, and he or she or any person whom he or she appoints for that purpose shall have access at reasonable times to any apiary or place where bees are kept or where honeycomb and appliances are stored. Any person appointed for such purpose shall possess all the qualifications for an Agricultural Research Technician II employed by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and have either five or more years of beekeeping experience or a minimum of three years of experience as a bee inspector at the federal or state level. The State Entomologist is authorized to make suitable regulations regarding inspections and quarantine and to prescribe suitable forms for permanent records, which shall be on file and open to public inspection, and to make reasonable rules for the services of such inspectors, and may pay a reasonable sum for such services. No person or corporation shall remove bees under quarantine to another locality without obtaining the written permission of an authorized inspector. No person or transportation company shall receive for transportation any colony or package of bees, unless such colony or package is accompanied by a certificate of good health, furnished by an authorized inspector. No person or transportation company shall deliver any colony or package of bees brought from any other country, province, state or territory unless accompanied by a certificate of health furnished by an authorized inspector of such country, province, state or territory. Any person or transportation company receiving a shipment of bees from without the state, unaccompanied by such certificate, shall, before delivering such shipment to its consignee, notify the State Entomologist and hold such shipment until inspected by an authorized inspector. If contagious diseases, insects, mites or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees or species or subspecies of bees, which have been determined by the State Entomologist to cause harm, directly or indirectly, to the bee population, crops or other plants are found therein, such shipment shall be returned to the consignor or delivered to an authorized inspector of this state for treatment or destruction, provided the requirements of this section shall not apply to shipments of brood comb, with or without bees, suspected of being diseased and consigned to the State Entomologist, the agricultural experiment station or any authorized apiary inspector of the state or to the Bureau of Entomology of the United States or the United States Department of Agriculture, and provided there shall be no destruction of any shipment of bees as herein provided in the absence of reasonable notice to the consignee thereof. No person shall resist or hinder the State Entomologist, or any inspector whom he or she appoints, in the performance of the duties imposed by this section. No person or corporation shall sell, to be removed to another location, bees, brood comb, frames or hives that have been in use, with or without combs, until they have been inspected by an authorized inspector, who shall issue a certificate of health if they are found free of contagious disease, insects, mites or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees or species or subspecies of bees, which have been determined by the State Entomologist to cause harm, directly or indirectly, to the bee population, crops or other plants. Any person violating any provision of this section shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars for a first violation, three hundred dollars for a second violation and five hundred dollars for a third and any subsequent violation.

(1949 Rev., S. 3257; 1949, S. 1774d; P.A. 16-17, S. 15; P.A. 17-21, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 16-17 added provision re qualifications for person appointed for purpose of conducting inspections, and made technical changes, effective May 6, 2016; P.A. 17-21 added provisions re examination of apiaries for presence of insects, mites or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees or species or subspecies of bees, which have been determined by State Entomologist to cause harm to bee population, crops or other plants and replaced provision re fine of not more than $50 for violation with provisions re fine of not more than $100 for first violation, $300 for second violation and $500 for a third and subsequent violation, effective June 6, 2017.