(1) “Abandoned apiaries” means an apiary that has not been subjected to at least the minimal beekeeping practices necessary to maintain the bees in a healthy, productive, and safe condition so that the honeybees and beekeepers in surrounding areas will not be adversely affected;

(2) “Advisory committee” or “ATAC” means the apicultural technical advisory committee that is established pursuant to this chapter;

(3) “Apiary” means a collection of one (1) or more colonies of bees in beehives at a location. A building or room in a building is considered to be the location of an apiary only if one (1) or more beehives containing colonies of honeybees are housed within that building;

(4) “Apiary inspectors” means those persons with relevant qualifications and beekeeping training who are employed by or working under contract with the department of agriculture for the purpose of implementing regulatory programs as directed by the state apiarist;

(5) “Appliances” means any apparatus, tools, machines or other devices used in handling and manipulating bees, honey, and wax that may be used in an apiary, or in transporting bees and their products and apiary supplies;

(6) “Bee disease or pest” means a condition in which a colony is infested/infected with a bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic condition or an organism that can or will affect the well-being of a colony;

(7) “Beekeeper” means any individual, association, corporation, or other entity who deliberately provides nesting sites for colonies of honeybees and attempts to establish and maintain colonies of honeybees at any location;

(8) “Bees” or “honeybees” means any developmental stage of any sub- species of the species Apis mellifem;

(9) “Certification” means a voluntary training program approved by the department that when successfully completed authorizes the beekeeper to detect, identify, and control regulated bee diseases and pests in colonies under the management of that beekeeper;

(10) “Certified beekeeper” means any person who has successfully met the requirements of a voluntary certification program for beekeepers as approved by the state apiarist;

(11) “Colony” means all of the bees living together as one (1) social unit and may include the bee equipment in which the bees are living;

(12) “Commissioner” means the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designated agent;

(13) “Department” means the Tennessee department of agriculture;

(14) “Feral bees” means those honeybees not kept in a beehive provided by a beekeeper and whose nest sites are usually located in a cavity within a tree or a building;

(15) “Hive” or “beehive” means that container or structure used by a beekeeper to provide a cavity in which a colony of bees is expected to establish a permanent nest;

(16) “Registered apiary” means an apiary location that has been properly registered with the department as required by this chapter;

(17) “Registered beekeeper” means a beekeeper whose apiaries are properly registered with the department;

(18) “Regulated bee disease” or “regulated pest” means a bee disease or pest that presents a significant threat to the population of honeybees and for which regulatory actions can be taken to mitigate that threat; and

(19) “State apiarist” means that person employed by the department who has the qualifications prescribed by this chapter and has been designated as state apiarist by the commissioner.