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The Florida Senate

2011 Florida Statutes

Title XXXV AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND ANIMAL INDUSTRY
Chapter 586 HONEY CERTIFICATION AND HONEYBEES Entire Chapter
SECTION 10
Powers and duties of department.
F.S. 586.10
586.10 Powers and duties of department.—The department shall have the powers and duties to:
(1) Administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Promulgate rules necessary to the enforcement of this chapter.
(3) Promulgate rules relating to standard grades for honey and other honeybee products.
(4) Enter upon any public or private premise or carrier during regular business hours for the purpose of inspection, quarantine, destruction, or treatment of honeybees, used beekeeping equipment, unwanted races of honeybees, or regulated articles.
(5) Declare a honeybee pest or unwanted race of honeybees to be a nuisance to the beekeeping industry as well as any honeybee or other article infested or infected therewith or that has been exposed to infestation or infection in a manner believed likely to communicate the infection or infestation.
(6) Declare a quarantine against any area, place, or political unit within this state or other states, territories, or foreign countries, or portion thereof, in reference to honeybee pests or unwanted races of honeybees and prohibit the movement within this state from other states, territories, or foreign countries of all honeybees, honeybee products, used beekeeping equipment, or other articles from such quarantined places or areas which are likely to carry honeybee pests or unwanted races of honeybees if the quarantine is determined, after due investigation, to be necessary in order to protect this state’s beekeeping industry, honeybees, and the public. In such cases, the quarantine may be made absolute or rules may be adopted prescribing the method and manner under which the prohibited articles may be moved into or within, sold in, or otherwise disposed of in this state.
(7) Enter into cooperative arrangements with any person, municipality, county, or other department of this state or any agency, officer, or authority of other states or the United States Government, including the United States Department of Agriculture, for inspection of honeybees, honeybee pests, or unwanted races of honeybees and products thereof and the control or eradication of honeybee pests and unwanted races of honeybees, and contribute a share of the expenses incurred under such arrangements.
(8) Carry on investigations of methods of control, eradication, and prevention of dissemination of honeybee pests or unwanted races of honeybees.
(9) Inspect or cause to be inspected all apiaries in the state at such intervals as it may deem best and to keep a complete, accurate, and current list of all inspected apiaries to include the:
(a) Name of the apiary.
(b) Name of the owner of the apiary.
(c) Mailing address of the apiary owner.
(d) Location of the apiary.
(e) Number of hives in the apiary.
(f) Pest problems associated with the apiary.
(g) Brands used by beekeepers where applicable.
(10) Collect or accept from other agencies or individuals specimens of arthropods, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, or other organisms for identification.
(11) Confiscate, destroy, or make use of abandoned beehives or beekeeping equipment.
(12) Require the identification of ownership of apiaries.
(13) Enter into a compliance agreement with any person engaged in purchasing, assembling, exchanging, processing, utilizing, treating, or moving beekeeping equipment or honeybees.
(14) Make and issue to beekeepers certificates of registration and inspection, following proper inspection and certification of their honeybee colonies.
(15) If the department determines that a beekeeper or honeybee product processor is selling or offering for sale or is distributing or offering to distribute honeybees, honeybee products, or beekeeping equipment in violation of this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter, or has aided or abetted in the violation, the department may revoke or suspend her or his certificate of inspection or the use of any certificate or permit issued by the department.
(16) The department may refuse the certification of any honeybees, honeybee products, or beekeeping equipment when it is determined that an unwanted race of honeybees exists, or honeybee pests exist on honeybees, honeybee products, or beekeeping equipment, or that the condition of the apiary inhibits a thorough and efficient inspection by the department.
(17) The department is authorized to conduct, supervise, or cause the fumigation, destruction, or treatment of honeybees, including unwanted races of honeybees, honeybee products, and used beekeeping equipment or other articles infested or infected by honeybee pests or unwanted races of honeybees or so exposed to infection or infestation that it is reasonably believed that infection or infestation could exist.
(18) The department may require the removal from this state of any honeybees or beekeeping equipment which has been brought into the state in violation of this chapter or the rules adopted under this chapter.
History.—s. 1, ch. 61-415; ss. 14, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 7, ch. 86-62; s. 2, ch. 87-17; s. 3, ch. 89-56; s. 71, ch. 93-169; s. 941, ch. 97-103.