Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7503 – Inspection; quarantine; destruction of bees; appeal
For the enforcement of this chapter, the Department of Agriculture, the State Apiarist and the state bee inspectors may enter upon any public or private premises, and shall have access, ingress and egress to and from all apiaries or places where bees, bee equipment and appliances are kept, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any disease, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee exists therein. If any disease, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee exists in such apiaries, the State Apiarist or the bee inspector, subject to the approval of the Department of Agriculture, shall declare such apiaries to be each the center of a quarantine zone in the form of a circle 3 miles in radius, and shall prescribe suitable measures to be carried out for the eradication or control of the disease, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee. Whenever the owners of such apiaries fail or refuse to take such steps as may be prescribed by the State Apiarist or the bee inspector to control or eradicate any disease, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee from such apiaries, the State Apiarist may cause the affected bees, together with any infested or infected bee equipment or appliances, to be destroyed in such manner as may be deemed best, after first giving to the owner 5 days’ notice thereof in writing and an opportunity to be heard, and shall take such further steps as the State Apiarist may deem necessary to prevent the spread of the disease, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee. Any owner may, within 5 days of receipt of such notice, appeal from the decision of the State Apiarist to the Superior Court for the county in which such apiary, bee equipment or appliances are located, by filing therein a petition setting forth the facts and making the State Apiarist a party defendant. Appeals shall be heard and determined by the court as expeditiously as possible.
46 Del. Laws, c. 111, § ?3; 3 Del. C. 1953, § ?7503; 57 Del. Laws, c. 764, § ?26; 65 Del. Laws, c. 366, § ?3; 82 Del. Laws, c. 181, § 1;
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7503
- Apiary: means any place where one or more colonies of honey bees are kept. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Appliances: means any apparatus, tools, machine, or other device used in the handling of bees, honey, wax and hives, and includes smokers, veils, gloves, hive tools, extractors, as well as any container of bees, honey or wax which may be used in an apiary or in transporting bees and their products. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Bee equipment: means hives, supers, frames, sections, wax foundation, wax, comb and honey. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Bees: means any stage of development of the common honey bee, Apis mellifera, or of any other bee species being transported into Delaware for any purpose. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Control: means to curb or hold in check and includes, but is not limited to, abatement, containment, eradication, extermination or suppression. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Department: means the Delaware Department of Agriculture. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Eradication: means to burn or discard of bees, combs, and frames, or other equipment. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Exotic mite: means Tropilaelaps clarae, Varroa jacobsoni, Varroa rindereri, Varroa sinhai, Varroa wongsirii, or other non-endemic species. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Inspector: means any qualified person who is appointed by the Department for the purpose of inspecting honey bee colonies. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- Mite: means Acarapis woodi, Varroa destructor. See Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7501
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302