(a) Every beekeeper owning one (1) or more colonies of bees shall register each apiary location by January 1, 1996, and every three (3) years thereafter. Upon establishment of a new apiary location, it is the duty of the owners or operators of the apiary to register the new locations within thirty (30) days. Any person, firm, or corporation moving bees into the state shall register all apiary locations within thirty (30) days from the date of the establishment of each apiary.

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 44-15-105

  • Apiary: means a collection of one (1) or more colonies of bees in beehives at a location. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
  • 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. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • 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. See Tennessee Code 44-15-102
(b) If an unregistered apiary is found, the state apiarist or any apiary inspector shall make a reasonable effort to locate the owner of the bees and notify the beekeeper by means of a registered letter of the registration requirements and the consequences of noncompliance.
(c) The state apiarist shall issue to each beekeeper with one (1) or more registered apiaries a unique registration number that will be used for apiary identification purposes.