Bees Act [Chapter 19:02]

Chapter 19:02

Bees Act

Acts 54/1973, 19/1978 (s. 23), 45/1981, 20/1982, 8/1988, 22/2001 (s. 4); S.I 675/1979.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

PART I

PRELIMINARY Section

1. Short title.

PART II

CONTROL OFDISEASE

3. Declared disease areas.
4. Power to destroy diseased bees.
5. Hives, etc., liable to spread disease to be disinfected.
6. Notice to be given where bees diseased, etc.
7. Infected hives, appliances, honey, etc., not to be exposed to bees.
8. Power of inspector to prohibit removal of bees, etc., from place where diseased bees, etc., are kept.

PART III

CONSERVATION OF BEES FOUND IN THE WILD

9. Restriction on removal of bees, etc., found in natural hives.
10. Sale of honeycomb, etc., from natural hive controlled.

PART IV

BEE-KEEPING

11. Interpretation of terms in Part II.
12. Prohibited apiary sites.
13. Abandoned bees and hives.
14. Declaration of specified areas.
15. Bee-keeper may require occupiers to give notice of intention to use insecticides or herbicides.
16. Occupiers to give notice of use of insecticides or herbicides.
17. Unauthorized removal of bees, etc., from apiaries.

PART V

GENERAL

18. Declaration of diseases.
19. Appointment of appropriate authority.
20. Appointment of inspectors.
21. Powers of entry and inspection by inspectors.
23. Recovery of expense incurred by inspectors.
24. Court may order payment of compensation.
25. Honorary officers.
28. [Repealed].

AN ACT to provide for the control of disease in bees and the conservation of bees found in the wild; to regulate bee-keeping; and to provide for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing.

[Date of commencement: 1st March, 1974.]

PART I

PRELIMINARY

1    Short title

This Act may be cited as the Bees Act [Chapter 19:02].

                       2    Interpretation

In this Act—

“alienated land” means land which is not forest land, parks and wild life land or Communal Land, and which is—

• private land; or
• land vested in a local authority; or
• State land held under an agreement of purchase or lease;

“apiary” means a hive or the aggregate number of hives in use by a bee-keeper;

“apiculturist” means a person employed in the Public Service as an apiculturist;

“appliance’’ means any fitting, utensil, container, apparatus or implement, other than a hive, that is or has been used in bee-keeping or in handling or storing bees, honeycomb, bees-wax or honey or other products of a hive;

“appropriate authority”, in relation to any land, means— (a)     in the case of alienated land—

• the owner thereof; or
• where the land is held under an agreement of purchase or lease, the purchaser or lessee unless the agreement otherwise provides;

and includes any person appointed to be an appropriate authority for the land by such owner, purchaser or lessee, as the case may be;

(b)   in the case of unalienated land—

• which is parks and wild life land or other land not referred to in subparagraphs (ii) and (iii), the Director;
• which is forest land, the Forestry Commission;
• which is an area of Communal Land in respect of which the Minister has in terms of section nineteen appointed a rural district council to be the appropriate authority, that rural district council;
• which is an area of Communal Land not referred to in subparagraph (iii), the Minister;

“bee” means any honey-bee of the species Apis mellifera;

“bee-keeper” means any person who keeps bees;

“bees-wax” means raw bees-wax produced from bees by a bee-keeper but not bees-wax which has been commercially processed;

“conservation committee” means—

• a conservation committee appointed for an intensive conservation area in terms of the Natural Resources Act [Chapter 20:13]; or
• a rural district council declared to be a conservation committee in terms of the Rural District Councils Act [Chapter 29:13];

“declared disease area” means an area of land declared to be a declared disease area in terms of section three; “Director” means the Director of National Parks and Wild Life Management;

“disease” means—

• any disease affecting bees, honeycomb, bees-wax or honey which is caused by or consists of the presence of any insect, fungus, bacteria or virus;
• any disease or symptom affecting bees, honeycomb, bees-wax or honey which is declared to be a disease in terms of section eighteen;

“herbicide” means any substance which is manufactured for the purpose of killing non-woody plants and is to be applied, either dry or wet, mechanically under pressure;

“honorary officer” means a person appointed as an honorary officer in terms of section twenty-five;

“hive” means any receptacle housing bees or which has housed bees;

“insecticide” means any substance which is manufactured for the purpose of killing insects and is to be applied, either dry or wet, mechanically under pressure;

“inspector” means any person designated as an inspector in terms of section twenty;

“local authority” means a municipal council, town council, local board or rural district council;

“Minister” means the Minister of Environment and Tourism or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time to time, assign the administration of this Act;

“natural hive” means a hive occurring naturally in the wild which is occupied by bees;

“occupier”, in relation to land, means the person in lawful occupation of the land who has the right to exercise general control over such land and resides thereon;

“sell” includes barter, exchange, hawk, offer or expose for sale;

“State land” means land vested in the President other than Communal Land;

“unalienated land” means—

• forest land; or
• parks and wild life land; or
• Communal Land; or
• other land which is not referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) or (c) and which is not — (i) private land; or
  • land vested in a local authority; or
  • State land held under an agreement of purchase or lease. PART II

CONTROL OFDISEASE

                       3    Declared disease area

(1) The Minister may, by statutory instrument —

• declare any area in which any disease exists to be a declared disease area;
• prohibit, either absolutely or subject to conditions, the sending or bringing of bees or appliances into any declared disease area, or the sending or removal from a declared disease area into any other area of bees, hives, honeycomb, bees-wax, honey or appliances;
• require bee-keepers within a declared disease area to register in the prescribed form and manner.
• The Minister may, by statutory instrument, amend or revoke any notice made in terms of subsection (1).
• Any person who contravenes any provision of a notice made in terms of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level five or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

[Subsection amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001]

                       4    Power to destroy diseased bees

• If an apiculturist certifies to the Minister in writing that any bees are diseased and, in his opinion, are a source of danger to other bees and ought to be destroyed, the Minister may, by order in writing, direct the bee-keeper of those bees to destroy them in such manner and within such period as may be specified in the order.
• If a person to whom an order in terms of subsection (1) has been given fails to destroy the bees concerned in compliance with such order, an inspector may destroy the bees on behalf of and at the expense of the bee-keeper of the bees.
• Any person who fails to comply with an order given to him in terms of subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

[Subsection amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001]

                       5    Hives, etc., liable to spread disease to be disinfected

• Where an inspector is of the opinion that any hive, honeycomb, bees-wax, honey or appliance or any other article or vehicle which is or has been used in connection with bee-keeping is liable to spread disease, he may, by order in writing, direct the person in charge thereof to clean and disinfect the thing concerned in such manner and within such period as may be specified in the order.
• If an apiculturist certifies to the Minister in writing that any thing, other than a vehicle, mentioned in subsection (1) is, in his opinion, a source of danger to other bees and ought to be destroyed, the Minister may, by order in writing, direct the person in charge of such thing to destroy it in such manner and within such period as may be specified in the order.
• If a person to whom an order in terms of subsection (1) or (2) has been given fails to comply with such order, an inspector may disinfect or destroy the thing concerned in accordance with the order on behalf of and at the expense of the person in charge of the thing.
• Any person who fails to comply with an order given to him in terms of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

[Subsection amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001]

6     Notice to be given where bees diseased, etc.

• Where, in any place where bees are kept, any bees are diseased or any hive in such place is infected with disease, the bee-keeper of the bees or person in charge of the bees or hive shall give notice of the fact in the prescribed form and manner to an apiculturist forthwith upon discovering such fact.
• No bee-keeper of any bees or person in charge of any bees, hive, honeycomb, bees-wax or appliance shall remove, sell, give away or otherwise deal with the bees, hive, honeycomb, bees-wax, honey or appliance from any place which is affected by or liable to spread a disease except to dispose of the bees, hive, honeycomb, bees-wax or appliance in a manner approved of by an inspector.
• Any person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level six or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

[Subsection amended by section 4 of Act 22 of 2001]