Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7502 – State Apiarist and inspectors; appointment, duties and powers
(a) The Department of Agriculture shall appoint a competent State Apiarist, who shall have adequate experience in practical beekeeping, and who shall work under the supervision of the Department.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 3 Sec. 7502
- 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
- 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
- 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
(b) The State Apiarist shall promote the science of beekeeping by educational and other means, and shall inspect or cause to be inspected apiaries, bees and beekeeping equipment and appliances within the State.
(c) [Repealed.]
(d) Upon the written request of 1 or more beekeepers in any county of the State, the State Apiarist or the inspector shall within a reasonable time examine the bees in that locality suspected of being infested or infected with any bee disease, mite, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee, and if the bees are found to be infested or infected, the State Apiarist or inspector shall cause suitable approved measures to be taken for the eradication or control of the disease, mite, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee.
(e) The State Apiarist or the inspectors shall examine bees and known apiaries in the State, and if any are found to be infested or infected by a disease, mite, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee, the State Apiarist shall cause suitable approved steps to be taken for eradication or control of the disease, mite, exotic mite or Africanized honey bee.
46 Del. Laws, c. 111, § ?2; 3 Del. C. 1953, § ?7502; 57 Del. Laws, c. 764, § ?26; 65 Del. Laws, c. 366, § ?2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 82 Del. Laws, c. 181, § 1;