Legislation Affecting Beekeepers

Apiaries Act 1969

This act exists to protect and encourage beekeeping in New Zealand. It requires the registration of apiaries, regulates the control of bee diseases, and contains provisions relating to other aspects of beekeeping enterprise.

Registration of apiaries - all places where bees are kept must be registered with MAF. Apiaries must be identified with a code number allocated to the beekeeper.
Diseases - the most important bee disease present in New Zealand is American foulbrood (AFB), caused by the bacterium Bacillus larvae.
Beekeepers' responsibilities relating to AFB include immediate notification to MAF when the disease is found in a hive, and the taking of prompt steps to eradicate the disease and prevent its spread. For most beekeepers this means burning all bees, combs, honey and hive equipment, and burying the remains. Beekeepers with adequate plant and experience may be granted a dispensation to salvage and sterilize some hive parts by placing them in paraffin wax at 160 degrees C for 10 minutes. Combs, however, must be burned.
Feeding antibiotics to prevent or treat American foulbrood is illegal in New Zealand.
The Apiaries Act also contains provisions for eradicating or controlling exotic diseases and pests. These threats to the New Zealand beekeeping industry are discussed in more detail in Appendix 6.
Importing bees, bee products and appliances - As a safeguard against the introduction of exotic bee diseases and pests, the Apiaries Act restricts the importation of honey, bee products, used beekeeping appliances, and live bees. No one may import any of these items without the permission of the Minister of Agriculture. Detailed importation restrictions and permit requirements can be obtained from MAF's National Manager - Apiculture (see Appendix 7 for address).
Currently, MAF's agricultural quarantine service seizes over 2000 containers of honey each year from passengers entering New Zealand. Any prohibited bee product poses a real threat to the New Zealand beekeeping industry.

Biosecurity Act 1993

This act is an omnibus piece of legislation with the purpose of reforming the law relating to the exclusion, eradication, and effective management of pests and unwanted organisms. It retains most aspects of the Apiaries Act 1969 for the meantime, and provides the legal means for the beekeeping industry to create a Pest Management Strategy for any particular disease or pest the industry wishes to eradicate or control.

The act gives the industry the means to determine an effective management strategy, and also allows the industry to levy its members to pay for the management programme. Most provisions of the Apiaries Act relating to control of American foulbrood and various exotic bee diseases will be repealed by the Biosecurity Act in 1996, unless a Pest Management Strategy for each disease is approved by the Minister of Agriculture.

Hive Levy Act 1978

This act provides the legislative means for the beekeeping industry to fund the services provided by the National Beekeepers' Association. According to the Act, any beekeepers owning 50 hives or more must pay to the NBA an annual levy set by the Minister of Agriculture. The levy is used to assist in the promotion, development and improvement of the beekeeping industry, and is collected on the basis of a hive ownership declaration made by each beekeeper.

Commodity Levies Act 1991

This act will supersede the Hive Levy Act in 1996, and will require the National Beekeepers' Association to make levy applications to the Minister of Agriculture if it wishes to continue to fund industry activities on a beekeeper payment basis. The act requires that such applications show that there has been consultation with all parties affected and that a majority of those affected support the levy.

Pesticides Regulations 1983

The indiscriminate use of insecticides can kill a whole range of insects over a wide area. The result is often the loss of significant numbers of pollinating honey bees and financial losses to both beekeepers and horticulturalists alike. The Pesticides Regulations 1983 require any insecticide that is poisonous to bees to carry the label instruction "toxic to bees", followed by conditions for use. These instructions form part of the regulation, and penalties are available if improper use can be proved.

Food Hygiene Regulations 1974

The extraction, processing and packing of honey must be carried out in premises that are registered under the Food Hygiene Regulations. The regulations are administered by local authority health inspectors.

Food Act 1981, Medicines Act 1981

These laws establish minimum standards for the labelling and chemical compositions of foods products (including honey), and restrict claims which can be made for therapeutic properties of products (including honey and other bee products).

NZ Beekeeping Profile: Table of Contents

NZ Beekeeping: Appendices

Home NZ Bkpg Bee Diseases Organisation Information Contacts