Got a beehive? Join the club
Here are some good reasons to register your beehive with the state. No apiary is too big or too small to be registered.
- You’ll get up-to-date info on diseases, advice and knowledge. Learn to be safer with your hives. Often people don’t realize they are doing things that destroy hives
- The information your hive provides (through inspections, hive testing, and your feedback,) helps the entire apiary community.
- Hive inspection and testing are FREE, and have many benefits such as keeping your hive healthy, keeping the local pollinator populations healthy, and educating you. You might learn something new. Did you know that many backyard beekeepers who think they are educated well enough actually do things that harm their hive?
- You can request an inspection from either the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food or your county bee inspector.
- The licensing fees, paid annually, are based on the number of hives you have. It costs $10 to register 0 – 20 hives. Licensing your hives benefits you, your beekeeping community and the wild pollinators —but it isn’t mandatory. If you try it one year and decide not to register the next, you don’t have to.
— Anna Zumwald
To register, get other valuable beekeeping information, and to sign up for alerts and reports, go to: http://ag.utah.gov/plants-pests/beekeeping.html