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 Virginia Administrative Code (Last Updated: January 10, 2017)
 Title 2. Agriculture
 Agency 5. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
 Chapter 319. Best Management Practices for the Operation of Apiaries in Order to Limitoperator Liability

Section 10. Definitions  

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  • The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

    "Apiary" means any place where one or more colonies of bees are kept.

    "Apiary operator" means a person who operates an apiary and seeks to limit his liability for any personal injury or property damage that occurs in connection with his keeping and maintaining of bees, bee equipment, queen breeding equipment, apiaries, or appliances as provided for in § 3.2-4411.1 of the Code of Virginia.

    "Bee" means the honey bee, Apis mellifera and genetic variations thereof, at any living stage and may include other hymenopterous insects that depend on pollen and nectar for food.

    "Bee equipment" means hives; hive parts, including frames, supers, covers, and bottom boards; and beekeeping apparel.

    "Colony" means a queenright assemblage of social bees capable of reproducing.

    "Comb" means a mass of six-sided cells used by honey bees in which brood is reared and honey and pollen are stored.

    "Disease" means departure from a sound state of health of bees characterized by visible symptoms including American foulbrood and any other diseases, insects, mites, or bee pests.

    "Division" means to separate a bee colony into two or more hives.

    "EHB" mean European honey bees.

    "Foundation" means a template, base, or midrib used for the production of straight, movable comb in a frame.

    "Frame" means a wooden or plastic form, usually consisting of four sides, designed to hold comb spaced between 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch apart and to allow for removal of the frame without damage to the comb.

    "Hive" means a box, skep, barrel, log gum, or other container used as a domicile for bees.

    "Split" means a division of a bee colony for the purposes of increasing the number of hives.

    "Swarm" or "swarming" means a form of propagation of bees in which all or a portion of a colony, usually containing at least one queen, departs from its original hive to establish a new colony.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 33, Issue 02, eff. August 31, 2016.

Statutory Authority

§ 3.2-4411.1 of the Code of Virginia.