Yuba County Municipal Code Ch. 6.28 Acarine Mite Quarantine

For the purpose of this Chapter, the following words, names and terms shall be construed respectively to mean:

(1) Acarine mite means a parasite, known also as Acarapis woodi, an internal parasite of honeybees which is also known to cause acarine disease.

(2) Commissioner means the Agricultural Commissioner of the County of Yuba, State of California.

(3) Depopulated means the killing of all honeybees within a bee colony.

(4) Honeybee means bee colonies, packaged bees, and queen bees of the species Apis mellifera and any comb, used hives, and any other appliance used in association with bees except those free of live bees for seven days or longer immediately prior to entry into Yuba County.

(Prior Code, § 6.28.010; Ord. No. 974)

Except as provided in Section 6.28.030, the shipment of bees into Yuba County is prohibited.

(Prior Code, § 6.28.020; Ord. No. 974)

Shipments of bees may enter into and remain in Yuba County provided that they are accompanied by a certificate, issued by an appropriate Agricultural Official at origin of shipment verifying that:

(1) The origin county or state conducts an annual survey for acarine mite at the level of the 1985-86 California Survey for acarine mite, and that based on the latest survey results, acarine mite is not known to occur in the origin county or state; or

(2) The shipment of honeybees, within 30 days prior to entry into Yuba County was sampled and certified by an appropriate Agricultural Official as free of acarine mite, by collecting, dissecting, and examination of at least 75 bees from each 100 colonies, or if the shipment consists of less than 100 colonies, at least 75 bees have been so examined. Dissecting and examination shall be performed by a facility approved for this purpose by the California Department of Food and Agriculture; or

(3) Any shipment of bees arriving in California from another state that has not received origin certification must meet conditions of "(2)" above prior to entering Yuba County.

(Prior Code, § 6.28.030; Ord. No. 974)

The Commissioner shall be immediately notified of the arrival, in Yuba County of any shipment of honeybees whose origin is outside of Yuba County, which honeybees shall be held for inspection by the Commissioner for compliance with Section 6.28.030 or otherwise found free of acarine mite. The Commissioner may sample such shipments in the manner prescribed in Section 6.28.030(2) and if any such shipments are found infested with acarine mite, such shipments shall be removed from Yuba County by the owner or shipper at his or her expense. Such removal must be within 48 hours of the issuance by the Commissioner of a written notice to so remove said bees. Any bees which are not removed from Yuba County pursuant to such written notice shall be depopulated under the supervision of the Commissioner.

(Prior Code, § 6.28.040; Ord. No. 974)

The Commissioner shall charge fees for the inspection or depopulation of any bees covered by this Chapter. The cost of said fees to be borne by the owner or operator of such bees. The fees charged shall be in accordance with Yuba County Ordinance Code Chapter 6.27.

(Prior Code, § 6.28.050; Ord. No. 974)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision or portion of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or provisions of this Chapter or their applicability to distinguishable situations or circumstances. In enacting this Chapter, it is the desire of the Board of Supervisors to validly regulate to the full measure of its legal authority in the public interest, and to that end, the Board of Supervisors declares that it would have adopted this Chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, provision, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases or portions thereof might be declared invalid or unconstitutional in whole or in part, as applied to any particular situation or circumstances, and to this end the provisions of this Chapter are intended to be severable.

State Law reference— Similar provisions, Government Code § 23.