Kansas Beekeeping Has No State Registration Mandate

Kansas runs no statewide apiary program. The former Article 4 bee law (K.S.A. 2-401 through 2-428) is entirely repealed, so there is no mandatory foulbrood inspection, no hive registration, and no import permit for honeybees. Instead, bees and beekeeping equipment are treated as regulated articles under the Plant Pest and Agriculture Commodity Certification Act (K.S.A. 2-2112 et seq.), administered by the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Under K.S.A. 2-2118 the secretary of agriculture provides inspection and certification of bees only 'upon request', chiefly for beekeepers who need paperwork to ship bees out of state, charging a fee that 'shall not exceed $45 per hour' plus mileage.

Voluntary inspection leaves little to violate, but obstructing the secretary or breaching a quarantine issued under the act is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $25 to $500 (K.S.A. 2-2125).