(1) In addition to the required registration of bees,
beekeepers may certify bees according to the following procedure:
(a) All requests for official certification
shall be made on forms provided by the committee.
(b) All certification fees shall be transmitted
within 10 days after the official sampling has been completed.
(c) Any
person owning or possessing bees within Montana who desires to apply for
certification shall do so on or before April 1, and arrange a date for sampling
of said lot(s) of bees.
(d) Each
person requesting certification shall pay a certification fee of $30 per
sample. Each person shall also pay per diem and mileage charges as established
in Title 2, ch. 18, part 5, MCA for state employees and a sampling fee of $10
per hour during the time the department employee is collecting
the
certification samples including travel time.
(e) The certification fee shall provide
laboratory services for the determination of pathogens, parasites, predators,
nest destroyers, and live larvae count. Additional laboratory services may be
provided upon request based on appropriate fee schedules.
(f) A beekeeper may deliver entire lots of
leafcutting bees to an inspector to be officially sampled for certification
purposes.
(g) Parasites and pathogens that bees are to specifically be examined for
are:
(i) Parasites:
(A) Minute chalcid (Telrastichus megachi) ,
(B) Sapyga wasp (Sapyga pumila) ,
(C) Canadian chalcid (Pteromalus venustus) ,
(D) Imported chalcid (Monodontomerus obscurus) .
(ii) Pathogens:
(A) Alfalfa leafcutting bee chalkbrood (Ascosphaera sp.) .
(h) Reported parasites and pathogens
infestation levels apply to the levels found in the official laboratory sample
only, and makes no representation as to the lot from which the sample was collected.