MN HF3077

Reestablishes apiary registration and inspection program under Minnesota Department of Agriculture with authority to inspect apiaries, enforce sanitary conditions, and prevent spread of bee diseases and parasites.

Requires beekeepers to register colonies annually by April 15 with a $10 fee and mandates entry permits for importing bees or used bee equipment, with compliance agreements based on honeybee certification standards.

Authorizes commissioner to quarantine infected apiaries, destroy diseased bees or equipment as public nuisances, and take possession of abandoned apiaries after 20-day notice to owners.

Prohibits beekeepers from using Africanized honeybees and prohibits honey-containing candy in queen bee mailing cages; violators subject to misdemeanor penalties and administrative fines.

Designates Minnesota Zoo as official state pollinator bank and appropriates $100,000 in fiscal year 2015 to study expansion of Prairie Butterfly Conservation Program to other beneficial pollinators.