District of Columbia Code
Subchapter II-A - Sustainable Urban Agriculture Apiculture
§ 8–1825.04. Responsibilities of beekeepers

(a) A colony kept in the District shall be registered annually with the Department.
(b) No person shall bring into the District a colony or portion of a colony, bees on combs, empty used combs, used hives, or other used apiary appliances without complying with the procedures established by the Department in accordance with this subchapter.
(c) A colony may not be established in a multi-unit building without written permission from the property manager or owner.
(d) A hive must be kept and maintained to prevent overcrowding and deter swarming according to procedures established by the Department through rulemaking.
(e) A beekeeper shall be responsible for the remediation of bee swarms and nuisance conditions. If a beekeeper fails to fulfill this obligation, the owner of the property on which a hive is located shall be responsible for remediating these conditions, and the beekeeper shall reimburse the property owner for the costs incurred by the remediation.
(Apr. 20, 2013, D.C. Law 19-262, § 214, 60 DCR 1300; Dec. 17, 2014, D.C. Law 20-142, § 411(c), 61 DCR 8045.)
The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-142 rewrote the section.
Applicability of D.C. Law 20-142: Section 502(h) of D.C. Law 20-142 provided that § 411 of the act shall apply as of December 17, 2014.

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