Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens), shipped to California, now require the importer to obtain a permit from the state’s food and agricultural department. This isn’t necessarily a new ruling, but it is new to us. Being east coasters we don’t sell many bumblebees in the western states, so this was just brought to our attention. Two things were brought to our attention, actually. Not only is a permit required, but bumblebees can only be used in greenhouses in California.
Permit Conditions
The full conditions of the permit, as provided by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), are as follows:
- Movement of Bombus impatiens into California is approved for greenhouse use only for pollination and there shall be no intentional release of these bumblebees, other than worker bumblebees, from the containment hive at any time.
- The greenhouse shall be adequately constructed and screened to provide containment and prevent the escape of all bumblebees.
- The Bombus impatiens shall be shipped in sturdy containment hives with effective queen excluders.
- The permittee shall not allow further distribution of the Bombus impatiens without a permit for that purpose issued by this office.
- The permittee shall destroy the hives after use in one of the following manners prior to disposal:
- Complete immersion for a minimum of two minutes in water containing a surfactant, such as detergent.
- Freezing.
- The permittee shall also provide written notification to this office and the local County Agricultural Commissioner when the hives have been destroyed. Failure to provide such notice will automatically result in the denial of a permit for the next season requested.
- The permittee shall maintain a record of the location of all hives for the term of this permit. The record shall be available for inspection by state and local agricultural officials during normal business hours.
What to Do
If you’re in California and use bumblebees, regardless of who you get your bees from, you need to obtain and fill out the application Form 66-026, then submit it to the CDFA. You can do this by fax to 916.654.1018 or by email to one of the addresses shown on this informational CDFA web page. We could obtain the permit on behalf of our west coast customers, but since it would be impractical to inspect structural containment, we can’t accept responsibility.
For your convenience, you may download the permit conditions (as a Word Doc) and the application Form 66-026 (as a PDF, requires Adobe Reader) right now from our site.
If you have questions, contact us.
