Bees and Related Articles

We are amending the regulations for the importation of honeybees and honeybee semen and the regulations governing the importation of bees other than honeybees, certain beekeeping byproducts, and used beekeeping equipment. Among other things, we are allowing honeybees from Australia and honeybees and honeybee germ plasm from New Zealand to be imported into the continental United States under certain conditions, imposing certain conditions on the importation into the United States of bees and related articles from Canada, and prohibiting both the interstate movement and importation of honeybees into Hawaii. This action also consolidates all of our regulations concerning all bees in the superfamily Apoidea. These changes are intended to make these regulations more consistent with international standards, update them to reflect current research and terminology, and simplify them and make them more useful.