Registration of all persons with hived colonies in South Africa as specified in the Government notice R1674 of 24 December 1998 under the Agriculture pests Act (Act 36 of 1983).

SABIO is the organization managing the registration of beekeepers in South Africa. Registering requires supplying a name and postal address and paying a registration fee for which the beekeeper is allocated a registration number.  The fee at present is R150 and in order to be a paid up member of SABIO is renewable annually.   SABIO may be contacted at the above addresses and will shortly be in a position to offer on line registration.

Registration has not been adequately enforced to date although the legal requirement to register has been in place for nearly ten years.  The reason for this has been the reluctance of the Industry to enforce registration as it was felt that all beekeepers would be responsible enough to register voluntary.  Many have complied and those who have are in possession of registration numbers, which should be displayed on their hives.

The administration of SABIO has not prosecuted any beekeeper to date for not registering. We now feel, however, that it is time for strong action against those who do not comply.  Indeed management feels that the implementation of laws should be the responsibility of local or central government and if necessary will approach them to enforce this legislation if beekeepers do not all co-operate regarding the legislation. Concessions will be made for ‘clubs’ of small or developing groups of to register under one membership.

The reasons which make it necessary to become stricter regarding the registration of beekeepers are the following:

1. African Bees are dangerous and need to be handled responsibly by people who are aware of the safety precautions necessary to handle them.  In addition the responsible beekeeper needs to have insurance to cover any damage and also the threat of fire damage.  SABIO strongly recommends and offers members insurance cover at a very reasonable rate.
2. Disease is a serious threat to beekeeping to day.  The Cape bee problem cost the industry, and government, thousands if not millions of rands to control.  Varroa mite was introduced a few years ago and although our bees seem to have some resistance to the mite, it still does pose a serious threat.  Colony Collapse Disorder is destroying bees in Europe and America a t a terrible rate and although our bees are still healthy it is necessary to ensure that we keep the problem out of South Africa.  American Foul brood that results in the destruction of colonies has not been found in South Africa to date but remains a serious potential threat.
3. Theft and interference of hives and colonies is a serious threat to the future of the industry.  If beekeepers refuse to register, and identify their colonies then it is very difficult to trace stolen hives and equipment.
4. The importation of honey and the need to implement food safety standards means that a registration number provides tracability of honey on the shelf.  SABIO strongly recommends the marking of honey labels with a SABIO registration number in order to ensure that the consumer is able to trace the source of the honey in the bottle. SABIO is investigating the registration of honey bottlers and to we hope to alter the legislation to include bottlers as well.

The SABIO board requests that all related industries selling bee products or requiring the services of beekeepers and bees for pollination check that they are not supporting unregistered illegal beekeepers.  The chances are that they will have no specified insurance, may be selling below standard imported honey and if there is a problem then you have no official avenue for complaint.

Please do contact either office mentioned above if you have any queries regarding this circular letter.