Registration Requirement for Beekeepers
Lexikon
Anyone who wants to keep bees in Germany must notify the competent authority no later than when they start, stating the number of colonies and their location.
Anyone who wants to keep bees in Germany must notify the competent authority no later than when they start, stating the number of colonies and their location. This is laid down in Section 1a of the Bee Disease Ordinance and also follows from Article 84 of the European Animal Health Law, Regulation (EU) 2016/429. The competent authority is usually the veterinary office of the district or independent city.
The authority then assigns a twelve-digit registration number to the holding. This number is needed for all further procedures, for example for health certificates for migratory beekeeping or for official examinations. Changes in the number of colonies and new locations must also be reported.
Registration applies regardless of the size of the operation, even for a single colony in the garden. Reporting to the animal disease fund is a separate matter. Whether bees have to be reported there at all is decided by each federal state: in North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg beekeepers must report, while in Bavaria and Lower Saxony bees are not covered. The reference dates also differ. Anyone who sells honey must also register as a food business operator with the food control authority. Austria and Switzerland have comparable reporting obligations with different responsibilities and deadlines.