Registering Colonies
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Anyone wanting to keep bees must notify the responsible authority at the latest when starting the activity, stating the number of colonies and their location.
Anyone wanting to keep bees must notify the responsible authority at the latest when starting the activity, stating the number of colonies and their location. The authority keeps a register of this and issues a registration number. There is no minimum threshold: even a single colony must be notified, and it makes no difference whether it is kept as a hobby or commercially.
How many bodies must be notified varies from federal state to federal state in Germany. In Hesse, for example, the notification goes to three bodies: the veterinary office, the state association for performance testing, and the animal disease fund. Reporting to the animal disease fund is also regulated differently by state: Baden-Württemberg switched, for the year 2026, to a direct report with a key date of May 1, while North Rhine-Westphalia requires the expected maximum stock for the year.
Changes of location must be reported to the veterinary office without delay. The animal disease fund is a mutual solidarity scheme, from which compensation and costs for destruction, disposal, and disinfection are covered in the event of a disease outbreak; incomplete or too-low reports can then lead to reductions. A failure to notify, or a late notification, is a regulatory offense.