Apiary Program


Beekeepers

Montana typically ranks in the top 10 states for honey production in the United States. The department registers all apiary sites in the state. Distribution Map. Apiaries must be registered by April 1 of each year.

For producers, some good information on honeybee diseases, pathogens and colony collapse disorder can be found at the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium website. Guidelines for protecting honeybees from pesticide exposure can be found here.

The Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Montana State Library-Natural Resources Information Systems has developed a website for the public to identify apiary sites throughout the state. This site will also enable the user to create a map showing a 3 mile radius circle around an apiary site. Use these instructions to navigate to navigate the NRIS site.

(If you use Internet Explorer as your web browser, you may have noticed the swarm of bees chasing your cursor. If you find this annoying, you can stop it by clicking here.)

There are four types of apiary registrations:

General (Commercial): An apiary placed by permission on someone's property and contains more than 5 hives. All general apiaries must be 3 miles from the next general site of another registered beekeeper. This is to prevent the spread of diseases and pests from apiary to apiary and to limit and prevent interference with proper feeding of the honeybees.

Pollination: An apiary established for the pollination of commercial seed, fruit, or other commercial crop dependent on bee pollination. There is no distance limit and these registrations are for a specific time period determined by the department and must be applied for each year.

Landowner: An apiary that is registered to the owner of the land the apiary site is established on. There is no distance limit or limit on the total number of hives that can be registered.

Hobbyist: An apiary placed by permission on someone's property and limited to not more than 5 hives. There is no distance limit between apiaries required on this type of registration.

Apiary site registration form.

The Montana Department of Agriculture also inspects apiaries as provided in the Montana Apiculture Act and Administrative Rules. The department inspects migratory beekeepers having a compliance agreement, and all other beekeepers upon request. Inspections ensure that apiaries meet the threshold of 3 percent or less of American foulbrood.

Laws and Rules:

Montana Code Annotated
Administrative Rules of Montana

The Montana State Beekeeper Association is active in the Montana apiary industry. The group promotes beekeeping to schools, 4-H, FFA, and other organizations throughout the state. The association is also very active in national programs such as the Honey Queen and Princess, Honey Board, American Beekeeping Association.

Registration contact: Inspection contact:
  Patty Denke
Lynn Jones
Phone: (406) 444-3730
E-mail: agr@mt.gov
  Andy Gray
Patricia Denke
Helena Office
Phone: (406) 444-3730
E-mail: agr@mt.gov

Bee Inspectors:

District A:    
 

Dan Poff
Missoula Field Office
(406) 329-1345

Chris Herron
Kalispell Field Office
(406) 837-6040
Sean Mulla
Arlee Field Office
(406) 726-3100

District B: District C: District D:
  Patty Denke
Helena Office
406-444-3730
  Patty Denke
Velda Baltrusch
Great Falls Field Office
406-761-0926
  Robyn Cassel
Glasgow Field Office
406-228-8012

District E:  
  Bob Bales
Billings Field Office
406-652-3615
Lori Vance
Forsyth Field Office
406-748-3139
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