Law for the Regulation of the Placement of Beehives, Pollination and Honey Production, 5785-2025

The purposes of this Law are to regulate the following:

In this Law –

"permit holder" – a person who has received a permit;

"national park" and "nature reserve" – as defined in the National Parks Law;

"beekeeper" – a person engaged in bee-keeping;

"bee" – a bee of a species as listed in the First Schedule;

"honey" – a natural sweet substance produced by bees from flower nectar or from substances secreted by other parts of a plant that have not been processed;

"permit" – a permit for the placement of populated beehives pursuant to Section C of Chapter IV;

"the Committee", "the Permits Committee" – the committee appointed for the purpose of determining placement points and granting permits pursuant to section 12;

"the Economics Committee" – the Economics Committee of the Knesset;

"National Parks Law" – the National Parks, Nature Reserves, National Sites and Commemoration Sites Law, 5758-1998;

"Companies Law" – the Companies Law, 5759-1999;

"Penal Law" – the Penal Law, 5737-1977;

"Planning and Construction Law" – the Planning and Construction Law, 5725-1965;

"beehive" – a box or other container used for bee-keeping;

"populated beehive" – a beehive in which a colony of bees lives;

"the Council", "the Pollination and Honey Council" – a public benefit company by the name of the Pollination and Honey Council;

"holder" – a person to whom the Israel Lands Authority has granted authorisation to hold public real property;

"Director of the Nature and Parks Authority" – the Director as defined in section 19 of the National Parks Law;

"founding documents" – the memorandum of association and articles of association of the Pollination and Honey Council;

"beekeeper number" – the beekeeper's number as determined by the Permits Committee in the permit, pursuant to section 24(a);

"public real property" – Israel Lands as defined in Basic Law: Israel Lands, and real property of a local authority, excluding a place used for residential purposes and the yard adjacent to the place of residence;

"the Ministry" – the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security;

"placement point" – a location for the placement of populated beehives determined by the Permits Committee pursuant to Section B of Chapter IV;

"cultivated plant" – a plant as listed in column A of the Second Schedule that was sown or planted by a person;

"administrative fine" – a fine imposed pursuant to the Administrative Offences Law, 5746-1985;

"Israel Lands Authority" – as defined in the Israel Lands Authority Law, 5720-1960;

"security area" – any of the following:

"pollination services" – pollination services for cultivated plants in an agricultural cultivation area by means of bees;

"the Minister" – the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security.

A permit holder shall not place populated beehives unless they are marked with the beekeeper number, in large and clear digits that are easily legible or in another manner prescribed by the Minister pursuant to section 51(b)(5) that will enable identification of that number.

No person shall add any substance to honey before or during its extraction.

A person shall not be appointed as a member of the Committee if that person has been convicted of a disciplinary offence or a criminal offence which, by reason of its nature, severity or circumstances, renders the person unfit to serve as a committee member, or if an administrative fine has been imposed on that person in respect of such an offence, or if a charge sheet or complaint has been filed against that person in respect of such an offence and a final judgment has not yet been given in the matter.

The term of office of a public representative on the Committee shall be four years, and the Minister may extend the term of office for one additional term of four years, provided that the person does not serve for more than two consecutive terms of office; however, a public representative on the Committee whose term of office has expired shall continue to serve until another public representative is appointed in that person's place, provided that the Minister shall act to appoint another public representative in that person's place in accordance with the provisions of section 12(a) as soon as practicable.

The existence of the Permits Committee, its powers and the validity of its decisions shall not be affected by the cessation of service of a member of the Committee or an observer, or by reason of a defect in the appointment or continuation of service of any such person, provided that a majority of its members are serving.

"family member" – a spouse, parent, grandparent, son or daughter and their spouses, brother or sister and their children, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, uncle or aunt and their children, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandchild, including a relative as aforesaid who is a step-relative;

"interested party" – as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968;

"handling" – including making a decision, raising a matter for deliberation, being present at a deliberation, participating in a deliberation or in a vote, or dealing with a matter outside a deliberation;

"conflict of interests", of a committee member – a conflict of interests between the fulfilment of duties on the Committee and a personal interest or another role, of that member or of that member's relative;

"relative", of a committee member – any of the following:

A member of the Permits Committee who is not a State employee shall, in acting as a committee member, be treated as a State employee, for the purposes of the following enactments and in respect of that person's actions on the Committee:

A member of the Permits Committee shall maintain in confidence and shall not transfer to another any information or document that came to that member's knowledge in the course of fulfilling the member's duties or in the course of that member's work, except to the extent required for the implementation of the provisions of this Law, to an entity authorised by law to receive the information, or pursuant to a court order.