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

חוק להסדרה של הצבת כוורות, האבקה וייצור דבש, תשפ"ה-2025

Published: 2025-02-23Consolidated Hebrew text as of 2026-07-01 · Last amended 2025-02-23✓ Amendment status checked against the Knesset legislation record on 2026-09-28

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Chapter VII: Miscellaneous Provisions

Implementation and regulations§

51.

(a)The Minister is responsible for the implementation of this Law and may make Regulations for its implementation.

(b)The Minister may prescribe provisions on the following matters, and in respect of provisions on matters as set out in paragraphs (3), (4), (12) and (13) – with the approval of the Economics Committee:

(1)conditions and provisions regarding the designation of placement points, the methods for amending a placement point or the conditions relating to it, and the methods for cancelling it; Regulations as aforesaid shall be made after consultation with the Minister for Environmental Protection; where the position of the Minister for Environmental Protection has not been transmitted within 60 days from the date of the Minister's approach to the Minister for Environmental Protection on the matter, upon the expiry of that period it shall be deemed as if the obligation to consult with the Minister for Environmental Protection as aforesaid has been fulfilled;

(2)conditions and provisions regarding the manner of filing applications for permits, including the information that an applicant for a permit must provide in the application;

(3)restrictions on the maximum or minimum number of beehives in respect of which a permit may be granted to new applicants for permits and to existing permit holders, and mechanisms for the transfer of permits between beekeepers and for determining the consideration to be paid for the transfer;

(4)conditions and provisions for the placement of populated beehives on real property that is not public real property, and the Minister may prescribe special provisions regarding the placement of populated beehives on real property that constitutes the courtyards of residential dwellings, for the purpose of –

(a)preventing significant disturbance to the public or significant adverse environmental effects in the placement area or in areas adjacent to it;

(b)preventing excessive demand for nectar in the placement area or in adjacent areas, having regard to the number of populated beehives placed in those areas and to the characteristics of the vegetation in them, including wild plants and agricultural crops;

(5)the marking of populated beehives;

(6)conditions and provisions regarding the treatment of beehives, the extraction of honey, the treatment of bees and their feeding, and regarding the installation of means and facilities in populated beehives for the purpose of monitoring the manner of feeding the bees;

(7)the holding of populated beehives seized under section 48(2), their treatment and the carrying out of any other action in respect of them until receipt of court directions under the provisions of Chapter IV of the Arrest and Search Ordinance, including bearing the costs of carrying out such actions, in appropriate circumstances, including by means of receiving revenue from the sale of honey produced from the beehives to cover those costs;

(8)the mapping of placement points of populated beehives and the centralisation of the data included in the permits as well as additional information in connection with real property in which populated beehives may be placed;

(9)reporting obligations to the Permits Committee and to the Ministry on any matter connected with compliance with the provisions under this Law;

(10)documentation obligations and the preservation of documents, and the methods of transmitting notices on each of the matters set out in paragraphs (1) to (9);

(11)the quorum for meetings of the Permits Committee, its working methods and its rules of procedure, including in respect of the receipt of approvals and responses under sections 21 and 25(a) and the manner in which a person who may be affected by its decision may present arguments before it;

(12)

(a)the setting of fees for a service provided by the Ministry under this Law, including a fee for filing an application for an approval or permit under this Law and a periodic fee for a permit, provided that there shall be no duplication between the components included in the levy referred to in section 39 and the components included in the fee, and the Minister may set reduced fees for recipients of new permits;

(b)a fee under this paragraph may be set according to the number of placement points and the number of populated beehives prescribed in the permit;

(c)the provisions of the Fines, Fees and Costs Collection Authority Law, 5755-1995 shall apply to the collection of a fee prescribed under this paragraph;

(13)conditions regarding the recognition of an organisation operating to advance the interests of beekeepers as a representative organisation.

(c)

(1)The Minister, after consultation with the Minister for Environmental Protection, may, by Order, amend the First Schedule; where the position of the Minister for Environmental Protection has not been transmitted within 60 days from the date of the Minister's approach to the Minister for Environmental Protection on the matter, upon the expiry of that period it shall be deemed as if the obligation to consult with the Minister for Environmental Protection under this paragraph has been fulfilled;

(2)The Minister may, by Order, amend the Second Schedule and the Third Schedule.

Savings provisions§

52.

Nothing in the provisions of this Law shall derogate from the provisions under the Public Health Protection Law (Food), 5776-2015, the Animal Diseases Ordinance [New Version], 5745-1985, the Bee Protection Ordinance [New Version], 5743-1985, the Planning and Construction Law, and the National Parks Law.

Amendment of the Administrative Offences Law – No. 32§

53.

In the Administrative Offences Law, 5746-1985, in the First Schedule, in column A, at the end thereof the following shall be inserted:

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

Amendment of the Administrative Tribunals Law – No. 21§

54.

In the Administrative Tribunals Law, 5752-1992, in the First Schedule, at the end thereof the following shall be inserted:

"33. An appeals committee under section 30 of the Law for the Regulation of the Placement of Beehives, Pollination and Honey Production, 5785-2025."

Amendment of the Administrative Affairs Courts Law – No. 149§

55.

In the Administrative Affairs Courts Law, 5760-2000, in the Second Schedule, at the end thereof the following shall be inserted:

"30. An appeal under section 30(e) of the Law for the Regulation of the Placement of Beehives, Pollination and Honey Production, 5785-2025."

Commencement and initial regulations§

56.

(a)This Law shall commence one year from the date of its publication (hereinafter – the commencement date), however the Minister, with the approval of the Economics Committee, may, by Order, postpone the commencement date by additional periods not exceeding, in aggregate, one year.

(b)Initial Regulations under section 39 shall be brought for the approval of the Economics Committee within two years from the commencement date.

Transitional provisions§

57.

(a)Permits granted before the commencement date under the Regulations for the Improvement of Agricultural Production (Animals) (Bees), 5728-1968 (in this section – the Bees Regulations), which were in force on the eve of the commencement date, shall remain in force until the granting of permits in the first round of granting permits under this Law, and a person to whom a permit was granted under the Bees Regulations shall be deemed to have been granted a permit under this Law.

(b)During a period of five years from the commencement date, the Permits Committee may grant a permit for the placement of populated beehives at a placement point situated on public real property as referred to in section 25(a), even without the approval of the approving authority under that section, if the applicant for the permit was granted a permit for the placement of populated beehives on the said real property in the three years preceding the commencement date.

(c)From the date of publication of this Law, the Pollination and Honey Council shall provide to the Ministry, in accordance with its request, any information or document required by the Ministry for the purpose of the transfer of the powers vested in the Council under the Bees Regulations and the Commodities and Services Supervision Order (Honey Production and Its Sale), 5737-1977, to the Ministry; for this purpose, "document" includes computer material and output as defined in the Computers Law, 5755-1995.

(d)A placement point in respect of which a permit was granted under the Bees Regulations that was in force on the eve of the commencement date shall be deemed to be a placement point designated under section 21; by the commencement date, the Permits Committee shall publish, on the Ministry's website, a notice regarding the said placement points.

(e)By the commencement date, the Minister shall approve, by Order, the objects of the Pollination and Honey Council, provided that they are consistent with the functions of the Council under section 31; an object that has not been approved as aforesaid shall be void.

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First Schedule (Section 2, the definition of "bee")

1.§

The western honey bee (Apis mellifera).

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Second Schedule (Section 2, the definition of "cultivated plant" and Section 4)

Second Schedule (Section 2, the definition of "cultivated plant" and Section 4) — table
Column A Type of Cultivated Plant	Column B Permitted Placement Months	Column C Maximum Number of Hives per Dunam of Cultivation
Orchards	—	—
Almond	February and March	0.50
Gooseberry	February and March	0.50
Cherry	February and March	0.50
Apple	April	0.50
Pear	March and April	0.25
Plum	February and March	0.25
Apricot	February and March	0.25
Lychee	April	0.25
Avocado	February to May	0.50
Loquat	October to December	0.25
Kiwi	April and May	1
Blueberries	March to August	1
Vegetables and Field Crops	—
Melon	March to September	0.33
Seedless Watermelon	March to July	0.33
Strawberry	October to June	0.50
Industrial Cucumber	April to June	0.33
Courgette	January to December	0.33
Pumpkin	March to October	0.33
Seed Crops	—	—
Clover	March and April	0.20
Alfalfa	July to September	0.33
Onion	May and June	0.50
Cotton	June to August	1.00
Field crops	—	—
Sunflowers	May to July	0.20
Melon seeds for splitting	May and June	0.10

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Third Schedule (Section 10(b)(2))

(1)in respect of a beehive with 10 built honeycomb frames whose height is between 16 and 26 cm – if the weight of the additional frame storey does not exceed 15 kg;

(2)in respect of a beehive with 10 built half honeycomb frames whose height does not exceed 15 cm, or that is made of polystyrene – if the weight of the additional frame storey does not exceed 13 kg.

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

Chapter VII: Miscellaneous Provisions

Implementation and regulations§Cite ✦

Savings provisions§Cite ✦

Amendment of the Administrative Offences Law – No. 32§Cite ✦

Amendment of the Administrative Tribunals Law – No. 21§Cite ✦

Amendment of the Administrative Affairs Courts Law – No. 149§Cite ✦

Commencement and initial regulations§Cite ✦

Transitional provisions§Cite ✦

First Schedule (Section 2, the definition of "bee")

Second Schedule (Section 2, the definition of "cultivated plant" and Section 4)

Third Schedule (Section 10(b)(2))

Implementation and regulations§

Savings provisions§

Amendment of the Administrative Offences Law – No. 32§

Amendment of the Administrative Tribunals Law – No. 21§

Amendment of the Administrative Affairs Courts Law – No. 149§

Commencement and initial regulations§

Transitional provisions§