Kentucky Beekeeping Laws: Honey Sales & Bee Health

Kentucky beekeepers must account for bee-health restrictions and property rules; qualifying small honey producers have a specific food-processing exemption. The current KRS 217.187 uses less than 500 gallons sold per year, replacing the older 150-gallon threshold.

Before ordering bees, contact KDA’s honeybee program with the origin, shipment contents and destination. Confirm any current movement documents or orders, and use the address-level legal checklist to establish the city or county rules for your parcel.

Separate the Three Legal Questions

Activity	Source to check	Decision to document
Installing a backyard hive	Responsible city or county and property owner	Whether the proposed site and layout are acceptable
Buying or moving bees and used equipment	KDA honeybee program and applicable orders	Documents and health restrictions for the actual shipment
Selling your honey	KRS 217.187 and the Food Safety Branch	Whether the product and annual sales meet the exemption

Bee Disease and Quarantine Authority

KRS 252.190 gives the Commissioner disease-control powers, including orders, information reporting and destruction of infected material. Its authority to establish registration fees does not itself supply a current fee schedule or prove that every keeper must file an annual application.

KRS 252.200 allows quarantine restrictions on bees, queens, used hives and other disease-carrying materials. Movement from a quarantined area requires special permission or an order. Ask KDA about the current requirements for your transaction instead of relying on repealed sections of Chapter 252.

Keep the seller’s identity, purchase date and colony identifiers together. If you discover an unexplained brood problem, preserve the observations and seek qualified assessment before passing the comb to another keeper. Our American foulbrood guide explains why exchanging suspect material can complicate disease control.

Voluntary Pesticide Communication

KDA’s Pollinator Protection Program is a voluntary communication tool. It allows registered participants to receive email when a chemical label requires the applicator to contact area beekeepers. Registration does not mean every nearby pesticide use generates an alert.

Use an email address you monitor and keep the mapped location accurate. Discuss access and communication with the landowner before placing a remote yard. A pesticide-notification record is a different purpose from a local siting decision.

Honey Sales After the 2025 Change

The exemption concerns pure, unadulterated honey that the seller produced in Kentucky. Below the statutory sales threshold, it removes the certified honey-house or food-processing-establishment requirement and the cabinet permit requirement. Other applicable food-law provisions still apply. At exactly 500 gallons, the “less than” condition is not met.

Keep a sales-volume ledger and distinguish your own honey from purchased stock. Ask the Food Safety Branch about added ingredients, processing changes and label review before printing a batch of labels. KDA’s honeybee page supplies the label-review contact; our home honey-sales guide helps organize the business questions.

Legal and safety alert: An exemption for a food activity does not approve a hive site or override a bee-health order. Resolve each decision with the responsible authority before acting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kentucky still use the 150-gallon honey exemption?

No. The current KRS 217.187 uses less than 500 gallons per year, with conditions on the honey’s purity and Kentucky production. Check the current statute before relying on an older handbook.

Does the pollinator map approve a Kentucky hive location?

No. Use the map for communication, then separately verify the parcel, landowner permission and applicable local rules. Save the written response from the responsible office.