New South Wales Consolidated Acts

APIARIES ACT 1985 - SECT 15A

15A Forfeiture of beehives in certain cases

(1) Unidentified beehives on public land An inspector may seize and remove any beehive that is on public land and is not identified.

(2) Subsection (1) applies even if the period prescribed for the purposes of section 15 (1) has not expired in relation to the hive.

(3) A hive seized under subsection (1) is immediately forfeited to the Crown.

(4) Identified beehives on public land If an inspector is satisfied that an identified beehive is on public land without the permission of the controller of the land, the inspector may serve a notice on the owner of the hive:

(a) requiring the owner, at the owner’s option, either:

(i) to provide the inspector with evidence satisfactory to the inspector that the owner has obtained the permission of the controller of the land, or

(ii) to cause the hive to be removed,

within 14 days after service of the notice, and

(b) informing the owner that, if the requirement is not complied with within that time, the hive will be forfeited to the Crown.

(5) If the requirement is not complied with within the 14-day period, the hive is forfeited to the Crown and an inspector may seize and remove it.

(6) Unidentified beehives on private land Any beehive that is on land other than public land and is not identified is forfeited to the Crown and may be seized and removed by an inspector if:

(a) for a period of 28 consecutive days there has been displayed in the immediate vicinity of the hive a notice complying with subsection (7), and

(b) a notice to similar effect has appeared, in a newspaper circulating generally in the State, at least once during the first 14 days of the 28-day period (or in such other publications, or at such other times, or both, as the regulations may prescribe),

and the hive is not identified by the date specified in the notice or before the expiry of the period specified in section 15 (1) (as the case may require).

(7) The notice must state that the beehive will be forfeited to the Crown unless, by the date specified in the notice (being a date that is at least 28 days after the notice is first displayed in the immediate vicinity of the hive), the owner of the hive either causes the hive to be identified or:

(a) provides evidence satisfactory to an inspector that the period specified in section 15 (1) has not expired in relation to the hive, and

(b) subsequently causes the hive to be identified before the expiry of that period or the expiry of the date specified in the notice (whichever is the later).

(8) Forfeited beehives A beehive forfeited under this section is to be dealt with as the Director-General directs.

(9) Expenses Any reasonable expenses incurred by an inspector or the Director-General in respect of a beehive forfeited under this section are payable by the owner of the hive (if the owner can be identified) and are recoverable from the owner in a court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Crown.

(10) No compensation No compensation is payable in respect of any beehive that is forfeited under this section.

(11) Definitions In this section:
"controller", in relation to public land, means the following:

(a) if the land is reserved or dedicated for any public use or purpose-the trustee or trustees of the land,

(b) if the land consists of a public road-the roads authority for that road within the meaning of the Roads Act 1993 ,

(c) if the land consists of a travelling stock reserve-the responsible authority within the meaning of Part 8 of the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998 ,

(d) in any other case-the person having the care, control and management of the land.

"identified", in relation to a beehive, means identified as required by section 15.
"public land" means:

(a) Crown land within the meaning of the Crown Lands Act 1989 , or

(b) State forest, or

(c) land under the control and management of a public or local authority,

but does not include:

(d) any land (other than State forest) that is occupied under any lease or other arrangement for private purposes that confers a right to exclusive possession of the land, or

(e) any land leased under the Western Lands Act 1901 .