I admit bias, but I think Illinois has one of the best Apiary programs in the USA.

Registration as a bee keeper is free and so are any hive inspections.   The only downside is Illinois Apiary Inspectors for the most part are contractual employees, not full time State employees of the Illinois Dept of Agriculture.   Their contracts are limited in the number of hours and need to be renewed each year.

The below are some stats from the Illinois Dept of Agriculture.

As of the end of 2018 (the registered beekeepers are surveyed in November of each year), there were 4,308 beekeepers with 30,017 colonies spread across 6,000 bee yards.  There were 572 new beekeepers registered in 2018.  

The majority are small beekeepers (89% have 10 colonies or less).

There are 29 beekeepers which have 100+ colonies in Illinois.  

In 2013, there were 2,519 beekeepers with 24,382 colonies.   The number of beekeepers have dramatically increased over the past 5 years.

The below is the link to the Illinois Bees and Apiaries program of the Illinois Dept of Agriculture.


https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/Insects/Bees/Pages/default.aspx

Steve Petrilli
rural Mechanicsburg, IL     (Central Illinois)

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