Killing Bees Laws in Maine: What’s Legal, What’s Not, and What It Costs You
August 31, 2026
Swatting a bee in your backyard and destroying a neighbor’s registered honey bee colony are not treated the same way under Maine law. The state has no blanket statute that makes killing an individual bee a crime, but it does regulate who owns managed colonies, which pesticides you can spray outdoors, and which native pollinators carry legal protection.
Understanding killing bees laws in Maine means separating three very different situations: your own pest-control problem, someone else’s livestock, and a handful of at-risk native species. Each carries its own rules, and mixing them up is the fastest way to end up with an unexpected fine or a civil claim from a neighbor.
Is It Illegal to Kill Bees in Maine
For the vast majority of everyday encounters, no. If a bee flies into your kitchen or a wasp-like insect lands near your picnic table, swatting it or spraying a store-bought insecticide is not a criminal act in Maine or anywhere else in the country. Killing honey bees is not broadly illegal under federal law. No federal statute specifically prohibits exterminating European honey bees, and in most states, a licensed pest control operator can legally destroy a nuisance colony on your property.
Where the legal picture changes is ownership and species. The real legal exposure comes from how bees die and whose bees they are. Misusing pesticides in ways that kill pollinators violates federal pesticide law, destroying someone else’s managed hives can trigger criminal charges, and killing a federally endangered native bee species carries fines up to $50,000.
Maine adds a state-specific wrinkle on top of these federal baselines. Its apiary regulations create a specific offense for interfering with another person’s bees, and its wildlife agency now lists two bumble bee species with formal legal protection. Before assuming a situation is a simple pest problem, it helps to know whether you are dealing with a wild insect, someone’s registered livestock, or a regulated apiary under state law.
Pro Tip: If you’re unsure whether a hive on your property belongs to a neighbor or a local beekeeper, check with the Maine State Apiarist before removing or spraying it. Destroying registered livestock by mistake can expose you to liability even if you believed the colony was feral.
Federal Law on Killing Bees and Protected Species Exceptions
No single federal statute makes killing a honey bee a crime. The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is not listed as endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. The USDA considers honey bees domesticated livestock when housed in managed colonies, which reflects their agricultural value but does not make killing them a federal crime.
Federal exposure comes almost entirely through two channels: pesticide misuse and the Endangered Species Act. The most common way people run into legal trouble for killing honey bees is through pesticide misuse, since the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act makes it unlawful to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. That means spraying a product in a way, dose, or location the label prohibits, even on your own property, can create federal liability if it kills pollinators.
The Endangered Species Act exception is narrower but far more serious. The Bombus affinis, better known as the rusty patched bumble bee, became the first bumble bee species with ESA protection nationwide. The native rusty patched bumble bee ranges throughout the northeastern U.S., from North Dakota to Maine and south along the Applachian Mountains to Georgia, but the population has declined by more than 90 percent, prompting the federal government to officially list Bombus affinis as an endangered species in March 2017. Knowingly killing this species, or a handful of other federally listed pollinators found in the state, carries penalties separate from anything tied to ordinary pest control. Maine’s own wildlife protection framework mirrors this federal approach by layering additional state-level restrictions on top of ESA baselines.
Maine’s Laws on Killing Managed Honey Bee Colonies
Managed honey bee colonies in Maine are treated as registered property, not wildlife. In compliance with the Maine Apiary Law, specifically Title 7 MRSA Section 2701, notice is hereby given that all owners of bees must notify the state apiarist of the number and location of colonies owned by them, and pay a license fee for the same. Anyone who keeps honeybees in Maine must obtain an apiary license.
Because registered colonies belong to a specific owner, Maine law directly criminalizes tampering with them. No person may enter upon the land of another for the purpose of capturing, destroying or interfering with a colony or swarm of honeybees or removing honey, except by the consent of the owner of the land. This single rule covers the most common scenario people worry about: a neighbor spraying, smoking, or physically destroying a hive without the beekeeper’s permission.
There is a narrow, wildlife-specific exception built into the same regulation. Regarding damage to hives from bears, any licensed beekeeper or the licensed beekeeper’s designee may obtain a permit to trap or hunt bears that are damaging hives from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Outside of that permitted bear-damage scenario, destroying a registered colony without the owner’s consent is treated the same way Maine treats interference with other licensed livestock property.
| Situation | Who Can Legally Act | Legal Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Owner managing their own registered hive | The licensed beekeeper | Title 7 MRSA Section 2701 |
| Destroying a neighbor’s registered colony | Nobody, without owner consent | Chapter 270 Protection From Damage |
| Bears damaging a licensed apiary | Beekeeper with IFW permit | Chapter 270, Section VII(B) |
| Unregistered feral swarm on private land | The property owner or their designee | General property law |
Maine’s apiary program also functions similarly to how the state tracks animal movement across state lines, since one of its core purposes is regulating interstate transport of colonies for pollination contracts. The purpose of the Apiary Program is to prevent the introduction and spread of regulated honey bee diseases, parasites, and undesirable genetic material in resident and migratory honey bee colonies, as well as encourage and maintain interstate movement of honey bees for crop pollination and honey production.
Rules for Removing a Feral Bee Swarm or Hive on Your Property in Maine
A wild swarm clustered in a tree or wall cavity is legally different from a registered colony, since nobody has filed ownership paperwork on it. In practice, Maine’s beekeeping community strongly encourages relocation over extermination whenever possible. Beekeepers who learn of a swarm should take reasonable measures to see that the swarm is retrieved, and local associations can help with a swarm.
There’s also a cultural and economic reason to think twice before reaching for pesticide spray on a feral swarm. In 1975 the honey bee was officially designated as Maine’s state insect, and it has been estimated that work by honey bees contributes about $100 to $150 million annually to the Maine economy. Many local beekeeping chapters maintain swarm-removal lists specifically so homeowners have a free or low-cost alternative to extermination.
If you decide to handle a swarm yourself rather than calling a beekeeper, a few practical steps reduce both legal and safety risk:
- Confirm it’s actually a honey bee swarm and not a wasp or hornet nest, since removal methods differ significantly.
- Contact the Maine State Beekeepers Association or your local chapter before spraying, since many will relocate a swarm free of charge.
- Check municipal ordinances if the swarm has settled into a structure, since some towns layer their own rules onto state apiary law similar to local zoning restrictions for other animal enclosures.
- Avoid pesticide use near the swarm if children, pets, or food gardens are nearby, since residue can affect more than the target insects.
Local nuisance ordinances that apply to other backyard animals, such as the notification and placement rules covered in guides on backyard chicken keeping in Maine, follow a similar pattern: state law sets the floor, and municipalities are free to add stricter local requirements for where and how animals, including hives, can be kept.
Pesticide Restrictions That Protect Bees in Maine
Maine has gone further than almost any other state in restricting pesticides specifically because of their effect on bees. In 2021, Maine passed what advocates called the nation’s strongest safeguards for bees with a law that prohibits certain neonicotinoid, or “neonic,” pesticides for outdoor residential use. Neonics are a class of pesticides that play a significant role in ongoing bee die-offs, and the residential ban targets exactly the kind of cosmetic lawn and garden use most homeowners would otherwise consider routine.
The law didn’t take effect in isolation. The next step after passage was the rulemaking process, where the Board of Pesticides Control hammers out the details of implementation and enforcement of the law. In passing LD 155, the Maine Legislature directed the Board of Pesticides Control to prohibit the use of four neonicotinoid pesticides for outdoor residential purposes, meaning homeowners who apply these products to lawns or gardens can run afoul of state rules even without intending to harm any bees at all.
Key Insight: The neonic restriction applies specifically to outdoor residential use. Agricultural applications and certain professional pest-control situations are handled differently, so always check current Board of Pesticides Control guidance before assuming a product is banned outright.
On the federal side, the restriction runs through labeling compliance rather than an outright ban. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act makes it unlawful to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling, which means using a product at a higher concentration, on a prohibited surface, or during a restricted bloom period can create liability even for legal, EPA-registered chemicals. Combined, Maine’s state-specific neonic ban and the federal labeling rule mean pesticide misuse is by far the most common way someone unintentionally kills protected pollinators and faces legal consequences for it.
Protected Native Bee Species in Maine
Maine is home to far more than the imported honey bee. Roughly a dozen and a half native bumble bee species live in the state, part of a larger group found across the continent. Roughly 15 native bumble bee species live in Maine, out of some 46 in North America and 250 around the world. Most of these carry no special legal status and fall under general wildlife rules rather than an endangered species listing.
Two species are the exception, and both deserve close attention if you’re managing land or applying pesticides in Maine. The first is the rusty patched bumble bee, Bombus affinis, which holds federal endangered status but a somewhat different designation at the state level. The Rusty-patched Bumble Bee is listed as a species of Special Concern in Maine, and it has not been observed in Maine since 2009, despite a six-year statewide bumble bee atlasing project followed by several years of targeted surveys, making it potentially extirpated from the state.
The second is a more recent addition to Maine’s own endangered list. Eight new species were added to Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species list, including five birds, one bat, one bee, and a beetle, with two of these species, the saltmarsh sparrow and Ashton’s cuckoo bumble bee, listed as Endangered. These additions, approved by the Maine Legislature, became official on October 25, giving Bombus ashtoni full state-level endangered species protection alongside the more widely publicized rusty patched bumble bee.
Efforts to track these populations continue through community science. One species, the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, has declined by 90% throughout its entire North American range and in 2017 became the first bumble bee to be protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The Maine Bumble Bee Atlas project continues collecting sightings from volunteers statewide, and reporting a suspected rusty patched or Ashton’s cuckoo sighting through that project is one of the few direct ways ordinary residents contribute to enforcement-relevant data. Anyone applying pesticides near meadows, roadside edges, or powerline corridors, areas the state’s own wildlife action plan flags as high-risk habitat, should treat these two species with the same caution given to any other legally protected wildlife covered under state wildlife handling rules.
Penalties for Illegally Killing Bees in Maine
Penalties scale sharply depending on which category of bee is involved. At the low end, killing an ordinary wasp or wild bee on your own property carries no penalty at all. At the high end, federal endangered species violations carry the steepest consequences available under this entire legal framework.
- Destroying someone else’s registered colony: Destroying someone else’s managed hives can trigger criminal charges, separate from any civil claim the beekeeper might bring for the value of the lost colony and equipment.
- Trespassing to interfere with a hive: Maine’s apiary regulation makes unauthorized entry onto another person’s land to capture, destroy, or interfere with a colony a specific violation under Chapter 270, independent of any broader trespass statute.
- Killing a federally endangered species: Killing a federally endangered native bee species carries fines up to $50,000. This applies squarely to the rusty patched bumble bee and any other ESA-listed pollinator found within Maine’s borders.
- Pesticide label violations: Federal FIFRA violations for using a registered pesticide inconsistent with its labeling can result in civil penalties assessed by the EPA, layered on top of any state Board of Pesticides Control enforcement action.
- Operating an unlicensed apiary: Maintaining unregistered hives without the required Title 7 MRSA Section 2701 license exposes a beekeeper to state agricultural enforcement, separate from any harm-related penalty.
Important Note: Penalty ranges for state-level apiary violations and local pesticide enforcement can change as the Board of Pesticides Control finalizes rulemaking. Confirm current fine schedules with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry before assuming a specific dollar figure applies to your situation.
This information is for general educational purposes and does not substitute for advice from a licensed Maine attorney. If you’re facing a specific dispute over a destroyed hive, a pesticide complaint, or a suspected endangered species incident, consult legal counsel or contact the Maine Department of Agriculture’s Apiary Program directly for guidance tied to your exact circumstances.
Whether you keep bees, manage land near meadows, or just found a swarm in your shed, the safest approach in Maine is the same one that applies to most animal-related situations covered on this site, such as small-scale livestock ownership rules: confirm ownership and species before you act, and default to relocation or expert consultation over unilateral destruction. Bees, whether managed or wild, occupy a legal space in Maine that rewards caution far more than assumption.