Killing Bees in Washington: What the Law Says About Honey Bees and Native Species

Washington does not have a single statute that says “you may not kill a bee.” Instead, the rules covering killing bees laws in Washington are scattered across apiary statutes, wildlife codes, pesticide regulations, and local nuisance ordinances. Whether an action is legal often depends on which bee species is involved, who owns the colony, and how the bee was killed.

This distinction matters because Washington’s roughly 600 native bee species are treated very differently under state law than the managed European honey bee colonies kept by commercial and backyard beekeepers. Before you swat, spray, or remove a hive, it helps to know which set of rules applies to your situation.

Is It Illegal to Kill Bees in Washington

For the most common scenario, killing an individual honey bee that flies into your yard, there is no state or federal law that makes this act a crime. Killing honey bees is not broadly illegal under federal law, and in most states a licensed pest control operator can legally destroy a nuisance colony on your property. Washington follows this general pattern for ordinary pest situations.

The legal exposure changes once you move from swatting a stray bee to destroying a colony, using a banned pesticide, or harming a native species protected under wildlife law. The real legal exposure comes from how bees die and whose bees they are. A neighbor dispute over a nuisance hive follows a different legal path than a pesticide application that wipes out an entire apiary, similar to how disputes over a neighbor’s animal wandering onto your property are handled through nuisance and property law rather than criminal statutes.

Pro Tip: Before taking any action against a hive or swarm, identify the species first. Honey bees, bumble bees, and other native bees fall under completely different legal frameworks in Washington.

Federal Law on Killing Bees and Protected Species Exceptions

At the federal level, there is no blanket ban on killing bees. 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.

Where federal law does create real consequences is pesticide use. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act makes it unlawful to use any registered pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. If a pesticide label restricts application near flowering crops or active hives and someone ignores that restriction, resulting bee deaths can trigger federal enforcement action separate from any state penalty.

Federal protection does exist for specific native bee species listed under the Endangered Species Act, though these listings are narrow. Some bumble bee species, such as the rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), carry federal endangered status, and the rusty patched bumble bee is protected in the United States under the Endangered Species Act. That particular species is not established in Washington, but the listing illustrates how federal protection can attach to a specific bee species without covering bees generally. This mirrors the exception-based structure found in other wildlife statutes, such as Washington’s hunting laws, where general allowances exist alongside strict protections for specific listed species.

Washington’s Laws on Killing Managed Honey Bee Colonies

Managed honey bee colonies in Washington fall under Chapter 15.60 RCW, the state’s apiary law, rather than the wildlife code. Washington state law (RCW 15.60) requires all beekeepers with one or more honey bee colonies to register annually with WSDA by April 1 of each year. This registration system means a managed colony is legally treated more like livestock than wild wildlife, similar to how the state regulates the movement and care of other livestock.

That registered status gives beekeepers real legal standing when someone else destroys their bees. Destroying another person’s managed colony without consent can expose the responsible party to property-damage claims and, in some cases, criminal charges, since the colony is registered agricultural property with documented value. For a full breakdown of registration, setback, and hive-limit requirements, see this guide to beekeeping laws in Washington.

The state also gives its own inspectors limited authority to destroy colonies under specific circumstances. Washington’s apiary statutes address the seizure and destruction of abandoned and disease-contaminated colonies, hives, bees, or appliances, meaning the state, not private citizens, holds the authority to eliminate colonies that pose a disease risk to other apiaries. A private individual who destroys a neighbor’s registered hive on the theory that it “looked diseased” does not have that same legal authority.

Rules for Removing a Feral Bee Swarm or Hive on Your Property in Washington

A feral swarm, an unregistered colony of honey bees that has established itself in a wall, tree, or shed, is not owned by anyone, which removes the property-crime concerns tied to registered hives. Even so, Washington local codes generally treat unwanted colonies as a nuisance issue to be resolved through licensed removal rather than DIY extermination. A beekeeper who picks up a swarm of bees may hold them for a period of no more than two weeks under many local beekeeping ordinances, giving swarm-catchers a defined window before the colony must be relocated or registered.

Local nuisance codes also draw a line between a properly kept colony and one that has become a hazard. Some municipal codes classify certain unmanaged nests, including those of wasps and hornets housed in similar structures, as public nuisances subject to abatement, while a healthy honey bee colony maintained in movable frames generally does not qualify. This distinction is similar to how feral animal populations are handled under separate nuisance rules compared to owned animals.

Pro Tip: Contact a local beekeeper or licensed pest control operator before spraying a feral swarm. Many Washington beekeeping clubs maintain swarm-removal lists and will collect bees for free, avoiding pesticide exposure to your family, pets, and neighboring registered hives.

If the swarm has moved into structural elements of your home, such as a wall void, removal typically requires opening the wall to extract comb, since leaving comb behind invites pest problems and honey seepage. This is a job best left to a professional, much like other structural animal-housing issues covered under Washington property and zoning rules.

Pesticide Restrictions That Protect Bees in Washington

Washington has taken direct legislative action on pesticides known to harm pollinators. On March 28, 2024, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a save-the-bees bill, making Washington the 12th state to restrict bee-killing neonicotinoids or “neonics,” a class of pesticides harmful to bees. More than one in four Americans — 29.5% by one estimate — now lives in a state that has taken this kind of action as of that count.

This state-level action sits on top of the existing federal framework. Under FIFRA, applying any registered pesticide in a way that contradicts its label is a federal violation, and beekeepers can report suspected pesticide kills to the WSDA, which may investigate under Washington’s pesticide application laws. That reporting pathway gives Washington beekeepers a direct enforcement route when they suspect a neighboring farm, landscaper, or municipality misapplied a pesticide that killed a registered colony.

Law or Program	What It Restricts	Enforced By
FIFRA (federal)	Off-label pesticide use that harms pollinators	EPA
Washington neonicotinoid law (2024)	Certain neonic pesticide uses statewide	Washington State Legislature / WSDA
WSDA pesticide complaint program	Suspected pesticide-related bee kills	WSDA

Anyone applying pesticides commercially near active hives should also review general wildlife-take restrictions, since pollinator die-offs can overlap with rules covered under Washington’s broader wildlife take regulations when a listed species is affected.

Protected Native Bee Species in Washington

Washington’s legal treatment of native bees differs sharply from its treatment of managed honey bees. Insects including butterflies and native bees are defined as wildlife in Washington, so wildlife “take” rules must be considered. This classification pulls native bumble bees, mason bees, and other wild species into the same regulatory framework used for larger wildlife.

That framework carries real teeth. If people kill and collect native bees or other insects without having a permit issued by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), under RCW 77.15.130 section (2), they may be committing a misdemeanor. To legally collect insects in Washington, one must first receive a Scientific Collecting Permit (SCP) from WDFW, as defined in WAC 220-200-150.

Not every interaction with a native bee requires a permit. Ordinary observation, gardening, or accidentally disturbing a bumble bee nest while mowing the lawn does not carry the same legal weight as intentionally collecting or killing specimens. But the rules become stricter on managed public land. Some land owners, such as National Parks and Washington State Parks, have a “zero” take policy on their lands without explicit permits and written permission. This parallels the permit-based structure used for other wildlife activities, including licensed take of game species and permitted aquatic species harvesting elsewhere in the state’s wildlife code.

For anyone doing citizen-science pollinator monitoring, such as photographing bees for the Washington Native Bee Society’s identification guides, catch-and-release observation for temporary educational purposes is generally permitted in appropriate areas, but lethal collection for research still requires the SCP and landowner consent.

Penalties for Illegally Killing Bees in Washington

Penalties for bee-related violations in Washington depend entirely on which law was broken. A misdemeanor charge under the state’s wildlife take statute applies when someone kills native bees without an SCP. Local apiary and nuisance ordinances impose their own separate fine structures, and pesticide violations carry federal consequences on top of any state action.

Violation Type	Governing Law	Potential Penalty
Illegal take of native bees without SCP	RCW 77.15.130(2)	Misdemeanor
Local apiary/nuisance ordinance violation not otherwise charged as a crime	Local code mirroring Chapter 15.60 RCW	Civil penalty, commonly up to $1,000 per violation
Local beekeeping nuisance ordinance conviction (example: Town of Concrete)	Municipal code	Up to 90 days jail and/or up to $5,000 fine
Off-label pesticide use harming pollinators	FIFRA (federal)	Federal civil or criminal enforcement

Local governments have latitude to set their own beekeeping and nuisance penalties, and enforcement varies by city. Whenever a person has committed a violation of Chapter 15.60 RCW or a local beekeeping chapter that has not been punished as a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor, a civil penalty not exceeding $1,000 may be imposed for each violation. Some towns set steeper criminal penalties for nuisance violations; for example, a person convicted of violating the Town of Concrete’s beekeeping ordinance is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days imprisonment, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Important Note: Penalty amounts and classifications vary by city and county. Always check your specific municipal code alongside state statutes, since local nuisance ordinances often layer additional rules on top of Chapter 15.60 RCW.

Given how much penalty structures vary between a registered honey bee dispute, a native bee take violation, and a pesticide misapplication, the safest approach in any situation involving Washington’s species-specific wildlife regulations is to contact WSDA or WDFW directly before taking lethal action against any bee colony you did not personally establish and register.