What's the cheapest way to protect your bees?  Support MD's Apiary Inspectors. They're stopping the spread of bee diseases.   

State Apiary Inspector Cybil Preston and her inspection K-9s are certified in American Foulbrood detection. At no charge to the beekeepers, they inspect hives throughout the entire state, along with just a handful of other inspectors. The project is  only partially funded by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, so we should do two things to help them protect our bees:

1) Register your hives (free!)  With state resources under fire, we need to let the legislature know how many people depend on this service.  Stand up and be counted by registering your apiary (Plus, registering is required by law.) 

You can send the completed form via US-mail, fax to Fax: 410-841-5835, or email to cybil.preston@maryland.gov

2) Supplement their budget by donating to the Apiary Fund. A reasonable donation might be $5 per colony, or $25 per yard. All donations directly support Apiary Inspections across Maryland.  For your TAX purposes, MSBA's non-profit tax ID is 52-1887350