The director may establish a system for certifying colony strength for bees used in the pollination of agricultural crops.

The colony strength of a bee colony shall be certified after inspection on the basis of the number of active frames of bees per colony, as determined by either cluster count or frame count, or both, or another method approved by the secretary.

The inspection and certification of colony strength of bees may be made by department employees, the commissioner or persons authorized by the commissioner, or persons appointed by the director.

Inspection and certification shall be made at the request of the beekeeper or agricultural producer involved. The party requesting the inspection and certification shall pay for the service. To the greatest extent possible, the inspector shall endeavor to give the beekeeper advance notice of the scheduled date of the inspection.

The director may by regulation establish reasonable fees to cover the cost of inspection and certification performed by department employees and persons appointed by the director, other than the agricultural commissioner.

The board of supervisors of the county may establish reasonable fees to cover the cost of inspection and certification performed by the commissioner.