---
type: "Bill"
title: "European honey bee; designating as the official state pollinator."
description: "Official emblems and designations; state pollinator; European honey bee. Designates the honey bee (Apis mellifera)as the official state pollinator. The bill contains a technical amendment."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 517"
citation: "Virginia HB 517 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Patrick A. Hope"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 23
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-03-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/44960dad-467c-49a2-a65c-c47ec8b48f28"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+sum+HB517"
source_hash: "67df739e6a43a942e3592787b7d3fe9e679fe52238002ae2d7291b08d662010c"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 517 (2024) — European honey bee; designating as the official state pollinator.

Official emblems and designations; state pollinator; European honey bee. Designates the honey bee (Apis mellifera)as the official state pollinator. The bill contains a technical amendment.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0043** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+CHAP0043)
2. **HB517ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB517ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101096D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB517)

## Votes

- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N) — **8–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Patrick A. Hope — primary (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Hyland F. "Buddy" Fowler, Jr. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/10/24 24101096D `filing, introduction`
- **2024-01-08** Referred to Committee on General Laws `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-24** Assigned GL sub: Professions/Occupations and Administrative Process `referral-committee`
- **2024-01-25** Subcommittee recommends reporting (8-Y 0-N)
- **2024-01-30** Reported from General Laws (22-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-01** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2024-02-02** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-05** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (98-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2024-02-05** VOTE: Block Vote Passage (98-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-06** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2024-02-06** Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology `referral-committee`
- **2024-02-14** Reported from General Laws and Technology (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-16** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2024-02-19** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2024-02-19** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2024-02-22** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2024-02-22** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB517ER) `passage`
- **2024-02-22** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2024-02-25** Signed by President `passage`
- **2024-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 2024 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 8, 2024 `executive-receipt`
- **2024-03-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 43 (effective 7/1/24) `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-08** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0043)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/44960dad-467c-49a2-a65c-c47ec8b48f28`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).