California started requiring beekeepers to carry beekeeper identification papers, to reduce bee rustling (theft) and beekeepers avoiding the inspection stations at the state line.
So, Mike is driving a semi-trailer load of his bees, headed out of California back to his home state. Police pull him over and ask to see proof he owns his cargo. Mike explains he owns the truck, but because he built all the equipment himself, and raised the bees, he can't have a proof of purchase for them.
The police call into headquarters and this takes some time. Mike starts to get anxious because it's sunny and the bees are going to overheat if he doesn't get the truck moving again. The police insist they need some proof that he really owns the bees.
Finally, Mike says, "All my bees are branded, no one else has my brand!" The officers stare at him for a minute. One says to the other, "Do we really have to check that?" The lead officer says to Mike "All right, just get out of here!"
A very relieved Mike is miles down the road before he realizes why the police suddenly let him go. His brand was burned into all his woodenware: frames, covers, bottoms, and boxes. That's what he was telling them, but those police are probably still trying to figure out how each of those millions of little bees in the truck got a tiny brand on its back.