Over 8,500 beekeepers updated their details on BeeBase during the 2023 hive count compared to over 11,000 in 2022. There are currently more than 49,000 beekeepers registered on BeeBase and approximately 18% of those contacted updated their records. The 2023 hive count produced a figure of 252,577 colonies in the UK.…
Seasonal Bee Inspector Vacancies
The National Bee Unit has several vacancies for Seasonal Bee Inspectors (SBIs) across England and Wales. If you are interested in applying for the job, please follow this link that will take you to the vacancy advertised in the Civil Service Jobs and apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 29th…
Latest information regarding Asian hornet early season surveillance
From the analysis conducted at Fera Science Ltd a number of areas have been identified where there is a low risk that Asian hornet queens have overwintered. In response the NBU are making plans to carry out spring trapping, including how to work collaboratively with stakeholders to monitor traps at…
NBU’s Plans for Early Season Surveillance
From the analysis conducted at Fera Science Ltd a number of areas have been identified where there is a low risk that Asian hornet queens have overwintered. In response the NBU are making plans to carry out spring trapping, including how to work collaboratively with stakeholders to monitor traps at…
Asian Hornet Credible Sighting – Westfield East Sussex
An Inspector from the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA), National Bee Unit has responded to a sighting of a lone Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina) in Westfield, Hastings, East Sussex on 19 January 2024 following a report by a member of the public after discovering it in the footwell of…
My Apiaries Page – issue
Monday 22nd January Whilst we investigate a issue with the My Apiaries page, which allows you to add and edit apiary details, we have temporarily removed beekeeper’s access to the page. If you need to update your apiary details, please do return in a few days. We apologise for the…
Beekeepers call on the public to help fight record Asian hornet invasion
The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) is calling on the public to help fight a major threat to honey bees and other pollinators – Asian hornets. Numbers of the destructive insect are rising rapidly this summer and more have been detected in the UK this year than in the previous six years…
Gilbert White’s House
June 2023 Gilbert White’s House and Gardens has just become the first institutional member of the British Beekeepers’ Association for 80 years. Rev. Gilbert White lived mostly in the Hampshire village of Selborne from 1720 to 1793. Also a keen gardener, he began to study nature by close observation –…
Our President presents jar of honey to the King
Friday 21 October 2022 Happy National Honey Day! BBKA President Anne Rowberry went to London yesterday and presented a jar of honey to the King. She presented herself to security at the side entrance to Buckingham Palace and asked if she could take her jar of honey in? After explaining…
Neonicotinoids
Statement from the British Beekeepers’ Association President, Anne Rowberry, on banned bee-killing pesticides: “The BBKA is totally opposed to the use of this and similar pesticides due to their effect on honeybees and other pollinators, and the wider environment. The UK government has yet again issued a licence for the…