Would all PBKA members please note that there have recently been outbreaks of American Foul Brood (AFB) in Pembrokeshire. Note that these outbreaks are not related to any PBKA members, but are from another individual source and present a threat to us all!

We have been advised to direct you to the National Bee Unit (NBU) factsheet Apiary_Hygiene_and_Quarantine for your information and action. Also ‘Foulbrood Disease of Honey Bees and other common brood disorders’ has a lot of information on biosecurity and barrier management, including ‘10 rules for foulbrood control’. These are on Beebase at: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=167

All beekeepers have a duty to keep healthy, disease free bees and the PBKA strongly recommends that all beekeepers sign up to Beebase in order to ensure that they receive any warnings and can obtain advice etc. in the event of a disease outbreak.

Beekeepers within 3km of the outbreak with a current email address on Beebase, will have been emailed an alert from the NBU. All beekeepers within 5km of an outbreak should exercise vigilance as per the above factsheet, which also covers swarm collection and we strongly recommend that all swarms caught are quarantined for a period of 6 weeks with any concerns advised to your local Bee Inspector.

The PBKA Committee will, on behalf of members, be making representations to the relevant authorities to insist on some resolution to this problem and for action to be taken against the individual/s responsible.

In the meantime however, if any PBKA members (or indeed, members of the public) see any hives in their area which appear to be abandoned, or are of unknown origin, please contact Paul Eades, the Apiary Manager at pbkaapiarymanager@live.co.uk or a PBKA Committee member, with details asap.