Bee Health

Reporting Varroa

apiarymanager Varroa

On 21st April, 2021 an amendment to the Bee Diseases and Pests Control (England) Order 2006 comes into force requiring beekeepers and or officials to report the presence of Varroa in any of the hives that they manage. This amendment will allow England to comply with the Animal Health Law which is necessary for future working relationships with the European Union. Similar arrangements are being made in Wales and Scotland. To make this simple, a tick box will be introduced to BeeBase, the voluntary register for beekeepers managed by the National Bee Unit. This will allow beekeepers and inspectors to report the presence or absence of Varroa. Although Varroa is known to be widespread, it continues to be one of the most serious pests faced by beekeepers. Reporting Varroa will contribute to the overall pest and disease surveillance work of the National Bee Unit and we are grateful for your assistance with this new simple measure.

 

Starvation and Foulbrood warning!

apiarymanager Feeding Bees and Starvation, PBKA

The BBKA has issued a warning to beekeepers to check their bees for starvation and European Foulbrood during this cold snap.

Emergency feeding may be needed. It would be advisable to check the food levels by opening the hive and making a very quick observation of their store levels.

It is also important to check that hives have small entrances as Foulbrood is about in some areas and small colonies or those suffering disease may not be able to defend themselves from infected intruders if they have a large opening to defend. 

Asian Hornet – the story so far! Webinar on Sep 10, 2020 at 7:30 PM

apiarymanager Hornets

Register now!

During what has been designated Asian Hornet week, WBKA are pleased to bring you this presentation by Frank Gellatly. Frank will be well known to many of you as the Wales Regional Bee Inspector. He has considerable front line experience in the battle against the Asian Hornet which, since its arrival in the UK, has caused much concern. It is vitally important that we all remain alert to help in the fight against this threat to our bees. Frank’s presentation will cover Asian Hornet identification, the Asian Hornet in France, incursions into England, the response including track and trace, the Jersey experience, and the future, including AH teams in Wales.

Registration for this webinar is open to all beekeepers and, as usual, we will begin with a short, general Q&A session. Send your advance questions by email to l&d@wbka.com

We are interested to know how widely our webinars are viewed and so would appreciate you answering a couple of questions when registering for the event.

Links to recordings of our previous webinars can be found on the Welsh Beekeepers’ Association website www.wbka.com.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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