Welcome to the latest news about honeybees and beekeeping!
We are here to help you produce great stories by providing you with topical news, features and comment. We place a very high value on quality media coverage and we look forward to working with you to achieve this.
The stories we tell reflect the BBKA's leading role as a Education charity working to improve honey bee health, in support of beekeepers throughout the country and the environment that supports them.
Our Press Officer Diane Roberts can be contacted by email: [email protected]
The BBKA's objectives are to advance the education of the public and beekeepers in the craft of beekeeping and promote the importance of bees in the environment.
Bees Needs Week is an annual event coordinated by Defra to raise awareness of bees and other pollinators. Read more
"We recognise the serious threat posed by small hive beetle. EU areas affected by this pest are not permitted to export to the UK. Strict controls apply to imports into the UK from other areas" Read more
Beekeeping Associations, from all around the UK, are in agreement that the importation of bees from overseas is totally against best practices for the protection of our environment. Read more
Please fill in your form by the end of April to have your results included in the 2021 Winter Survival Survey Read more
A blog has been published on the Defra website setting out the law as it relates to bee importation following recent stories about a Kent importer who wanted to import bees from Italy and had been told he could not. Read more
More than 25,000 beekeepers voted to demand that the government withdraw the neonic licence for sugar beet and allow no further breaches of the ban. Read more
British Beekeepers Association is sending a letter to associations expressing extreme disappointment in the neonic licence issued by government for sugar beet & is urging all members to express their objections to a public consultation on pesticides. Read more
The National Bee Unit says their inspectors across the UK are reporting some colonies of bees are becoming short of food and need feeding Read more
The winners of the 2020 Photo Competition we ran in the BBKA's Asian Hornet Week in September have been announced. Read more
The 2021 International Meeting of young beekeepers which was due to take place in Slovenia has been cancelled. In the current pandemic, the organisers have decided that to ensure the wellbeing of participants the meeting cannot go ahead Read more
Introducing the new BBKA Exam secretary... Read more
The first Asian Hornet of 2020 has been confirmed in Gosport in Hampshire. Read more
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is warning beekeepers to use veterinary medicines safely, effectively and legally. Read more
We have taken the difficult decision to cancel the BBKA assessments for the remaining part of 2020 due to the global outbreak of Covid-19. Read more
The BBKA introduced Queen Rearing Courses last year to encourage people to breed their own queens. Now surveys show high satisfaction with the knowledge they gained. Read more
The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) annual survey of how much honey they have harvested from their bees shows the highest yield in 10 years. The average crop was 40.25 pounds of honey. Read more
A second Asian Hornet nest has been found near the first in Christchurch in Dorset. Read more
Bermondsey Street Bees, based in London, have raised more than a £1,000 for the BBKA's Apiary & Education Project. The money mostly comes from a honey cocktails event they held with Aberfeldy Whisky. Read more
An Asian Hornet nest has been found high up in an oak tree near Christchurch in Dorset and has been destroyed. More details on two other sightings in other parts of the country have been given. Read more
A fourth Asian Hornet this year has been found and confirmed at Highcliffe in Christchurch in Dorset. Like the 3 other sightings it was reported by a member of the public. Read more
An Asian Hornet has been found and captured in Ashford in Kent. This is the third confirmed sighting in 2019. Read more
An Asian Hornet nest was located in Staffordshire as a result of a sighting by a member of the public on Sunday 2nd Sept. The nest has now been destroyed Read more
The first Asian Hornet of 2019 on UK mainland has been found in New Milton in Hampshire close to the New Forest. Read more
The annual survey carried out by the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA ) to measure winter survival of honeybees shows that losses at 8.5% are at their lowest since the current survey programme was started in 2007/08. Read more