Beekeeping

From establishing and managing your own apiary to harvesting and selling products.

Updated 18 April 2024

Maintaining hive health

To keep your bees healthy, you should maintain good colony hygiene and are legally required to address disease or pests. Information about apiary hygiene is available here on BeeBase.

Identification of pests & diseases

You should learn how to recognise the most common diseases and pests. In addition to regular inspections, it is recommended that you carry out two health checks every year for each hive.

Comprehensive guidance on identification and treatment is available on BeeBase. If are struggling to identify the issue, you can request support from the Scottish Government’s Bee Health Team. More details and how to contact them are available on the SBA website.

For unexplained colony loss, the Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) offers some diagnostic services.

If you suspect that your bees are being poisoned by pesticides, you can report it to the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. The SASA website has instructions on how to report.

Notifiable pests & diseases

If you suspect any of the following pests or disease in your hives, you are legally required to report it to the Bee Health Team who will arrange a visit.

To report a visit and learn more about these inspections, see the Scottish Government website.

In addition, if you suspect Asian Hornets you must notify the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat. For how to report and more information, see their website here.

Register your hives on BeeBase to get notified of outbreaks within 3km radius of your apiary and see where cases have been reported.

Using medicines

Treating your hives with medicine may sometimes be necessary.

You should only use Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) approved products, and you can check if the product is approved on the VMD directory. Any issues with veterinary medicines should be reported at gov.uk. There are no medicines approved for treating AFB and EFB in the UK.

You should keep record of any product used for at least five years. A medicine record card is available to download on BeeBase.

Only certain types of medical products can be used for certified organic.

Queen rearing & replacement

Introducing a new queen bee may be necessary to maintain a healthy and productive hive, or when the old queen has died. You can rear new queens yourself, or purchase them from other beekeepers.

Beekeeping