The theme this year is "Bee engaged with youth"

It highlights the importance of involving young people in beekeeping

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The following is a notice issued by the Scottish Government Bee Health Team for beekeepers across Scotland.

We are contacting you to inform you of an outbreak of American Foulbrood (AFB) in the Stanley area of Perthshire. This is the first finding of AFB in Scotland this year.

This outbreak concerns a single hive and was first reported to the Scottish Government by the beekeeper, with the disease being confirmed by SASA on the 5th of April 2024.

In this instance, the beekeeper suspected disease after the colony died during the winter months, which highlights the importance of investigating die outs. The hive and all infected equipment will be destroyed by fire following confirmation of the disease.

The beekeeper concerned has been informed of the official confirmation of the disease. They are fully cooperating with the Scottish Government bee health inspectors. All other remaining colonies in the apiary will be inspected by the Scottish Government Bee inspectors as soon as possible. Restrictions are in place in the apiary. We are working with the beekeeper to identify the possible origin of this outbreak as well as any possible spread of disease.

Beekeepers within 3 km from the infected apiary will also be alerted of this outbreak via BeeBase.

What does this mean?

This is an informative announcement to raise awareness of key points. There are no subsequent restrictions in the area as a result of this finding other than those in place for the infected apiary.

Next Steps

Please can beekeepers also be reminded of the need to acquaint themselves with the symptoms of foulbrood diseases and how to carry out a full foulbrood inspection. All beekeepers should carry out at least one foulbrood inspection a year, but we recommend more frequent inspections for those in areas where disease has been confirmed.

If there is any suspicion of AFB, or European Foulbrood (EFB), there is a legal requirement to notify the Scottish Government Honey Bee Health Team on bees_mailbox@gov.scot

Strict bio-security is the best prevention to avoid infection, especially for beekeepers who are located within the outbreak area. Swarms of unknown origins should be isolated in a quarantine apiary and inspected for signs of disease before they are brought into contact with other colonies.

Winter die outs should be examined and causes of death attempted to be established.

Extreme care should be taken with old and second-hand equipment. Such equipment should be thoroughly cleansed and sterilised before re-utilising.

In addition, we would like to emphasise the importance of registering and keeping the locations of apiaries up to date in BeeBase. This will allow the Scottish Government Bee Health Team to assess if there has been a risk of disease spreading to their bees. This is all the more important for those beekeepers who find themselves within the area where the outbreak has been confirmed.

Free registration to BeeBase is available at the National Bee Unit website. Registration on BeeBase also ensures that other beekeepers in an area are automatically alerted to disease outbreaks.

Additional information can be found on the following web pages:

·       Foulbrood – how to spot and report the disease

·       Honey bee health guidance

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at:

Bees_Mailbox@gov.scot

Thank You

Find out more from the 'For Sale & Wanted' page of the website.

Here

The deadline for the submission of any resolution or other matters to be considered under the agenda item AOB at the AGM on 7 April is 30 March.

Send details of what you want included to newbattlebees@gmail.com 

Nominations for the nine elected trustees for 2024/25 should be returned to the secretary no later than 27 March.

Return trustee nomination forms here 

Download nomination forms via the AGM page of the website

Here

2024 Annual General Meeting The AGM this year is in person, on Saturday 27th of April, from 10.30am, at The Spectrum Centre in Inverness (which has great links to public transport). They decided to move the AGM around the country to ensure that they can meet as many members as possible. The current agenda can be found here, and there are some guest speakers in the afternoon, which is open to non SBA members. To register your attendance please click here, and remember to have your SBA membership number handy. Registration closes on the 13th of April. There's still time to propose resolutions and provide nominations for Trustees (until the 6th of April) so please email these to the General Secretary secretary@scottishbeekeepers.org.uk including a proposer and seconder. Details of all resolutions and nominations received, as well as the Proxy voting form, will be posted in the Member's area of the Scottish Beekeepers Association website and emailed out shortly after the 6th of April closing date. They are looking forward to seeing you on the 27th April

April Webinar For our final webinar of this winter series, we’re delighted to host a Food Safety panel session on Wednesday the 3rd of April from 7.30pm with Andy Pedley.  Andy was an Environmental Health Officer for 46 years and has been a beekeeper for over 30 years. In this informative panel, Andy will be discussing the importance of knowledge of Food Safety processes for beekeepers and providing advice on practical actions.  We welcome questions, so if you would like to pose a question to Andy, please email this before the 3rd of April to Gino Jabbar at webinars@scottishbeekeepers.org.uk If you would like to join us please book your free place by clicking on the link below BOOK YOUR PLACE

Bumblebees can work together and pass on knowledge to overcome complex puzzles, researchers find.

Read the full story on the BBC news: bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment 

Take a look at the extractor Neil R is selling Here 

He has reduced the price to £80.

View this email in your browser SHOP      |   ARTICLES     |    VIDEOS Inside this month's magazine: Preparing your bees for Asian hornets - Help your bees to face a new predator Travels with Tourneret - Eric Tourneret's photographs of The honey tribe, Ethiopia How many honey bees are there worldwide? - Evidence for a global increase The bee, the coin and the token - Why bees appear so often on money Low cost microscopy - studying bees up close on a budget Secrets revealed by the honey monitoring scheme - what's in our honey? Recipe of the month: Honey and lemon curd Cyclopedia: C is for chorion As well as regular features including: Honey on the high street - our monthly appraisal of a commercially available honey Ask the Mentors - with Clare Densley and Martin Hann of Buckfast Abbey Gardening for pollinators - our regular look at gardening for bees and other wildlife Beginners in the apiary - master beekeeper Geoff Blay writes about what to do in February News, book reviews, beekeeper interviews and much more ...   Low cost microscopy Studying your bees up close traditionally meant investing in expensive, sophisticated microscopes. Dr Barry Meatyard shows how low-cost equipment can be added to your computer for great results. In the image above, a bee's leg is shown in detail.   March's cover shows a selection of coins and tokens from around the world, all of which feature honey bees. In their feature article, Adrian G Dyer and Stuart J McFarlane look at a selection in detail, asking why honey bees have for so long been used as a symbol of wealth, industry and trustworthiness.    Are your bees Fit2Fight? Alan Baxter has first-hand experience of Asian hornet predation in the Loire region of France and explains how to prepare your bees for what might happen this season.   Subscribe to BeeCraft What's in your honey? Every year beekeepers across the UK send honey samples to be analysed by the National Honey Monitoring Scheme. This month we have the latest results, revealing what types of pollen are most often found in honey from different parts of the UK. Our report also reveals a more sinister side to the discoveries; forage collected by bees is telling us about pesticide pollution.   Buzz quiz One of the questions from BeeCraft's monthly readers' quiz. Q. What are these pellets, sometimes found on the floor or landing board of a hive in spring? Find the answer below.   If you would like to receive at least 20% off the normal price, it's easy to do so through your beekeeping association. Simply ask your club to sign up to our group subscription scheme - it's free and easy. You will then be able to use your club's code to receive a discount when you buy your subscription via the BeeCraft website.    For more details email: subscriptions@bee-craft.com   Subscibe to BeeCraft magazine Buzz quiz - answer A = Discarded pollen pellets. Often mistaken for chalkbrood mummies, they are sometimes thrown out after winter when fresh pollen becomes available.  Follow us: @BeeCraftMag   Copyright © 2024 Bee Craft Ltd, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as you signed up for it on Bee Craft.com Our mailing address is:  Bee Craft Ltd The Maltings West Street Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.