Newbattle Beekeepers Association

The National Bee Unit have redesigned their BeeBase website. In addition to a sleek new look and more e-learning resources, data is now available in map format. This includes data on disease incidence, inspections and colony and apiary density at 10 km square resolution.

Take me to BeeBase

A £6.5m scheme to help prevent the extinction of priority species in Scotland has been launched.

Read More on the BBC Website

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY  On Monday the 5th, the global community will be celebrating World Environment Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness and action for the protection of the environment.  This year's theme is Solutions to Plastic Pollution. The UN states that more than 430 million tons of plastic are produced each year, two-thirds of which is cast aside as waste after just one use. If you would like to find out more about how to beat plastic pollution then head over to the UN's World Environment Day Website.  FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

Bees for Development are holding their Bee Garden Party Fundraiser, on Wednesday 14 June. It is going to be a completely unique celebration of bees.  There are only a few days left to buy tickets - don't miss out!

Also, wherever you live there are opportunities to join the fun online:

The celebrity Bee Art and Prize Auctions will be live tomorrow, 2 June with some great prizes - take a look now using the green link below.   Bees for Development are delighted by the tremendous support they have received towards their fundraiser. 

Bees For Development Fundraiser

Volunteers Week takes place 1-7 June every year. It's a chance to recognise the fantastic contribution our volunteers make to our association and say thank you.

It is a time to celebrate and inspire. We want to highlight that our diversity is our strength and show that there’s more than one way to volunteer and encourage our members to be the change that we want to see. 

Our members engage and help with the running and management of the association in many different ways, by becoming a mentor, sub group member, work party participant, delivering outreach activities and last but not least trustee management board members. Our volunteers are active throughout the year, so taking the time during Volunteers’ Week to celebrate and recognise their efforts and all they contribute to our association which is part of the voluntary sector and local community is so important.

We are arrange and deliver events, both online and in–person, for our members and wider community.

Activities will be happening during the week in preparation for the Scottish Beekeepers Association  exams the following week. Are you involved? Its not too late to volunteer!

Many thanks to our members who participated in making our participation at the Midlothian Schools Careers Event of P5/6 pupils at the National Mining Museum such a great success. We were able to engage with pupils from ten Midlothian Primary Schools over the course of the day as well as the class teachers and parent helpers. In all around 300 pupils attended the event and many of them visited the Newbattle Beekeepers Association stand and engaged in conversation with our outreach team.

Jonathan H  and his wife created an interactive visual aid to show the importance of pollination and pollinators in the food chain. It was very popular with the young visitors to our stand was instrumental in starting of many of our conversations with the children.    

Make your garden a haven for bees by planting pollen and nectar-rich flowers.

Follow the link to the RHS website to check out their recommendations

RHS Planting Recommendations

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 Bridge of Earn 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 24th of May 2023. The beekeeper concerned has been informed of the official confirmation of the disease. They are fully cooperating with the Scottish Government bee health inspectors. The infected colony will be humanely euthanised and the hive will be destroyed as there is no permitted treatment for the disease in the UK. 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. Foulbrood inspections should be carried out at least once a year. If there is any suspicion of AFB, or European Foulbrood (EFB), there is a legal requirement to notify the Scottish Government Bee Inspectorate. 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. Extreme care should be taken with old and second-hand equipment. Such equipment should be thoroughly cleansed and sterilised before re-utilising. In our experience, old infected equipment is the main source of spread of AFB. 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

To enter the draw, email BeeCraft by 1 June 2023

Terms & Conditions 

You can win a pair of adult tickets (value £54.00)

valid for Sunday 18 June