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www.csl.gov.uk > About CSL > CSL Science > Plant Health Group > National Bee Unit

The National Bee Unit delivers the Bee Health programme in England and Wales on behalf of Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The programme aims to protect the honeybee population - which is an important pollination resource for cultivated crops and wild plants - and to support the sustainability of the beekeeping industry. Our work encompasses the provision of policy advice on the control of statutory bee pests and diseases and on risk management in relation to imports, contingencies, research and development, and diagnostic services. Advice on bee disease control is delivered through an inspection and surveillance programme, and food safety monitoring is facilitated through honey sampling.

information for beekeepers

Activities

Policy support and advice
A pivotal role of the NBU is to provide consultancy and advice on all aspects of apiculture directly to Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government. Advice is also provided to the EU and to other government organisations in the UK and overseas. We advise on everything from drawing up and interpreting legislation to exotic threats and contingency planning.

Statutory bee disease control
We carry out apiary inspections under EU and UK legislation, including targeted inspections of 'at-risk' apiaries, monitoring varroa resistance to Pyrethroids, examination of bees for import and export and surveillance for exotic pathogens and pests.

Laboratory diagnosis and apiary management
We also provide the apiculture skills to many research and other projects, both commercial and Defra funded.

Applied experimental programme
Our applied R&D programme concentrates on European foul-brood control and improving and updating diagnostic methods. This work relies heavily on close integration and cooperation between scientists, consultants, the field inspectorate and industry.

National training and advisory programme
The NBU operates a themed training programme for beekeepers in England and Wales, with around 700 training events delivered each year. We offer Bee Health Advisor training courses and run the prestigious National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB) residential course on behalf of the examination board.

IT: Improving data and decision support
Critical to the efficient administration of bee disease legislation is the NBU Beekeeper database known as BeeBase. Its public pages, accessible online, offer a broad range of apiculture information, including interactive maps, disease statistics, sample tracking, policy documents and financial information.

Statutory honey sample collection in England and Wales
Samples of honey are collected under the national sampling programme for residue testing. Follow up inspections are conducted where there are positive residue results.

FSA food sampling
NBU personnel collect food samples of various types as part of a contract with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to monitor dioxins in a broad range of food types.

Commercial business
Our team contributes significantly to the organisation and delivery of commercial contracts relating to apiculture, including laboratory studies assessing the effects of a systemic insecticide on honey bees and various projects assessing the efficacy and safety of a variety of bee medicines.

Achievements

• Developing and validating modern rapid field diagnostic kits for European Foul Brood (EFB) and American Foul Brood (AFB), both notifiable diseases under UK and EU legislation.
• Pioneering work on TaqMan real-time PCR capabilities in support of contingencies and surveillance for the detection of honeybee viruses, exotic pests and undesirable bees.

Publications

Thompson H, Waite R J, Wilkins S, Brown M A, Bigwood T, Shaw M, Ridgeway C, Sharman M: Effects of shook swarm and supplementary feeding on oxytetracycline levels in honey extracted from treated colonies. Apidologie, Vol 37 (1), pp 51-57.

Chantawannakul P, Ward L, Boonham N, and Brown M A: A Scientific Note on the Detection of Honeybee Viruses Using real-time PCR (TaqMan) in Varroa Mites Collected from a Thai Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Apiary. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, Vol 91, pp 69-73.