Beekeepers buzzing as more register on national database

The number of beekeepers has grown over the last year, according to the National Bee Unit, which runs BeeBase, the national beekeepers’ database.

Increasing the numbers of registered beekeepers is an important feature of ’Healthy Bees’, the long term plan to protect and improve bee health.

More than 1,500 new beekeepers have registered on BeeBase this year and much of this has been attributed to the increased publicity on bee health, leading to more people donning bee suits and picking up smokers for the first time.

There are also large numbers of new entrants being seen at beekeeping training events provided by the National Bee Unit’s team of bee inspectors and beekeeping associations. Recent training events have seen over 13,000 attendees.

Bee health Minister Lord Davies said:

"This is great news – more beekeepers are registering on BeeBase. This entitles them to the free inspection service offered by the National Bee Unit and ensures that they are able to keep up to date on disease developments.


"It is encouraging that more people appear to be taking up beekeeping and taking up bee health training opportunities. By working with all beekeepers we can collaborate to improve bee health."