There are two serious brood diseases of honey bee in the UK that are currently notifiable and subject to control under The Bee Diseases and Pests Control Order 2006. These are American foulbrood (AFB) and European Foulbrood (EFB). The control of AFB and EFB disease is the responsibility of the National Bee Unit, which carries out a risk-based inspection programme on registered colonies across England and Wales. If you keep honey bee colonies in England or Wales, you may be contacted by your local Bee Inspector for an inspection of your bees.

If you ever have any serious concerns about the health of your colonies (whether you are registered or not), you can contact your local Bee Inspector to request a visit; even if it is a false alarm, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

If foulbrood is suspected in an apiary, an Inspector visit and inspect the colonies. They will test any larva suspected of having EFB or AFB using a lateral flow device (LFD) in the field. They will then send the LFD and any samples taken during the inspection to the laboratory for analysis. If the Inspector suspects foulbrood, they will issue a ‘Standstill Notice’, which prohibits the removal of bees, bee products and equipment from the apiary. If foulbrood is confirmed by the laboratory analysis, the Inspector will supervise the necessary disease control measures. This will be destruction of infected colonies (EFB or AFB) or shookswarm (EFB only), as well as further inspections of any colonies which have been associated with the diseased colony/colonies. After a minimum of 6 weeks, the Inspector will return to carry out a follow up inspection. If there are no further signs of disease, then the standstill notice is withdrawn. Normally, the Bee Inspector will visit again during the following season to be sure that the disease has been completely controlled.

Further information

For further information about how to identify and prevent foulbrood disease, please read our advisory leaflet on foulbrood disease of honey bees, or visit our Diseases and Pests pages.

There are two exotic pest threats, the Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida) and Tropilaelaps spp. mites, which are notifiable throughout Europe and are therefore subject to statutory surveillance and control measures. For more information about these pests, please visit our Exotic Pests page.