Hampshire Beekeepers Association

04/10/2026

This truly was a star studded gathering at this years HBA Honey Show & Convention. Thank you to all who attended and to our star speakers.

NDBs out in force at Hampshire Convention and honey show. Marin spoke about the evolution of honey bees, Lynfa Davies covered winter preparation and Simon debunked the myths around queen rearing.
We thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all!

04/10/2026

Thank you to all the association’s who donated raffle prizes, this year certainly has seen some great prizes.

04/10/2026

And the HBA Honey Show begins we see the shelves starting to fill. It’s going to be a good show. With three NBD speakers this year we hope you secured a ticket. 🎫

01/10/2026

Anaphylaxis Awareness Week (1st – 7th October 2026) is dedicated to ensuring everyone living with serious allergies feels included and safe.

This year’s theme is “a sense of belonging,” so let’s create awareness in our community!

For beekeepers, it’s important to know the signs of anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) and how to respond. While only a small number of beekeepers develop this life-threatening allergy, it’s good for everyone to have the right information at hand.

Anaphylaxis UK has put together a toolkit and resources to help you understand the symptoms and how to administer an EpiPen if needed.

Useful Links:
• https://anaphylaxis.org.uk/anaphylaxis-awareness-week-2026/
• https://anaphylaxis.org.uk/bee-allergy-aware/

Let’s share this information to ensure no one feels alone on their allergy journey!

Living with serious allergies shouldn’t mean living on the sidelines. Whether it is a child navigating the school dining hall, an adult enjoying a social gathering, a colleague attending a work lunch,...

27/09/2026

The next threat to beekeepers on the doorstep.

21/09/2026

Bee keepers and inspectors used GPS trackers to follow the insects and find the nest in Oldham.

16/09/2026

Southampton and District Beekeepers Association congratulations on your new website. If you are interested in Beekeeping in the Southampton area, check out their new website for details.

15/09/2026

13/09/2026

The British Beekeepers Association and Welsh Beekeepers’ Association and their member associations created the Yellow-legged Asian Hornet Teams network to work in partnership with the NBU to help identify potential sightings of yellow-legged hornets and to heighten awareness of the hornets in communities. You can find your local team on the BBKA Yellow-legged Asian Hornet Team map website.

https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/diseases-and-pests/asian-hornet/the-role-of-asian-hornet-teams-ahts #

The British Beekeepers Association and Welsh Beekeepers’ Association and their member associations created the Yellow-legged Asian Hornet Teams network to work in partnership with the NBU to help identify potential sightings of yellow-legged hornets and to heighten awareness of the hornets in comm...

13/09/2026

Day 7 - Economic, Human & Ecological Risk - Asian Hornet Week

This is the final day for Asian Hornet Week, 2026. We have covered a great deal of information about this pest and the potential harm it creates to our delicate ecosystems.
Some of the highlights are detailed here:
Threat to Honeybees and Pollinators

• Devastating predation: Hornets hover outside beehives in a hunting behaviour known as "hawking," catching bees mid-flight to feed their developing larvae.

• Hive paralysis: A single colony can consume thousands of bees. Under siege, bees refuse to leave the hive to forage, leading to starvation and collapsed colonies.

• Lack of defence: Unlike native Asian honeybees, European honeybees have not evolved effective defence mechanisms against this specific hornet.

• Wider ecological impact: They do not eat only honeybees; research shows they hunt a wide variety of beneficial insects, including hoverflies, butterflies, and other social wasps, which threatens overall biodiversity and plant pollination.

Remember: Only around 38% of Vespa velutina’s diet consists of honeybees – 62% is all the other insects & invertebrates.

Honeybee colonies are “easy” prey – it is like an open larder for them.

Economic and Agricultural Damage

• Crop loss: By reducing the number of vital pollinators, the hornets can negatively impact the quantity and quality of agricultural and fruit crop yields.

• Beekeeping disruption: They severely damage local honey production and force beekeepers to spend significant time, effort, and money on protective measures.

Human Health Risks

• Aggressive defence: While not overly aggressive away from their nests, they defend large secondary nests fiercely when disturbed.

• Stings and anaphylaxis: Their venom contains toxic and allergenic components. In areas where they have proliferated heavily in Europe, they have become a leading cause of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) from stings.

This is not an exclusive issue just for beekeepers; it will affect multiple areas of society, from agriculturalists to amateur gardeners, basically anyone working outdoors.
What can you do to help fight this predator?
The answer to this is simple:

• Tell your friends and relations
• Learn how to identify them
• Publicise this to your clubs and social events
• Publicise in social and conventional media outlets
• Become a volunteer prepared to house a monitoring station(s) in your garden or land

We have publicity material available that is free of charge, including posters, flyers, and postcards.

If you would like more information, email me [email protected] stating your name and location.

Please check out our website for more information on the Yellow Legged Asian Hornet and Beekeeping in general.

Beekeeping association Hampshire UK