Hastings and Rother Beekeepers' Association

10/10/2026

UPDATE: 8 October

The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU) has informed us that it has received further credible reports of YLH. To date there have been 216 sightings in 2026, resulting in the identification of 78 nests.

The nests confirmed since the last update are recorded in the following locations:
Kent
Eythorne (secondary)
Eythorne (primary)
Kettle Corner (secondary)
Hempstead (secondary)

All nests have been destroyed.

Multiple sightings continue to be monitored by the NBU, local beekeepers and Yellow-legged hornet teams at locations across Dorset, East Sussex, Greater London, Greater Manchester, Kent, Norfolk and Somerset.

Please remember to download the app from your usual app store and use it to report any sightings.

07/10/2026

Could you help shape the future of the BBKA? 🐝

We're looking for new trustees to join us from January 2027 and we'd love to hear from members with a little spare time and enthusiasm to give.

Our trustees provide the oversight, guidance and strategic direction that keep the BBKA true to its charitable aims. Alongside your beekeeping experience, we're especially keen to hear from anyone who can bring skills in:

🗣️ Communication: website development, social media, PR or branding
📚 Education: teaching and training, to raise the quality of beekeeping and grow public understanding of the craft
⚖️ Legal expertise: particularly in governance

Experience on your local branch or area association committee is a helpful grounding, though by no means essential.

If you'd like to find out more, or to request nomination papers, please get in touch by emailing: [email protected]

06/10/2026

Introducing National Honey Day 2026 🍯🐝

We're delighted to unveil the brand new logo for National Honey Day, taking place on 21st October. We're looking forward to a nationwide celebration of the golden goodness of local British honey and the dedicated beekeepers who produce it.

This year's theme is simple and powerful: Buy Local Honey! There's nothing quite like a jar of honey from the bees in your area. Every one tastes of its own corner of the country and every purchase supports a local beekeeper.

We'll be sharing more throughout the month, so keep your eyes peeled. 👀

📣 Members: the new logo is ready to download now from the Member Hub, along with a full set of assets including posters and ready-to-use social media posts to help you and your association join in. Don't forget to log in and download now.

03/10/2026

The American beekeeper and philosopher Richard Taylor once wrote: 'Ask any beekeeper what they think is their biggest, single, most troublesome problem a...

01/10/2026

October in the apiary: winding down for winter.

It's the start of a new month and as the days shorten and temperatures drop, the whole rhythm of the colony changes. The queen slows her laying right down, the population begins to fall and the bees shift from a summer of expansion to a winter of conservation, keeping warm and protecting their precious stores.

In many areas the drones will already have been turned out and the entrance will be more heavily guarded against robbing as forage grows scarce. Inside, the bees are still ripening and capping the last of their honey and packing away extra pollen to see them through.

Your window to help is narrowing now, so a few jobs worth attention this month:

🔍 If you know you have a Varroa problem, act now and don't let mite levels build going into winter.
🍯 If a colony needs feeding, syrup is likely past its best (uncapped syrup risks mould and fermentation) and fondant is probably the way forward from now until spring.
🧰 Take your last chance to tidy the comb: note old, dark frames to replace in spring and order your frames and foundation ready.
📋 Clean, repair and store your kit, and update your records. Which colonies thrived, what you fed or treated and which you'd like to breed from next year.
📅 Get your winter diary sorted too: your local association will have indoor talks and training over the coming months.

A little care now sets your colonies up for the season ahead.

01/10/2026

You might have seen a lot of news coverage recently about how honey is now the third most adulterated food product on the planet.

Finding genuine, pure honey on supermarket shelves has become surprisingly difficult. With new EU laws enforcing strict country-of-origin labelling for honey, we’d love to see the UK follow suit and bring complete transparency to store shelves here, too.

Until that happens, the reality is simple: if you want 100% real, local, raw honey, you have to go straight to the source.

Look for a genuine beekeeper—someone who actually keeps and cares for the bees themselves, not someone who buys in bulk, mixes, or repacks honey from unknown sources.

At the end of the day, real honey comes straight from real hives, crafted by real bees, with a real keeper tending to them. That’s what we do here, and that’s the only way to know exactly what’s in your jar. 🍯🐝

30/09/2026

One simple choice that will help protect our bees.

With the threat of Tropilaelaps edging closer, there's a genuinely powerful step every beekeeper can take and it starts with where we source our queens.

Tropilaelaps can cross borders through illegal imports, so the less we rely on importing queens, the smaller the risk of disease becomes. It's our collective demand for queens that keeps the import market going so if we can reduce the demand, we can reduce the risk.

So when you need a new queen, a trusted local beekeeper should be your first port of call.

A few practical things to consider:
- Aim to overwinter at least one nuc as your own insurance against winter losses. This reduces your reliance on outside suppliers at the very moment demand is highest.
- If you do need to buy in, ask where the queen has come from. Was she imported? A queen offered in early April is unlikely to have been born and mated here in the UK so a few well-chosen questions make all the difference.

The threat from Tropilaelaps is real, but the everyday decisions we make as individual beekeepers add up. Those simple, practical choices really can protect our whole community.

25/09/2026

18/09/2026

Update 17 September

The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit (NBU) has informed us that it has received further credible reports of YLH.

To date there have been 201 sightings in 2026 resulting in the identification of 66 nests.

The nests confirmed this week are recorded in the following locations:

Kent
Sandgate (primary)
Slade (secondary)
Harrietsham (primary)
Capel le Ferne (secondary)

East Sussex
Lewes (secondary)
Bachelors Bump (secondary)

The following nests are awaiting destruction: Capel le Ferne in Kent, Bachelors Bump in East Sussex and Immingham in Lincolnshire.

Multiple sightings continue to be monitored by the NBU, local beekeepers and yellow-legged hornet teams at locations across Dorset, East Sussex, Essex, Greater London, Greater Manchester, the Isle of Wight, Kent and Somerset.