​A post-Brexit loophole could allow the arrival of a devastating new insect pest into the UK. Small hive beetle is endemic in southern Italy, from where most bees imported into the UK are brought.  It can multiply to huge numbers within infested colonies, where the beetle eats bee brood, honey and pollen, destroys wax combs and causes fermentation and spoiling of the honey.  Prior to December 2020, an effective inspection regime at points of import had prevented it from becoming established in the UK..  With Brexit, the rules changed: though packages of bees cannot currently be imported into Great Britain, they are still allowed to be brought into Northern Ireland – from where they can then be transferred to the UK mainland without restriction or disease inspection.

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Unless this loophole is closed, unscrupulous importers will be able to move bees into the UK without control.  There is no effective treatment for small hive beetle – in the US at least 20,000 colonies were destroyed within two years of its discovery and the potential impact on British beekeeping could be devastating.  We support the British Beekeepers Association in a campaign to ask the Government to take action on this urgent issue.  For more information on this issue see the BBKA's press release BBKA here