Importing bees into Scotland: guidance

Honey bees and bumble bees from Isle of Man and Channel Islands must:

Either: (a) the bees/bumble bees come from an area which is not the subject of a prohibition order associated with an occurrence of American foulbrood (AFB) (the period of prohibition has been continued for at least 30 days following the last recorded case and the date on which all hives within a radius of three kilometres have been checked by the competent authority and all infected hives burned or treated and inspected to the satisfaction of the competent authority)

Or (a) the bumble bees come from an environmentally isolated structure recognised by and under the supervision of the competent authority of the member state which is free of American foulbrood and was inspected immediately prior to despatch and all bumble bees and breeding stock show no clinical signs or suspicion of disease

And (b) the bees/bumble bees come from an area of at least 100km radius which is not the subject of any restrictions associated with the suspicion or confirmed occurrence of the Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) or the Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps spp.) and where these infestations are absent

Or (b) the consignment consists only of cages of queen bees, each containing one single queen with a maximum of 20 accompanying attendants, and comes from an area of at least 100km radius which is not the subject of any restrictions associated with the suspicion or confirmed occurrence of the Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps spp.) and from an establishment that fulfils all the following requirements:

• it is situated at least 30km distance from the limits of a protection zone of at least 20km in radius around confirmed occurrence(s) of the Small hive beetle
• it is situated outside of a zone restricted by protective measures established by the Union due to the occurrence of Small hive beetle
• it is situated in an area where annual surveillance for the detection of Small hive beetle by the competent authority is ongoing to provide a confidence level of at least 95% of detecting Small hive beetle if at least 2% of the apiaries were infested
• it is inspected every month by the competent authority with negative results to provide a confidence level of at least 95% of detecting Small hive beetle if at least 2% of the hives were infested
• where each cage or the whole consignment is covered by a fine mesh of maximum 2 mm pore size immediately after the visual examination for the health certification

Or (b) the bumble bees come from an environmentally isolated structure recognised by and under the supervision of the competent authority, which is free of Small hive beetle

And (c) the bees/bumble bees as well as their packaging have undergone a visual examination to detect the occurrence of the Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) or their eggs and larvae, or other infestations in particular the Tropilaelaps mite (Tropilaelaps spp.) affecting bees.