UK beekeepers operate inside a statutory framework, not just good practice. Suspected notifiable diseases — American Foulbrood, European Foulbrood, and non-native pests like Small Hive Beetle or Tropilaelaps mites — must legally be reported to the National Bee Unit (NBU). The NBU relies heavily on BeeBase, the voluntary apiary register, to know who and where to contact. Once a case is confirmed or suspected, bee inspectors hold statutory rights of entry to apiaries and can impose movement restriction zones.
BeeBase registration is free and voluntary in England and Wales, yet it is the main way NBU inspectors can contact beekeepers quickly during an outbreak — an unregistered apiary can legally exist, but it is effectively invisible to statutory disease control until someone reports it.
A 3D map of an apiary landscape where you trigger a suspected notifiable disease report and watch the statutory legal process unfold: notification to the National Bee Unit, inspector dispatch, and a zone sweep that reaches registered apiaries but leaves unregistered ones unaccounted for.
Each notifiable disease or pest carries a different statutory restricted and surveillance zone footprint. Reporting a suspected case fires a notification pulse to the NBU, dispatches an inspector, and sweeps every apiary inside the zone — but only BeeBase-registered apiaries can be proactively reached.
Choose a notifiable disease to set the zone sizes, adjust BeeBase registration coverage across the map, then click "Report suspected case" to run the full legal process from notification through to inspection.
BeeBase registration is voluntary in England and Wales — an apiary can legally exist off the register, but it is effectively invisible to statutory disease control until an inspector or neighbour discovers it in person.