Keeping bees in the UK is largely unlicensed, but several practical and legal strands still apply: registering your colonies, respecting neighbours and local rules, carrying the right insurance, and responding to statutory disease control powers. This apiary model lets you change those factors and see the consequences play out around the hives in real time.
Registering an apiary on BeeBase is free and voluntary in England and Wales, but it is the main channel the National Bee Unit uses to warn beekeepers of nearby notifiable disease outbreaks and to target inspections under the Bee Diseases and Pests Control (England) Order.
An interactive 3D apiary that turns registration, boundary distance, insurance and disease-control rules into things you can see happen: a glowing beacon, a colour-coded compliance ring, a translucent insurance dome and an approaching bee inspector.
How several independent compliance factors — voluntary registration, neighbour-friendly siting, liability cover, and statutory disease control — combine around the same apiary, each with its own visible signal in the scene.
Set the number of hives and their distance from the boundary fence, toggle registration and insurance, then switch on a notifiable-disease alert to watch a Bee Inspector arrive under statutory powers.
Registering on BeeBase is free and not legally required in England and Wales, but it's the main way the National Bee Unit can warn you before a notifiable disease reaches your own hives.