Moving a honeybee colony between apiaries — buying a nucleus colony, relocating for pollination contracts, or consolidating hives — carries a real risk of spreading brood diseases and pests such as American foulbrood, European foulbrood or varroa-vectored viruses. Health certification and a quarantine period at the destination are the two practical tools beekeepers and inspectors use to catch problems before they establish in a new apiary.
In the UK, moving bees is governed by the Bee Diseases and Pests Control Order, and notifiable diseases like American foulbrood must be reported to the National Bee Unit — a valid inspection or certificate is often a practical prerequisite for buying, selling or moving colonies with confidence.
A 3D biosecurity model of moving a honeybee colony between apiaries — the colony travels from an origin apiary, through a fenced quarantine paddock, to a destination apiary, while a live risk score tracks disease exposure and certificate status.
Biosecurity risk falls as quarantine days are served and rises with source-region disease prevalence; an invalid health certificate adds a flat penalty and can block release even after the full quarantine period has passed.
Set the source region's risk, choose a quarantine length, toggle the certificate, then scrub the timeline (or press ▶ Play) to watch the colony load, sit in quarantine and either clear inspection or get held back.
In the UK, moving bees is covered by the Bee Diseases and Pests Control Order, and notifiable diseases such as American foulbrood must be reported to the National Bee Unit before any colony is moved on.