Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI)
The insurance company for beekeepers in England & Wales run by beekeepers
Working for bees, education, protection & research
Est: 1936
Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) provides insurance coverage specifically for beekeepers in England and Wales. The coverage offered by BDI compensates beekeepers who have had their equipment destroyed by a Bee Inspector as a result of their colony or colonies being infected by a notifiable disease, currently European Foulbrood (EFB) and American Foulbrood (AFB). The condition of the equipment can affect the level of compensation.
In addition to disease coverage, BDI also has a limited contingency fund to compensate for equipment destroyed following infestation by a notifiable pest, currently Small Hive Beetle (Aethina tumida) and Tropilaelaps.
It is important to note that only equipment destroyed is covered by this insurance, and the cost of replacement bees is not covered. Click here to view full details of the insurance cover provided by BDI
2024 TRAINING GRANTS FOR HEALTHY BEE TRAINING DAYS
Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd is offering beekeeper associations £100 training grants towards the cost of running a healthy bee training day in the 2024 season.
The funds are limited to events which cover how to recognise bee diseases including European and American foulbroods and manage apiary hygiene etc but are not applicable for Asian hornet training days.
BDI's support must be acknowledged on all publicity materials.
To apply, submit an application form to treasurer@beediseasesinsurance.co.uk
2024 AGM
The annual general meeting of Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd will be held at 10.30am on Friday, 12 April as part of the BBKA's Spring Convention at Harper Adams University, Shropshire. Location: Room M38, Main House (access via entry marked 98 on the campus map).
The speaker is Maggie Gill, pictured above, who will talk about her team's on-going Tropilaelaps research . The results from the first part of the project have prompted significant changes to the way Tropilaelaps surveillance is carried out in England and Wales. The research also gave the team a better understanding of the feeding habits and survivability of this little-understood mite and of how it might be transported to the UK. The team is preparing to return to Chiang Mai University, Thailand, to continue their work. Already their findings are helping to improve the global understanding of Tropilaelaps and their future work could play an important role in the control of this mite should it ever reach the UK.
Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd is proud to sponsor this research.
European foulbrood (EFB) © Crown copyright
Linking eR2 membership system to BeeBase
September 2023: In order to simplify the process of renewing existing memberships and accepting new members, most associations now use eR2, which was developed originally by Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) to handle their membership administration...
There is no automatic sharing of data from local associations to BeeBase. As eR2 membership has developed, some local associations have asked us if we can provide a link for those associations who wish to participate; this would allow consenting members to share their contact details with the National Bee Unit.
The link is now active for membership renewals for the 2024 season. For associations who wish their members to be given the opportunity to pass their contact details to BeeBase, each member, on renewal or initial joining, will be asked (by ticking the relevant box) if they wish their data to be transferred. No data will be passed without the member giving their permission.
Click here to read the full article which appeared in BBKA News, September 2023.
Whole apiary shook swarm - 2024
Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) - in conjunction with the National Bee Unit - is continuing to fund a whole apiary shook swarm trial in 2024 where EFB has been identified.
The trial is offered for all colonies and equipment (eg frames, comb etc) stored in the infected apiary when at least one colony has been confirmed as having European foulbrood (EFB) by an Authorised Bee Inspector (ABI).
The National Bee Unit states: “Trials have shown that shaking bees onto new foundation and then destroying the old combs can be beneficial when controlling European foulbrood. This procedure is known as Shook Swarming and it may also be beneficial in controlling Nosema spp., chalk brood and Varroa mite populations. Colonies treated in this way often become the strongest and most productive in an apiary. Some beekeepers are now using this system to replace all the old brood combs in a beehive within a single procedure.”
The pilot scheme replaces training grants offered in recent years.
For more information click here.
Photo courtesy of The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Crown Copyright
European foulbrood (EFB) © Crown copyright
2025 BDI rates
November 2024: The 2025 rates for Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd (BDI) are once again unchanged.
Due to careful husbandry of its resources, BDI has not increased its premiums in the recent past and has absorbed several rises in Insurance Premium Tax which is included in the subscription and premiums charged.
Insurance premiums are 'banded' by the number of colonies.
Up to 3 colonies: included in the basic £2.00 subscription.
Additional cover is available by paying the additional BDI premium:
Up to 5 colonies in total: £1.20; Up to 10 colonies in total: £4.70
Up to 15 colonies in total: £7.75; Up to 20 colonies in total: £9.50
Up to 25 colonies in total: £11.10; Up to 30 colonies in total: £13.60
Up to 35 colonies in total: £16.10; Up to 39 colonies in total: £18.10
These premiums apply to returns submitted from spring 2024. Using the eR2 membership system, no action is necessary as the additional premiums are calculated automatically when a member enters the number of colonies to insure.
EFB PhD research Monika Yordanova
Podcast with BDI funded student
2023: Honey bees are closely aligned with their environment and their health and productivity is influenced by the stressors they encounter.
Lynfa Davies, Master Beekeeper, NDB, from the Healthy Bees Academy, talks to Dr Peter Graystock and Monika Yordanova, from Imperial College, London; they are investigating the factors that increase the vulnerability of bees to disease.
Monika is a PhD student jointly funded by Bee Diseases Insurance Ltd and the CB Dennis Trust, and supervised by Peter. Her work explores the susceptibility of bees to European foulbrood, one of the notifiable brood diseases of honey bees. In this podcast they discuss whether there are potential triggers that cause apparently healthy hives to develop disease symptoms as well as some top tips to prevent disease from spreading.