Classes of membership and fees

	MBA	HBKA	BBKA	BDI
Full	£11.00	£5.00	£21.00	£2.00	£39.00
School	£11.00	£5.00	£21.00	£2.00	£39.00
Partner	£4.50	Nil	£13.50	No	£18.00
Junior	£7.50	Nil	£9.50	Yes	£17.00
Associate	£12.00	£5.00	Nil	No	£17.00
Honorary	Free	Free	Free	Yes	Free

Bee Disease Insurance

The minimum payable by each Member Association to BDI Ltd as a condition of membership is a subscription of £2 per annum for each of its beekeeping members. This subscription includes insurance cover for up to three honey bee colonies. Note: BBKA Partner Members are not required to make any BDI payment, but the Full Member is responsible for insuring all colonies owned by themselves and their Partner Member.

Associate Members, Junior Members and Friends are typically not insured as they do not usually keep bees independently or they are insured via another association.

Beekeepers under the age of 16 years are unable to take out insurance policies and any policy has to be arranged by a parent or guardian. Bees kept by Junior Members whose parents do not keep bees can have insurance taken out on their behalf with BDI.  

In such circumstances  the paper or eReturn receipt should show the Junior members name in the usual way, but the first line of the address should be replaced by the Parent/Guardian’s name, followed by the address on the remaining lines.

Beekeeping members are obliged to pay premiums for any extra colonies they own.

The additional premiums are shown below:

Up to 5 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £1.20

Up to 10 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £4.70

Up to 15 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £7.75

Up to 20 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £9.50

Up to 25 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £11.10

Up to 30 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £13.60

Up to 35 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £16.10

Up to 39 colonies (including the basic three) an additional £18.10

For the benefit of the sharp-eyed, you may notice BDI has slightly reduced the premium for the first two bands. This change takes affect in 2023. All other bands will remain the same. 

Due to careful husbandry of its resources, BDI has not increased its premiums in the recent past, and in fact, has absorbed several rises in Insurance Premium Tax that are included in the subscription and premiums charged.   

For associations like Meridian that use the online renewal system within the eR2 membership system no action is necessary as additional premiums are calculated automatically when a member enters the number of colonies to insure.

BDI funds research into the causes of bee diseases. These activities are funded from your subscription. Further details of BDI research activities can be found on their website. https://www.beediseasesinsurance.co.uk/research

When does BDI cover start?

BDI premiums are paid each calendar year. Insurance cover becomes effective from the moment the member’s association receives his or her membership subscription and additional premiums. 

Where such payment is made after 31st March, cover will not commence until 40 days have elapsed from the payment of the subscription and premium. This is known as the 40-day rule. This is to prevent members starting or increasing cover during the active season when they may have already discovered the presence of disease.