About health certificate

Why do shipments of queen bees require a health certificate?

In order for us to be able to send European honey bee Apis mellifera queens to other EU countries, according to EU regulations 2016/429, 2020/688, 2021/403, a mandatory veterinary certificate must be attached to queen bee shipments. This certifies that our honey bees and apiaries are free of American brood rot, Aethina tumida (small hive beetles) and Tropilaelaps spp. invasions.


An individual veterinary certificate is prepared for each order before dispatching it, so when placing an order, an additional 8 EUR for a veterinary health certificate is added to the additional delivery costs. We apply for veterinary certificates at the Food and Veterinary Service (FVS). Then the veterinary certificate is prepared using the digital certificate and management platform TRACES NT. After that, we visit FVS to receive the certificate and attach it to your order. The whole process can take several days.

How to register in TRACES NT to receive a health certificate and queen bees from other countries?

The good news: you only need to register for TRACES NT once. It can be done easily, we have prepared instructions with pictures how to do it (see  attachments below). The instructions are prepared in different languages. There may be errors in the translation, so we recommend using the instructions in English if possible.

After creating your TRACES NT profile you have to contact your national veterinary service to get confirmation that your profile is valid and you have  roles indicated in TRACES NT system: (1) Terrestrial animal establishment (HBEE-EST) and (2) Importer (OTH-OPER) or (2) Animal importer (IMP). 

* You can find out more about the transportation of animals, veterinary certificates and TRACES NT in the EU: