Queen’s beekeeper admits use of banned substance

THE Queen’s beekeeper has admitted giving a banned drug to his honey bees in the first case of its kind.

Royal apiarist Murray McGregor admitted charges relating to the import of a banned substance and the administering of it to his bees.

McGregor, who has produced honey for Prince Charles, is believed to be the first person in the UK to be convicted of the charges.

McGregor, the owner of Denrosa Apiaries in Blairgowrie, admitted he had “administered unauthorised veterinary medicinal products” to an animal, namely the honey bee.

McGregor, 61, of Loch End Cottage, Blairgowrie, Perthshire, faced a total of seven charges relating to breaches of the Finance Act 1973, the European Communities Act 1972 and the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2008.

Of those, he pled guilty to importing the unauthorised medicinal product, Terramycin 100MR, between July 2009 and October 2010.

He also admitted giving the Terramycin 100MR to an animal, namely the honey bee, in contravention of the relevant regulations. He admitted a third charge of possessing the substance without authorisation.

McGregor, appearing at Perth Sheriff Court yesterday, was also alleged to have dosed the bees with a medicine known as Checkmite+ but charges in relation to that were dropped by the Crown.

A further charge alleging that he failed to comply with an improvement notice requiring him to remove all traces of oxytetracycline from his hives was also dropped.

The court was told a further expert report was being prepared for the court and sentence was deferred by Sheriff William Wood.