diff --git a/fbi_core/annotate.py b/fbi_core/annotate.py
index fc0329f..4136a0f 100644
--- a/fbi_core/annotate.py
+++ b/fbi_core/annotate.py
@@ -6,14 +6,14 @@
 
 import elasticsearch
 import requests
-from ceda_es_client import CEDAElasticsearchClient
+from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 
-from .conf import APIKEY
+from .conf import APIKEY, ES_HOSTS
 
 if APIKEY:
-    es = CEDAElasticsearchClient(headers={"x-api-key": APIKEY})
+    es = elasticsearch.Elasticsearch(hosts=ES_HOSTS, headers={"x-api-key": APIKEY})
 else:
-    es = CEDAElasticsearchClient()
+    es = elasticsearch.Elasticsearch(hosts=ES_HOSTS)
 
 indexname = "fbi-annotations"
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def get_moles_records():
     coll_url += "/?fields=ob_id,uuid,title,publicationState"
     coll_url += "&limit=10000"
     r = requests.get(coll_url, timeout=200)
-    
+
     collection_records_by_obid = {}
     for collection_rec in r.json()["results"]:
         collection_records_by_obid[collection_rec["ob_id"]] = collection_rec
diff --git a/fbi_core/conf.py b/fbi_core/conf.py
index d1ef3f5..269404f 100644
--- a/fbi_core/conf.py
+++ b/fbi_core/conf.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-import yaml
 import os
 
+import yaml
 
 conf_file = os.path.join(os.environ["HOME"], ".fbi.yml")
+
 if os.path.exists(conf_file):
     conf = yaml.load(open(conf_file), Loader=yaml.Loader)
     APIKEY = conf["ES"]["api_key"]
+    ES_HOSTS = conf["ES"].get("hosts", ["https://elasticsearch.ceda.ac.uk:443"])
 else:
     APIKEY = None
-
+    ES_HOSTS = ["https://elasticsearch.ceda.ac.uk:443"]
diff --git a/fbi_core/fbi_tools.py b/fbi_core/fbi_tools.py
index e9ad6bc..aba79e1 100644
--- a/fbi_core/fbi_tools.py
+++ b/fbi_core/fbi_tools.py
@@ -5,15 +5,14 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 
 import elasticsearch
-from ceda_es_client import CEDAElasticsearchClient
 from elasticsearch.helpers import scan
 
-from .conf import APIKEY
+from .conf import APIKEY, ES_HOSTS
 
 if APIKEY:
-    es = CEDAElasticsearchClient(headers={"x-api-key": APIKEY})
+    es = elasticsearch.Elasticsearch(hosts=ES_HOSTS, headers={"x-api-key": APIKEY})
 else:
-    es = CEDAElasticsearchClient()
+    es = elasticsearch.Elasticsearch(hosts=ES_HOSTS)
 
 indexname = "fbi-2022"
 
@@ -32,9 +31,9 @@ def fbi_records(
     :param str after: paths after this are iterated over. Defaults to "/"
     :param str stop: iteration stops when the path is greater than or equal to this. Defaults to "~"
     :param int fetch_size: The number of records to request from elasticsearch at a time.
-    :param bool exclude_phenomena: remove the bulky phenomena attribute from 
+    :param bool exclude_phenomena: remove the bulky phenomena attribute from
                                    the record. Default is False.
-    :param str item_type: Item type for the records. Either "file", "dir" or "link". 
+    :param str item_type: Item type for the records. Either "file", "dir" or "link".
                           Defaults to all types.
 
     :return iterator[dict]: Yeilds FBI records as dictionaries.
@@ -211,7 +210,6 @@ def all_under_query(
     if blank:
         must.append({"term": {blank: {"value": ""}}})
 
-    
     if exclude_readmes:
         must_not.append({"prefix": {"name.keyword": {"value": "00README"}}})
         must_not.append({"prefix": {"name.keyword": {"value": "README"}}})
@@ -406,11 +404,11 @@ def archive_summary(
 
 def _split(splitlist, batch_size, **kwargs):
     """
-    Divide a list of directories into by adding subdirectories if there are too many 
+    Divide a list of directories into by adding subdirectories if there are too many
     items in a directory.
 
     :param list splitlist: A list of tuples containing a directory name and an item count.
-                           e.g. [("/x/y", 100)] may expand to [("/x/y/a", 50), 
+                           e.g. [("/x/y", 100)] may expand to [("/x/y/a", 50),
                            ("/x/y/b", 10), ("/x/y/c", 40),]
     """
     new_splits = []