Scottish Beekeepers' Association
Supporting Scotland's Bees and Beekeepers

Scotland's New Honey Bee Health Strategy For 2022-2032

The Strategy was published on the 30th of June, and has been developed in conjunction with the Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP). It has taken into account the review of the previous strategy and the results of the recent Scottish Government honey bee health survey. To download the Strategy please click here or on the image above.

Its main aim is “Working in partnership to achieve a healthy and sustainable population of honey bees in Scotland”.

The strategy details five pillars which will outline the ways of working which we will base our actions over the next 10 years:

1. Education, Training and Knowledge Transfer

2. Communication and partnership working across government, operational partners, stakeholders and all of those with an interest in honey bees in Scotland

3. Pest and Disease surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and control

4. Research and Development.

5. On-going review of the regulatory framework

The Strategy will be the overarching document which will be accompanied by an Implementation Plan. This will be a ‘living’ document detailing more specifically the actions which the BHIP will deliver in order to achieve the desired outcomes for honey bee health in Scotland. The Plan will be updated regularly following quarterly BHIP meetings and published on the Scottish Government website on our Bee Health pages.

Additional background information and previous publications:

· Scotland’s first 10 year Honey Bee Health Strategy (Published June 2010)

· Review of the first 10 year strategy (Published October 2021)

· Honey Bee Heath Strategy Survey Report 2022 (Published March 2022)

Any additional questions should be directed to the Scottish Government’s Bee Health Team at: Bees_mailbox@gov.scot

Please complete COLOSS Survey 2020

Following earlier surveys of members carried out on behalf of the Scottish Beekeepers' Association and reported on in The Scottish Beekeeper magazine and elsewhere, we are repeating the exercise in 2020. This is our 13th year of the survey! The responses provide a valuable picture of beekeeping in Scotland, with a strong focus on colony losses and colony management practice. Data from this survey will also contribute, in anonymised form, to our annual data return to the COLOSS group's international database used to study colony losses and potential risk factors for colony loss. This provides valuable information on colony losses in many different countries.

We are asking for your participation in the survey online, which we have found to be a fast and efficient way to carry out the survey. We very much hope that you will take a few minutes to fill in the responses. There are a few questions for non-beekeepers and relatively new beekeepers, as well as more questions for established beekeepers in Scotland. If you have the relevant information to hand, the full survey (consisting of 15 short question groups) should take no more than about 15 minutes. It is possible to re-visit earlier questions if you need to do that, using the options at the foot of the page.

The diagram above may be helpful in completing the colony loss questions.

You will be given an opportunity to provide us with your contact details, but if you choose not to do so, there is no way in which the survey organisers can link you with the responses you have given.

If you supply your contact details, and submit your answers to the questions before Wednesday June 17th, you will be entered into a prize draw for a £50 Gift Voucher for Beekeeping Equipment kindly supplied by Thornes of Wragby and Newburgh.

To participate, please click on the link here or on the image above.

Thank you very much for your time.