Science, Health & Government
Scotland’s New Honeybee Health Strategy For 2022-2032.
The Honey Bee Health Strategy 2022 – 2032
The Strategy was published on the 30th of June 2022, 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.
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:
- Education, Training and Knowledge Transfer.
- Communication and partnership working across government, operational partners, stakeholders and all of those with an interest in honey bees in Scotland.
- Pest and Disease surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and control.
- Research and Development.
- 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
Science & Research
Although the SBA is not primarily a research organisation, science regularly impinges on our beekeeping.
Are pesticides really damaging? What diseases do we have in Scotland? Do we really understand foraging? Can we support good beekeeping science in Scotland? The organisation has many scientists and scientifically minded beekeepers amongst its number and these people bring a rigour and a relevance to much that we do.
The Scottish Government bee inspectors are supported in their work by a team of entomologists at SASA in Edinburgh. We are well served by our links with these scientists through shared projects, educational workshops and collaboration on the Honey Bee Health Strategy for Scotland.
