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COLONY WINTER LOSSES

Following earlier surveys of Scottish beekeepers carried out on behalf of the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association and reported on in The Scottish Beekeeper and elsewhere, we are repeating the exercise in 2026, a bit later in the season than usual.

This is our 19th 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 10 to 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.

A diagram is included below, which may be helpful in completing the colony loss questions.

You will be given an opportunity to provide 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.

Please submit your responses by Saturday August 29th.

To participate, please click on the link below

https://www.bee-survey.com/index.php/767794?newtest=Y&lang=en

Thank you very much for your time.

Alison Gray (Survey Organiser),
Department of Mathematics and Statistics,
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.