Attendees and apologies

Attendees:

Scottish Government (SG), Animal Health and Welfare (AHW) Head of Animal Welfare and Bee Health and Chairperson

SGAHW, Veterinary Advisor (Bee Health)  

SGAHW, Bee Health Policy Lead

SGAHW, Bee Health Policy Officer 

SGRPID, Bee Health Delivery Lead

SGSASA, Senior Entomologist

SGSASA, Laboratory Manager

NatureScot representative

Scottish Beekeepers’ Association (SBA), President and Bee Health Convener

SBA, Development Officer and Magazine Editor

Bee Farmers’ Association, Membership Services

SRUC, Bee Health Advisor

The Apiarist

Scottish Native Honey Bee Society (SNHBS) representative

 

Observers:

Welsh Government (WG) representative

Defra Policy Team representative

 

Apologies:

Bee Farmers’ Association, Scottish Representative

National Bee Unit (NBU) representative

DAERA, Northern Ireland representative

Items and actions

Welcome, introductions and apologies

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting noting attendees/apologies as above.

The group welcomed two new members to the BHIP, a representative from the Scottish Native Honey Bee Society (SNHBS) and a representative from the Scottish Beekeepers Association (SBA).

It was sadly noted that the representative from the National Diploma in Beekeeping (NDB) has stepped down from the BHIP. Unfortunately, there is not currently a replacement from the NDB to sit on the BHIP.

Action: The group agreed that the secretariat will draft a letter of thanks to the NDB representative for their contribution to the BHIP over the years and to wish them the best. 

 

BHIP membership

Following suggestions for new members to ensure the BHIP is representative of the sector, The Natural Beekeeping Trust were invited to join the group. Unfortunately, they declined due to being based in Cornwall. However, the group were pleased to welcome the SNHBS to join the Partnership as contributors. It was noted that the membership of the group will continue to be reviewed and kept as an action in the Implementation Plan should any members wish to suggest any other bee-related groups to invite in future.

The SNHBS representative gave a short presentation to the group on the work of the SNHBS which was established in 2017 and has around 90 members. It was highlighted, the breeding programmes and the findings under Scottish conditions undertaken by the SNHBS will be helpful for honey bee health and diseases in terms of resilience and sustainability.  

 

Previous minutes, review of actions and questions over reports sent by group members

The minutes of the previous quarterly meeting held on 13 August 2024 were agreed and accepted as an accurate record after the last meeting and subsequently published on the SG bee health web pages.

Actions are recorded in the Implementation Plan and are updated with the information provided in members reports.

There were no questions raised over those quarterly reports which were submitted.

 

Update on Activity

 

Updates relevant to the group from invited administrations

The Welsh Government representative informed the group that there have been no confirmed cases of Yellow-legged hornet, also known as Asian hornet in Wales. Inspectors in Wales have been assisting with the response in England to ensure they are ready should the situation change.

It was also pointed out that the main Bee Inspector in Northern Ireland recently retired and there are concerns about a lack of resource there.

 

Policy update

Plans to run a table top exercise to test SG’s Yellow-legged hornet Contingency Plan are well underway. Two planning meetings have taken place and a test scenario agreed.

As part of the analysis work to inform the long-term European foulbrood (EFB) management approach and direction of the EFB Control Plan, the SG commissioned SRUC to undertake an analysis of the economic impact of EFB to help identify whether the control measures currently in place are sustainable. A draft report has been received and comments are being compiled to return to SRUC. The SNHBS encouraged those leading on this work to also be aware of the wider effects on communities caused by each new infection and discovery of notifiable disease such as heartache and inconvenience as well as cost.

The team are also pulling together information, including the legal powers available, to initiate a discussion with the Minister about developing proposals for consulting the beekeeping community and public about compulsory registration of beekeepers in Scotland.

Finally, it was further noted that Small Hive Beetle has been confirmed in a sentinel apiary in Messina. UK Government will be working on a new declaration to include Sicily in the restricted area which includes Calabria and SG will be working with them to bring forward restrictions together.

 

SBA update

Nothing further to note other than what was detailed in their quarterly report. 

 

BFA update

It was highlighted that it has been a mediocre season nationally but particularly in Scotland.

 

NatureScot

NatureScot have been part of the planning for the exercise to test the Yellow-legged hornet Contingency Plan. The Pollinator Strategy Annual Report is due to be published in December. Headlines include particularly good engagement from local authorities and a new section highlighting the work in community groups. The Biodiversity Strategy is also due to be published soon.

 

SRUC

The Bee Health Advisor pointed out that there is a new system for requesting talks. Requests should be sent to the bees’ mailbox, the request will then be triaged to assess who is best placed to do the talk and whether it should be in-person or online.

Following the first successful association-led Bee Health Day, which took place at Dunblane and Stirling Beekeepers Association, this has been offered to other associations.

A SRUC Teams Group is being trialled which allows associations to access educational information. The Bee Health Advisor also provided an update on the development of the government learning package, which should be completed by early 2025.  

There are plans to hold a Pollinator Conference in Spring 2025 at the SRUC Barony Campus and members may be invited to be involved.

Finally, the Bee Health Advisor shared a draft education and engagement plan with the group and invited feedback. The NatureScot representative offered their Pollinator Blog as an avenue for messaging and the BFA representative offered to send information to the BFA’s Scottish members and suggested the BFA magazine as an option for promoting key messages. The SBA Development Officer and Magazine Editor also offered the SBA's emails as another communications route/channel. The SBA send out regular emails direct to their members, ABA secretaries and non-members who have signed up for electronic newsletters.

 

SASA

Majority of updates detailed in their quarterly report. Reiterated the recent publications confirming Tropilaelaps spread to Western Asia, and evidence of natural spread of Small Hive Beetle to Sicily. This highlights the need for prioritising work on these pest specific contingency plans.

 

Implementation Plan 

Summaries of key actions under the pillars of the Plan delivered recently were highlighted and included:

 

Under education, the Varroa Learning Package for Scottish-specific issues has been published. This has been well received and is available to download from BeeBase.

For communication, updates were provided on the action to run a campaign to promote and encourage beekeepers to register and crucially, keep their records up to date on BeeBase. The group agreed this should be an annual campaign with the best time of year to target beekeepers being in Spring and Winter. There was also an update on the action to raise awareness and extra vigilance around Yellow-legged hornets in Autumn. A newsletter style digital document was created and following an effective communication effort had a successful reach amongst beekeepers, gardeners and the public.

In terms of Pest and Disease Surveillance, it was noted Contingency Plans for Small Hive Beetle and Tropilaelaps will be developed in 2025 to prepare for this threat. The group discussed whether its Varroa map should be updated annually or bi-annually and it was agreed this should be discussed at the Varroa Working Group during its upcoming taking stock meeting.

For research and development, SASA confirmed sample receipt has closed for the Scotland-wide EFB survey and the final samples will complete processing by the of November 2024. In total, approximately 103 beekeepers out of 150 who originally agreed to take part have sent in samples for analysis, which is a 69% return rate. The SBA President provided an update on the joint action with the BFA Scottish representative to produce a report on the economic impact of EFB in a business and on the individual. The SBA President confirmed that he has not received anything from the BFA Scottish representative yet due to a busy season. However, hopes this will progress over the winter months. It was also queried whether we need the information from this report, particularly the figures, before the SRUC report on the economic impact of EFB is published.

For the ongoing review of the regulatory framework and as indicated in the policy update, work is underway to progress exploring options for compulsory registration.

 

The group discussed new issues/challenges relating to honey bee health in Scotland to be added to the Implementation Plan.

The SRUC Bee Health Advisor highlighted that there is a lack of coordination amongst teachers in the education of young people on beekeeping, which is important for the future. SRUC have received requests to include beekeeping in its veterinary training and to run courses at NAT5 level for students in its college. The BFA representative mentioned the City & Guilds apprenticeship scheme for those wishing to develop a career in bee farming and offered to do a presentation for SRUC. The Bee Health Advisor agreed to highlight the scheme to SRUC.

Action: Group to consider how to reach young people through educational means.

 

The Apiarist questioned whether the group have considered the spillover from large commercials and the potential impact of beekeeping on wild pollinators. It was noted that NatureScot are members of the BHIP for this reason. The SASA Laboratory Manager mentioned that there is a PhD student is currently investigating the possible impact of managed bees on wild populations under Scottish conditions. The group agreed that the evidence managed bees have any lasting effect on native pollinators is currently weak. 

 

The SBA President mentioned its members have raised concerns regarding a lack of proactiveness for new pests and diseases e.g. no proactive control measures on imports. With the increased threat of the arrival of Small Hive Beetle and Tropilaelaps, it was queried what can be done now, before a Contingency Plan comes into action. Whilst acknowledging trade is reserved to the UK Government, the SBA President suggested the group could suggest best practices which could be fed up to Ministers. Issues of budgets, finances and resources should not stop the group exploring possibilities and producing ideas and solutions. It is then up to policy and delivery to explore the feasibility. The group agreed to set up a working group to explore the technicalities further.

Action: Secretariat to start the process of setting up a Working Group to explore how to develop best practice for longer term pest control.

 

The Chair reminded group members that the principle aim of the Partnership is honey bee health and to be cautious about expanding its aims too widely. The focus when it comes to education should be on promoting healthy honey bees and responsible beekeeping which should include being conscientious about spillover and potential impact on wider pollinators, without getting into pollination issues.

 

Swarm management: responsibility and guidance 

The SBA President summarised the issues raised by SBA members, which were broken down into three topics.

1. beekeepers unwilling to collect swarms in areas with a history of disease notifications, e.g. Perth and Fife, urban areas and areas with large commercial operations. There have been instances when a beekeeper has collected a swarm and two years later EFB is found. As there is no legality around this, whose responsibility is it to collect ‘risky’ swarms? Are SG willing to do this when no one else will?
2. the nuisance aspect of swarms, particularly in urban areas. Most beekeepers lack the skills and do not have the equipment to deal with cut-outs and extractions from buildings. Does there need to be more education to promote queen clipping?
3. poor beekeeping practice having an impact on the public. Is it worth reminding beekeepers of best practice, especially in areas where there have been incidents

 

The subsequent comments were noted:

There would need to be a change in regulation to make the owner of the bees responsible for the swarm, which is out with the remit of Animal Health and Welfare colleagues. Nuisance caused by animals and livestock is covered under The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Section 49: Dangerous and annoying creatures), where a person who has reasonable cause for annoyance can make an application to the local Justice of the Peace Court, for an Order to be made under the Act.

There was support for promoting best practice through education. Emphasis could be made on swarm prevention. Whilst there is plenty of literature out there, it was suggested this could be added into the government module on responsible beekeeping, which associations could emphasise to their members. It was further suggested there could be an article in the SBA magazine on safe methods for swarm collection, quarantine apiaries etc. Although it was also highlighted not every beekeeper is registered or a member of an association, so they will be difficult to reach.

It was queried whether there was requirement for members of the EFB Control Plan to control swarming. It was confirmed SG can cancel membership of the Plan to anyone not acting responsibly. The BFA representative noted around 90% of bee farmers clip the wings of queens and many have a form of swarm control built into their business. Most commercials do not have the resource to go round collecting swarms. Whilst it was queried whether a Bee Farmer with 5000 colonies could keep on top of swarms, SG noted a known bee farmer with with 5000 colonies was good at swarm management and that it is not necessarily always who you think that is to blame for swarms.

Some beekeepers are against wing clipping despite there being no evidence it harms the queen.

Bait hives were suggested as it makes collecting and killing easier. This is something associations could do.

Beekeepers collect swarms on a goodwill basis and it was suggested establishing a list of people in an area willing to collect. Ideally, responsibility should be shared between hobbyist and commercials in that area.

Natural beekeepers do not do swarm control and it may be worth engaging with these beekeepers.

Pest controllers are reluctant to assist due to the save the bees campaign and public perception that people do not want to see bees killed. It was suggested engaging the British Pest Control Association.

It was discussed whether destruction in known EFB areas is the best option.

Whist it was noted compulsory registration of hives would make it easier to identify which beekeeper is in which area, it would however be very difficult to determine where a swarm came from.

 

The group agreed that further discussion was required to come up with an official position on swarm control which should then be communicated to the beekeeping community.

Action: Secretariat to start the process of setting up a short-term working group with the aim of coming to a consensus where responsibility for swarm control sits and then to action articulating that position.  

 

Inspections: 2024 summary

The Bee Health Delivery Lead presented a slide show to members which covered inspection statistics for the season and inspection priorities in 2024 and for 2025. The group discussed whether  inspectors need to set a policy across the board for action at apiary level to deal with EFB over a certain percentage of infection and what could that percentage be. The following points were highlighted and discussed:

 

The SBA President noted that SBA members would be supportive of a complete apiary cull however acknowledged that for hobbyist beekeepers this would be on a small scale and that they have insurance. 25% of four vs 25% of 40 have different financial implications. It was further noted that beekeepers can only claim compensation if they have been directed to act by the bee inspectors, they cannot claim in advisory situations. 

It was queried whether BeeBase data on reoccurrence could be sourced. This could be used to get data on the percentage of reoccurrence, including the relation to how many colonies were found to be positive at the initial inspection.

It was pointed out that Bee Disease Insurance Ltd (BDI) in conjunction with the National Bee Unit are trialling Whole Apiary Shook Swarming and the group should look out for any publications on this.

The group agreed that to steer policy, conclusive data and correct science is needed. Enforcement action on non-symptomatic colonies would be a new policy and requires robust evidence to demonstrate the benefits in disease control and recurrence compared to current measures. 

Rather than basing the decision to whole apiary shook swarm on percentage of colonies infected, it was suggested to also factor in quantity and risk. Quantity being the number of colonies and risk being where they might move to in the future and the effects that may have. 

The group agreed there was a lot to consider and the chair confirmed this will be part of the discussions at SG’s wash-up meeting at the end of November.

 

ApiScotia update

The SBA’s Development Officer and Magazine Editor provided the group with a summary of ApiScotia 2024 which was held at Dumfries House and received positive feedback from those who attended. There are plans for another ApiScotia in 2025. Numbers are limited to allow for hands on experience and it is targeted at SBA members who have achieved the SBA Basic Beekeeping Certificate. Whilst the BHIP already hold an annual Bee Health Day, given a third of ApiScotia is focussed on bee health, the group agreed to formally indicate support for this event by contributing its expertise and knowledge when in a position to do so. The SBA’s Development Officer and Magazine Editor agreed to keep the group updated and to let the group know whether they can help in any way.

 

Varroa Working Group

The SBA President noted the next meeting of the group is 13 November where the plan is to go through the to do list and review what is next. The direction of the group will be fed back to the BHIP following its meeting. The SNHBS representative expressed that the SNHBS would welcome participation in the Varroa Working Group and it was agreed to take this offline.

 

BHIP Annual Report

A draft of the annual report detailing the groups progress for the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Minister will be circulated in due course for comment.

 

Next BHIP meeting: date and format

The group agreed that the quarterly meetings for 2025 will be scheduled on the second Tuesday of the month in which they are due to take place. The secretariat will issue calendar requests.

 

Any Other Business

There was no other business on this occasion.