Scotland’s Honey Bee Health Strategy: implementation plan

Overview

This Implementation Plan complements Scotland’s 10-year Honey Bee Health Strategy (2022 to 2032) and is a living document detailing the specific actions which the Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) are taking to deliver to achieve the desired outcomes for honey bee health in Scotland. 

The Plan will be updated regularly following quarterly Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) meetings.

The actions, key issues and objectives identified in the Implementation Plan will be based on the following 5 pillars:

• Pillar 1: Education, Training and Knowledge Transfer. The BHIP will work on improving the level of education and knowledge of the Scottish Beekeeping community on all issues relating to honey bees
• Pillar 2: Communication and partnership working across government, operational partners, stakeholders, and all of those with an interest in honey bees in Scotland. The BHIP will ensure regular and effective communication between all parties through the quarterly meetings of the BHIP. Key issues will be identified, communicated to the beekeeping community as and when required using the most efficient communication strategies.
• Pillar 3: Pest and Disease surveillance, prevention, diagnosis, and control. The BHIP will work in partnership on the development and implementation of effective strategies for Surveillance, Prevention, Diagnosis and Control of honey bee pests and diseases. The BHIP will continue to emphasise the importance of promoting effective biosecurity and good standards of husbandry.
• Pillar 4: Research and Development. The BHIP will ensure that decisions, bee health policy, disease prevention and control strategies are underpinned by sound science and evidence. The BHIP will identify areas requiring further research and development, working in partnership with the scientific and beekeeping community and to commission/recommend research which could make a positive impact on bee health in Scotland.
• Pillar 5: On-going review of the regulatory framework. The BHIP will work in partnership with the Scottish Government to ensure that the legislative framework and enforcement powers are adequate for the achievement of the objectives of the honey bee health strategy.

The BHIP acknowledges that identified key issues and objectives will usually require actions across several pillars.

The Plan will: reflect and record identified key issues/challenges and actions required to reach desired objectives by the BHIP for improving bee health in Scotland.

Actions will follow the SMART principle:

• Specific: The BHIP will identify and clearly state the action(s) required to address each issue and assign ownership to specific member(s) of the BHIP.
• Measurable: The BHIP will measure the impact of each action and will aim to increase efficiency by achieving the highest possible benefit measuring resources involved. Actions will be reviewed against progress and timescales at each quarterly meeting. In addition, an annual report (detailing key successes as well as identifying areas requiring further work) will be made to the Steering Group detailing the progress made through the year.
• Achievable: The BHIP will ensure that actions identified are achievable and measured against the available resources.
• Realistic: The BHIP will ensure that actions identified are within the limitation of resources available. Actions will be prioritised and continually reviewed in order of urgency and importance.
• Time bound: A timescale for completion of each action will be set in agreement with the BHIP members bearing in mind the rest of the SMART principles.

Actions will detail the priority of each activity using the following approach (noting that regular re-prioritisation reviews will take place at BHIP meetings): 

• Short-term - priorities will be those deemed as urgent or of immediate importance to achieve the desired objectives. BHIP members will focus attention to these and they will be reviewed/updated at each BHIP meeting whilst open.
• Medium-term - priorities will be those deemed as important but not urgent to achieve the desired objectives on honey bee health in Scotland. These will be reviewed regularly by BHIP members and brought to BHIP meetings when requiring updating or reviewed.
• Longer-term - priorities will be those which are deemed by the BHIP to be desirable but not as urgent or having the level of impact on bee health across Scotland as those identified above. These will be recorded and might have potential dates for review. These will not be reviewed at BHIP meetings, but by members during the preparation for BHIP meetings, and only brought to the forum if changes are required.
• Completed activities.

Bee Health Improvement Partnership