Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) Annual Report 2025
This annual report of the Bee Health Improvement Partnership (BHIP) provides an overview of its activities and progress during the third year of Scotland's second 10-year Honey Bee Health Strategy, which was published in 2022.
Notifiable disease inspections
This year’s first finding of American foulbrood (AFB) in Scotland was confirmed on 8 July 2025 in a number of hives in Perthshire. Ministers were informed and alerts were sent through BeeBase to registered beekeepers within a 3km radius, underscoring the importance of keeping apiary locations up to date. This enables the Scottish Government Bee Health Team to assess potential risks of disease spread to local bee populations, which is especially crucial for beekeepers in areas where disease has been confirmed. Additionally, disease notification alerts are distributed to MSPs and MPs in the affected regions and BHIP members, who also share with their organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
The inspection figures for the 2025 season are shown below.
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inspected colonies | 11791 | 14394 | 12975 | 12809 |
| AFB colonies | 10 | 36 | 12 | 8 |
| EFB colonies | 109 | 212 | 166 | 155 |
| Inspected Apiaries | 570 | 580 | 631 | 630 |
| AFB apiaries | 7 | 13 | 7 | 1 |
| EFB apiaries | 61 | 100 | 89 | 67 |
| Inspected Beekeepers | 168 | 167 | 213 | 194 |
| AFB Beekeepers | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| EFB Beekeepers | 16 | 25 | 21 | 22 |
In addition to carrying out all confirmatory diagnoses on samples with suspected disease, SASA analysed a minimum of one sample from each apiary with confirmed foulbrood infection to determine the ‘strain type’ (relatedness) of the bacteria present. This allows SASA to monitor the epidemiology of the foulbrood infection in Scotland, identify likely sources of spread, and to detect any potentially new introductions.
Contact
Email: bees_mailbox@gov.scot