BeekeepersBBKA Learning Online BBKA News Archive Magazines BBKA Forum Welcome to the 'Beekeepers' area which contains restricted content specifically for our beekeeping community. Here you will find a wide range of resources and information to support existing BBKA members and Associations.Select from the additional menu bar above the banner image. If you aren't already a BBKA member then you can explore your options to 'Become a Member' BBKA Executive and Office Education Examinations Membership Member & Association Resources Members' News Research Winter Honey Bee Losses in England BBKA Winter Survival Survey 2017 18 October 2017 British Beekeepers are Losing Fewer Bees over Winter British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) 10th Annual Colony Survival Survey results are published today and show a reduction in the over-winter losses compared to the previous year, down from 16.7 to 13.2. The overall trend continues to show a welcome decline in the number of colony losses. Respondents gave a variety of reasons why they believe their colonies failed and these included various aspects of queen failure, starvation, lack of forage and cold weather restricting foraging activities and forage availability. Analysis Regional analysis showed the highest regional losses were seen in the North East at 23% and the lowest in the Eastern region at 9.7%. This reverses the regional pattern of 2016 which showed higher losses in the South of the country. It is unclear what is driving these regional variations BBKA Director of Communications, Martin Smith, said: “One of the key drivers of success in overwintering honey bees is the level of competence of individual beekeepers. The BBKA and its member associations have worked hard to provide educational resources, training courses and other materials to allow beekeepers to improve their husbandry skills. This in turn enables them to maintain healthy bee colonies, despite the various threats to their survival.” The above data preceded the arrival of the Asian Hornet into the UK and this aspect will also be monitored in the 2018 survey in the light of the development of the Asian Hornet invasion. Notes to Editors Importance of winter losses of honey bees. The honey bee is the only bee to maintain a colony throughout the winter. The colony reduces its size in autumn and relies on its stores of honey to last it through the winter months when it is too cold for foraging or there is no forage available. 'Splitting' Colonies The loss of honey bee colonies impacts the available pollination resources as well as reducing honey crops, so it is essential that beekeepers rebuild stocks. This is done by ‘splitting’ colonies and building honey bee numbers back up to strength over the season. So if, for example, a beekeeper takes 10 hives into the winter but loses two colonies by the spring, a further two colonies must be ‘split’ to get back up to 10 colonies by the end of the season. The net effect being that the beekeeper has effectively only 6 hives running at full strength during that season. Experienced beekeepers keeping bees in good conditions are able to increase the number of colonies highlighting the importance of beekeepers in managing and growing honey bee colony numbers. Winter bees live longer Honey bee survival In winter, worker bees can live for up to five or six months, But in the summer, worker bees only live for around six weeks having to work much harder foraging. Honey bee queens live for three to four years but cannot survive without worker bees. In some other species of bees or wasps only the queen survives by hibernating through the winter months. About the BBKA With around 25,000 members the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) is the leading organisation supporting honey bees and beekeepers within the UK. BBKA Winter Survival Survey 2016 Honey bees still under pressure The results of the BBKA annual colony survival survey are published today and show a small increase in over winter losses rising from 14.5% in the previous winter (2014-15) to 16.7% this winter (2015-16). The overall trend based on the nine years of data is still for moderate improvement and is a tribute to the considerable efforts of beekeepers to overcome bad weather, lack of good forage, disease and other stress factors. Several causes for the losses are suggested by responders based on unfavourable spring and summer weather in 2015. This had an effect on the bees ability to forage adequately and provided poor conditions for swarming and subsequent mating of virgin queens. Thus starvation and queen failure were frequently reported. The predations of wasps last autumn were also noted in some areas. Beekeepers are already on alert to ensure that their colonies are well supplied this autumn in preparation for the winter due to the poor weather experienced this spring and early summer. Regional analysis showed the highest regional losses were seen in the South East region at 23% and Southern region at 19.9%. The lowest losses were recorded in the Northern region at 11.0%. Regional Loss Rates Eastern 13.5% North East 18.0% Northern 11.0% South East 23.4% South West 15.7% Southern 19.9% Western 14.4% Manage Cookie Preferences