2025-2026 BBKA Winter Loss survey in collaboration with COLOSS

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2025/6 Winter survival survey

Dear BBKA member.

Welcome to the 2025/6 BBKA Winter Survival Study and thanks in advance for your participation in this important survey which helps us to understand levels of colony loss over winter and to compare results with previous years.

Again this year, the BBKA will work with COLOSS, the international non‑profit based in Bern dedicated to improving bee health. Survey results will be published in BBKA News and will contribute to the global COLOSS study on threats to honey bee populations. Where appropriate - and only following full review and approval by the BBKA Board of Trustees - the BBKA may also support recognised researchers by sharing anonymised, aggregated data solely for research that the board feels will benefit bees and beekeeping. Using the standard COLOSS questionnaire allows comparison with other countries and helps us better understand the relative risks of colony losses linked to decisions such as varroa treatment and colony migration.

The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete. Please note that questions marked with * must be answered. You will need to accept the Data Privacy policy before starting the questionnaire

This questionnaire will be closed on Friday, May 15th 2026

Thank you

Clare McGettigan
British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), Vice-Chair

*https://coloss.org/

This survey is anonymous.

The record of your survey responses does not contain any identifying information about you, unless a specific survey question explicitly asked for it.

If you used an identifying token to access this survey, please rest assured that this token will not be stored together with your responses. It is managed in a separate database and will only be updated to indicate whether you did (or did not) complete this survey. There is no way of matching identification tokens with survey responses.

https://www.bbka.org.uk/winter-loss-survey-data-privacy-notice

We are sorry but you can't proceed without first agreeing to our survey data policy.

I accept the Data Privacy policy

What is the post code of your main apiary?

This information will be converted to latitude and longitude to visually map responses

**How many production colonies* did you take into winter 2025-26?**

Only an integer value may be entered in this field.

*For the purposes of this survey, a production colony is defined as one which is queenright and strong enough to provide a honey harvest. It does not include for example nucs or reserve colonies. This applies throughout this questionnaire

If you lost any of these production colonies before April 1st 2026, how many were lost... ?

Only integer values may be entered in these fields.

... with live bees present but unsolvable queen issues e.g. laying workers, drone laying queen etc
... were lost due to natural disaster (Flood, snow, theft, blocked entrance, badger etc …)
... with lots of dead bees in hives or empty hives? (We will ask you more about this in the next question)
Total:

Your answers will be used to automatically calculate percentage losses in the next question.

If none, please answer 0

Results:

Number of colonies taken into winter		= 100%
Colonies lost with queen problems	0	NAN%
Losses due to environmental issues /natural disaster	0	NAN%
Losses with dead or empty hives	0	NAN%
Total winter losses	0	NAN%

So, of the colonies you took into winter, 0 died (=NAN%), 0 had queen problems (=NAN%) and 0 were lost due to natural disaster or environmental issues (=NAN%).

This gives an overall loss rate of NAN%.

How many of the dead colonies or empty hives... ?

Only numbers may be entered in these fields.

The sum must be at most 0

… had many dead bees in or in front of the hive?
… had no or only a few dead bees in or in front of an empty hive?
… had dead workers in cells and no food present in the hive
… had dead workers in cells while food was present in the hive?
... had none of the above or unknown symptoms?
Total:

If none were lost, please answer 0. "Total" should be the same as (c) of lost colonies (dead or emty colonies) from the former question (=0).

Please treat options a) to e) as mutually exclusive for any one colony.

Did you provide supplemental feed to your bees?

Choose one of the following answers

Yes
No
No answer

What feed did you use in Autumn (August to October)?

Check all that apply

I left the bees with sufficient honey to over-winter
I fed HOMEMADE sugar syrup
I fed commercially available sugar syrup
I fed fondant
I fed commercially available pollen substitute/supplement
I fed HOMEMADE pollen substitute/supplement
I did not feed in autumn

What did you feed over winter (November to February)?

Check all that apply

I left the bees with sufficient honey (including leaving a super on the hive)
I fed HOMEMADE sugar syrup
I fed commercially available sugar syrup
I fed fondant
I fed commercially available pollen substitute/supplement
I fed HOMEMADE pollen substitute/supplement
I did not feed in winter

How many of the colonies that you took into winter 2025 had a new queen during 2025?

Only an integer value may be entered in this field.

Did you migrate any of your colonies at least once for honey production or pollination in 2025?

Check all that apply

Yes
No
Uncertain

Migration means moving your colonies to a different location to take advantage of a specific crop e.g. Heather, Orchards, OSR

Which of the following applies to the majority of your beekeeping?

Check all that apply

Did you notice bees with crippled/deformed wings in your colonies during the 2025 beekeeping season? (These are signs of Deformed Wing Virus, which is spread by Varroa mites).

Choose one of the following answers

To a large extent
To a limited extent
Not at all
Don't know

Did you MONITOR your colonies for Varroa between April 2025 - March 2026?

	Yes	Uncertain	No
	Yes	Uncertain	No

What methods did you use to monitor for varroa during 2025/26?

Check all that apply

Natural mite fall on bottom board
De-capping brood
Adult bees: Sugar shake / roll
Adult bees: washing with alcohol or detergent
Visual inspection of adult bees
Adult bees: CO2
Other:

Did you TREAT your colonies for varroa between April 2025 - March 2026?

	Yes	Uncertain	No
	Yes	Uncertain	No

Why did you not treat for varroa?

Check all that apply

I am breeding bees for treatment free beekeeping/varroa resistance
Consistent, low varroa count
No specific reason
Other

How long have you been Treatment Free?

Check all that apply

1-2 years
2-3 years
3-4 years
4-5 years
> 5 years

Which of the following Varroa treatments (including biomechanical methods did you use between April 2025 - March 2026

Check all that apply

What percentage of winter colony loss do you consider normal or expected, recognising that any loss is undesirable? (0–100%)”

Your answer must be between 0 and 100

Only an integer value may be entered in this field.

Are you familiar with the signs of Tropilaelaps mite - an invasive threat to Honey Bees?

Yes
No
No answer

To what extent do you believe the weather affected your bees during the year?

	Dryer than normal	Windier than normal	Colder than normal	Warmer than normal	Wetter than normal	No difference to nomal
Spring 25	Dryer than normal	Windier than normal	Colder than normal	Warmer than normal	Wetter than normal	No difference to nomal
Summer 25	Dryer than normal	Windier than normal	Colder than normal	Warmer than normal	Wetter than normal	No difference to nomal
Autum 25	Dryer than normal	Windier than normal	Colder than normal	Warmer than normal	Wetter than normal	No difference to nomal
Winter 25/26	Dryer than normal	Windier than normal	Colder than normal	Warmer than normal	Wetter than normal	No difference to nomal

Please confirm you want to clear your response?