Hub for beekeeping and pollination competence

The project's objective has been to establish a collaboration platform and develop an action plan for structured, competent and professional advice in Swedish beekeeping.

Discussions within the beekeeping collaboration council have revealed a desire for an external competence hub along with a quality-assured platform for knowledge.

With support from extra project funds in the spring of 2021, a pilot project was carried out with the aim of testing a new competence hub. As part of this development work, new working methods were proposed, especially in beekeeping and pollination advice.

Part of the result is a network of Bee Health Advisors that can be booked here

A national competence hub with an associated knowledge platform will make it possible to link national advice in beekeeping and pollination with regional nodes. The pilot was based on data already available through existing projects (led by various parties) and the following discussions have taken place within the beekeeping collaboration council, which SLU Competence Center for Advisory Services is currently hosting.

The regional advice will be carried out in close collaboration with the national bee health advisor employed by the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Basically, it is about finding an effective and coordinated way to support competence development, where the country's combined resources can be utilized and which makes it easier for target groups to find and absorb relevant, high-quality information.

SLU Competence Center for Advisory Services also led a further developed project "Competence hub and quality-assured knowledge platform for beekeeping and pollination - research-based advice in Sweden", which took place during the period 2021–2024 with the aim to:

• Further develop the knowledge platform for bee health
• Based on the evaluation report produced, further develop bee supervision with advice
• Develop the concept of regional bee health advisors
• Develop a communication strategy for bee health
• Beekeeping companies at the center (business models, business development, knowledge needs, etc.)
• Provide support for strengthened coordination of training efforts

Overall, these efforts have resulted in the development of a well-established, well-developed and long-term action plan for the future supply of skills and advice in beekeeping and pollination. The long-term goal of the entire initiative is to increase bee health, reduce winter losses, increase profitability and strengthen the sustainability of Swedish beekeeping through professionalized advice.

“Mikro B-KIS” for the project's focus areas in the beekeeper's everyday life. B-KIS stands for "The Beekeeping Knowledge and Innovation System". You can read more about this here.