Request for Quote: Honey Bee & Pollination Industry National Colony Loss Survey (Coloss Survey 2024)

Background

This Request for Quote (RFQ) is seeking the services of a multidisciplinary team to design and deliver an Australian Coloss Survey.

Coloss is a global initiative that conducts standardised colony loss surveys across 30 countries including Australia’s near neighbour, New Zealand. Participating countries each carry out an annual survey of beekeepers by questionnaire, with the aim of collecting information from a nationally representative sample of beekeepers. This makes it possible to compare colony loss rates between countries and to use the international data collected to better understand the risk factors for colony loss.

To enable proper comparisons, a standardised beekeeper questionnaire is developed and is updated each year by the group for use in each country. It is anticipated that Coloss will levy a subscription fee to access their survey instrument. The surveys are tailored to each country to gather additional information around how beekeepers are treating for Varroa mite. This includes, but is not limited to, treatment choice, miticide efficiency, Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices, and queen longevity. The platform can also be used to understand the differential impacts to commercial and recreational sectors of the industry.

The 2024 Coloss survey has a unique opportunity to collect baseline data on colony losses in Australia before beekeepers are impacted by Varroa mite.

Once established the survey will allow a platform for the Australian Honey Bee & Pollination industry to gain a better understanding of the impacts of Varroa mite and how beekeepers are managing it. This understanding will guide research priorities, treatment recommendations, practice changes, and inform pollination dependent industries of forthcoming supply shortfalls if they occur.

Service requirements

AgriFutures Australia expects that the project will be delivered by a multi-disciplinary team whose members may include social scientists (to ensure questions are appropriately worded and effectively address the required issues), a statistician (to provide confidence that responses are representative of the population), industry representation (to ensure the Coloss survey delivers outputs that are of practical value to beekeepers, e.g., treatments, reinfestation rates, economic thresholds for treatment and production loss), along with other skills required to deliver the service requirements.

The multi-disciplinary team will provide:

• A protocol for stratifying national commercial and recreational beekeeper populations that will deliver a statistically representative survey of industry colony losses, treatment choices, and beekeeper demographics.
• A method for contacting both commercial and recreational beekeepers Australia wide (e.g., phone/email contact details) along with details of the most appropriate channel for survey delivery (i.e. online survey, awareness raising through industry associations, follow up phone contact to ensure representation from all industry strata).
• Establish a dedicated Coloss Australia website that provides background information on the importance of the survey and a link to the customised Australian questionnaire.
• A customised Coloss survey questionnaire appropriate for Australian conditions.
• Statistical analysis of survey results along with interpretation of their implications for the honey bee industry and pollination dependent industries.
• A database of survey results (Excel spreadsheet) suitable for additional analysis of the raw data.
• Graphic design of 2024 survey findings suitable for communication to industry and government.
• Recommendations for how subsequent Coloss surveys may be managed to ensure colony loss data is cost effectively collected after completion of the T2M program.
• A final report detailing methods used to deliver the project and a standalone snapshot of project findings.

Download the full RFQ document
Download the AgriFutures Australia Honey Bee & Pollination Program funded project Size and Scope of the Australian Honey Bee & Pollination industry: An Updated Snapshot for 2023

Timeline

Submitting a quote

Applications for this Request for Quote must be submitted online using the application in K2. Respondent’s will be expected to review the full Request for Quote documentation before submitting a response and provide:

• A summary highlighting how the respondents organisation’s approach and services are a best fit for the design and delivery of the Coloss Survey in Australia.
• A detailed project workplan – including timelines, how the project will be conducted and how this will meet the requirements of the RFQ. This will include milestones that are S.M.A.R.T
• A detailed budget – attachments may be included
• Examples of similar work the respondent has completed
• Capability and relevant experience
• Testimonials or references from companies to which the respondents organisation have provided a similar service.

New users need to register for access to the K2 platform, please note the provision of login details may take up to two business days.

Click here to login to K2

Users must create a K2 account before submitting a proposal. To set up a secure account before submitting a proposal, please visit the login page below to access our new user or new company request forms.

Usernames and passwords will only be issued while the applicant round is open.

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If you require assistance, please contact

Terms of reference

AgriFutures Australia uses standard form contracts and agreements for projects and research procured by AgriFutures Australia (please refer to https://www.agrifutures.com.au/contracts-and-agreements/). These contracts and agreements set out the terms on which AgriFutures Australia will engage successful applicants to carry out the project.

Applicants must be familiar with the contracts and agreements before submitting a response, and are advised to seek legal advice beforehand.

These contracts and agreements have been developed to reflect AgriFutures Australia’s statutory and other procurement responsibilities.

If you require any amendments to the standard agreement please complete the statement of non-compliance for each of the relevant clause. AgriFutures Australia will then assess those requests.

Applicants will be taken to have agreed to all clauses in the Service Provider Agreement that are not referred to in a statement of non-compliance. The extent of any non-compliance will be a factor in AgriFutures Australia’s evaluation of the application.

If you require further information regarding these contracts and agreements please contact

Contact

Should you have any questions about the Request for Quote, please direct all enquires to the Honey Bee & Pollination Program (details below) prior to 12 noon AEST Wednesday, 7 August 2024 (for questions relating to making a submission in K2, please email ).

A member from the Honey Bee & Pollination Program team will take questions via email. Individual responses to questions relating to the RFQ will not be provided by the Coordinator or Program Manager. A response, along with the question, will be posted in the Frequently Asked Questions section, below, within 24 hours of receival.

Please contact:

Honey Bee & Pollination Program 
Mia Lorber-Hughes
Coordinator, Levied & Emerging Industries – Honey Bee & Pollination