Gray, A., Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Brodschneider, R., Institute of Zoology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Adjlane, N., Department of Biology, Université M’hamed Bougara, Boumerde, Algeria; Ballis, A., Chambre d'agriculture d'Alsace, Strasbourg, France; Brusbardis, V., Latvian Beekeepers Association, Jelgava, Latvia; Charrière, J.-D., Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Center, Bern, Switzerland; Chlebo, R., Department of Poultry Science and Small Farm Animals, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovakia; F. Coffey, M., Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Cornelissen, B., Wageningen Plant Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands; Amaro da Costa, C., Agriculture School, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal; Csáki, T., Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Budapest, Hungary; Dahle, B., Norwegian Beekeepers Association, Kløfta, Norway; Danihlík, J., Department of Biochemistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Dražić, M.M., Ministry of Agriculture, Zagreb, Croatia; Evans, G., Welsh Beekeepers Association, Northop, United Kingdom; Fedoriak, M., Department of Ecology and Biomonitoring, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Chernivtsi, Ukraine; Forsythe, I., The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, United Kingdom; de Graaf, D., Honeybee Valley, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Gregorc, A., Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Johannesen, J., DLR Fachzentrum für Bienen und Imkerei, Mayen, Germany; Kauko, L., Finnish Beekeepers Association, Köyliö, Finland; Kristiansen, P., Swedish Board of Agriculture, Joenkoeping, Sweden; Martikkala, M., Finnish Beekeepers Association, Helsinki, Finland; Martín-Hernández, R., Centro de Investigación Apícola y Agroambiental de Marchamalo (IRIAF), Marchamalo, Spain; Medina-Flores, C.A., Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico; Mutinelli, F., Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, NRL for Honey Bee Health, Legnaro (Padova), Italy; Patalano, S., Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences (IBBS), B.S.R.C “Alexander Fleming”, Vari, Greece; Petrov, P., Department of Animal Sciences, Agricultural University–Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Raudmets, A., Estonian Beekeepers Association, Tallinn, Estonia; Ryzhikov, V.A., Institute for Nature Management, National Academy of Sciences, Minsk, Belarus; Simon-Delso, N., Beekeeping Research and Information Centre, Louvain la Neuve, Belgium; Stevanovic, J., Department of Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; Topolska, G., Department of Pathology and Veterinary Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland; Uzunov, A., Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia; Vejsnaes, F., Danish Beekeepers Association, Sorø, Denmark; Williams, A., School of Computer Science and Informatics, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom; Zammit-Mangion, M., Department of Physiology & Biochemistry, University of Malta, Msida, Malta;
This short article presents loss rates of honey bee colonies over winter 2017/18 from 36 countries, including 33 in Europe, from data collected using the standardized COLOSS questionnaire. The 25,363 beekeepers supplying data passing consistency checks in total wintered 544,879 colonies, and reported 26,379 (4.8%, 95% CI 4.7–5.0%) colonies with unsolvable queen problems, 54,525 (10.0%, 95% CI 9.8–10.2%) dead colonies after winter and another 8,220 colonies (1.5%, 95% CI 1.4–1.6%) lost through natural disaster. This gave an overall loss rate of 16.4% (95% CI 16.1–16.6%) of honey bee colonies during winter 2017/18, but this varied greatly from 2.0 to 32.8% between countries. The included map shows relative risks of winter loss at regional level. The analysis using the total data-set confirmed findings from earlier surveys that smaller beekeeping operations with at most 50 colonies suffer significantly higher losses than larger operations (p <.001). Beekeepers migrating their colonies had significantly lower losses than those not migrating (p <.001), a different finding from previous research. Evaluation of six different forage sources as potential risk factors for colony loss indicated that intensive foraging on any of five of these plant sources (Orchards, Oilseed Rape, Maize, Heather and Autumn Forage Crops) was associated with significantly higher winter losses. This finding requires further study and explanation. A table is included giving detailed results of loss rates and the impact of the tested forage sources for each country and overall. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Gray, A., Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Brodschneider, R., Institute of Zoology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Adjlane, N., Department of Biology, Université M’hamed Bougara, Boumerde, Algeria; Ballis, A., Chambre d'agriculture d'Alsace, Strasbourg, France; Brusbardis, V., Latvian Beekeepers Association, Jelgava, Latvia; Charrière, J.-D., Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Center, Bern, Switzerland; Chlebo, R., Department of Poultry Science and Small Farm Animals, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovakia; F. Coffey, M., Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; Cornelissen, B., Wageningen Plant Research, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands; Amaro da Costa, C., Agriculture School, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal; Csáki, T., Hungarian Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Budapest, Hungary; Dahle, B., Norwegian Beekeepers Association, Kløfta, Norway; Danihlík, J., Department of Biochemistry, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Dražić, M.M., Ministry of Agriculture, Zagreb, Croatia; Evans, G., Welsh Beekeepers Association, Northop, United Kingdom; Fedoriak, M., Department of Ecology and Biomonitoring, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, Chernivtsi, Ukraine; Forsythe, I., The Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, United Kingdom; de Graaf, D., Honeybee Valley, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Gregorc, A., Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Johannesen, J., DLR Fachzentrum für Bienen und Imkerei, Mayen, Germany; Kauko, L., Finnish Beekeepers Association, Köyliö, Finland; Kristiansen, P., Swedish Board of Agriculture, Joenkoeping, Sweden; Martikkala, M., Finnish Beekeepers Association, Helsinki, Finland; Martín-Hernández, R., Centro de Investigación Apícola y Agroambiental de Marchamalo (IRIAF), Marchamalo, Spain; Medina-Flores, C.A., Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico; Mutinelli, F., Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, NRL for Honey Bee Health, Legnaro (Padova), Italy; Patalano, S., Institute of Basic Biomedical Sciences (IBBS), B.S.R.C “Alexander Fleming”, Vari, Greece; Petrov, P., Department of Animal Sciences, Agricultural University–Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria; Raudmets, A., Estonian Beekeepers Association, Tallinn, Estonia; Ryzhikov, V.A., Institute for Nature Management, National Academy of Sciences, Minsk, Belarus; Simon-Delso, N., Beekeeping Research and Information Centre, Louvain la Neuve, Belgium; Stevanovic, J., Department of Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; Topolska, G., Department of Pathology and Veterinary Diagnostics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland; Uzunov, A., Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia; Vejsnaes, F., Danish Beekeepers Association, Sorø, Denmark; Williams, A., School of Computer Science and Informatics, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom; Zammit-Mangion, M., Department of Physiology & Biochemistry, University of Malta, Msida, Malta;
This short article presents loss rates of honey bee colonies over winter 2017/18 from 36 countries, including 33 in Europe, from data collected using the standardized COLOSS questionnaire. The 25,363 beekeepers supplying data passing consistency checks in total wintered 544,879 colonies, and reported 26,379 (4.8%, 95% CI 4.7–5.0%) colonies with unsolvable queen problems, 54,525 (10.0%, 95% CI 9.8–10.2%) dead colonies after winter and another 8,220 colonies (1.5%, 95% CI 1.4–1.6%) lost through natural disaster. This gave an overall loss rate of 16.4% (95% CI 16.1–16.6%) of honey bee colonies during winter 2017/18, but this varied greatly from 2.0 to 32.8% between countries. The included map shows relative risks of winter loss at regional level. The analysis using the total data-set confirmed findings from earlier surveys that smaller beekeeping operations with at most 50 colonies suffer significantly higher losses than larger operations (p <.001). Beekeepers migrating their colonies had significantly lower losses than those not migrating (p <.001), a different finding from previous research. Evaluation of six different forage sources as potential risk factors for colony loss indicated that intensive foraging on any of five of these plant sources (Orchards, Oilseed Rape, Maize, Heather and Autumn Forage Crops) was associated with significantly higher winter losses. This finding requires further study and explanation. A table is included giving detailed results of loss rates and the impact of the tested forage sources for each country and overall. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.