Loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2017/18 in 36 countries participating in the COLOSS survey, including effects of forage sources
Journal
Journal of Apicultural Research
Date Issued
2019-05-30
Author(s)
Gray, Alison
Brodschneider, Robert
Adjlane, Noureddine
Ballis, Alexis
Brusbardis, Valters
Charrière, Jean-Daniel
Chlebo, Robert
F. Coffey, Mary
Cornelissen, Bram
Amaro da Costa, Cristina
Csáki, Tamás
Dahle, Bjørn
Danihlík, Jiří
Dražić, Marica Maja
Evans, Garth
Fedoriak, Mariia
Forsythe, Ivan
de Graaf, Dirk
Gregorc, Aleš
Johannesen, Jes
Kauko, Lassi
Kristiansen, Preben
Martikkala, Maritta
Martín-Hernández, Raquel
Medina-Flores, Carlos Aurelio
Mutinelli, Franco
Patalano, Solenn
Petrov, Plamen
Raudmets, Aivar
Ryzhikov, Vladimir A.
Simon-Delso, Noa
Stevanovic, Jevrosima
Topolska, Grazyna
Vejsnaes, Flemming
Williams, Anthony
Zammit-Mangion, Marion
Soroker, Victoria
DOI
10.1080/00218839.2019.1615661
Abstract
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.
Subjects