TY - JOUR
T1 - Multi-country loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2016/17 from the COLOSS survey
AU - Brodschneider, Robert
AU - Gray, Alison
AU - Adjlane, Noureddine
AU - Ballis, Alexis
AU - Brusbardis, Valters
AU - Charrière, Jean-Daniel
AU - Chlebo, Robert
AU - Coffey, Mary F
AU - Dahle, Bjørn
AU - de Graaf, Dirk C
AU - Dražić, Maria Maja
AU - Evans, Garth
AU - Fedoriak, Mariia
AU - Forsythe, Ivan
AU - Gregorc, Aleš
AU - Grzęda, Urszula
AU - Hetzroni, Amots
AU - Kauko, Lassi
AU - Kristiansen, Preben
AU - Martikkala, Maritta
AU - Martín-Hernández, Raquel
AU - Medina-Flores, Carlos Aurelio
AU - Mutinelli, Franco
AU - Raudmets, Aivar
AU - Ryzhikov, Vladimir A
AU - Simon-Delso, Noa
AU - Stevanovic, Jevrosima
AU - Uzunov, Aleksandar
AU - Vejsnæs, Flemming
AU - Wöhl, Saskia
AU - Zammit-Mangion, Marion
AU - Danihlík, Jiří
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - In this short note we present comparable loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2016/2017 from 27 European countries plus Algeria, Israel and Mexico, obtained with the COLOSS questionnaire. The 14,813 beekeepers providing valid loss data collectively wintered 425,762 colonies, and reported 21,887 (5.1%, 95% confidence interval 5.0–5.3%) colonies with unsolvable queen problems and 60,227 (14.1%, 95% CI 13.8–14.4%) dead colonies after winter. Additionally we asked for colonies lost due to natural disaster, which made up another 6,903 colonies (1.6%, 95% CI 1.5–1.7%). This results in an overall loss rate of 20.9% (95% CI 20.6–21.3%) of honey bee colonies during winter 2016/2017, with marked differences among countries. The overall analysis showed that small operations suffered higher losses than larger ones (p < 0.001). Overall migratory beekeeping had no significant effect on the risk of winter loss, though there was an effect in several countries. A table is presented giving detailed results from 30 countries. A map is also included, showing relative risk of colony winter loss at regional level.
AB - In this short note we present comparable loss rates of honey bee colonies during winter 2016/2017 from 27 European countries plus Algeria, Israel and Mexico, obtained with the COLOSS questionnaire. The 14,813 beekeepers providing valid loss data collectively wintered 425,762 colonies, and reported 21,887 (5.1%, 95% confidence interval 5.0–5.3%) colonies with unsolvable queen problems and 60,227 (14.1%, 95% CI 13.8–14.4%) dead colonies after winter. Additionally we asked for colonies lost due to natural disaster, which made up another 6,903 colonies (1.6%, 95% CI 1.5–1.7%). This results in an overall loss rate of 20.9% (95% CI 20.6–21.3%) of honey bee colonies during winter 2016/2017, with marked differences among countries. The overall analysis showed that small operations suffered higher losses than larger ones (p < 0.001). Overall migratory beekeeping had no significant effect on the risk of winter loss, though there was an effect in several countries. A table is presented giving detailed results from 30 countries. A map is also included, showing relative risk of colony winter loss at regional level.
KW - Apis mellifera
KW - citizen science
KW - survey
KW - beekeeping
KW - monitoring
KW - colony losses
KW - mortality
KW - overwinter
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tjar20/current
U2 - 10.1080/00218839.2018.1460911
DO - 10.1080/00218839.2018.1460911
M3 - Article
SN - 0021-8839
VL - 57
SP - 452
EP - 457
JO - Journal of Apicultural Research
JF - Journal of Apicultural Research
IS - 3
ER -
