Managing Varroa destructor in honey bee colonies remains a constant challenge for beekeepers, requiring a balance between maintaining mite levels low whilst minimizing the negative impacts of miticide treatments on bee health. Synthetic varroacides such as coumaphos, tau-fluvalinate, and amitraz are widely used due to their convenience, but they can have negative impacts on the colony and persist in hive materials, with residues detectable long after application. To investigate the presence and dynamics of these synthetic varroacides, the INSIGNIA-EU initiative conducted a large-scale monitoring program, covering 312 bee hive sites across the European Union. The study employed the APIStrip-a novel, non-invasive passive sampler based on TENAX (R) sorbent-which, when placed inside the hive, passively adsorbs chemical residues from the internal hive environment. This approach has demonstrated its effectiveness eliminating the need to sample bees, wax, honey, or pollen, while still providing representative contamination data from a single, standardized analytical matrix. This study reports results from APIStrip analyses deployed across all EU countries for residues of amitraz, tau-fluvalinate, and coumaphos, using a harmonized and validated analytical protocol. Additionally, thymol, regarded as an environmentally friendly alternative, was also included in the evaluation as a reference. Sampling was carried out over nine consecutive two-week periods from May to August 2023, ensuring synchronized data collection and enabling direct comparability of results across sites and time points. The study found these miticides to be pervasive across most EU regions, appearing in more than 85% of samples and greatly outnumbering detections of the natural alternative, thymol. In most cases, notable miticide residue concentrations persisted throughout the entire sampling period.

Honey bee hives provide invaluable advantages as effective tools for monitoring pesticides, providing protected environments with consistent temperature, humidity, and airflow. They continuously accumulate pesticides from the surrounding area due to both airflow and honey bee foraging activity, which efficiently transport pesticides to the colony over space and time. This study presents extensive European monitoring data collected using a noninvasive in-hive passive sampler, the APIStrip, which employs TENAX® and is effective at adsorbing pesticides. As part of the INSIGNIA-EU monitoring action (www.insignia-bee.eu), APIStrips were deployed in georeferenced apiaries across all 27 EU countries. Apiary selection was based on key factors, including agricultural, artificial, and forest/natural land use categories. Sampling was conducted simultaneously across all apiaries over nine consecutive two-week periods from May to August 2023. Of the 429 pesticide compounds targeted in the analysis, 188 were detected in the 5524 APIStrips analyzed. As expected, agricultural areas presented the highest pesticide levels, with notable variations in the number of compounds detected and amounts found between the apiaries. Azoxystrobin, boscalid, tebuconazole, acetamiprid, and fluopyram were found in more than 50 % of sampling sites evaluated. Overall, and across all sampling rounds, 96.4 % of APIstrips contained at least one pesticide. This study has produced the first EU-wide distribution map of terrestrial pesticide contamination and demonstrates widespread pesticide contamination of EU environments.

In 2017, the European Commission initiated the EurBeST study to explore the possibilities of using selective breeding of honey bees to increase Varroa resistance traits. One of the specific aims of the study was to assess the process of honey bee queen breeding through an economic analysis. The methodology for calculating the costs of queen production (queen rearing and mating), colony evaluation and expenses for estimating breeding values is based on the Cost of Production (CoP). Cost data were collected via tailor-made questionnaires and interviews performed in five European countries (France, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Poland). The sample population consisted of 20 queen producers and 20 performance testers who participated in the study. The results showed that the average costs for queen production amounted to 22.58 per queen, ranging from 8.22 in Poland to 37.30 in France. The difference between the selling price and the production cost was on average 3.08 per queen, ranging from 15.86 in Germany to -12.30 in France. On average, the colony evaluation costs were 193.40 per colony. The average cost for breeding value estimation per queen was 8.09 . Thus, the average total cost per selected queen was 224 . The selective breeding of honey bees is an efficient way to increase productivity, reduce colony losses, improve bee health and enable profitable operations, but it is expensive, is usually promoted, practiced and implemented by scientists and researchers, and in most cases is financed by external sources.

The solitary ivy bee Colletes hederae has recently naturally colonised the British Isles.It was first recorded in Britain in Dorset, near the south coast, in 2001.By 2021 it had reached Scotland and Ireland.It had spread to Sussex, some 100km east of Dorset by 2004, but occurred only locally.In autumn 2020, to determine the distribution and abundance of the ivy bee in Sussex, we made three surveys of 100 insects foraging on ivy flowers at 57 locations during the female flight period.We found the ivy bee at all 57.It was the second most abundant insect (22%), being outnumbered by social wasps (Vespula spp.42%), but was more numerous than honey bees (Apis mellifera 14%).In autumn 2021 we made a further presence or absence survey at 17 additional locations, and the ivy bee was seen at each one.The results show that the ivy bee is now found throughout Sussex and is abundant.Comparisons of site characteristics showed no significant effect of urban versus rural locations on ivy bee relative abundance.It was, however, significantly more relatively abundant on Downland compared to Weald and Coastal Plain locations, and on chalk and sand derived soils compared to clay and alluvium derived soils.Possible reasons for the success of C. hederae in Britain are discussed.

The COLOSS BEEBOOK evolves: hive products, ‘omics research and Eastern honey bees, Apis cerana Norman L. Carreck , Vincent Dietemann , James D. Ellis, Jay D. Evans , Peter Neumann and Panuwan Chantawannakul Carreck Consultancy Ltd, Shipley, West Sussex, UK; University of Sussex, Falmer, East Sussex, UK; Swiss Bee Research Center, Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland; Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; USDA ARS, Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, USA; Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Environmental Science Research Center and Bee Protection Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Beekeepers can be valuable volunteers in large scale research studies. They own honey bee ( Apis mellifera ) colonies, have basic equipment, and are knowledgeable about apiculture. In the INSIGNIA project, citizen science beekeepers collected samples from their colonies over two seasons. Several protocols and different sampling devices for beekeeper participation in monitoring the environment for pesticides and bee forage sources were developed and tested, including all steps until sample analysis in the laboratory. The study was accompanied by studies investigating the motivations and skills of beekeepers volunteering as citizen scientists. The samples and information collected with the help of citizen scientists will be used to model the biodiversity of pollen sources, risk mapping for pollinators and environmental pollution in different environments.

The Vision The BEEBOOK project arose from discussions at early COLOSS (Prevention of Honey Bee COlony LOSSes) meetings. The vision was, and still is, to develop a definitive inventory of standard techniques and methods in honey bee research to ensure that studies performed by different laborato-ries around the world would be directly comparable. The manual, titled the COLOSS BEEBOOK , was inspired by publications with similar purposes for Drosophila fruit fly research (Williams et al., 2012). The previous lack of standards had made, for example, establishing whether honey bee colony losses had indeed increased, or were greater in some countries than in others, exceptionally difficult. The BEEBOOK is not meant to standardize the research itself, but focusses solely on the methods for which standardization is useful to enable reproducibility as a corner-stone of science. The BEEBOOK is a tool for all who want to conduct research on honey bees. It has been written in such a way that those new to honey bee research can use it to begin studies in fields with which they may not be familiar. the select and a user-friendly The initial divided into

A diverse supply of pollen is an important factor for honey bee health, but information about the pollen diversity available to colonies at the landscape scale is largely missing. In this COLOSS study, beekeeper citizen scientists sampled and analyzed the diversity of pollen collected by honey bee colonies. As a simple measure of diversity, beekeepers determined the number of colors found in pollen samples that were collected in a coordinated and standardized way. Altogether, 750 beekeepers from 28 different regions from 24 countries participated in the two-year study and collected and analyzed almost 18,000 pollen samples. Pollen samples contained approximately six different colors in total throughout the sampling period, of which four colors were abundant. We ran generalized linear mixed models to test for possible effects of diverse factors such as collection, i.e., whether a minimum amount of pollen was collected or not, and habitat type on the number of colors found in pollen samples. To identify habitat effects on pollen diversity, beekeepers’ descriptions of the surrounding landscape and CORINE land cover classes were investigated in two different models, which both showed that both the total number and the rare number of colors in pollen samples were positively affected by ‘urban’ habitats or ‘artificial surfaces’, respectively. This citizen science study underlines the importance of the habitat for pollen diversity for bees and suggests higher diversity in urban areas.

“Bee pollen” is pollen collected from flowers by honey bees. It is used by the bees to nourish themselves, mainly by providing royal jelly and brood food, but it is also used for human nutrition. For the latter purpose, it is collected at the hive entrance as pellets that the bees bring to the hive. Bee pollen has diverse bioactivities, and thus has been used as a health food, and even as medication in some countries. In this paper, we provide standard methods for carrying out research on bee pollen. First, we introduce a method for the production and storage of bee pollen which assures quality of the product. Routine methods are then provided for the identification of the pollen’s floral sources, and determination of the more important quality criteria such as water content and content of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, alkaloids, phenolic and polyphenolic compounds. Finally, methods are described for the determination of some important bioactivities of bee pollen such as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antimutagenic properties. Métodos estándar Para la investigación del polen El "polen de abeja" es el polen recogido de las flores por las abejas melíferas. El polen de abeja es utilizado para nutrir a las propias abejas, principalmente para proporcionar jalea real y alimento para las crías, pero también se utiliza para la nutrición humana. Para este último fin, se recoge en la entrada de la colmena en forma de gránulos que las abejas llevan a la colmena. El polen de abeja tiene diversas bioactividades, por lo que se hautilizado como alimento para la salud, e incluso como medicamento en algunos países. En este artículo, proporcionamos métodos estándar para llevar a cabo investigaciones sobre el polen de abeja. En primer lugar, presentamos un método de producción y almacenamiento de polen de abeja que garantiza la calidad del producto. A continuación, se ofrecen métodos de rutina para la identificación de las fuentes florales del polen y la determinación de los criterios de calidad más importantes, como el contenido de agua y de proteínas, carbohidratos, ácidos grasos, vitaminas, alcaloides y compuestos fenólicos y polifenólicos. Por último, se describen métodos para la determinación de algunas bioactividades importantes del polen de abeja, como sus propiedades antioxidantes, antiinflamatorias, antimicrobianas y antimutagénicas.

The socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on society have yet to be truly revealed; there is no doubt that the pandemic has severely affected the daily lives of most of humanity. It is to be expected that the research activities of scientists could be impacted to varying degrees, but no data exist on how COVID-19 has affected research specifically. Here, we show that the still ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has already diversely and negatively affected bee research at a global level. An online survey disseminated through the global COLOSS honey bee research association showed that every participant (n = 230 from 56 countries) reported an impact on one or more of their activities. Activities that require travelling or the physical presence of people (meetings and conferences, teaching and extension) were affected the most, but also laboratory and field activities, daily operations, supervision and other activities were affected to varying degrees. Since the basic activities are very similar for many research fields, it appears as if our findings for bee research can be extrapolated to other fields. In the light of our data, we recommend that stakeholders such as governments and funding bodies who support research should facilitate the wide implementation of web-based information technology required for efficient online communication for research and education, as well as adequately loosened restriction measures with respect to field and laboratory work. Finally, increased flexibility in administration and extension of research grants and fellowships seem to be needed. It is apparent that adequate responses by all stakeholders are required to limit the impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics on bee science and other research fields.

Developing resistance to the varroa mite in honey bees is a major goal for apicultural science and practice, the development of selection strategies and the availability of resistant stock. Here we present an extended literature review and survey of resistant populations and selection programs in the EU and elsewhere, including expert interviews. We illustrate the practical experiences of scientists, beekeepers, and breeders in search of resistant bees. We describe numerous resistant populations surviving without acaricide treatments, most of which developed under natural infestation pressure. Their common characteristics: reduced brood development; limited mite population growth; and low mite reproduction, may cause conflict with the interests of commercial beekeeping. Since environmental factors affect varroa mite resistance, particular honey bee strains must be evaluated under different local conditions and colony management. The resistance traits of grooming, hygienic behavior and mite reproduction, together with simple testing of mite population development and colony survival, are significant in recent selection programs. Advanced breeding techniques and genetic and physiological selection tools will be essential in the future. Despite huge demand, there is no well-established market for resistant stock in Europe. Moreover, reliable experience or experimental evidence regarding the resistance of stocks under different environmental and management conditions is still lacking.

It is fair to say that 2020 has proved to be an unusual year for all organizations, and the international honey bee research association COLOSS (prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes) has been no e...

This Special Issue of the Journal of Apicultural Research (JAR) comprises the honey chapter (de Almeida-Muradian et al., 2020) of the COLOSS BEEBOOK Volume III “Standard methods for Apis mellifera ...

Introduction A honey bee colony represents a practical tool for bio-indication, as it collects material from a large area while foraging for food (Grodzinski & Yorks, 1981; Porrini, Ghini, & Girotti, 2002; Raes, Cornelis, & Rzeznik, 1992; van der Steen, 2016; van der Steen, Cornelissen, Blacquiere, Pijnenburg, & Severijnen, 2016). There are several matrices available for sampling from the hive: nectar, honey, pollen, beebread, bees, and wax. Beebread as a food differs from corbiculate pollen loads in being fermented bee pollen (De Grandi-Hoffman, Chen, & Simonds, 2013; Fuenmayor et al., 2014) and it includes pollen, honey, and secretions of bees’ salivary glands (Barajas, Cortes‐Rodriguez, & Rodríguez‐Sandoval, 2012; Vásquez & Olofsson, 2009) (Figure 1). In general, it has a higher nutritional value than pollen, better digestibility, a richer chemical composition (Anderson et al., 2014; Carroll et al., 2017; Habryka, Kruczek, & Drygaś, 2016) and is better absorbed thanks to the partial fermentation of components (Barene, Daberte, & Siksna, 2015).