1. First large-scale study reveals important losses of managed honey bee and stingless bee colonies in Latin America
- Author
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Fabrice Requier, Malena Sibaja Leyton, Carolina L. Morales, Lucas A. Garibaldi, Agostina Giacobino, Martin Pablo Porrini, Juan Manuel Rosso-Londoño, Rodrigo A. Velarde, Andrea Aignasse, Patricia Aldea-Sánchez, Mariana Laura Allasino, Daniela Arredondo, Carina Audisio, Natalia Bulacio Cagnolo, Marina Basualdo, Belén Branchiccela, Rafael A. Calderón, Loreley Castelli, Dayson Castilhos, Francisca Contreras Escareño, Adriana Correa-Benítez, Fabiana Oliveira da Silva, Diego Silva Garnica, Grecia de Groot, Andres Delgado-Cañedo, Hermógenes Fernández-Marín, Breno M. Freitas, Alberto Galindo-Cardona, Nancy Garcia, Paula M. Garrido, Tugrul Giray, Lionel Segui Gonçalves, Lucas Landi, Daniel Malusá Gonçalves, Silvia Inés Martinez, Pablo Joaquín Moja, Ana Molineri, Pablo Fernando Müller, Enrique Nogueira, Adriana Pacini, María Alejandra Palacio, Guiomar Nates Parra, Alejandro Parra-H, Kátia Peres Gramacho, Eleazar Pérez Castro, Carmen Sílvia Soares Pires, Francisco J. Reynaldi, Anais Rodríguez Luis, Carmen Rossini, Milton Sánchez Armijos, Estela Santos, Alejandra Scannapieco, Yamandú Mendoza Spina, José María Tapia González, Andrés Marcelo Vargas Fernández, Blandina Felipe Viana, Lorena Vieli, Carlos Ariel Yadró García, and Karina Antúnez
- Subjects
Beekeeping ,Colony loss ,Meliponiculture ,Monitoring program ,Pollinators ,South America ,Medicine ,Science - Abstract
Abstract Over the last quarter century, increasing honey bee colony losses motivated standardized large-scale surveys of managed honey bees (Apis mellifera), particularly in Europe and the United States. Here we present the first large-scale standardized survey of colony losses of managed honey bees and stingless bees across Latin America. Overall, 1736 beekeepers and 165 meliponiculturists participated in the 2-year survey (2016–2017 and 2017–2018). On average, 30.4% of honey bee colonies and 39.6% of stingless bee colonies were lost per year across the region. Summer losses were higher than winter losses in stingless bees (30.9% and 22.2%, respectively) but not in honey bees (18.8% and 20.6%, respectively). Colony loss increased with operation size during the summer in both honey bees and stingless bees and decreased with operation size during the winter in stingless bees. Furthermore, losses differed significantly between countries and across years for both beekeepers and meliponiculturists. Overall, winter losses of honey bee colonies in Latin America (20.6%) position this region between Europe (12.5%) and the United States (40.4%). These results highlight the magnitude of bee colony losses occurring in the region and suggest difficulties in maintaining overall colony health and economic survival for beekeepers and meliponiculturists.
- Published
- 2024
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