Data from: Water supplementation mitigates climate impact on honey bee colony losses in Kenya

This dataset results from the first survey of colony losses of the managed honey bees in Kenya. A total of 589 beekeepers participated in the survey. On average, Kenyan beekeepers lost up to 36.6% of their colonies in 2021-2022, with higher losses during dry and hot (31.9%) than during the wet and cold season (20.2%). Precipitation was found to mitigate temperature-induced colony loss. Moreover, we predicted that colony losses will remain in the same range for 2050 and 2100 based on climate change projections. Finally, beekeepers can reduce up to 10% of their losses during the dry and hot season by supplementing water to their colonies. These results pinpoint difficulties in maintaining overall colony health for beekeepers in Kenya and provide clues to pursue in the context of climate change.The data are related to the scientific paper “Sibaja Leyton M. et al., (under review) Water supplementation mitigates climate impact on honey bee colony losses in Kenya”.Data are available as a csv file titled:" Sibaja_Leyton_et_al_Dataset_Climatic_effects_on_honey_bee_losses_in_Kenya_v2.csv".#METADATA#'data.frame':589 obs. of 18 variables: # ID: Factor variable; a unique identity for the response to the survey# N_dead_Oct_March: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies lost between October and March (dry and hot season) #$N_alive_Oct_March: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies alive between October and March (dry and hot season)$ N_dead_Apr_Sept: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies lost between April and September (wet and cold season) # N_alive_Apr_Sept: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies alive between April and September (wet and cold season) # N_dead_annual: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies annually lost# N_alive_annual: Numeric variable; representing the number of colonies annually alive # Water_supp_Oct_March: Factor variable; two factors are available (No/Yes), representing if the participants supplemented water to their colonies between October and March (dry and hot season) # Water_supp_Apr_Sept: Factor variable; two factors are available (No/Yes), representing if the participants supplemented water to their colonies between April and September (wet and cold season) # Water_supp_annual: Factor variable; two factors are available (No/Yes), representing if the participants supplemented water to their colonies annually (for both seasons) # precip_Oct_March: Numeric variable; representing the accumulated monthly precipitation between October and March (dry and hot season) (in mm) # precip_Apr_Sept: Numeric variable; representing the accumulated monthly precipitation between April and September (wet and cold season) (in mm) # precip_annual: Numeric variable; representing the annual accumulated monthly precipitation (in mm)# temp_Oct_March: Numeric variable; representing the average for the monthly maximum temperature between October and March (dry and hot season) (in ºC)# temp_Apr_Sept: Numeric variable; representing the average for the monthly maximum temperature between April and September (wet and cold season) (in ºC)# temp_annual: Numeric variable; representing the annual maximum temperature (in ºC)</p

First large-scale study reveals important losses of managed honey bee and stingless bee colonies in Latin America

International audienceOver 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