Beobachtungen zum Auftreten beschädigter Varroamilben im natürlichen Totenfall bei Völkern von Apis mellifera carnica

Natural mite mortality reflects the population growth and the reproductive potential of Varroa and also provides information on bees active defence mechanisms. Wallner (1989; 1990a,b; 1991; 1992) was the first to postulate active defence mechanisms based on his observations of mites with damaged legs and cuticle of the idiosoma. These findings were confirmed by Ruttner (1991) and Ruttner and Hänel (1992). In the present study the incidence of damaged mites was recorded in 111 colonies of Apis mellifera carnica at 4 locations in lower Austria from 18th August-18th September 1991. Dead mites were collected via wire-covered inlays in the floor board and counted 3 times during the investigation period. Mites were registered as undamaged or damaged (legs partly or completely amputated, cuticle of idiosoma or cuticle and legs damaged). The percentage of damaged mites was correlated with bee- and brood infestation level, origin of queens, and the number of Varroa found after treatment with pyrethroid strips. Details on observed hives have been given in table I. To estimate total mite population, a treatment with Apistan or Bayvarol followed immediately after the last determination of natural mite fall. Data on bee and brood infestation rate were determined once at the beginning of September. Out of 8 452 mites (= total sum of all colonies) 1 601 (18.9%) showed injuries (table II). Light coloured mites (= immature adult females) were injured significantly more frequent (27.1 %) than dark mites (9.5%; table II). Figure 1 presents data on injury, which is divided into 9 percentage classes and shows the distribution of colonies according to these particular classes. Only 7.4% of the colonies (= last 3 classes) had > 30% damaged mites in their natural mite fall. No significant differences in percentage of damaged mites was observed between the 4 locations or 4 groups of queens from different origins. Natural mite mortality and the number of damaged mites showed a highly significant linear correlation. These findings are in agreement with those of Ruttner and Hänel (1992). The percentage of natural mite mortality was significantly correlated with bee- and brood infestation rate. A significant correlation was found between percentage of light-coloured damaged mites and brood infestation rate (%), but not with bee infestation rate (%). The percentage of dark, damaged mites was significantly correlated both with brood and bee infestation rate (figs 2, 3). The significant negative correlation between percentage of damaged mites and number of mites found after chemical treatment as well as the negative correlation with bee- and brood infestation rate gives an indication of the influence of active defence behaviour by the bees on Varroa population growth (fig 4). If this behaviour could be increased by breeding and selection measures, it would probably constitute an important step towards a Varroa-resistant Carniolan honey bee

Good farming practices in apiculture

Modern European beekeeping is facing numerous challenges due to a variety of factors, mainly related to globalisation, agrochemical pollution and environmental changes. In addition to this, new pathogens threaten the health of European honey bees. In that context, correct colony management should encompass a wider vision, where productivity aspects are linked to a One Health approach in order to protect honey bees, humans and the environment. This paper describes a novel tool to be applied in beekeeping operations: good beekeeping practices (GBPs). The authors ranked a list of GBPs scored against their importance and validated by an international team, including researchers, national animal health authorities and international beekeepers' associations. These activities were carried out in the project 'BPRACTICES', approved within the transnational call of the European Research Area Network on Sustainable Animal Production (ERA-NET SusAn) in the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme of the European Union. This study, created through an international collaboration, aims to present an innovative and implementable approach, similar to applications already adopted in other livestock production systems.European UnionEuropean Commission [696231, 83]This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 696231 [SusAn] ID 83

Outcome of the workshop

On 4th and 5th of February 2014, 18 researchers from 13 countries attended the workshop in Graz, Austria. The workshop was supported by COLOSS, University of Graz, the Dean of the Faculty of Science and the Austrian Research Association. An authorized questionnaire that was drafted before the workshop was finalised during the workshop after necessary extended discussion. The questionnaire will be published on the COLOSS website to make it available to all interested countries. Deadlines and important dates for the 2014 monitoring and submission of data were established. The use of additional databases (meteorological and land use) which could be relevant for better understanding of the past and future loss data collected using the COLOSS questionnaire was explored, with input from specialists from other fields. So far only winter losses have been considered, however in southern countries summer losses appear to be more important. This issue was discussed and a decision was taken to further explore summer losses in specific southern areas ideally using a randomized approach. The general feeling was that the monitoring group currently acts as an European entity which attracts other countries, but which may require to develop a stronger European profile. For COLOSS, it would be a good initiative for similar entities to be developed independently in other continents by honey bee researchers based in those continents. Further exploration of specific requirements and conditions is needed. The issue of compliance with the EU regulations on data protection was discussed for future implementation. A jointly authored publication on winter 2012-2013 colony losses which is in press and soon to appear in the Journal of Apicultural Research was welcomed by the participants of the workshop and would be accompanied by an IBRA press release to publicise this article

Outcome of the workshop : C.S.I. Pollen – training the national agents in Graz

On 6th and 7th of February 2014, 26 researchers attended a workshop in Graz, Austria. The workshop was supported by COLOSS, the University of Graz and the Dean of the Faculty of Science. Pollen is the only source of proteins for honey bee colonies and is needed to feed brood, for organ development of adult honey bees and build-up of reserves to become long lived winter bees. All participants welcomed the initiative and agreed that the pollen nutrition of honey bees is of great importance for colony health and survival, and needs to be adequately studied. A means to study the biodiversity of pollen in the supply of honey bee colonies on a large scale is through the involvement of beekeepers as Citizen Scientists (C.S.). As beekeepers cannot perform full palynological analyses, we have developed a simple estimation of pollen diversity according to the colour of corbicular pollen pellets. This allows us to obtain information on a large number of samples, but also requires standardized protocols in all participating countries. National coordinators from the following countries agreed to conduct a common investigation in 2014 and 2015 using the protocols developed for C.S.I. Pollen in pilot studies in 2013: National coordinators of the following countries were present: Austria, Croatia , Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales. We will re-evaluate the protocols after one year, and also invite other countries to join. As a second step, samples collected by the beekeeper can be analysed to connect pollen diversity derived from colour differentiation of pollen pellets, to the number of plant species identified by palynological analysis. The funding for this second level investigation is to be left to the national coordinators. Traditional melissopalynological methods are not as suitable for the analysis of corbicular pollen pellets compared to honey, so standardized methods for this will be developed. The methods of sub-sampling, storage and transport need to be developed. The first level C.S. Investigations in the different countries will be coordinated and data collected for joint analyses and publication