(2) Organische zuren en thymol en biotechnische imkermethoden: Varroabestrijding op stand

In het bijenvolk heeft de mijt een kwetsbare positie op de bijen (de foretische mijt) en een relatief veilige plaats in het broed (de reproducerende mijt). Dit laatste is relatief want door de voorkeur voor darrenbroed is deze veilige plaats toch minder veilig voor de mijt. In een broedloos volk zijn alle mijten foretisch en dit is dan ook een ideale situatie om de mijt te bestrijden

4.1 Progress of working group Non-Apis testing

See summary of progress of the Non-Apis group on page 8 Thomas Steeger: Working Groups of the ICP-PR Bee Protection Group – Developments and ProgressSee summary of progress of the Non-Apis group on page 8 Thomas Steeger: Working Groups of the ICP-PR Bee Protection Group – Developments and Progres

Three years of banning neonicotinoid insecticides based on sub-lethal effects : Can we expect to see effects on bees?

The 2013 EU ban of three neonicotinoids used in seed coating of pollinator attractive crops was put in place because of concern about declining wild pollinator populations and numbers of honeybee colonies. It was also concluded that there is an urgent need for good field data to fill knowledge gaps. In the meantime such data have been generated. Based on recent literature we question the existence of recent pollinator declines and their possible link with the use of neonicotinoids. Because of temporal non-coincidence we conclude that declines of wild pollinators and of honeybees are not likely caused by neonicotinoids. Even if bee decline does occur and if there is a causal relationship with the use of neonicotinoids, we argue that it is not possible on such short term to evaluate the effects of the 2013 ban. In order to supply future debate with realistic (field) data and to discourage extrapolating the effects of studies using overdoses that are not of environmental relevance, we propose - in addition to field studies performed by the chemical industry - to use the 'semi-field worst case' treated artificial diet studies approach to free flying colonies in the field. This kind of study may provide realistic estimates for risk and be useful to study realistic interactions with non-pesticide stressors

The Perfect Match: Simultaneous Strawberry Pollination and Bio-Sampling of the Plant Pathogenic Bacterium Erwinia pyrifoliae by Honey Bees Apis mellifera

In this study we show that honey bee colonies placed in a greenhouse for pollination of strawberry can simultaneously be used to indicate the presence of the plant pathogenic bacterium Erwinia pyrifoliae. This was demonstrated by using two methods of qualitative sacrificial and non-sacrificial bio sampling of the honey bee colony. A novel method for non-sacrificial subsampling, named the Beehold device, was applied. Applying the Beehold device did not disturb or affect negatively the honey bee colony. The study demonstrated that the integration of pollination service and bio-sampling functioned. In the sacrificially derived honey bee subsamples, E. pyrifoliae was detected prior to any visible infection in the plant; however, E. pyrifoliae was detected via non-sacrificial sampling at the same time as plant infection was first observed. The Beehold device is a practical tool for monitoring plant pathogens via forager bees during flowering until fruit onset, but is not as sensitive as directly sampling honey bees