Citations
Abstract
An alarming mortality of honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera) has been reported in many countries since early 2000. During a recent European project, called Epilobee, between 2012 and 2014, the Belgian honeybee colony mortality was the highest of the participant countries. In September 2016, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) has launched the program of surveillance of Belgian honeybees health. The primary objective of the project was to describe and monitor the honeybee colony mortality and its variation between the three visits and across Belgium. Within 190 apiaries selected, three visits were conducted: the first one in Fall 2022, when the colonies were preparing for winter, the second visit in Spring 2023, after bees started foraging, and the third visit during the Summer 2023, the active season. The field survey included direct observations, interviews and measurements performed by trained FASFC inspectors. The questionnaire provided information regarding colony attributes (such as colony mortality, demography, and known causes of winter mortality), and beekeeping management practices (such as number of managed colonies, Varroa mite treatment, provision of supplementary feeding). The 2022-2023 overwinter weighted colony mortality was estimated at 25.42% (95% CI: 19.58-31.26) for Belgium. The seasonal weighted colony mortality was estimated at 7.84% (95% CI: 3.94-11.74). The yearly weighted colony mortality, considering both winter and summer, was estimated at 21.86% (95% CI: 17.61-26.11).
