The first pan-European epidemiological study on honeybee colony losses (2012-2014) revealed winter colony losses up to 32.4% and seasonal colony losses up to 11.1%

Marion Laurent (1) , Pascal Hendrikx , Richard Thiéry , Magali Ribière-Chabert , Marie-Pierre Chauzat

1 Laboratoire de Sophia Antipolis

For the first time, a harmonised active epidemiological surveillance programme on honeybee colony mortality (EPILOBEE) was set up in 17 European Union Member States for two consecutive years. The national protocols were based on guidelines issued by the European Union Reference Laboratory for Honeybee Health (EURL). The objective of the two-year programme was to obtain an overall picture of honeybee colony losses on a harmonised basis in each of the participating Member States. Winter colony mortality rates ranged from 3.2% to 32.4% and from 2.4% to 15.4% during the first and the second year of the programme. Rates of seasonal colony mortality (2013) ranging from 0.02% to 10.2% did not drastically change during the second year of the programme in 15 of the 16 Member States taking part in EPILOBEE for two years. This programme was a descriptive epidemiological study enabling the collection of official and comparable data on honeybee health over two years with a methodology that was feasible and repeatable. The outcomes of EPILOBEE are an essential prerequisite to the implementation of future explanatory studies investigating the potential causes of honeybee colony losses such as pesticides and their possible interactions with pathogens or other stress factors.

Domaines: Médecine vétérinaire et santé animale

Marion Laurent, Pascal Hendrikx, Richard Thiéry, Magali Ribière-Chabert, Marie-Pierre Chauzat. The first pan-European epidemiological study on honeybee colony losses (2012-2014) revealed winter colony losses up to 32.4% and seasonal colony losses up to 11.1%. EuroReference - Les Cahiers de la Référence, 2017. ⟨anses-03793147⟩