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Effects of innovative beekeeping with reduced varroa mite treatment on the performance and vitality of honey bees in near-natural beekeeping

Project


Project code: 2819NA108
Contract period: 15.04.2021 - 14.04.2024
Budget: 373,360 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: bees, husbandry techniques, sustainability, parasitology, poison / toxins, Virology, knowledge transfer, networking

In this research project, we want to explore how an innovative method of beekeeping affects the vitality and productivity of colonies and whether it makes worker bees and drones more resilient to environmental stress. Our approach is based on an interruption of breeding lasting for several weeks in late summer followed by a single treatment with oxalic acid. In contrast to conventional beekeeping, we will not remove drone brood. Bee colonies that are kept using conventional methods serve as a comparison group. In this project, we want to investigate the effectiveness of the innovative beekeeping method with regard to the development of the bee colony, its performance, the vitality and resilience of workers and drones against environmental stressors. We have selected the neonicotinoid thiacloprid, which is no longer approved in Germany, and a combination of this active ingredient with the azole fungicide tebuconazole as environmental stress that affects workers and drones at the same time. We want to understand whether the innovative beekeeping method has a positive influence on the mortality of bees, the size of the hypopharyngeal glands in female workers, dance communication and flight behavior under environmental stress. When it comes to drones, the focus is on sperm quality and mating success. Another important indicator of the resilience of worker bees and drones is their immune defense, which we also want to analyze. In addition to the scientific analysis of the new method, we focus on the early transfer of knowledge to beekeepers and want to have beekeepers investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of our innovative method in four model regions using a network of beekeepers. The aim of our project is the sustainable establishment of innovative beekeeping by the broad beekeeping community, with which we bring our bee colonies to a higher level of defense against the varroa mite through natural selection, without reducing honey production.

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