New EU wide report on honey bee colony mortality published by EPILOBEE

A new EU wide report on honey bee colony mortality published by EPILOBEE May 5th, 2015, showed slightly decrased mortality rates of honey bee colonies, but large variations among the 17 participating EU countries.

The final report was prepared by the European Union Reference Laboratory for honeybee health (EURL; ANSES, Fr) as a result of the recently finished pan-European epidemiological study on honey bee colony losses EPILOBEE 2012-2014

Bees are essential for food crop production: of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food worldwide, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 71 are pollinated by bees.

Trends toward decrease colony mortality were observed throughout the two years of the EPILOBEE programme, which is encouraging, yet mild winters might have contributed as well.

Further study will be needed to continue surveillance on honeybee colony losses and risk factors such as pesticides and their possible interactions with pathogens. 

The full report can be downloaded HERE