Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations
Citizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (<i>Apis</i> <i>mellifera</i>) populations are known to naturally survive <i>Varroa dest...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/536 |
| _version_ | 1827690177254916096 |
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| author | Arrigo Moro Alexis Beaurepaire Raffaele Dall’Olio Steve Rogenstein Tjeerd Blacquière Bjørn Dahle Joachim R. de Miranda Vincent Dietemann Barbara Locke Rosa María Licón Luna Yves Le Conte Peter Neumann |
| author_facet | Arrigo Moro Alexis Beaurepaire Raffaele Dall’Olio Steve Rogenstein Tjeerd Blacquière Bjørn Dahle Joachim R. de Miranda Vincent Dietemann Barbara Locke Rosa María Licón Luna Yves Le Conte Peter Neumann |
| author_sort | Arrigo Moro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Citizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (<i>Apis</i> <i>mellifera</i>) populations are known to naturally survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Such colonies are highly valuable for investigating the mechanisms enabling colony survival, as well as for tracking the conservation status of free-living honey bees. Here, we use targeted Citizen Science to identify potentially new cases of managed or free-living <i>A. mellifera</i> populations that survive <i>V. destructor</i> without mite control strategies. In 2018, a survey containing 20 questions was developed, translated into 13 languages, and promoted at beekeeping conferences and online. After three years, 305 reports were collected from 28 countries: 241 from managed colonies and 64 from free-living colonies. The collected data suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. Further, online and personal promotion seem to be key for successful recruitment of participants. Although the survivor status of these colonies still needs to be confirmed, the volume of reports and responses already illustrate how effectively Citizen Science can contribute to bee research by massively increasing generated data, broadening opportunities for comparative research, and fostering collaboration between scientists, beekeepers, and citizens. The success of this survey spurred the development of a more advanced Citizen Science platform, Honey Bee Watch, that will enable a more accurate reporting, confirmation, and monitoring of surviving colonies, and strengthen the ties between science, stakeholders, and citizens to foster the protection of both free-living and managed honey bees. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:33:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed4a161800554250b1cf682e87f9e196 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T10:33:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed4a161800554250b1cf682e87f9e1962023-11-21T23:28:43ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-06-0112653610.3390/insects12060536Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> InfestationsArrigo Moro0Alexis Beaurepaire1Raffaele Dall’Olio2Steve Rogenstein3Tjeerd Blacquière4Bjørn Dahle5Joachim R. de Miranda6Vincent Dietemann7Barbara Locke8Rosa María Licón Luna9Yves Le Conte10Peter Neumann11Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3003 Bern, SwitzerlandInstitute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3003 Bern, SwitzerlandBeeSources, 40132 Bologna, ItalyThe Ambeessadors, 10439 Berlin, GermanyWageningen Plant Research, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen & Blacqbee, The NetherlandsNorwegian Beekeepers Association, NO-2040 Kløfta, NorwayDepartment of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, SwedenSwiss Bee Research Center, Agroscope, 3003 Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 750 07 Uppsala, SwedenWild Bees Project, 01170 Crozet, FranceUR 406 Abeilles et Environnement, INRAE, 84914 Avignon, FranceInstitute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, 3003 Bern, SwitzerlandCitizen Science contributes significantly to the conservation of biodiversity, but its application to honey bee research has remained minimal. Even though certain European honey bee (<i>Apis</i> <i>mellifera</i>) populations are known to naturally survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Such colonies are highly valuable for investigating the mechanisms enabling colony survival, as well as for tracking the conservation status of free-living honey bees. Here, we use targeted Citizen Science to identify potentially new cases of managed or free-living <i>A. mellifera</i> populations that survive <i>V. destructor</i> without mite control strategies. In 2018, a survey containing 20 questions was developed, translated into 13 languages, and promoted at beekeeping conferences and online. After three years, 305 reports were collected from 28 countries: 241 from managed colonies and 64 from free-living colonies. The collected data suggest that there could be twice as many naturally surviving colonies worldwide than are currently known. Further, online and personal promotion seem to be key for successful recruitment of participants. Although the survivor status of these colonies still needs to be confirmed, the volume of reports and responses already illustrate how effectively Citizen Science can contribute to bee research by massively increasing generated data, broadening opportunities for comparative research, and fostering collaboration between scientists, beekeepers, and citizens. The success of this survey spurred the development of a more advanced Citizen Science platform, Honey Bee Watch, that will enable a more accurate reporting, confirmation, and monitoring of surviving colonies, and strengthen the ties between science, stakeholders, and citizens to foster the protection of both free-living and managed honey bees.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/536Citizen ScienceCOLOSShoney beeHoney Bee Watchmonitoringnatural selection |
| spellingShingle | Arrigo Moro Alexis Beaurepaire Raffaele Dall’Olio Steve Rogenstein Tjeerd Blacquière Bjørn Dahle Joachim R. de Miranda Vincent Dietemann Barbara Locke Rosa María Licón Luna Yves Le Conte Peter Neumann Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations Insects Citizen Science COLOSS honey bee Honey Bee Watch monitoring natural selection |
| title | Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations |
| title_full | Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations |
| title_fullStr | Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations |
| title_short | Using Citizen Science to Scout Honey Bee Colonies That Naturally Survive <i>Varroa destructor</i> Infestations |
| title_sort | using citizen science to scout honey bee colonies that naturally survive i varroa destructor i infestations |
| topic | Citizen Science COLOSS honey bee Honey Bee Watch monitoring natural selection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/6/536 |
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