Beekeeping Management Practices Are Associated with Operation Size and Beekeepers’ Philosophy towards in-Hive Chemicals

Abstract

Management by beekeepers is of utmost importance for the health and survival of honey bee colonies. Beekeeping management practices vary from low to high intervention regarding the use of chemicals, hive manipulations, and supplemental feeding of colonies. In this study, we use quantitative data from the Bee Informed Partnership’s national survey to investigate drivers of management practices among beekeepers in the United States. This is the first study to quantitatively examine these variables to objectively describe the management practices among different groups of beekeepers in the United States. We hypothesized that management practices and goals among beekeepers are different based on the beekeeper’s philosophy (as determined by their willingness to use chemicals to control pests and pathogens) and the size of the beekeeping operation. Using a multiple factor analysis, we determined that beekeepers use a continuum of management practices. However, we found that beekeepers’ willingness to use in-hive chemicals and the number of colonies in their operation are non-randomly associated with other aspects of beekeeping management practices. Specifically, the size of the beekeeping operation was associated with beekeepers’ choices of in-hive chemicals, while beekeepers’ philosophy was most strongly associated with choices of in-hive chemicals and beekeeping goals. Our results will facilitate the development of decision-making tools for beekeepers to choose management practices that are appropriate for the size of their operations and their beekeeping philosophy.

Advances and perspectives in selecting resistance traits against the parasitic mite Varroa destructor in honey bees

“…Although treatments that involve organic acids have proven to be effective and do not leave residues when used correctly, negative side effects on honey bee health have been demonstrated [48]. Due to such problems, a growing number of beekeepers are attempting to reduce their reliance on chemical treatments [49][50][51], which has highlighted the need for alternative and sustainable approaches to control this parasite, including the selection of honey bee lineages that survive parasite infestations [52]. This selection aims at favoring the expression of traits that enhance colony survival and subsequently reduce the need for human interventions to control the parasite's population.…”

Special Issue: Honey Bee Research in the US: Current State and Solutions to Beekeeping Problems

“…There are a large number of management options available for beekeepers to use. Underwood and colleagues [27] used a national survey dataset to investigate how (1) the size of the beekeeping operation and (2) the philosophy of beekeepers towards the use of chemical treatments to control pests and diseases are associated with beekeeping management practices. Their results indicate that sets of management practices are associated with both factors clearly differentiating approaches used by commercial beekeepers (large operations) and natural beekeepers (chemical-free operations).…”

A future resistance breeding strategy against Varroa destructor in a small population of the dark honey bee

“…Our survey focussed on management of a small closed population selected within its native range, namely A. m. mellifera in Switzerland. Therefore, we expected a relatively low numbers of responses, for instance in comparison to past studies on beekeepers in the United States (Underwood, Traver, & L opez-Uribe, 2019). The local specificities of the studied population raised specific organisational issues for a successful collective selection, which needed to be identified to enable the sustainability of this small local breeding program.…”