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Understanding amateur beekeepers' perception of risks affecting bee health and mortality is essential to analyse the reasons for adopting or rejecting good management practices. A perception survey on how beekeepers perceive and manage factors related to climate change, Varroa infestation, management practices, and pesticide exposure was designed and launched online. This unpreceded sociological survey involved 355 beekeepers spread all over Belgium. A two-sample t test with unequal variances comparing beekeepers with colony loss rates below or exceeding the acceptable level, that is

Explaining the reasons for the high honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony loss rate in recent years has become a top global research priority in apicultural and agricultural sciences. Although there are indications of the role played by beekeeping management practices on honey bee health, very little information is currently available. Our study aimed to characterize the beekeeping management practices carried out in Belgium, and to determine the relationship between beekeeping management practices and colony losses. Variables obtained from face-to-face questioning of a representative randomized and stratified sample of Belgian beekeepers (n = 186) were integrated into a logistic regression model (univariate and multivariate) and correlated to the declared colony loss rates to identify risk and protective indicators. We used a classification tree analysis to validate the results. We present evidence of a relationship between poor beekeeping management practices and colony losses. The main factors protecting honey bee colonies are the aptitude of the beekeeper to change his management practices, the hive type, the equipment origin and hygiene, wintering in proper conditions (the use of divider boards, i.e. board blocks or space fillers off part of the hive body), the colony strength estimation before wintering, winter monitoring, and last but not least, appropriate integrated pest management. Proper estimation of the Varroa infestation level should be performed prior to treatment. The consequences of poor beekeeping practices on honey bee health can be addressed by proper training of beekeepers. An online tool was developed and published for beekeepers allowing them to evaluate the effect of their management practices on colony health.

Understanding hobby beekeepers’ perception of risks affecting bee health and mortality is essential to analyse the reasons for adopting or rejecting good management practices. A perception survey on how beekeepers perceive and manage risks related to climate change, Varroa infestation, management practices, and pesticide exposure was designed and launched online. This unpreceded sociological survey involved 355 beekeepers spread all over Belgium. A two-sample t-test with unequal variances comparing beekeepers with colony mortality rates below or exceeding the acceptable level, i.e.

Pesticide and veterinary drug residues are one of the stress factors affecting bee health and mortality. To investigate the occurrence, the concentration and the toxicity risk to bees of pesticide residues in four different types of beeswax (brood comb wax, recycled comb wax, honey comb wax, and cappings wax), 182 samples were collected from apiaries located all over the Belgian territories, during spring 2016 and analysed by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS/MS for the presence of 294 chemical residues. The toxicity risk to bees expressed as the Hazard Quotient (HQ) was calculated for each wax sample, according to two scenarios with different tau-fluvalinate LD50 values. Residues showing the highest prevalence were correlated to bee mortality in a multivariate logistic regression model and a risk-based model was used to predict colony bee mortality. Altogether, 54 different pesticide and veterinary drug residues were found in the four types of beeswax. The residues with a higher likelihood to be retained in beeswax are applied in-hive or with a high lipophilic nature. The multivariate logistic regression model showed a statistically significant influence of chlorfenvinphos on bee mortality. All our results indicated that cappings wax was substantially less contaminated. This national survey on beeswax contamination provides guidelines on the re-use of beeswax by beekeepers and shows the necessity to introduce maximum residue levels for global trade in beeswax. An online tool was developed to enable beekeepers and wax traders to estimate the risk to honey bee health associated with contaminated wax.

We report the detection of Moku virus in honey bees (Apis mellifera) collected in 2017 from hives with a history of attacks by invasive Asian hornets (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) in Belgium. End 2016, Moku virus was reported in Asian hornets from the same area. In addition, the Moku virus was already present in historical samples of bees collected in 2013, that is, 2 years after the official first detection of Asian hornets in the same area of Belgium. This study suggests a spread of Moku virus to honey bees with possible consequences.

To assess the health risk posed by flumethrin residues in beeswax to honeybees and honey consumers, 124 wax samples randomly distributed in Belgium were analysed for flumethrin residues using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. The risk posed by flumethrin residues in beeswax to honeybee health was assessed through the calculation of a non-pondered and a pondered Hazard Quotient by the prevalence rate of flumethrin considering an oral or topical exposure. No statistical difference was found when comparing both the average flumethrin residues concentrations and contact and oral pondered hazard quotients between apiaries with lower and equal or higher than 10% of colony loss. Flumethrin residues estimated daily intake by Belgian consumers through honey and wax ingestion was estimated via a deterministic (worst-case scenario) and a probabilistic approach. The probabilistic approach was not possible for beeswax consumption due to the lack of individual consumption data. The highest estimated exposure was

In order to assess bee and human exposure to residues of glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) and its main degradation products aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) and to characterise the risk posed by these substances, we analysed 3 different bee matrices; beebread (N = 81), wax (N = 100) and 10-paired samples of wax/honey collected in 2016/2017 from 379 Belgian apiaries. A high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS) was used as analytical method. Limit of quantification and detection (LOQ and LOD) for GBH residues and AMPA in the 3 matrices was respectively of 10 ng g−1 and 1 ng g−1. In beebread, 81.5% of the samples showed a residue concentration > LOQ and 9.9% of the samples a residue concentration LOQ versus 81.5% >LOQ). The maximum GBH residues and AMPA concentration found in beebread (respectively 700 ng g−1 and 250 ng g−1) led to sub-lethal exposure to bees. The Hazard Quotient (HQ) for beebread and beeswax (7 and 3.2, respectively) were far below the “safety” oral and contact thresholds for bees. For human health, the highest exposure to GBH residues in pollen corresponded to 0.312% and 0.187% of the ADI and of the ARfD respectively and, to 0.002% and to 0.001% for beeswax. No transfer of glyphosate from wax to honey was detected. Considering our results and the available regulatory data on the glyphosate molecule considered solely, not including the adjuvants in GBH formulation, the consumption of these three contaminated matrices would not be a food safety issue. Nonetheless, caution should be taken in the interpretation of the results as new studies indicate possible glyphosate/GBH residues toxicity below regulatory limits and at chronic sub-lethal doses.