Article (Scientific journals)
Prioritizing changes in management practices associated with reduced winter honey bee colony losses for US beekeepers.
Steinhauer, Nathalie; vanEngelsdorp, Dennis; Saegerman, Claude
2021In The Science of the total environment, 753, p. 141629
Peer reviewed
 

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Keywords :
Beekeeping; Best management practices; Expert elicitation; Honey bee health; Multicriteria analysis; Variable prioritization
Abstract :
[en] Beekeepers attempt to manage their honey bee colonies in ways that optimize colony health. Disentangling the impact of management from other variables affecting colony health is complicated by the diversity of practices used and difficulties handling typically complex and incomplete observational datasets. We propose a method to 1) compress multi-factored management data into a single index, to holistically investigate the real world impact of management on colony mortality, and 2) simplify said index to identify the core practices for which a change in behavior is associated with the greatest improvement in survivorship. Experts scored the practices of US beekeepers (n = 18,971) documented using four years of retrospective surveys (2012-2015). Management Index scores significantly correlated with loss rates, with beekeepers most in line with recommendations suffering lower losses. The highest ranked practices varied by operation type, as recommendations accounted for the current prevalence of practices. These results validate experts' opinion using empirical data, and can help prioritize extension messages. Improving management will not prevent all losses; however, we show that few behavioral changes (in particular related to comb management, sources of new colonies and Varroa management) can lead to a non-negligible reduction in risk.
Disciplines :
Veterinary medicine & animal health
Author, co-author :
Steinhauer, Nathalie
vanEngelsdorp, Dennis
Saegerman, Claude  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des maladies infectieuses et parasitaires (DMI) > Epidémiologie et analyse des risques appl. aux sc. vétér.
Language :
English
Title :
Prioritizing changes in management practices associated with reduced winter honey bee colony losses for US beekeepers.
Publication date :
2021
Journal title :
The Science of the total environment
ISSN :
0048-9697
eISSN :
1879-1026
Volume :
753
Pages :
141629
Peer reviewed :
Peer reviewed
Commentary :
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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since 23 March 2021

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