Survey study on fruit pollination practices and their impact on honeybee health in the Flemish region (2012-2013)

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a difference in honeybee mortality between bees that are used for pollination or come into contact with commercial fruit plantations on the one hand, and bees that never forage on commercial fruit plantations at the other hand. Therefore we conducted a survey amongst Flemish beekeepers. Results: The majority of surveyed beekeepers (>60%) indicated that their bees come into contact with commercially grown fruit. However, no significant differences in colony losses between different beekeeper groups with a different ‘fruit conta... Mehr ...