Abstract
Colony losses of managed honeybees have raised a major concern, and surveys of colony losses were conducted around the globe to understand the apicultural situation. Up to now, most studies have focused on the mortality of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera); however, little is known about the mortality of its eastern counterpart—the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana). Here, we report the survey results of A. cerana colony losses in three consecutive years (2011–2012, 2012–2013, and 2013–2014) in China. Colony losses were low overall (12.8%, 95% CI 11.9–13.7%) but varied among years, provinces, and types of apiaries. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to estimate the effects of possible risk factors and found that queen problems (queenless or drone-laying queens) were associated with colony losses. Further analyses showed that differences in mortality among different types of apiaries may be contributable to the differences in queen problems. This is the first survey of colony losses of A. cerana.
Highlights
Honeybees are important agricultural species as they provide pollination service which is valued more than $212 billion (Gallai et al 2009) and ingredients for healthy human foods, such as honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis (Viuda-Martos et al 2008)
The surveys conducted so far have focused on the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera ); colony losses of the other important honeybee species, the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana ), have not been reported
The lack of survey data on A. cerana colony losses is unsettling given the wide distribution of this species (Radloff et al 2010) and the severe population decline in recent decades (Abrol 2013)
Summary
Honeybees are important agricultural species as they provide pollination service which is valued more than $212 billion (Gallai et al 2009) and ingredients for healthy human foods, such as honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis (Viuda-Martos et al 2008). The decline in honeybees has raised tremendous con-. The surveys conducted so far have focused on the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera ); colony losses of the other important honeybee species, the Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana ), have not been reported. Apis cerana is native to Asia with a long history of managed beekeeping (Hepburn and Radloff 2011). In China, A. cerana beekeeping has begun since at least 1700 years ago. A. cerana is still kept in large quantity, estimated to be ∼2 million in China alone. The lack of survey data on A. cerana colony losses is unsettling given the wide distribution of this species (Radloff et al 2010) and the severe population decline in recent decades (Abrol 2013)
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