Prototype Biodiversity Digital Twin: honey bees in agricultural landscapes

Abstract

Honey bees are vital to human well-being and are under multiple stresses. We need to be able to assess the viability and productivity of honey bee colonies in different landscapes and under different management and climate-change scenarios. We have developed a prototype digital twin, HONEYBEE-pDT, based on the BEEHAVE model, which simulates foraging, population dynamics and Varroa mite infestation of a single honey bee colony. The main input data are land-cover maps and daily weather data. We have developed the pDT for simulating large areas and have tested it for the whole of Germany. We have also developed a web-based GUI that users can use to run the pDT for specific sites. Hive weight data from hundreds of hives will be used for calibration and validation.