Honey bee colony losses: what's happening in South America?

Abstract

The concerns for the effects of honey bee declines have spurred several large-scale surveys of honey bee health around the world to evaluate potential drivers of colony losses. United States and Europe already have well developed honey bee surveys, however, no large-scale survey has yet been developed in South America. In this paper, we present such an initiative of a national survey of honey bee health in Argentina, which hosts the largest population of managed honey bee colonies in South America. It is also one of the top honey-producing countries in the world. We developed a volunteer-based survey using a standardized questionnaire and distributed it to a national network of beekeepers. The rapid mobilization and support from beekeepers shows an interest in and a need for this type of national survey. We call for help from the readers of American Bee Journal to improve the dissemination of the questionnaire among potential interested parties in Argentina. We provide methods and recommendations to help the development of national surveys of honey bee health and also encourage such initiatives in other South American countries.