Summary

The recent establishment Varroa mites in Australia will cause widespread honey bee colony losses. The project will deliver a nationwide survey of colony losses in 2024 and 2025, setting up a framework for future surveys. It will be conducted in collaboration with other international surveys of colony losses, including the long-running New Zealand survey. The survey will collect baseline colony health data prior to Varroa spreading through Australia, which were unavailable in other countries, providing a unique data set with both national and international significance. Data will provide quantitative information about the extent of the losses including risk factors and their impacts on the diverse industries that depend on honey bees. Data will highlight the effect of differences in management practices as well as regional variation in the severity of Varroa’s impacts.

A pilot nationwide survey of 2024 colony losses will be delivered in the summer of 2025. Data from this survey will be used to develop the analytical pipeline, website infographics, and to further refine the subsequent survey. The pilot survey will also be used to promote the comprehensive 2025 survey at beekeeper meetings and through industry contacts, which will be conducted in the spring, at a time typical time for colony loss surveys worldwide.

The survey will be conducted by a diverse team of Australian and international academics, industry, and government. The interdisciplinary academic team will include biologists, social scientists, a statistician as well as social scientists, statisticians, and industry representatives.

Program

Honey Bee

Research Organisation

Australian National University

Objective Summary

– Conduct a national pilot survey in the summer of 2024.
– Carry out a more comprehensive survey in the spring of 2025 using the results from the pilot survey to improve promotion and optimize questions
– Perform statistical analysis of the survey results to interpret their implications for the honey bee industry and pollination-dependent industries
– Create a database of the survey results and the statistical analysis code in R used to analyse them
– Develop a website to host the survey and present the results with interactive graphics.