The research has been carried out by a team of 35 scientists forming part of the international COLOSS (prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes) network, and 15 US scientists forming the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP). Survey data presented in the COLOSS study were collected for the 2008-9 winter from 12 countries and from the 2009-10 winter from 24 countries. Data were collected for the winter of 2010-11 for the BIP study, following on from earlier published US studies.

The COLOSS results show that mean honey bee losses in Europe varied widely, between 7-22 % over the 2008-9 winter and between 7-30 % over the 2009-10 winter. An important finding is that for all countries which participated in 2008-9, winter losses in 2009-10 were found to be substantially higher. In 2009-10, winter losses in south east Europe and in five provinces of China were very low, but in six Canadian provinces, losses varied between 16-25 % with those in Nova Scotia (40 % losses) being exceptionally high. The BIP study recorded the fifth consecutive year that winter losses in the USA were around 30 %. Survey respondents reported that over the winter of 2010-11 they lost an average of 38.4 % of their colonies, for a total US colony loss of 29.9 %; but one-third of respondents reported no winter loss.

In most countries and in all three monitoring years, amateur beekeepers (1-50 colonies) experienced higher losses than beekeepers with intermediate (51-500) and commercial (500+) beekeeping operations. Where beekeepers were asked to suggest the causes of losses, the leading self-identified causes of mortality were management failures such as starvation and a weak condition in the autumn.

Only a minority of respondents listed the symptoms of “Colony Collapse Disorder” namely: 1. no dead bees in or surrounding the hive while; 2. capped brood was present.  Notably, respondents who indicated that varroa mites (Varroa destructor), small hive beetles (Aethina tumida), poor wintering conditions, and/or Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) symptoms were a leading cause of mortality in their operations suffered a higher average loss than beekeepers who did not list any of these as potential causes of honey bee losses.

IBRA Scientific Director and JAR Senior Editor Norman Carreck says: “These results show that honey bee colony losses are continuing, although the extent varies considerably from country to country. Although we cannot be certain of the causes, it is clear that no single cause dominates, and many factors are involved.

[Ends]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT

Norman Carreck, Scientific Director, IBRA +44 (0)791 8670169 Email: carrecknl@ibra.org.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:-

1. The article “Managed honey bee colony losses in Canada, China, Europe, Israel and Turkey, for the winters of 2008-2009 and 2009–2010” is available at:-

http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/Honey-bee-colony-losses-in-Canada-China-Europe-Israel-and-Turkey-in-2008-10

2. The article “A national survey of managed honey bee colony 2010-2011 winter losses in the U.S.: results from the Bee Informed Partnership” is available at:-

http://www.ibra.org.uk/articles/US-honey-bee-winter-colony-losses-2010-11

3. The International Bee Research Association (“IBRA”) is the world's longest established apicultural research publishers and promotes the value of bees by providing information on bee science, bee conservation and beekeeping worldwide. 

4. IBRA publishes the peer reviewed scientific journal the Journal of Apicultural Research founded by IBRA in 1962.  It includes original research articles, theoretical papers; scientific notes and comments; together with authoritative reviews on scientific aspects of the biology, ecology, natural history, conservation and culture of all types of bee.

5. IBRA publishes and sells books on bee science and beekeeping and also provides bee information services.  IBRA is a Registered Charity, and its Council of trustees boasts some of the world’s leading bee scientists. 

6. Membership of IBRA costs just £33.00 annually.  Membership benefits include receipt of four quarterly issues of Bee World, our accessible and topical journal on latest bee research, news, reviews and other relevant information for the bee scientist, beekeeper, and anyone with an interest in bees. 

7. COLOSS is a network funded by the European Union COST Programme (Action FA0803) which aims to explain and prevent massive honey bee colony losses. The network does not directly support science but aims to coordinate national research activities across Europe and worldwide, promulgating consistent approaches and a broad transnational research programme with a strong focus on the transfer of science into beekeeping practice. COLOSS has 217 members drawn from 55 countries worldwide.  It is chaired by Dr Peter Neumann of the Swiss Bee Research Centre, Liebefeld. Website http://www.coloss.org/

8. The Bee Informed Partnership is an extension project that endeavours to decrease the number of managed honey bee colonies that die over the winter. The Project Director is Dennis vanEnglesdorp of Penn State University, USA.Websitehttp://beeinformed.org/

Dear colleagues

Please find attached an advertisement for a post doc position at the University of Pretoria and disseminate it to interested colleagues.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely

Peter Neumann

Please download the announcement here

Word .docx document for download

Dear Action Chairs of the Food and Agriculture Domain, 

Within the COST's strategy towards increased support of Early Stage Researchers (< PhD+8 years) each Domain is invited to offer three Conference Grants (max. 3000 euro each) per year for Early Stage Researchers to participate in an international conference outside the COST Action activities.  The Domain Committee of Food and Agriculture has decided to have three collection dates per year with the next collection date being the 15^th of February 2012.

In order to be eligible for the grant an accepted oral presentation is required on a topic of food, animal or plant. The grant can be used to cover travel and subsistence costs, conference fees, and the costs of conference workshops.

Information to be provided by the applicant 

- Personal data of applicant (Europass CV)

- Short description of involvement in the respective COST Action (300 words), accompanied by support email by the Chair

- Relevant data on Conference at which the applicant wants to participate

- Copy of Abstract submitted to the Conference

- Proof of acceptance of Abstract by the Conference

- Motivation letter

- Requested amount

- Completion of the attached document entitled ‘summary of ESR Grant Application’

The Selection Process is handled during a DC meeting or by written procedure amongst the members of the Executive Group of the Domain Committee.

I would like to encourage you to make use of this tool. Therefore, I invite you to disseminate this information among the Early Stage Researchers in your COST Action and proceed to a selection of the best candidates. Please send the applications of the best candidates (together with the provided information) to me by the 15^th of February, 2012.

I will gather the candidatures sent by the Action Chairs and forward them to the Executive Group of the Domain Committee which will assess and rank them by 15^th March 2012.

Please note that conference grants cannot be awarded retrospectively.

COST OFFICE will inform the applicants about the results by the week starting on 19^th March 2012.

Should you have any question do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Mafalda

Dr. Mafalda Quintas

Food and Agriculture Science Officer
COST Office | Avenue Louise 149
1050 Brussels | Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 2 533 3859 | Fax: +32 (0) 2 533 38 90
mafalda.quintas@cost.eu | www.cost.eu

1^st Announcement

The COLOSS Workshop

“Nosema, from knowledge to experimental setup”
“3-4^th March 2012”

“Istanbul-TURKIYE”

As you know, Nosemosis has been considered as the most susceptible disease about honey bee colony losses. Nosema spores (N. apis and/or N. cerenae) show different growth strategies under the different climatic conditions or in different geographical areas. Coloss Network is the big opportunity to set up international Nosema experiment and observe Nosema growth and/or the efficacy of the one or more treatment methods in different countries.  By this reason, we intend to update our knowledge and set up a Nosema experiment in different countries  by organizing a workshop in  İstanbul -TURKIYE. This meeting will give us the opportunity to meet and make fast progress on Nosemosis before coming spring time.

You can find detailed  information below:

The Workshop: “Nosema, from knowledge to experimental setup”
Start Date: 3^rd March 2012 (09:00 am)  End Date:4^th March 2012 (17:00 pm) 
Place: Best Western Antea Hotel and Spa (www.bestwestern.com.tr)-Sultanahmet-İstanbul-TURKIYE
Registration fee: 50 €
Accomodation: 70 € Single room per night
                           80 € Double room per night

Travel expenses will be reimbursed by COST (FA0803)

Sincerely yours,

Aslı Özkırım – Anna Gajda

Assist. Prof. 

Hacettepe University 

Dep. of Biology 

Bee Health Lab. 06800 Beytepe/ANKARA/TURKEY 

Phone: 00 90 312 297 80 43 

Fax: 00 90 312 299 20 28 

Please download the description here (word doc)

Invitation