Honey Bee Watch develops participatory monitoring protocol to study free-living Apis mellifera colonies

Abstract

Honey bees are predominantly perceived as a domesticated animal for agricultural purposes, while their role and importance as a wild species is often overlooked. In contrast to managed populations, wild cohorts are shaped by natural selection, which is why they can potentially cope better with threats like Varroa destructor and a changing environment. However, the IUCN's Red List classification of Apis mellifera in Europe remains Data Deficient, underscoring the knowledge gap about the life of these essential pollinators in their natural habitats and highlighting the urgent need for more comprehensive data about their density, distribution, and survival.

A group of researchers and experts have united to address this data deficiency, aiming to identify self sustaining wild populations through the monitoring of their nests, genomic sequencing, and comparative testing of pests and pathogens against specimens from local managed colonies. Motivated by the lack of reference methods for studying A. mellifera outside of apiaries, a standardized protocol was developed for their monitoring. Designed as an open-access, participatory questionnaire intended for use throughout the year by researchers and citizen scientists, it captures key data about the colonies and their habitats, including bees’ observable activity, survival rates, weather conditions, and other relevant environmental characteristics. Collecting these valuable data throughout Europe (and beyond) is indispensable in addressing their unresolved Red List status and is expected to inspire future studies.

Ultimately, this project represents a successful model of pan-European cooperation that enhances the research toolkit available for studying wild pollinators, which will also answer the crucial question of whether self-sustaining populations of A. mellifera still exist in the wild. The development of this monitoring protocol and overall coalition building has been the mission of Honey Bee Watch, a global citizen-science study focused on better understanding how and why free-living honey bees survive with little to no human intervention.