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Date: | Tue, 7 Mar 2023 11:05:28 -0500 |
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Western honey bees have experienced high colony losses in the northern hemisphere over the last decade, with a loss rate of over 40% in the United States (U.S.) between April of 2019 and 2020 alone. To date, the effects of weather on honey bee colony loss remains poorly understudied despite weather being one of the greatest drivers of natural systems.
Results demonstrated that effects of environmental variables on colony loss varied across space, indicating that spatial models should be used when studying honey bee colony losses. Additionally, we found that increased winter colony loss rates were linked to lower November mean maximum temperatures and less February mean precipitation, thus, these two variables may be good predictors of observed winter loss rates.
Finally, results also revealed that weather conditions during winter months were better predictors of winter colony loss than conditions during other months of the year. Overall, our results illustrate how environmental factors strongly impact managed honey bees and highlight the importance of regionally specific management practices to help prevent losses in the future.
Winter weather predicts honey bee colony loss at the national scale. Ecological Indicators 145 (2022) 109709
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