High accuracy monitoring of honey bee colony development by a quantitative method

Abstract

Honey bees are key insect pollinators, providing important economic and ecological value for human beings and ecosystems. This has triggered the development of several monitoring methods for assessing the temporal development of colony size, food storage, brood and pathogens. Nonetheless, most of these methods are based on visual assessments that are observer-dependent and prone to bias. Furthermore, the impact on colony development (invasiveness), as well as accuracy, were rarely considered when implementing new methods. In this study, we present and test a novel accurate and observer-independent method for honey bee colony assessment, capable of being fully standardized. Honey bee colony size is quantified by assessing the weight of adult bees, while brood and provision are assessed by taking photos and conducting image analysis of the combs with the image analysis software DeepbeeV R . The invasiveness and accuracy of the method were investigated using field data from two experimental apiaries in Portugal, comparing results from test and control colonies. At the end of each field experiment, most of the tested colonies had the same colony size, brood levels and honey production as the control colonies. Nonetheless, continuous weight data indicated some disturbance in tested colonies in the first year of monitoring. The overall accuracy of the image analysis software was improved by training, indicating that it is possible to adapt the software to local conditions. We conclude that the use of this fully quantitative method offers a more accurate alternative to classic visual colony assessments, with negligible impact on colony development.

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“…As noted by N. Capela et al (2023), minimising pesticide exposure is critical to protecting bee health. This can be achieved by working with farmers to coordinate pesticide application schedules and selecting strategic locations for apiaries that reduce the risks of pesticide exposure.…”

Exploring the External Environmental Drivers of Honey Bee Colony Development

“…From each apiary from the three landscapes, the five study colonies were subjected to health, strength, brood, and provision assessments every 20 days according to the protocol from Capela et al [40]. Colony strength, i.e., the adult population, was assessed by weighing all the frames from the nest and honey suppers with and without bees, multiplying the weight difference by the weight of a single bee.…”