Winter weight loss of different subspecies of honey bee Apis mellifera colonies (Linnaeus, 1758) in southwestern Sweden.

ABSTRACT: Honey bees are currently facing mounting pressures that have resulted in population declines in many parts of the world. In northern climates winter is a bottleneck for honey bees and a thorough understanding of the colonies' ability to withstand the winter is needed in order to protect the bees from further decline. In this study the influence of weather variables on colony weight loss was studied over one winter (2019-2020) in two apiaries (32 colonies in total) in southwestern Sweden with weather stations recording wind and temperature at 5-min intervals. Three subspecies of honey bees and one hybrid were studied: the native Apis mellifera mellifera, the Italian A. m. ligustica, the Carniolan A. m. carnica and the hybrid Buckfast. Additionally, we recorded Varroa mite infestation. To an

SUBMITTER: Norrstrom N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8516218 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature