A survey of UK beekeeper’s Varroa treatment habits

The global spread of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor instigated a substantial decline in both managed and feral honeybee ( Apis mellifera) colonies mainly across the Northern hemisphere. In response, many beekeepers began to treat their colonies with chemical acaricides to control mite populati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one Vol. 18; no. 2; p. e0281130
Main Authors: Valentine, Alexandra, Martin, Stephen J.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 15.02.2023
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Acaricides
Animals
Apiculture
Beekeepers
Beekeeping
Beekeeping - methods
Bees
Biology and Life Sciences
Biomechanics
Colonies
Distribution
Earth Sciences
Genetic aspects
Growth
Habits
Honeybee
Mites
Northern Hemisphere
Observations
Physical Sciences
Polls & surveys
Practice
Prevention
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk factors
Seasons
Selective breeding
Surveys
Varroa disease
Varroidae - physiology
United Kingdom
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The global spread of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor instigated a substantial decline in both managed and feral honeybee ( Apis mellifera) colonies mainly across the Northern hemisphere. In response, many beekeepers began to treat their colonies with chemical acaricides to control mite populations in managed colonies. However, some countries or beekeepers allowed their bees to develop mite-resistance by adopting a “treatment-free” approach, rather than using selective breeding programs. Yet, the distribution and proportion of beekeepers either treating or not within the United Kingdom (UK) is unknown, as it is in most Northern hemisphere countries. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a beekeeper survey to determine the current treatment strategies within the UK. We gathered 2,872 beekeeper responses from an estimated 30,000 UK beekeepers belonging to 242 bee-associations in the winter of 2020/21. The survey indicated that the majority (72–79%) of UK beekeepers are still treating their bees for Varroa , typically twice-yearly using chemical-based methods. Six percent or 1,800 UK beekeepers were treatment-free for six years or more. This is reflected by our finding that 78 associations out of 242 consist of responders who entirely treated, while only four associations had more than 75% of their members that were non-treating. Overall treatment status was not affected by association currently. Using the baseline data from this survey it will be possible in the future to observer if a shift towards treatment-free beekeeping occurs or not.
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Current address: School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0281130