Beekeepers in the Netherlands call bee mortality worryingly high

The Netherlands Beekeepers' Association (NBV) has expressed concern over the high winter mortality rate of bee colonies, with over 20% not surviving the 2022-2023 winter, a rate higher than ten years ago. The concern is based on a survey involving 2,640 beekeepers across the country, conducted by Wageningen University & Research and Imkers Nederland. The survey indicated that while the number of beekeepers reporting complete loss of their colonies has decreased from 38.7% to 6.7%, the south and north of the country experienced higher winter mortality rates. Factors contributing to bee health issues include queen death in winter, bee viruses, and the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. The impact of the rapid advance of the Asian hornet in the Netherlands on winter mortality is still unknown.

In a message about the results of the survey, the NBV calls winter mortality worryingly high. Although the mortality rate is lower than last year, for the 2022-2023 season it was more than ten years ago that more than 20 percent of the bee colonies did not survive the winter period. The beekeeper survey was completed this year by 2,640 beekeepers spread across the Netherlands and was carried out by Wageningen University & Research in collaboration with the NBV, Imkers Nederland, the biodynamic beekeepers and professional beekeepers. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality is formally the client for the inventory. This is in line with the annual 'colony losses' survey in which beekeepers in more than forty countries participate. Of beekeepers, almost half (48.3 percent) reported that all their bee colonies survived the winter. That is an improvement compared to last year, when that share was 38.7 percent. About 6.7 percent of beekeepers had to deal with a completely ...