Since 2006, disastrous colony losses have been reported in Europe and North America. The causes of the losses were not readily apparent and have been attributed to overwintering mortalities and to a new phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder. Most scientists agree that there is no single explanation for the extensive colony losses but that interactions between different...
The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, is the most important animal pollinator in agriculture worldwide providing more than 90% of the commercial pollination services. Due to the development in agriculture the demands for honey bee pollination are steadily increasing stressing the pollination capacity of the global managed honey bee population. Hence, the long-term decline of...
