Field protocols - Brood pattern consistency
An essential task of Work Package 1 is to optimize and standardize data collection methods for identifying and monitoring the health status of honeybee colonies. We strive for all actions to be harmonized, and that differences due to the manipulator and/or the procedure are brought to a minimum.
For this purpose, we developed protocols for field observations and data management. These protocols are selected by reference work and key scientific publications and contribute to the operationalization of the Health Status Index (HSI). They are continuously evaluated by end-users, give adequate insights of the (health) status of a colony, refrain from disturbance of the bees, and are user friendly. Protocols that are found to be sufficient will be made publicly available to end-users at the end of the project.
The current protocol is about estimating brood pattern consistency. This measurement gives information about the quality of the brood in a colony. If the brood is ‘spotty’, this may suggest the presence of disease, or low sperm quality. This measurement is visually estimated by inspecting brood frames in colonies and rating the overall brood pattern consistency based on a 5-point scale based on the percentage of empty cells in areas with sealed brood.
For more information about this, please visit: www.b-good-project.eu/
Giving Beekeeping Guidance by cOmputatiOnal-assisted Decision making (B-GOOD)
Ongoing | 2019-2023
- Main funding source
- Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Belgium