Field protocols - Sampling drone brood eggs
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 and give adequate insights of the (health) status of a colony, refrain from disturbance of the bees and be user friendly. Protocols that are found to be sufficient will be made publicly available to end-users at the end of the project.
The ‘Sampling drone brood eggs’ protocol details how to conduct the sampling of drone brood eggs. The purpose is to identify and analyze the ‘suppressed in ovo virus infection’ (SOV) trait in honeybee colonies. The SOV trait describes the virus free state of drone eggs. Recent research found that this trait is heritable and that colonies expressing it are more resilient to virus infections as a whole, with fewer and less severe DWV infections in most honeybee developmental stages, especially in the male caste (De Graaf, et al. 2020).
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