Coloss (Colony Loss Monitoring) https://coloss.org just finished its yearly convention. This included two days of presentations from its core groups and task forces, which were then summarized in the main conference, along with twenty brief (rapid) presentations on current research projects. I reported on this outfit’s first virtual meeting last year, providing the following basic description:
“COLOSS is a unique international association. It is a non-profit entity governed by the present statutes and, secondarily, by Articles 60 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Code and is politically neutral and non-denominational. Originally a European Union initiative, it has now severed most of those ties and become an independent entity in its own right. The association aims to improve the well-being of honey bees (in particular the western honey bee Apis mellifera) at a global level by advocating for and carrying out basic research and then communicating the results to the beekeeping community. It also helps coordinate international research and educational efforts by disseminating knowledge and training related to apiculture, in the process promoting youth development and gender balance among those studying, or actively involved in promoting, honey bee health.
“Based in Berne, Switzerland, COLOSS is composed of scientific professionals (e.g. researchers, veterinarians, extension agents, etc.), as well as students and beekeepers themselves, all actively involved in studying honey bees and their culture. Members can be from any geographic region. Requests to become affiliated can be addressed through the Executive Committee. There is no membership fee at the moment. The Association’s resources mainly come from grants and donations, and earnings from workshops, conferences and other events.
In the first year of its existence (2008), COLOSS sported 60 members from 27 countries. It has grown steadily and last year 1515 members from 102 countries were reported. This year it sports a membership of 1802 researchers from 105 countries.
“The Ricola brand was created by confectionery business Richterich & Compagnie in 1930 based on the twin pillars of innovation and quality awareness. The family company now exports its herb specialties to more than 50 countries around the world. As a pioneer in organic herb cultivation, Ricola’s close ties with culture and architecture were established early on in the company’s history. These ties are further reinforced through the two Ricola foundations and its own art collection.” The foundation(s) supports research in three basic areas: bee health, plant sciences and earthen architecture. The latter is based on using loam as an organic building material.
As I concluded last year, COLOSS has not had much exposure in the United States. The depth and commitment of this European non-profit honey bee research effort is not matched elsewhere around the globe. It stands out by casting a wide net, not only developing knowledge about honey bee health and apiculture, but also ensuring important information gets distributed to the beekeeper. This report attempts to inform the American Bee Journal audience of the group’s current activities.
As last year, President Peter Neumann, set the tone of meeting, calling it a “hybrid event.” He asked “why we are here?” and answering in a truly epocal style, based on the U.S. Space Prgram: “Houston, we have a problem!” And he concluded it can only be addressed through global cooperation. And the process should be modeled on the honey bee colony, a superorganism in its own right, via the following principles, self-organization, division of labor, and bottom up leadership, where individual initiative sets the tone.
A new publication opportunity he said is an economic study, which is to encompass 16 countries, totalled value around 970 million Euros. Also in the works is reaching out to South Korea in an effort to bring Apis cerana into focus as part of global beekeeping activity.
COLOSS currently has the following core projects: BEEBOOK, B-RAP, and Monitoring. The book is probably the most significant activity, continually being updated by 350 authors from 35 countries. This focuses on developing and publishing standardized research protocols. Three books have been produced so far referencing Apis mellifera, and work on the fourth, looking at Apis cerana, is beginning.
B-Rap requires some explanation. The Coloss website defines it as Bridging Research and Practice, “with the specific intention of supporting beekeepers and beekeeping by connecting science and beekeeping through the work of the beekeeping advisory services.” So far, 75 projects in 43 countries are participating.
“Monitoring,” the namesake of the organization, is asking participating countries to carry out an annual survey of beekeepers with the aim of collecting information from an internationally representative sample of beekeepers. This makes it possible to compare colony loss rates between countries and to use the international data to understand the risk factors responsible for colony loss. To enable proper comparisons, a standardised beekeeper questionnaire was developed and is updated each year by the group for use by each country.
Within this context, B-RAP will be participating in an International Bee Research Association meeting in the near future. Part of this effort will be something that Coloss is going to more fully participate in under the rubric of “citizen science.”
The task force reports were the bulk of the meeting. These included:
Apitox: Detailing efforts to examine pesticide risks on honey bees with reference to the European Food Safety Authority, encouraging publishing interactions and relationships. Coloss is presently not recognized as an authority it seems by the EFSA.
Nutrition: Currently 100 members with 41 countries involved. Looking to develop a questionnaire about honey bee food sources worldwide, which might lead to more and better artificial bee diets. This task force has the most number of members from the U.S.A.
Sustainable Bee Breeding: Examining strategies and standards was the focus of what was called a bee breeding workshop. This topic is estimated to be reflected in two chapters in the BEE BOOK. The task force is also looking at something called “Cost Action,” as part of the European Union funding. “COST is a funding organisation for science and technology research networks. These Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and beyond.” Coloss got its start from this funding arrangement. https://www.cost.eu/
Small Hive Beetle: Cataloging the increased number of papers on this important honey bee pest is one goal of this task force. Some are looking at alternative hosts found in Brazil and others about Apis cerana in China. Also, looking at effectiveness of control measures, is one charge of the group. There is still no definitive study on the effectivness of the the numerous small hive beetle traps on the market. A special meeting of the task force took place in October, 2018 at the University of Florida Research and Extension Laboratory in Gainesville, Florida, the first Coloss event in North America. https://tinyurl.com/5atzhan3.
Varroa: Looking for new control strategies and sustainable solutions is the curren goal of this task force. Some 25 participants are working in concert with other projects implementing a citizen science initiative on the subject.
Velutina: Active surveylance of the pest (Vespa velutina) continues in Europe. Data continues to be collected on sightings of this wasp over a smartphone network that is supported by this task force.
Virus: This task force continues working on the honey bee biome and viruses. Some 67 scientists from 26 countries are involved. There’s more attention given to these over time as relevance is felt in the honey bee scientific community with reference to the human pandemic of COVD-19.
Survivors: The Honey Bee Watch is the main activity of this task force. On the website is the following invitation:
“We are a citizen-science project centered around honey bees — and people like you. As a participant (aka Bee Guardian) who contributes data on honey bees, you’ll help us to better understand the biological, behavioral, and environmental traits that support survivor ship among untreated and free-living colonies.
“There are more than 10 species of honey bees around the world. Striving to collect as much data on each of them as possible, Honey Bee Watch will be a multi-year, global study, starting with a UK-based pilot program focused on Western honey bees (Apis mellifera), eventually expanding to new regions and including all Apis species.
“Our aim is to increase scientific knowledge about all of these species, potentially leading to more sustainable beekeeping practices as well as educational programs and conservation initiatives to engage and inspire the wider public to act locally to protect threatened or endangered populations. We appreciate your participation.”
The twenty rapid presentations, 2-3 minutes each, were a new twist this year. They ran the gamut of topics and were generally well received. It is hoped that some of these will be cataloged associated with the Coloss.org website.
2021 Coloss Excellence Award Presentations went to:
Evangelia Kagiali: Analysis and Disemmination of Four Years of Monitoring of Colonies Lost in Greece
Alexsandra Splitt: Data Stewardship Makes a Bee-Line for International Scientific Projects.
The final event of this meeting was the general assembly. Officer turn over is not until next year. Whether Coloss will continue to meet virtally next year is up in the air, although clearly that is on the wish list of many participants. For more in depth information on this organization, see last year’s report https://tinyurl.com/37vbn4rp and access the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/coloss.org/.
Published in American Bee Journal, December 2021
