European Bees are at Their Best Health Levels in Years

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Despite numerous reports to the contrary, European bees are much healthier than many recent publications appear to suggest. New field data from nearly 400,000 bee colonies from 21 countries in Europe and the Mediterranean show that overwintering losses of honeybee colonies, a leading indicator of general bee health, are at their lowest level in years. The non-profit honeybee research association COLOSS (prevention of honeybee COlony LOSSes), which comprises more than 360 scientific professionals from 60 countries, has published new data showing that the overall mortality rate of bees in the 2013/2014 winter was 9 percent; losses below 10 percent are considered to be normal. For the full article, click here.