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Description
Climate change is fundamentally affecting insects, including the honey bee (Apis mellifera). Beekeepers must respond to these changes during the beekeeping season by changing strategies, especially in terms of disease prevention and ensuring sufficient food resources. Changing conditions, the year-to-year increase in the number of beekeepers and the relatively high colony density increase the risk of bee losses. The education of beekeepers is the key to successful and sustainable beekeeping, taking into account changes during the beekeeping season and bee diseases spreading. The aim of the project is to adapt and reduce the impacts of climate change on beekeeping through the targeted implementation of educational campaigns using the mass media, publications and systematic training of beekeepers. Campaigns focused on the issue of beekeeping and climate change with an emphasis on invasive species or bee diseases will support the education of the beekeeping public. Publications will summarize the findings of long-term monitoring of bee colony losses in the Czech Republic and recommendations for minimizing bee colony loss. The created outputs will be targeted at beekeepers, local beekeeping organizations, farmers, and the professional and general public. Increasing education on the adaptation of beekeeping practice regarding the changing climate will lead to a reduction in colony declination and to the adaptation to climate change. Thanks to the close cooperation with the international association COLOSS, we will use foreign contacts to transfer knowledge from European scientists and beekeepers. The national partner of the project, able to provide the necessary mentoring and ensure the necessary contact with the target group is the Czech Beekeepers Association.
Summary of project results
In the project we focused on a very topical issue, which concerns the relationship between beekeeping and the current changes in the landscape due to climate change. The strength and development of bee colonies is linked to the season and the state of the surrounding vegetation. Recently, however, we have been experiencing sudden and extreme weather fluctuations which have had an impact on the surrounding countryside and, consequently, on bee colonies. Because of the need to be able to react and be prepared for these changes, our aim was to inform beekeepers about new threats, treatments and established practices abroad.
The project was primarily focused on raising awareness of the changes in Czech beekeeping caused mainly by climate change. We aimed the project activities at the professional public, children, and youth. By targeting the activities and the content of communication towards the target groups, we achieved an increase in awareness of the ongoing changes in beekeeping and the role of pollinators in countryside. For example, the students themselves tried out laboratory methods for assessing honey quality. They had the opportunity to taste selected samples from Czechia and the world. The target groups were shown the main pathogens or parasites of bees. Beekeeping itself has a long tradition in Czechia. We are convinced that the activities leading to increased interest in beekeeping will bring about the long-term sustainability of this activity, which is absolutely crucial for the ecosystem. Educating beekeepers will give them the opportunity to prepare for the coming changes and ultimately lead to a reduction in colony mortality.
We have implemented a number of activities that have led to increased awareness among beekeepers, students and children. We met beekeepers in person at seminars and conferences, where we trained more than 300 of them. We presented the project activities to children and students during the Science Fairs and Nights of Scientists at the Faculty of Science of the Palacký University Olomouc. We produced several informative videos published on YouTube aimed at beekeepers, which together received several thousand views. We also produced a total of three TV and four radio reports, which were broadcast by public media. At the same time, we published a map publication that focuses on climate change and beekeeping. To maximize the impact of the campaign, we wrote articles for the Modern Beekeeper magazine. The dissemination of this information and experience from abroad has made it easier for Czech beekeepers to adapt to the new climate conditions and the presence of invasive species.
We have succeeded in meeting all the project objectives. By implementing it, we have fundamentally increased the awareness of beekeepers and lay people on the issue of the impact of climate change on the condition of bee colonies. In this respect, the meetings we organised with foreign colleagues were very enriching. The ensuing foreign cooperation has contributed significantly to a deeper understanding of bee diseases and colony losses. The success of the project is evidenced, among other things, by the questionnaire surveys carried out after the implementation of the activities.