Projects per year
Abstract
Global insect decline impacts ecosystem resilience; pollinators such as honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) have suffered extensive losses over the last decade, threatening food security. Research has focused discretely on in-hive threats (e.g., Nosema and Varroa destructor) and broader external causes of decline (e.g., agrochemicals, habitat loss). This has notably failed to translate into successful reversal of bee declines. Working at the interdisciplinary nexus of entomological, social and ecological research, we posit that veterinary research needs to adopt a “One-Health” approach to address the scope of crises facing pollinators. We demonstrate that reversing declines will require integration of hive-specific solutions, a reappraisal of engagement with the many stakeholders whose actions affect bee health, and recontextualising both of these within landscape scale efforts. Other publications within this special issue explore novel technologies, emergent diseases and management approaches; our aim is to place these within the “One-Health” context as a pathway to securing honeybee health. Governmental policy reform offers a particularly timely pathway to achieving this goal. Acknowledging that healthy honeybees need an interdisciplinary approach to their management will enhance the contributions of veterinary research in delivering systemic improvements in bee health.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 119 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Veterinary Sciences |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 27 Aug 2020 |
Keywords
- Apis mellifera
- Beekeeper
- Honeybee
- Landscape
- Nexus
- One-health
- Pathogens
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'A One-Health Model for Reversing Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Decline'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
-
High-TEK: Using beekeepers? environmental knowledge to enhance sustainable agriculture and land management
Whitehead, M. (PI)
Economic and Social Research Council
01 Oct 2020 → 30 Sept 2022
Project: Externally funded research