Risks and benefits arising from food resources in agricultural landscape for honey bees: a model based approach

Agricultural activities are known to exert adverse effects on biodiversity. Yet, contrary to expectations, honey bee yearly survival appears to be better in intensively managed areas. Therefore, establishing the factors of agricultural practices that support bee fitness would allow to develop farming and beekeeping strategies that offer optimal performance for both. We will build a database of Estonian bee habitats, including information on bee density, landscape, foraging distances, chemical analysis of honey, forage plants’ and pathogens’ DNA sequencing from honey, and pesticide residues. This information will be supplemented with NMR metabolomics data of bees, objectively reflecting bee health. Multiblock analysis of combined data will reveal the conditions that affect bee health. These results will form the bases of a model that will assist farmers and beekeepers in supporting each other and provides policymakers with new insights for designing effective regulations.