Precision apiculture: Enhancing the health and effectiveness of managed honeybees for soft fruit production

项目动机和目标商业需求：仅在英国，软果生产的授粉每年带来的效益就高达4.9亿英镑，其中草莓为3.34亿英镑，覆盆子为1.12亿英镑，黑加仑为1500万英镑，其他作物为2800万英镑（Breeze et al. 2019）。授粉服务是由人工管理的蜜蜂（有时是大黄蜂）和野生授粉者共同提供的。虽然野生传粉媒介管理的研究正在顺利进行（包括正在进行的CTP学生），但在软果生产中蜜蜂的最佳管理方面仍存在重大差距。BerryWorld和其他软果种植者每年在蜂箱上投入大量资金，但支持蜂箱放养密度、定位和管理的最佳实践的证据往往过时或不完整（Breeze等人，2014年）。BerryWorld种植者需要能够自信地为他们的经营投资正确数量的蜂箱，避免超支（太多蜂箱）和产品质量损失（太少蜂箱）。这对商业至关重要，例如，2018年，霍尔亨特合伙公司的蓝莓产量损失了约40%，这与授粉不足有关。目的：开发一种简单的工具来改善蜂群的健康状况，并优化部署蜂箱，以最大限度地提高软果生产的产量，质量和利润。通过实验确定不同软果作物授粉效益最大化的最佳密度和地点，超越对田间蜂箱放养密度的“经验法则”估计。2. 测试和验证来自蜂箱内传感器的数据，以检测和快速响应健康问题，如害虫，疾病和杀虫剂威胁。3 .进行全面的成本效益分析，以支持一个简单的工具，使种植者能够在整个农场的蜂巢管理方面做出明智的决定。制定在集约化软果生产系统中可持续利用蜜蜂的最佳实践指南。我们将结合使用重复的田间试验，控制草莓、覆盆子和蓝莓中蜂群的密度和位置，并使用高科技传感器使蜂箱监测蜂群健康，以描述蜜蜂授粉对产量、质量和产品商业分级的好处。这种理解与经济和农艺数据相结合，将为在我们的目标作物中使用蜜蜂的最佳实践的发展提供基础，并为推广到其他作物提供路线图。

Project motivation and aims Business need: The annual benefits of pollination for soft fruit production in the UK alone are worth £490M, with a £334M for strawberries, £112M for raspberries, £15M for blackcurrant, and £28M for other crops (Breeze et al. 2019). Pollination services are provided by a combination managed honeybees (and sometimes bumblebees) and wild pollinators. While research for management of wild pollinators is well underway (including ongoing CTP studentships), major gaps remain in the optimal management of honeybees for soft fruit production. BerryWorld, and other soft fruit growers, have a substantial spend on honeybee hives annually, yet evidence to supporting best practices for stocking densities, positioning and management of hives is often outdated or incomplete (Breeze et al., 2014). BerryWorld growers need to be able to confidently invest in the correct number of hives for their operation and avoid overspend (too many hives) and loss of product quality (too few hives). This is business critical, as for instance in 2018, Hall Hunter Partnership suffered ~40% loss of their blueberry production which was linked to inadequate pollination.Aim: to develop a simple tool to improve the health of honeybee colonies and optimally deploy hives to maximise benefits to yield, quality and profit in soft fruit production.Objectives:1. To move beyond 'rule of thumb' estimates of the stocking densities of honeybee hives in fields by experimentally determining optimal densities and locations for maximising pollination benefits in different soft fruit crops. 2. To test and validate data from sensors within honeybee hives to detect and rapidly respond to health issues such as pest, disease and insecticide threats.3. To undertake a full cost:benefit analysis to underpin a simple tool allowing growers to make informed decisions on the management of honeybee hives across the whole farm.4. To develop best practice guides for the sustainable use of honeybees in intensive soft fruit production systems. We will use a combination of replicated field trials manipulating the density and positioning of honeybee colonies in strawberry, raspberry and blueberry, and high-tech sensor enabled hives to monitor colony health, to characterise the benefits of honeybee pollination to yield, quality and commercial grading of produce. This understanding combined with economic and agronomic data will underpin the development of best practices for the use of honeybees in our target crops and provide a roadmap for extension to other crops.