2020 Colony Loss Survey
In this section
Survey topics include the number and nature of over-winter colony losses, queen health and performance, indicators of diseases and parasites, treatment of Varroa, supplemental feeding, and colony management. Because the challenges facing New Zealand beekeepers differ from those facing beekeepers in the northern hemisphere, the survey also includes questions that are specific to to the New Zealand context, e.g. apiary crowding, predation by wasps, and nectar flow from native trees.
For the purpose of completing the survey, winter is defined as the period between 1 June and the time the beekeepers open their hives for the first spring round.
In a nutshell
The overall loss rate for winter 2020 is estimated to be 11.30%. These loss rates imply that New Zealand lost approximately 99,150 colonies over winter 2020. Had 2015 loss rates continued through 2020, we estimate that there would have been 25,700 fewer colony losses over winter 2020.
As in previous years, overall loss rates for winter 2020 show considerable regional variation. Moreover, while loss rates since 2019 rose substantially in the Middle North Island, Lower North Island, and Upper South Island, they fell in the Middle South Island.
As in past surveys, smaller operators reported greater losses (as a share) than commercial beekeepers. For example, small hobbyists lost 27.9% of their colonies over winter 2020, on average, compared to 10.4% for the largest commercial operators.
The causes to which beekeepers assign losses are similar to previous years, although losses caused by suspected varroa are up 3 percentage points compared to winter 2019. Queen problems accounted for the most losses. Re-queening is a common strategy for reducing potential queen problems, especially among commercial beekeepers, with most beekeepers having specific strategies for replacing queens.
Beekeepers use a range of sources of information and advice. Small beekeeping operations are more likely to get information from YouTube and beekeeping clubs. In contrast, bee scientists and scientific publications become increasingly important as operation size increases.
Beekeepers reported having 8 years of experience, on average. Most beekeepers learned beekeeping from a beginner’s course or from a mentor.
Asked to reflect on the economics (honey and pollination prices), environmental factors (weather, floral resources), biosecurity (pests, diseases), and lifestyle (stress, time pressure) of beekeeping in 2019/20, respondents considered economics to be poor-moderate and other factors to be moderate-good.
2020 winter losses
![Colony losses (overall): Estimated total colony losses by region 95% confidence interval Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/Country_map_losses_no_border__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Colony losses (overall): Cause of colony loss, total Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/3_pie_colony_loss_total_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Colony losses (beekeeper averages): Winter 2019 colony losses as a share of total winter colonies (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/6_loss_share_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Colony losses (beekeeper averages): Winter 2019 colony losses as a share of total winter colonies (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/7_loss_share_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Colony losses (beekeeper averages): Cause of colony loss (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/8_pie_colony_loss_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Colony losses (beekeeper averages): Cause of colony loss (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/9_pie_colony_loss_colonies-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Estimated share of all colonies lost to specific causes, based on reports from all respondents, by region Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/estimated-share-of-all-colonies-lost-to-specific-causes-by-region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.jpg)
![Estimated share of all colonies lost to specific causes based on reports from all respondents, by operation size Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/estimated-share-of-all-colonies-lost-to-specific-causes-by-operation-size__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.jpg)
![Queen performance: Queen problems (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/10_queen_problems_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen performance: Queen problems (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/11_queen_problems_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Weak but queenright colonies (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/68_weak_share_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Weak but queenright colonies (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/71_weak_share_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
2019/20 season
![Queen performance: Colonies with new queen (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/12_bar_new_queens__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen performance: Colonies with new queen (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/13_bar_new_queensh-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen replacement strategy (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/110_queen_replacement_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen replacement strategy (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/111_queen_replacement_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen preformance (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/14_queen_preformance_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Queen preformance (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/15_queen_performance_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Wing deformities (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/16_bar_varroa_dwv__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Wing deformities (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/17_bar_varroa_dwvh__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Parasitic mite syndrome (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/18_bar_varroa_pms__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Parasitic mite syndrome (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/19_bar_varroa_pmsh__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Methods for monitoring varroa (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/21_bar_varroa_detect_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Methods for treating varroa (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/22_bar_varroa_treat_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Varroa monitoring: Methods for treating varroa (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/23_bar_varroa_treat_colonies-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Comb replacement: Share of brood comb replacement (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/24_replace_comb_perc_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Comb replacement: Share of brood comb replacement (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/25_replace_comb_perc_col-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Use of production colonies: Primary use of production colonies (national) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/26_colony_use_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Use of production colonies: Primary use of production colonies (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/27_colony_use_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Nectar sources: Significant nectar sources (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/28_bar_nectar_flow_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Nectar sources: Significant nectar sources (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/29_bar_nectar_flow_colonies-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Feeding and maintenance: Supplemental sugar (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/30_bar_sugar_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Feeding and maintenance: Supplemental sugar (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/31_bar_sugar_colonies-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Feeding and maintenance: Protein supplement (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/32_bar_protein_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Feeding and maintenance: Protein supplement (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/33_bar_protein_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Tutin contamination: Unsaleable honey due to tutin (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/37_hist_unsaleable_high_tutin_region__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Tutin contamination: Unsaleable honey due to tutin (by region) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/38_hist_unsaleable_high_tutin_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Average share of apiaries lost or compromised, based on reports from all respondents, by region Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/average-share-apiaries-lost-or-compromised-region-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.jpg)
![Average share of apiaries lost or compromised, based on reports from all respondents, by operation size Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/average-share-apiaries-lost-or-compromised-operation-size__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.jpg)
![Beekeeping experience (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/900_kde_experience__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Beekeeper education (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/121_beekeeper_education__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Sources of beekeeping information (by operation size) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/131_bar_information_sources_colonies__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Income from beekeeping activities Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/300_pie_income_beekeeping__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Loss rates and considered economically acceptable: Economicaly acceptable losses Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/36_acceptable_loss-v2__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Economically acceptable losses (by share of income derived from beekeeping) Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/162_bar_acceptable_loss_by_inc__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)
![Beekeeping environment Image](/assets/Discover-Our-Research/Environment/Sustainable-society-policy/NZ-Colony-Loss/2020-survey/400_beekeeping_environment__FitMaxWzE1LDE1XQ.png)