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Monitoring of wild bees and honeybees in MonViA

Since 2018, the World Bee Day is celebrated worldwide on the birthday of the Slovenian Anton Janša (1734-1773), who is considered as the founder of modern beekeeping.

Figure 1. Researchers at the JKI Institute for Bee Protection collect pan-trap samples. The spectrum of bee species and other flower-visiting insects is determined using DNA metabarcoding later on. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI
Figure 1. Researchers at the JKI Institute for Bee Protection collect pan-trap samples. The spectrum of bee species and other flower-visiting insects is determined using DNA metabarcoding later on. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI

This special day should remind us of the importance of bees and other pollinators and their need for protection.

Agricultural land accounts for more than 50% of the total area in Germany. To better protect wild and honey bees, precise knowledge of bee diversity in agricultural landscapes is necessary.

Researchers at the JKI, Institute for Bee Protection, are currently collecting data on the occurrence of honeybees and wild bees in agricultural landscapes in two regions in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, for the second consecutive year. Local bee communities are sampled monthly from April to August, using the pan-trap method (Fig. 1). Systematic data collection over several years will provide a robust reference for future interval monitoring.

Figure 2. Some of the survey sites are located in intensively managed agricultural areas. Just in these locations, the field margins show an unexpectedly diverse flora during the course of the year (note the difference between end of March and beginning of May 2025). At this site, located in the Salzland district of Saxony-Anhalt, the halictid bee (Lasioglossum xanthopus) visits flowers of field bugloss (Lycopsis arvensis), among others. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI
Figure 2. Some of the survey sites are located in intensively managed agricultural areas. Just in these locations, the field margins show an unexpectedly diverse flora during the course of the year (note the difference between end of March and beginning of May 2025). At this site, located in the Salzland district of Saxony-Anhalt, the halictid bee (Lasioglossum xanthopus) visits flowers of field bugloss (Lycopsis arvensis), among others. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI

The survey sites represent the typical spectrum of agricultural land in the northeastern German lowlands that can be categorized according to their landscape structure, intensity and type of land use, and prevailing biophysical factors (Fig. 2 and 3). The collected bee species are identified based on their DNA in the samples (DNA metabarcoding). Beside bees, other pollinators such as hoverflies and butterflies are detected too.

By considering the entire pollinator community instead of few selected focus species, the work thus addresses the core objective of World Bee Day, improving collectively the protection of honeybees, wild bees and other pollinators.

Figure 3. Hedges are important landscape elements, providing not only food but also nesting opportunities and sun-exposed surface for warming up and resting (here on field maple, Acer campestre), which may also have a positive effect on the pollination activity of bees in the cooler spring. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI
Figure 3. Hedges are important landscape elements, providing not only food but also nesting opportunities and sun-exposed surface for warming up and resting (here on field maple, Acer campestre), which may also have a positive effect on the pollination activity of bees in the cooler spring. © Institut für Bienenschutz/JKI

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