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Advances in Honey Bee Health, Products, and Environmental Interactions

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 1029

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Unidad Académica de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Zacatecas 98500, Mexico
Interests: honey bee colony losses; varroa destructor; africanized honey bee; honey bee epidemiology; honey bee diseases; production systems in apiculture

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Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics & Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
Interests: honey bees; colony losses and risk factors; bee health and management; statistics; machine learning; morphometry; Apis mellifera subspecies; citizen science
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are crucial pollinators, enabling the conservation of biodiversity, as well as ecosystem restoration and agricultural production; however, colonies worldwide are currently facing significant survival challenges due to the combined effects of diseases, pesticide exposure, loss of floral resources, and adverse climatic conditions. Therefore, identifying integrated and sustainable strategies to preserve honey bee health and resilience has become a major research priority in apiculture.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences is dedicated to original research articles, critical reviews, and case reports that contribute to honey bee health. We encourage submissions addressing topics such as colony losses; the prevalence, distribution, and population dynamics of infectious agents; the evaluation of natural and synthetic acaricides and antimicrobials, including resistance detection and other adverse effects; and the role played by additives to feed supplementation in enhancing immune response and colony resilience. Epidemiological studies related to environmental factors affecting honey bee health are also welcome.

We cordially invite researchers to submit high-quality contributions that expand our knowledge of the health and sustainability of these insects, which are indispensable to ecosystems and global food security.

Prof. Dr. Carlos Aurelio Medina-Flores
Dr. Alison Gray
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • honey bee health
  • Apis mellifera
  • integrated pest management
  • pathogens
  • colony resilience
  • environmental interactions
  • resistance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 890 KB  
Article
Evaluation of Chemical and Mechanical Methods for the Control of Varroa destructor in Apis mellifera Colonies in a Semi-Arid Region of Mexico
by María José Cárdenas Medrano, Alexa Estefanía Gutiérrez Aréchiga, Alvaro De la Mora and Carlos Aurelio Medina-Flores
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(6), 2997; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16062997 - 20 Mar 2026
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Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various control alternatives against Varroa destructor in Apis mellifera colonies in a semi-arid region of Mexico. One hundred and ten homogeneous colonies, with a uniform population and infestation level of V. destructor, were randomly [...] Read more.
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of various control alternatives against Varroa destructor in Apis mellifera colonies in a semi-arid region of Mexico. One hundred and ten homogeneous colonies, with a uniform population and infestation level of V. destructor, were randomly distributed into the following 11 experimental groups (10 colonies/group): amitraz, oxalic acid in glycerin (OA-G), oxalic acid in sugar syrup (OA-SS), ethanolic extracts of Bursera penicillata, Larrea tridentata, and Lippia graveolens, powdered sugar dusting, three vehicle controls (vegetable oil, ethanol, glycerin), and one untreated control. Efficacy was determined by recording mite fall during the treatment period relative to a subsequent reference treatment. Significant differences were observed among treatments (p < 0.0001). Amitraz was the most effective (94.4%), followed by OA-G (85.1%). The OA-SS and plant extracts showed intermediate efficacy (62.1% to 73.7%), while sugar dusting showed lower values (55.8%) but still higher than the control (31.2%). These findings support the restricting of amitraz use to minimize resistance risk and suggest implementing OA-G as a high-efficacy alternative. Furthermore, ethanolic plant extracts and powdered sugar dusting combined with sticky bottom boards may serve as accessible, complementary tools within integrated pest management programs to reduce reliance on synthetic acaricides and mitigate the development of resistance. Full article
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