European institutions are currently discussing the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2020. In parallel, regional and national authorities are exploring the possible form of their National Action Plans that will answer to theobjectives set for the future CAP.

Field experiments with bees in agricultural pollination

The increasing loss of pollinators over the last decades has become more and more evident. Intensive use of plant protection products is one key factor contributing to this decline.

Background. Pollinators, which provide the agriculturally and ecologically essential service of pollination, are under threat at a global scale.

Growing evidence for global pollinator decline is causing concern for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services maintenance. Neonicotinoid pesticides have been identified or suspected as a key factor responsible for this decline.

Regional declines in insect pollinators have raised concerns about crop pollination. Many pollinator studies use visitation rate (pollinators/time) as a proxy for the quality of crop pollination.

Declines in insect pollinators across Europe have raised concerns about the supply of pollination services to agriculture. Simultaneously, EU agricultural and biofuel policies have encouraged substantial growth in the cultivated area of insect pollinated crops across the continent.

Background: Recent declines in honey bees for crop pollination threaten fruit, nut, vegetable and seed production in the United States

Colony losses following a major pollination event in the
United States, almond pollination, have been characterized by brood mortality with specific symptoms.

Honey bees are significant pollinators of agricultural crops and other important plant species. High annual losses of honey bee colonies in North America and in some parts of Europe have profound ecological and economic implications.