PoshBee’s open access collection in the Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal continues to grow, with its latest publication being the project’s Milestone 15 Protocols for semi-field and field experiments.

PoshBee study frame.

In contrast to the conventional study design where bees are exposed to one stressor or product alone to assess its effects, PoshBee carried out several semi-field and field studies exposing bees to more than one stressor, for example, a fungicide and an insecticide or a fungicide and a nutritional deficiency. These studies were conducted on honey bees, bumble bees and solitary bees, typically Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris, and Osmia bicornis.

Based on these, Milestone 15 contains PoshBee’s set of protocols for use in investigating the impacts of multiple stressors on different types of bees in semi-field and field situations. It includes: 

a) notes applicable to all studies

b) protocols common to all semi-field studies

c) protocols for semi-field studies on honey bees 

d) protocols for semi-field studies on bumble bees

e) protocols for semi-field studies on solitary bees

f) protocols common to all field studies

g) protocols for field studies on honey bees

h) protocols for field studies on bumble bees

i) protocols for field studies on solitary bees

Read the full Milestone 15 Protocols for semi-field and field experiments here.