B-THENET Thematic Network_Deliverable 2.2_Inventory of priority beekeeping practices and innovations bottom-up

Deliverable 2.2 is the result of a bottom-up survey analysis carried out by B-THENET, the first Thematic Network for EU Beekeepers. The deliverable consists of two documents:
- The present summary report, meant to support and contextualise the results of the survey included in the database;
- The database (Excel document) containing the results of the survey concerning the priority practices, as ANNEX 2.
A specific survey was set up to prioritize practices and was distributed to EU beekeepers. We received 2,094 answers from beekeepers of 22 EU countries. The most relevant practices according to beekeepers' needs were related to:
1. For the Good Beekeeping Practices category:
- “Properly place hives in the apiary” (24 practices);
- “Proper comb storage” (13 practices).
2. For the Biosecurity Measures category:
- “Optimize the efficacy of anti-varroa treatments” (29 practices);
- “Produce nuclei and swarms with no clinical signs of varroa” (5 practices).