Sentinel hives to identify environmental, chemical and biological stresses for the bees of the continent.
The idea is part of MUST-B, the proposal developed by the European Food Safety Authority at the request of the European Parliament, presented today to the MEPs of the Environment Commission.
MUST-B considers multiple risk factors for bees in a single framework, be they chemical, biological or related to environmental factors such as climate change and agricultural practices.
According to the Efsa project, the data would be collected by a network of "sentinel hives" with digital sensors, located in representative climatic zones and landscapes in the EU.
The collected data would flow into a platform for archiving and analysis, and a model capable of simulating exposure to pesticides, parasites and viruses and chemical cocktails over time, both in the field and in the hive.
The project is in public consultation on the EFSA website until 25 February. (HANDLE).
