Simulating Honey Bee Large-Scale Colony Feeding Studies Using the BEEHAVE Model-Part I: Model Validation

Area of Science:

• Ecotoxicology
• Ecological Modeling
• Apiculture Science

Background:

• Large-scale colony feeding studies (LSCFSs) are crucial for pesticide risk assessment but are costly and time-consuming.
• High overwintering losses in untreated hives complicate LSCFS interpretation and increase study costs.
• Honey bee colony models offer a potential solution for systematic assessment and pesticide impact estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the BEEHAVE honey bee colony model using data from LSCFSs.
• To assess the reliability of the BEEHAVE model in simulating honey bee colony dynamics.
• To demonstrate validation methodologies for applied ecological models.

Main Methods:

• Utilized control data from multiple LSCFSs for parameterization, calibration, and validation of the BEEHAVE model.
• Performed detailed visual and quantitative performance analyses to demonstrate validation methodologies.
• Compared BEEHAVE model outputs with apiary-specific validation datasets.

Main Results:

• BEEHAVE outputs demonstrated good agreement with first-year LSCFS data.
• Simulations of honey bee colony dynamics during spring periods following overwintering were found to be less reliable.
• The validation effort provided insights into the model's usability for risk assessments.

Conclusions:

• The BEEHAVE model shows promise for pesticide risk assessment, particularly for first-year colony dynamics.
• Further refinement is needed to improve the model's accuracy in simulating post-overwintering colony dynamics.
• The applied validation methodology can be broadly adopted for other ecological models.