The use of antibiotics is not permitted in Switzerland; moreover, no other medication exists to combat European foul brood. Hives with symptoms must therefore be destroyed in order to limit the outbreak, and the contaminated material must be sanitised. Since prevention is the best cure, early detection is desirable. Numerous studies have been undertaken and documents have been created at the Swiss Bee Research Centre and elsewhere to draw the attention of beekeepers to these problems and inform them about the causes and the control measures to be implemented.
Dainese M., Martin E. A., Aizen M. A., Albrecht M., Bartomeus I., Bommarco R., Carvalheiro L. G., Chaplin-Kramer R., Gagic V., Garibaldi L. A., Ghazoul J., Grab H., Jonsson M., Karp D. S., Kennedy C. M., Kleijn D., Kremen C., Landis D. A., Letourneau D. K., Marini L., Poveda K., Rader R., Smith H. G., Tscharntke T., Andersson G. K. S., Badenhausser I., Baensch S., Bezerra A. D. M., Bianchi F. J. J. A., Boreux V., Bretagnolle V., Caballero-Lopez B., Cavigliasso P., Ćetković A., Chacoff N. P., Classen A., Cusser S., da Silva e Silva F. D., de Groot G. A., Dudenhöffer J. H., Ekroos J., Fijen T., Franck P., Freitas B. M., Garratt M. P. D. , Gratton C., Hipólito J., Holzschuh A., Hunt L., Iverson A. L., Jha S., Keasar T., Kim T. N., Kishinevsky M., Klatt B. K., Klein A. M., Krewenka K. M., Krishnan S., Larsen A. E., Lavigne C., Liere H., Maas B., Mallinger R. E., Martinez Pachon E., Martínez-Salinas A, Meehan T. D., Mitchell M. G. E. , Molina G. A. R., Nesper M., Nilsson L., O'Rourke M. E., Peters M. K., Plećaš M., Potts S. G., Ramos D. de L., Rosenheim J. A., Rundlöf M., Rusch A., Sáez A., Scheper J., Schleuning M., Schmack J. M., Sciligo A. R., Seymour C., Stanley D. A., Stewart R., Jane C. Stout, Sutter L., Takada M. B., Taki H., Tamburini G., Tschumi M., Viana B. F., Westphal C., Willcox B. K., Wratten S. D., Yoshioka A., Zaragoza-Trello C., Zhang W., Zou Y., Steffan-Dewenter I.
A global synthesis reveals biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production.
Human land use threatens global biodiversity and compromises multiple ecosystem functions critical to food production. Whether crop yield–related ecosystem services can be maintained by a few dominant species or rely on high richness remains unclear. Using a global database from 89 studies (with 1475 locations), we partition the relative importance of species richness, abundance, and dominance for pollination; biological pest control; and final yields in the context of ongoing land-use change. Pollinator and enemy richness directly supported ecosystem services in addition to and independent of abundance and dominance. Up to 50% of the negative effects of landscape simplification on ecosystem services was due to richness losses of service-providing organisms, with negative consequences for crop yields. Maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystem service providers is therefore vital to sustain the flow of key agroecosystem benefits to society.
