Oliver Visick

University of Sussex · Department of Evolution, Behaviour and Environment

Despite their ecological significance, wild Apis mellifera populations remain critically understudied. Addressing this research gap requires the study and monitoring of free-living colonies to identify potential self-sustaining populations. However, a lack of standardized methodologies has hindered these efforts. To address this challenge, Honey Be...

Honey bees are predominantly perceived as a domesticated animal for agricultural purposes, while their role and importance as a wild species is often overlooked. In contrast to managed populations, wild cohorts are shaped by natural selection, which is why they can potentially cope better with threats like Varroa destructor and a changing environme...

Nest sites are often considered to limit wild honey bee, Apis mellifera, colonies in Europe where wild colony densities are low (mean 0.26/km2). Nest site availability can be challenging to quantify directly, especially in urban areas and farmland where colonies nest in different substrates. Here we assess nest site availability indirectly across l...

Wild-living honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies naturally nest in old cavity-bearing trees throughout their range, but this important nesting habitat is in global decline. Here we determine the use of ancient, veteran and other listed trees as nest sites by wild-living honey bee colonies in Britain and investigate the effect of tree size, genus and...

The western honey bee, Apis mellifera , lives worldwide in approximately 102 million managed hives but also wild throughout much of its native and introduced range. Despite the global importance of A. mellifera as a crop pollinator, wild colonies have received comparatively little attention in the scientific literature and basic information regardi...

Implications for insect conservation: Our results show that ancient, veteran and other listed trees provide valuable nesting habitat for wild honey bee colonies in southeast England. Based on an occupancy rate of 2% and a recent estimate of 2 million TSIs in England, it is possible that TSIs support tens of thousands wild honey bee colonies across...

1. The western honey bee, Apis mellifera , lives worldwide in approximately 94 million managed hives but also wild throughout much of its native and introduced range. Despite the global importance of A. mellifera as a crop pollinator, wild colonies have received comparatively little attention in the scientific literature and basic information regar...