Violence against Bees (VAB)
Bees provide valued services by processing natural resources into products use-able by human beings. Yet, often the welfare of the bees themselves is given little consideration or ignored. Apis mellifera scutellata Evidence of VAB In the United States it is common to lose a large number of colonies every year. For example, in northeastern USA, where only 18.9% of beekeepers collect swarms to start new hives, it is not atypical for beekeepers to lose a third of their hi ves ( Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry, 2020). In the European Union, based on more than 8,500 visits to apiaries, a survey reported wide variation in annual mortality, ranging from 3.5% in Lithuania to 33.6% in Belgium (Cressey, 2014). Likewise, in China considerable variations in annual total colony losses are found among provinces (ranging from 0.9% to 22.0%) (Tang et al, 2020). There are large variations even within geographical regions. Traditional beekeepers in Tanzania usuall