A suspicious brood frame, a varroa mite on a bee, a hornet nest, dead bees in front of the hive: your field photos are worth their weight in gold. A good picture helps another beekeeper recognise what they are seeing far better than a long description.
Why take part
- Illustrate the factsheets with real photos taken in apiaries all over the world, not just laboratory images.
- Build a reference image library, sorted by disease and symptom, open to all beekeepers.
- Prepare recognition tools: the richer and better verified the library, the more reliable these tools will be.
How it works
- You send one or more photos with a few details about what you observed.
- Every photo is reviewed before anything is published. The best ones are added to the factsheets, credited with your name if you wish.
- The others enrich the reference image library.
A good photo is…
- sharp, taken in daylight, ideally without flash;
- close up on the symptom, plus an overview of the frame or hive;
- accompanied by what you know: since when, how many colonies affected, whether a lab test was done.
Important: this form is not a diagnosis service. If you suspect a notifiable disease (foulbrood, small hive beetle, Tropilaelaps…), contact your country's veterinary authorities without delay.