Options for mitigating multi-stressor interactions on managed bees in European agricultural landscapes
Abstract
Managed bees provide valuable pollination services to a wide range of European crops yet they face multiple, interacting stressors including pesticides, pathogens and poor nutrition. Despite incomplete evidence, there is an urgent need to identify effective options to mitigate these stressors. Using a modified Delphi process, 21 experts ranked 29 response options across four case studies. They assessed (a) the response options ability to effectively mitigate pesticide exposure in combination with either poor nutrition or parasite load for either Apis mellifera , Bombus terrestris or Osmia bicornis and (b) the overall feasibility of implementing the response option. The scoring identified perceived effective mitigation responses, that could be prioritised to benefit multiple pollinator species facing different interacting stressors. They included flower patch creation, rewarding farmers for pollinator friendly practices, reducing spray application frequency and reducing spray drift. We also highlight ‘feasibility priorities’, where effective mitigation responses are only feasible to implement with additional targeted support. Maximising the value of currently available evidence, in combination with expert knowledge, we demonstrate a structured decision-support approach for prioritising perceived effective responses. This approach can provide evidence to help support pollinator policy and management, by bridging the current knowledge gap we have around the impacts of interacting stressors on pollinators and how to best mitigate these.
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BibTeX
@article{willcox2026options,
title = {{Options for mitigating multi-stressor interactions on managed bees in European agricultural landscapes}},
author = {Bryony K. Willcox and Deepa Senapathi and Mark J. F. Brown and Michael P. D. Garratt and Tom D. Breeze and Anne Alix and Matthew Allen and Pilar De la Rúa and Konstantin Gospodinov and Chris Hartfield and Kjell Ivarsson and Christian Maus and David McDowell and Denis Michez and Paulo Mielgo and Francesco Nazzi and Carmen Padurean and Robert J. Paxton and Jeffery S. Pettis and Jens Pistorius and Jane C. Stout and Tom Strobl and Verena Strobl and Annette Van Oystaeyen and Evelyn Underwood and Simon G. Potts},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-73031-7},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-73031-7},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Options for mitigating multi-stressor interactions on managed bees in European agricultural landscapes
AU - Bryony K. Willcox
AU - Deepa Senapathi
AU - Mark J. F. Brown
AU - Michael P. D. Garratt
AU - Tom D. Breeze
AU - Anne Alix
AU - Matthew Allen
AU - Pilar De la Rúa
AU - Konstantin Gospodinov
AU - Chris Hartfield
AU - Kjell Ivarsson
AU - Christian Maus
AU - David McDowell
AU - Denis Michez
AU - Paulo Mielgo
AU - Francesco Nazzi
AU - Carmen Padurean
AU - Robert J. Paxton
AU - Jeffery S. Pettis
AU - Jens Pistorius
AU - Jane C. Stout
AU - Tom Strobl
AU - Verena Strobl
AU - Annette Van Oystaeyen
AU - Evelyn Underwood
AU - Simon G. Potts
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-73031-7
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-73031-7
AB - Managed bees provide valuable pollination services to a wide range of European crops yet they face multiple, interacting stressors including pesticides, pathogens and poor nutrition. Despite incomplete evidence, there is an urgent need to identify effective options to mitigate these stressors. Using a modified Delphi process, 21 experts ranked 29 response options across four case studies. They assessed (a) the response options ability to effectively mitigate pesticide exposure in combination with either poor nutrition or parasite load for either Apis mellifera , Bombus terrestris or Osmia bicornis and (b) the overall feasibility of implementing the response option. The scoring identified perceived effective mitigation responses, that could be prioritised to benefit multiple pollinator species facing different interacting stressors. They included flower patch creation, rewarding farmers for pollinator friendly practices, reducing spray application frequency and reducing spray drift. We also highlight ‘feasibility priorities’, where effective mitigation responses are only feasible to implement with additional targeted support. Maximising the value of currently available evidence, in combination with expert knowledge, we demonstrate a structured decision-support approach for prioritising perceived effective responses. This approach can provide evidence to help support pollinator policy and management, by bridging the current knowledge gap we have around the impacts of interacting stressors on pollinators and how to best mitigate these.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -