#EFSA4Bees Takes Holistic Approach to Improving Bee Health

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a website
and blog “dedicated to its work on bee health.” Dubbed the #EFSA-
4Bees campaign, the new site is part of the agency’s MUST-B project, a
collaborative venture among researchers, data analysts and regulators
“with the ultimate goal of developing a software tool that can assess the
combined threat posed to bee colonies in their natural environment by
parasites, infectious agents, pesticides and other stressors.”

To start, the MUST-B project will hold a roundtable at an upcoming
scientific workshop to identify research topics that could receive funding
under the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program. “Round the
table will be representatives of the European Commission’s directorategenerals
for Agriculture, Health and Food Safety, and Research and
Innovation; members of bee research projects funded by the European
Commission, such as Smartbees, Swarmonitor and Alarm; and colleagues
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Animal Health
World Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations,” notes a March 3 blog entry.

Issue 596