Reducing honey bee winter mortality with molybdenum supplementation: field evidence across Europe

Nutrition is key to improving honey bees' resilience to environmental stress factors that threaten their health. Yet, little is known about the micronutritional needs of colonies, in particular about molybdenum, an essential trace element in biology. This study focuses on a coordination complex based on molybdenum, Mo(+V), which was assessed for compatibility with standard beekeeping practices. It was found to be non-toxic for bees, stable, and easy to use. Importantly, it does not leave any residues in the honey produced. This study investigated how supplementation with a few milligrams of this complex can improve hive performance in early spring and reduce winter mortality. Over a two-year field campaign, 283 beehives spread over 6 apiaries located in Spain, Greece, and France were involved: 142 beehives supplemented with the molybdenum-based compound and 141 beehives as a control group. Supplementation resulted in a significant reduction in winter colony losses, averaging a 44% decre..., , # Data from: Reducing honey bee winter mortality with molybdenum supplementation: Field evidence across Europe

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This repository contains the data used to conduct the descriptive and statistical analyses and create the figures referenced in the paper of the same name.

Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.k98sf7mkv

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## Description of the data and files structure

#### 1. `Winter_mortality.csv`

**Description:**

This file contains experimental data used for the winter mortality analysis. Data were collected in Spain (winters 2023 and 2024) and in France (winter 2024).

**Variables and description:**

| **Variable** | **Description** |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `Experiment` | Unique identifier for the experiment |
| `Treatment` | Name of the diet |
| `Mortality` | Binary variable indicating whether th...,