Monitoring free-living honeybee colonies in Germany: Insights into habitat preferences, survival rates, and Citizen Science reliability

Our understanding of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) predominantly stems from studies conducted within beekeeping environments, leaving the presence and characteristics of honeybees outside managed settings largely unexplored. In this study, we examined the habitats, nesting sites, and survival rates of free-living colonies through personal monitoring of nest sites in Munich (N = 107) and the coordination of Citizen Science monitoring across Germany (N = 423). Within seven years, we collected 2,555 observations on 530 colonies from 311 participants. Overall, we found that 31 % of the occupied nest sites were in buildings and 63 % in mature trees, with clear preferences for specific tree species. Nesting preferences differed between urban, rural, and forested areas. On average, only 12 % of the personal monitored colonies in Munich survived annually, a figure that aligns well with other published studies but contrasts sharply with the significantly higher survival rates reported by..., , , # Data from: Monitoring free-living honeybee colonies in Germany: Insights into habitat preferences, survival rates, and Citizen Science reliability [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fj6q57452](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fj6q57452) ## Description of the data and file structure | Key for \"nestsites\" | <br /> | | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------..., ,