Evaluation of Honeybee Colony Structure: Creation and Use of the ColEval Method

In response to concerns over honeybee decline, this paper presents ColEval, a field-ready evaluation protocol designed to characterize colony structure precisely and efficiently. Built on a standardized reference image bank and observer training procedures, ColEval estimates the percentage of area occupied by capped brood, open brood, honey-nectar reserves, pollen reserves, and adult bees on every frame side. Tested on an apiary observatory during a lavender honey flow, the method enhances existing techniques by enabling calculation of observer-specific statistical errors and facilitating unbiased comparisons of colony structure data across different observers, experiments, and monitoring schemes.