Abstract for: Bees population decline as a threat to crops production

A model has been built by the authors to explore the effect of population dynamics of bee colonies on food production. The objective is to facilitate the creation of scenarios for decision making regarding usage of pesticides in crop fields. The model includes the effect of food availability, the seasonal effects as well as the exposure to pesticides on population dynamics, to ultimately determine the impact on food production. The results presented are based on different scenarios and become a clear example of the potential comparative/exploratory analysis that it can be used for. An important relationship between temperature and the colonies resilience towards the exposure of foraging bees to pesticides has been found comparing the mentioned scenarios. The model has been made with the potential to expand to a macro scale one by having multiple instances of the created micro scale model dynamics; thus helping to gain insight in the regional opportunities for policy regulation regarding the usage of pesticides. Future development on this model may include variables such as UMTS, varroa mite and honey harvesting. Since bees are one of the main pollinators worldwide and play such crucial role in the production of food globally, urgent measures are needed regarding the policy approach on bee colonies in crops production.