title: A New Stratified Sampling Procedure which Decreases Error Estimation of Varroa Mite Number on Sticky Boards.
abstract: A new procedure of stratified sampling is proposed in order to establish an accurate estimation of Varroa destructor populations on sticky bottom boards of the hive. It is based on the spatial sampling theory that recommends using regular grid stratification in the case of spatially structured process. The distribution of varroa mites on sticky board being observed as spatially structured, we designed a sampling scheme based on a regular grid with circles centered on each grid element. This new procedure is then compared with a former method using partially random sampling. Relative error improvements are exposed on the basis of a large sample of simulated sticky boards (n=20,000) which provides a complete range of spatial structures, from a random structure to a highly frame driven structure. The improvement of varroa mite number estimation is then measured by the percentage of counts with an error greater than a given level.
authors.affiliation: INRA, Biostatistique & Processus Spatiaux, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France. ktz@avignon.inra.fr.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kretzschmar
authors.affiliation: ITSAP-Institut de l'Abeille, 149 rue de Bercy, 75595 PARIS Cedex 12, France. UMT PrADE, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.affiliation: UMT PrADE, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France. ADAPI, Maison des agriculteurs, 22 avenue Henri Pontier, 13626 Aix en Provence Cedex 1, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maisonnasse
authors.affiliation: ITSAP-Institut de l'Abeille, 149 rue de Bercy, 75595 PARIS Cedex 12, France. UMT PrADE, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vallon
authors.affiliation: UMT PrADE, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France. INRA, UR 406 Abeille & Environnement, Domaine St Paul, 84914 Avignon, France.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Le Conte
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056630:Beekeeping / Q000379:methods*; D011156:Population Density; D057077:Varroidae / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Varroa destructor; error estimation; honey bee; sampling; sticky board