## 1 Introduction  
Modern bekekeeping suffers significant losses worldwide due to a variety of external stressors, including pesticide misuse, climate change, globalization of honey bee diseases and pests, loss of bee fodder, conventional monocultures, overbuilding and mistakes in hive and disease management [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In recent years, new issues concerning the beekeeping sector have also been documented, such as the spread of new invasive alien species (_Vespa velutrina_, _Nosema ceranae_, _Aethina tumida_) and an increase in the pathogenicity of already known pathogens, such as the viruses related to _Varroa destructor_[6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In this complex situation, guaranteeing both honey bee health and successful bekeeping activity is often quite arluous. Furthermore, in most countries, veterinarians usually lack the minimum competencies required to enable them to provide helpful support to bekeepers [11]. The availability of only a few veterinary medicinal products (VMPs) (EU Veterinary Medicinal Product Database, accessed on 9 January 2020) further complicates the situation. As a result, all these factors can lead to inadequate control of honey bee diseases, misuse of veterinary medicines, or in the worst cases, illegal use of unauthorized drugs. In the apiculture sector, as in others, the intensive use of the same active ingredients over the years has led to the development of veterinary drug resistance, especially in the Varroa mite [12; 13]. As a direct consequence, there has been either a reduction in the efficacy (and choices) of available treatments or an increase in chemical residues in hive products [14; 15; 16; 17]. Nowadays, modern apiculture requires the adoption of Good Beekeeping Practices (GBPs) in order to prevent and control, in the best way possible, honey bee diseases and allow the proper use of VMPs. In this context, the adequate training of beekeepers as well as veterinarians and the application of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy, which is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as: _\"The careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of pest populations and keep pesticides and other interventions to levels that are economically justified and reduce or minimize risks to human health and the environment\"_, play a vital role in the achievement of good honey bee colony management. In particular, this means the adoption of different beekeeping techniques and biotechnical methods in combination with veterinary medicines [16]. A good understanding of honey bee biology and pathogens is also required in order to incorporate the IPM strategy into daily activities. However, there is a general lack of information about beekeepers' knowledge, level of training and application of GBPs to manage and control honey bee diseases and data are missing from large geographical areas. For these reasons, a questionnaire-based survey was developed and promoted with the purpose of filling the gaps by collecting specific information from target professions around the world including: (1) knowledge of the most important honey bee diseases and their management; (2) use of VMPs in beekeeping; and (3) perceptions about the role of veterinarians, training and technical assistance in the management of honey bee diseases. The online questionnaire, \"Veterinary medicines in beekeeping around the world: which active ingredients are in use and do they respond to the needs of beekeepers?\" was set up by the Istituto Zooprofialtico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana \"M. Aleandri\" (IZSLT), and the International Federation of Beekeepers' Associations (Apimondia). The on-line dissemination of the survey was facilitated by the \"Technologies and Practices for Small Agricultural Producers\" (TECA) platform of the FAO [18].