## 4 Discussion
Furthermore, adopting this model and pursuing a positive welfare state could improve resilience to emerging threats, such as climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide exposure, which are increasingly affecting honey bee populations worldwide. The integration of these additional practices into beekeeping management also has the potential to foster greater public awareness and support for honey bee conservation efforts. Future research should aim on developing valid, reliable, and feasible indicators for assessing the effectiveness of these practices, enabling the evaluation of welfare conditions once they are implemented in the field. Such indicators could provide valuable data to further refine the HBWPs and help bridge any gaps between scientific recommendations and practical application in diverse environmental and cultural contexts. Continuous monitoring and feedback loops between researchers and practitioners will be essential to adapt these practices dynamically as new challenges arise. Further validation, harmonization and scoring of HBWPs across different geographic contexts and types of bekeeping will require expert knowledge elicitation [41; 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48]. To ensure this process is multidisciplinary, and produces transparent and unbiased measures [26], it should involve not only beekeepers, apiculture experts, and beekeepers' associations but also specialists from related fields of welfare science, such as veterinarians, biologists, ecologists, ethologists, and legislators. Now that HBWPs for managed _Apis mellifera_ are established, valuable tools can be developed to further enhance bekeeping management. These tools could include the creation of specific manuals, guidelines, and practical instructions for beekeepers and policymakers, as well as the development and the improvement of dedicated checklists for audits, official inspections, and self-assessment tools [6; 7; 42; 48; 49; 50] All of these resources can be revised and refined based on the HBWPs already identified with the present paper. Finally, to encourage adherence to these practices and promote compliance among beekeepers, dedicated labelling and marks, such as complementary or integrated organic production labels, can be introduced to certify good will, proper management and boost farmers' income [51; 52; 53; 54; 55]. To encourage adherence to these practices and promote compliance among beekeepers, specific marks and labels, such as certification programs, could be introduced. Such certification would not only offer specific incentives for farmers [3; 56; 57; 58; 53; 13], but also enhance consumer trust in the sustainability and welfare standards of bekeeping practices [51; 53; 54; 55]. There are already established quality certification programs in animal husbandry that ensure animal welfare, and in Italy, the Classy Farm [46] integrated system is applying a similar approach to bekeeping, ensuring the welfare of honeybees within the broader framework of sustainable farming practices [45]. As consumers become more informed about the welfare standards behind hive products, their demand for ethically produced honey and other by-products is likely to increase, which could drive market preferences toward more sustainable bekeeping practices. In turn, this could incentive more beekeepers to adopt HBWPs, thereby creating a positive feedback loop that benefits both the bees, beekeepers, consumers, and the broader ecosystem services they support. This approach to including welfare considerations in beekeeping represents a transformative step toward sustainable and modern apiculture. The new Honey Bee Welfare Practices prompt to intervene on long-term effects that proper bekeeping management have on ecosystems and biodiversity. Following a positive approach, they seek to minimize environmental impact and enrich bee life, offering opportunities for positive experiences while still reducing and controlling negative stressors. Moreover, they allow bees to choose their optimal conditions.