The BEE-GUARDS Podcast

In this episode, we talk with Louise Bartek from SLU University in Uppsala, Sweden, about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint analysis in European beekeeping. Louise explains how environmental impact assessments can help create more sustainable and resilient beekeeping practices for the future. The discussion focuses on how beekeeping can reduce its environmental footprint while suppo...

Today’s guest speaker is Martin Gabel, researcher at the Bee Institute Kirchhain in Germany, part of Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen, and an important contributor to Work Package 1 — Management for Resilience, and Work Package 2 — Breeding for Resilience. In this episode, we focus on how BEE-GUARDS is developing innovative approaches to strengthen honey bee resilience against Varroa, climate s...

Welcome to the BEE-GUARDS podcast — a Horizon Europe project working to strengthen resilient beekeeping, protect pollinator biodiversity, and support sustainable beekeeping practices across Europe. All relevant links here: https://beeguards.eu/citizen-science/   In today’s episode, we are talking with Sergio from CREA in Bologna, who is actively involved in the field work connected to Work Package...

In this episode, we speak with Wolfgang Pointecker, president of the Austrian Commercial Beekeepers Association and a commercial beekeeper himself. Drawing on his own day-to-day experience in professional beekeeping, Wolfgang shares insights from both the apiary and the organizational level. We discuss the key challenges facing commercial beekeeping in Austria and across Europe, including bee heal...

In this episode, we explore how scientists are working to protect the future of honey bees through cryopreservation. As part of the BEE-GUARDS project, researchers are building a European network of cryobanks and developing groundbreaking methods to preserve honey bee embryos for the first time. Our guest today is Jesús Yániz, Professor at the Universidad de Zaragoza, who is leading the cryopreser...

Today our guest is Ralph Büchler, well known for his long-standing work in varroa-resistant bee breeding. For many years, he was the head of the Beekeeping Institute in Kirchhain, Germany—an institute strongly focused on applied science within beekeeping. Although Ralph is now retired, he has not stepped away from his passion: continuing the search for varroa-resistant bees. Another key area of hi...

Victoria Soroker is our well-known BEE-GUARDS member from Israel. Over the years, her research has focused on the challenges of Varroa, helping to develop more sustainable solutions for beekeepers. In this episode, we talk about her lifelong work and what it takes to run a BEE-GUARDS test apiary — a great conversation recorded at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens.

Steve Riley is a dedicated beekeeper committed to developing varroa-tolerant bees. He blends hands-on experience with smart, data-driven breeding methods, all aimed at strengthening colony health through selective genetics. We met by chance on the train to Zurich Airport, took a bit of time to explore the city, and quickly found ourselves deep in conversation—so why not turn it into a podcast? Be...

Chile’s landscape stretches from the world’s driest desert in the north to icy fiords and glaciers in the south. Towering Andes mountains run along its eastern edge, shaping dramatic valleys and active volcanoes. The central region offers fertile plains and a Mediterranean climate ideal for vineyards, while the Pacific Ocean carves rugged cliffs, long beaches, and vibrant coastal towns. Among thes...

Whoopie 9 and 1. Update on the planning and interaction with the beekeeping stakeholders to produce an interactive  WikiBEEdia and how it is to be a test apiary running the innovative varroa management.

Whoopie 4. Holobiont. Get insight into the secrets of the holobionts by Melanie Parejo from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Whoopie 4 will provide a handbook for standard methods in bee hologenomic research, integrate differ “-omic” methods in field and laboratory exp0eriments and determine the specific genetic and microbial combinations that foster honeybee resilience under the in...

Cozy conversation with Dylan Elen, about the innovative varroa treatment but also the importance to conserve the subspecies of Apis mellifera. The conversation comes close to activities within the BEE-GUARDS and what is the aim of the Dark Bee association. ZwarteBij.org is already running several breeding programs. Operating multiple mating stations. They offer courses on beekeeping, breeding, ...

BEE-GUARDS aim is to strengthen the resilience of beekeeping beyond our project partners. Flemming Vejsnæs, did meet Maria Fedoriak who is one of our MAF members (member of our multi actor forum) in Padova telling us about the beekeeping situation in Ukraine at the moment. It is a long, important and very strong story. You need to listen!

The Wilde family business, a well-known big queen breeder operation with focus on artificial insemination. In the BEE-GUARDS project they the testing of innovative varroa management. The story of a family company and how to run the testing.

Giles Budge, Newcastle Upon Tyne. The Scientist behind BEE-GUARDS. We are very curious, so we try to have conversations with our partners on what background and what else they are doing of scientific work.

Whoopie 3. Monitoring & Modeling. Janez Presern from Agricultural Institute of Slovenija talking about that WP3 serves as an integration hub for the data we collect. What do we collect? We have established an Europe-wide network of colonies established with various sensors to monitor the colony’s development and associate it with environment. We augment these data with data of external provide...

Apimondia is one of our partners in BEE-GUARDS. The president of Apimondia Jeff Pettis takes us in the world of Apimondia. Apimondia is the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations. It represents the interests of apiculture worldwide (122 Member Associations from 73 countries). It facilitates links between beekeepers, scientists and all those involved in beekeeping and represents apicu...

Today we present ELGO ‘DIMITRA’ from Greece, one more of our partners. Fani Hajina presents a very exciting institute. Ellinikos Georgikos Organismos DIMITRA is a research organization under the auspices of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food in Greece, and it is devoted to agricultural research, education and product quality control. The Department of Apiculture (Institute of Animal Scienc...

BEE-GUARDS "WP8 - Analysis of plant-pollinator-pathogen networks to assess the impact of beekeeping on wild pollinators" aims to evaluate how beekeeping affects wild pollinators across agricultural landscapes and to identify management strategies that can reduce potential competition. We will perform field and laboratory experiments, as well as analysis of historical data on honey bee density and...

Listen our podcast: https://beeguards.podbean.com/e/giles-1/ Listen to Giles Budge, Newcastle University from the Whoopie 06- Parasites & Pathogens explaining this important task of the BeeGuards. Our overarching objective is to better understand how climate influences the emergence of pest and pathogen threats, so that beekeeping resilience can be improved by predicting emergence and developi...

Whoopi 9. In this podcast we speak about an outcome of the BeeGuards project that is meant to stay. Robert Brodschneider from the University of Graz introduces us to WikiBeedia.eu . This is an online encyclopedia all about the honey bee, beekeeping and bee research. You can look up technical terms in many languages, as well as provide your own knowledge on beekeeping for others.

Become a part of the BEE-GUARDS. Citizens Scientist – Beekeeping protocol As a part of BEE-GUARDS we invite all beekeepers to become a part of our exciting project, doing your share on comparing a new innovative varroa treatment strategi and you “normal” varroa strategi. Listen to Marin Kovačić from Croatia, presenting the Beekeepers Protocol. Putting light on what your involvement could bee in th...

Good question! Listen to Raffaele explaining how you can bee involved, even become asked about your opinion. How you can influence such a big project. Our MAF group is with around 250 stakeholders. Feel free to join, sign up on this mail: maf@beeguards.eu

BEE-GUARDS "WP2 - Innovative Breeding" is about to enter its pivotal phase for the current year, as the honey bee mating season is approaching in most European countries; in this episode, we will feature the interview with Raffaele Dall'Olio (BeeSources) who is running the study in Italy in collaboration with CREA. As Italy is the southernmost country involved in WP2, don't be surprised when Raffa...

On a bench close to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, we did meet the coordinator of the BEE-GUARDS: Cecilia Costa. Simply question: What is BEE-GUARDS about? Understand the project within 20 min.