Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Jagiellonian University joined forces with 17 European partners within the framework of Better-B project aimed at restoring harmony and balance in beekeeping. The scheme will receive funding worth € 6.3 million.
Honey bee colonies are often ill-adapted to cope with external stress factors, such as climate changes, pesticides and parasite attacks. The extent of this adaptation is also influenced by modern beekeeping practices. Using the forces of nature is key to improve the resilience of honey bee colonies in order to bring back harmony and balance both inside bee colonies and between them and the environment
The Better-B consortium, consisting of 18 partners from 14 countries and coordinated by Prof. Dirk van de Graaf from Ghent University, believes that the aforementioned goals can be achieved based on the observation of what is known as Darwinian colonies, that is, abandoned of feral colonies that have either survived in the wild or been selected based on fitness-based criteria. Yet, these bee colonies usually lack many advantages that are useful for modern beekeeping. The approach of researchers involved in Better-B project consists in attempting to understand processes and mechanisms governing the functioning of resilient Darwinian colonies in the wild and their implementation to modern beekeeping practice with the possible use of advanced technology.
This is what Better-B stands for. The implementation of the new approach to apicultural management will be undertaken in close collaboration with the stakeholder beekeepers. Restoring harmony and balance has to take place on three levels: the environment, the honey bee colony and beekeeping practices, all of which will be addressed in the Better-B project.
The consortium has been awarded €6.3 million by the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland to improve the resilience of beekeeping to abiotic stresses such as climate change, habitat loss and hazardous chemicals.
The work of researchers from the JU Institute of Environmental Sciences and other consortium partners can be followed on LinkedIn and the www.better-b.eu website.
Consortium members at the official kick-off meeting on 3 – 4 July 2023 in Ghent (Belgium).
The Better-B project has received funding from the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (grant number 10068544).
