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 supporting pollinator health, biodiversity, and climate adaptation across Europe. The episode is part of the BeeGuards WP7 activities on sustainability and environmental impact. We also encourage beekeepers, researchers, and stakeholders to participate in the European survey on Life Cycle Assessment: https://netigate.se/ra/s.aspx?s=1302771X540872467X57084 Your host is Flemming Vejsnæs.

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 stress, and changing environmental conditions. Work Package 1 explores an innovative low-input beekeeping management approach across a pan-European apiary network spanning eleven countries. Researchers and beekeepers are testing threshold-based management strategies designed to support natural resilience in honey bee colonies. Instead of relying heavily on routine chemical treatments and supplementary feeding, the project evaluates how colonies perform under more selective environmental conditions, while carefully monitoring colony health, survival, productivity, and adaptation across different climates and landscapes in Europe. Work Package 2 builds directly on these field experiences by focusing on accelerated breeding for resilience traits. The goal is to improve adaptation to Varroa pressure and climate stress through innovative mating and selection strategies. Across different climatic regions, mating stations are being established where colonies develop under varying levels of selection pressure. By allowing natural selection to play a larger role in breeding, BEE-GUARDS aims to strengthen traits linked to survival, Varroa resistance, virus tolerance, and overall colony resilience. Advanced genomic tools, breeding value estimation, and cryobanking of honey bee germplasm are all part of this effort to safeguard Europe’s honey bee diversity for the future. We will also briefly touch on Work Package 8, which investigates the relationship between managed honey bees and wild pollinators, helping develop sustainable beekeeping practices that protect biodiversity and ecosystem balance.

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 Packages 1, 2, and 8 of the BEE-GUARDS project. WP1 focuses on innovative beekeeping management across a large pan-European apiary network. Researchers and beekeepers are testing low-input and threshold-based management strategies, comparing them with more conventional approaches, while studying colony survival, resilience, climate effects, and Varroa management under real field conditions. WP2 is dedicated to breeding strategies for resilient bees. The work investigates how natural selection, Varroa resistance, climate adaptation, and advanced breeding methods can help develop stronger and more resilient honey bee populations for the future. WP8 focuses on field site activities and practical implementation, helping connect research, environmental assessment, and real-world beekeeping conditions across the different European study locations. Together, these activities combine science, field observations, breeding, and collaboration with beekeepers to better understand how we can safeguard honey bees and pollination services in a changing environment. Your host today is Flemming Vejsnæs from the Danish Beekeepers Association. Let’s get started.