BeeGuards: Exciting European Research Project Set to Commence

After a competitive two-stage evaluation process, the BeeGuards project was selected as one of two research projects for the "Resilient beekeeping" call funded under the Horizon Europe framework (HORIZON-CL6-2022-BIODIV-02). The BeeGuards consortium, coordinated by Dr Cecilia Costa from the Italian Agricultural research Council (CREA), consists of 27 partners including scientists, beekeepers and beekeeping associations, consulting and technology companies, from 16 countries. The 4-year project starting in October 2023, aims to provide sustainable management practices, novel breeding strategies, and digital and forecasting tools that will allow the beekeeping sector to adapt to a changing environment. In the field, BeeGuards will perform studies in 11 countries in Europe and beyond, applying innovative threshold-based management practices, using hives equipped with digital sensors. This will support the work of beekeepers by providing guidelines for the adaptation of beekeeping practices to present and future challenges. BeeGuards will perform complementary immunological, behavioural, pathological, genomic and ecological studies that will serve to elucidate how management, climate and environment act on honey bees and other pollinators. Beekeepers, farmers and citizens will be involved via a WikiBeedia and by citizen-science and carbon footprint studies to ensure that research findings are directly translated into useful/good practices for end users.

The BeeGuards project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101082073. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.