Honey bees have been challenged with severe changes in their natural environment due to monocultures, increased use of pesticides, climate change and pollution. Pressure is reflected in lower disease tolerance altered behaviour and colony loss, which also affect beekeepers. The beekeepers compensate colony losses by introducing new ones, often with queens of unproven quality and/or pedigree. Also, the desire to improve the colony management or yield prompts beekeepers to look for best-buy genetic material with traits that match their needs.
With our project, we wish to improve the situation in the project beneficiary countries: Slovenia, Croatia and North Macedonia, where the implementation of mating control has been neglected and thus results of the selection effort were watered-down.
By adapting the knowledge and experience of the donor partner from Norway and the use of novel research supported by the expert partner from Sweden, we will establish tailor-made effective mating control systems, adjusted to the local environmental conditions. Our results will be presented to end-users and policymakers in the beneficiary countries to improve the current conservation status of selected bee subspecies.
To ensure the sustainability of the project, clear protocols, legal recommendations and revision of breeding programmes will be prepared. Use of the recommendations by all queen breeders will be promoted through training and dissemination of the project results.