Giving Beekeeping Guidance by cOmputatiOnal-assisted Decision making

On Thursday, 23 September, B-GOOD’s coordinator Prof. Dirk de Graaf received a honorary doctorate from the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He receives this award for his pioneering work in bee research. In his laudatio, Professor Daniel Dezmirean honored Professor de Graaf's involvement in the implementation of advanced technologies in bee research for a wide range of research lines. Prof. Dirk de Graaf introduced DNA...

The B-GOOD team is looking to expand with a new post-doctoral researcher! B-GOOD project partners at Nottingham Trent University are seeking a candidate to work as a Post-Doctoral Research Assistant to perform fundamental research into honey bee health and the automated monitoring of hives. The vision of B-GOOD is to pave the way towards healthy and sustainable beekeeping within the European Union by following a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach. The NTU research team...

The University of Coimbra opens an international tender to fill one vacancy for the position of junior research under a newly approved project "CONTROLVESPA", with the following characteristics: - Carry out field activities within the scope of the project, namely monitoring the development of technological strategies for remote detection of Vespa velutina nigrithorax nests. - Conduct ecotoxicological tests in laboratory and field activities to assess the effects of selected...

A new B-GOOD video titled "B-GOOD Tutorial: Top Photo Analysis" demonstrates how you can estimate honeybee colony size in the BEEP app by using the top photo analysis method. B-GOOD researcher Zeynep Ülgezen of Wageningen University and Research presents the method of measuring honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony size using the open source software ImageJ and the BEEP app. The video shows the different steps and methods within ImageJ for estimation, such as outlining the...

From July 26 to July 30, Dr. Anne Dalmon from INRAE (Avignon, France) visited Wageningen Food Safety Research (Wageningen, the Netherlands) for a collaboration of the development of an tool for on-site detection of two bee viruses, namely the acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and the chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV). The main goal of the collaboration comprised in developing a portable on-site antibody-based immunoassay for beekeepers to monitor virus infections in...

A recent short documentary by the German broadcaster ARD features B-GOOD partner Prof. Robert Paxton and his work on the project. Robert and his team at the institute for biology, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, conduct their research in both the laboratory and in the field. The institute has access to 14 mini apiaries, where Robert demonstrates the functionalities of the BEEP bases and the digital BEEP app. These technologies allow beekeepers to constantly monitor the health of...

In light of the travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 5th B-GOOD Consortium Meeting took place online. Project members and representatives of the B-GOOD multi-actor forum met up online between 28 and 30 June 2021. The three-day long online meeting was marked by insightful presentations, vivid discussions, SWOT analysis of project objectives, and an overview of the project’s developments and future initiatives. The meeting was organised by B-GOOD partners at Aarhus...

Wild pollinators are a key part of European biodiversity and provide a wide range of benefits to crops, wild plants, and human wellbeing. In Europe and globally, wild pollinators are facing multiple threats, however, the full extent of declines, their complex causes, and the most effective ways to respond to them are not well understood. Safeguard brings together world-leading researchers, NGOs, industry and policy experts to substantially contribute to Europe's capacity to reverse the...

An article recently published in the Special issue of MDPI called "The Citizen Science Approach for Expanding the Research on Insects" analyses the application of Citizen Science for the sustainability and survival of honey bees against the Varroa destructor Infestations. Even though certain European honey bee populations are known to naturally survive the infestations, it is unclear how widespread or common such populations are. Photo: A beekeeper with his bees. Credit:...

May 20th has been designated as World Bee Day. It thus underlines the importance of bees and other pollinators for biodiversity and food security, as well as for humanity in general. Seventy-five percent of global food crops are dependent on pollination, especially by bees. But instead of blooming wildflower meadows, the hard-working insects often only find concrete surfaces and rock gardens in our cities. In the fields of agriculture, their lives are still threatened by pesticides. Despite...

B-GOOD's lateral flow device was covered in an article of the Australian news website Mirage. The article titled "Small testing strips aid in bee protection" describes the work of Zhejiang university in the development and implementation of the lateral flow device (LFD) technology. Photo: Lateral Flow Devices. Credit: Mang Xu. The article points out that compared with traditional methods for detection of pesticides, the LFD is more operable,...

B-GOOD is committed to promoting sustainable beekeeping throughout Europe.  Beekeepers are facing many challenges, but B-GOOD is striving to deliver new technology solutions to help them reduce bee losses and improve bee health. Although that is a complex goal, we believe that unity is strength and we’re glad that B-GOOD is one of many more research projects, networks, initiatives, and organizations around Europe, promoting pollinator health. We've built a special...

At B-GOOD, 17 institutions from 13 countries across the EU join forces in an effort to pave the way toward healthy and sustainable beekeeping across the European Union. Our team is made up of scientists, beekeepers, and beekeeping associations and each team member contributes to the project with their own unique experience, skills, knowledge, and expertise. To recognize each of our project partners' important contributions, we created a new section on our website dedicated just to our...

On 26 May B-GOOD held its workshop about new technologies for beekeeping. The event titled "Hands-on neonicotinoid detection using the dual-channel neonicotinoid lateral flow device prototype" was organised by Wageningen Food Safety Research and focused on the presentation of the dual channel neonicotinoid lateral flow device prototype.  Photo: B-GOOD partners performs sample extraction and lateral flow immunoassay for the detection of neonicotinoids The...

The B-GOOD annual newsletter had its second issue published to accommodate news about our second year, where new publications, technology development & special B-GOOD updates were showcased. Don't forget to check out the special B-GOOD mini newsletter, available in 10 different languages! Find out more in the newsletter, and don't miss to SUBSCRIBE for our next issues!

A methodology article recently published in the journal BMC Veterinary Research analyses the application of the qPCR technology for detection of genetic resistance against Varroa by honey bees. The paper called "qPCR assays with dual-labeled probes for genotyping honey bee variants associated with varroa resistance" presents a study on genetic alterations in honey bees associated with varroa resistance. The study focuses on  the expression of suppressed varroa mite...

A recent alumni spotlight interview of the Maine Coast Waldorf School (USA) features B-GOOD's PhD student Dana Freshley. Dana obtained her Bachelor's degree from the University of Maine and her Master's degree in Ghent University. She is currently a PhD student in Ghent University and part of the B-GOOD research team that analyses the socioeconomic perspective of beekeeping. Photo: Dana Freshley In the interview, Dana tells more about the research performed within the...

A new video from the B-GOOD video series featuring experts working on the project was published on the B-GOOD project’s YouTube channel. The third video features an overview of the socioeconomic research done within the B-GOOD project.   Wim Verbeke of Ghent University elaborates on the aspects of economic analysis of sustainable beekeeping that is performed within B-GOOD, pointing out the main methods that are used to find out the socioeconomic aspects of...

An article recently published in the Nature Scientific Reports journal analyses the heritabilities of resistance against viruses spread by Varroa on honey bees. The paper called "Heritability estimates of the novel trait ‘suppressed in ovo virus infection’ in honey bees (Apis mellifera)" presents a novel trait in honey bees associated with heritability of viral infections suppression. The study focuses on honey bee viruses that are related to the Varroa destructor,...

A new promotional video of the BEEP Foundation team shows the advantages of the BEEP base as a monitoring tool for beekeepers! The video shows the advantages of the BEEP base as a monitoring tool for beekeepers. The BEEP monitoring system is a technological innovation that aims to help beekeepers in significantly improve beehive monitoring. The BEEP monitoring system is a technological innovation that aims to help beekeepers in significantly improve beehive monitoring. The BEEP...