Arboreal Apiculture Salon

Beelining is an ancient craft and science of finding wild honeybee trees/nests. The pursuit is old as humankind and has gained new relevance for the conservation and rewilding of honeybees.

In Salon 30 we bring together international practitioners of beelining to share and explore current and innovative models of beelining. The panel includes Thomas Seeley (US), Benjamin Rutschmann (Germany), Chiara Binetti (IL), Lukas Taminen (US), Joe Ibbertson (UK) and our own Michael and Cheyanna. Join us for this very special event where we get to hear the latest approaches to this ancient craft from leading experts in the field.

In Salon 29. we are joined by honeybee researcher Maggie Shanahan, and author of the 2022 paper "Honey Bees and Industrial Agriculture: What Researchers are Missing, and Why it's a Problem" - Link. The conclusion of that paper offers a great introduction to our conversation with Maggie in this episode of the Salon:

"When honey bee researchers recognize industrial agriculture as the root cause of honey bee health issues, we open ourselves to the opportunity to collaborate meaningfully in these movements, and contribute to the future that must be built. We add our voices to the growing chorus that knows, and insists, that industrial agriculture is not the only way. It is one way. It is a way that we made. It is a thing we can change. The question is whether we open up and allow that change to happen through us, or dig in our heels until that change happens to us." If you would like to discuss the episode with others join our telegram channel - Arboreal Apiculture Salon

This salon features special guest Grace McCormack. She is a Professor of Zoology at NUI Galway, Ireland. Her interests lie in evolutionary biology and particularly in using molecular data to understand how organisms are related to each other and the impacts this may have on the conservation and the evolution of organismal traits.

In this podcast Grace explores the question: Are wild bees distinct from those in managed colonies?

Our special guest will be Ph.D. Benjamin Rutschman from Germany. Benjamin is a honeybee researcher who works on honeybee ecology with a special focus on colonies living in the wild, their foraging resources, and their nesting sites. He got his Ph.D. from the University of Würzburg in 2022 and is now continuing his studies on wild colonies supported by a scholarship from the Graduate school of life sciences in Würzburg.

Our Guest will be Chelsea Batavia. She is an Environmental Scientist with the Delta Stewardship Council. She researches how human ethical values and beliefs affect environmental management and conservation. She is also a great cook as you will find out!

Our special guest is Prof. Dr. Lars Chittka. He is from the Research Centre for Psychology at the Queen Mary University of London, where he is a Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology. His latest book "The Mind of a Bee" is a rich and surprising exploration of the intelligence of bees.

In this podcast the hosts and attendees discuss Frederique Apffel Marglin Salon podcast No 23.

Frederique is challenging the foundation of western thinking and promotes new ways of being in relationship with the agency and sentience of the non-human world.

Join us in this open discussion.

Our special guest is Frederique Apffel Marglin. She is Professor Emerita, Dpt. of Anthropology at Smith College and founded Sachamama Center for Biocultural Regeneration in Peru. Frederique is challenging the foundation of western thinking and promotes new ways of being in relationship with the agency and sentience of the non-human world. Her innovative research presents an opportunity for the arboreal apiculture movement to integrate pioneering scientific thinking and practices, increase our awareness of Deep Ecology in conservation and broaden our understanding of the interconnected intelligence of nature and life on earth.

Our special guest will be Thomas Dyer Seeley. He is the Horace White Professor in Biology in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University. He is the author of several books on honeybee behavior, including Honeybee Democracy and The Wisdom of the Hive. He was the recipient of the Humboldt Prize in Biology in 2001. Tom is the most well known and most respected scientists researching free living bee colonies. We look back over his long career.

Podcast Reference:

Darwinian black box selection for resistance to settled invasive Varroa destructor parasites in honey bees - Tjeerd Blacquière https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-019-02001-0

Our special guest for Salon No. 21 is Filipe Salbany. He has worked with honey bees for over 50 years in Africa, Europe, North America, and the UK. In November 2021 his work at Blenheim Palace (UK) received international attention when the Guardian published an article about the discovery of over 50 previously unknown honey bee colonies of mostly old genetic lineage in the estate forests. (For this episode we recommend a podcast player that supports chapter art. e.g. Overcast or Pocket Casts)