On November 29, 2024, the Slovenian Academic Beekeeping Association (SAČD), the Slovenian Beekeeping Academy, and the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (KIS), as part of the Interreg ITA-SLO Bee2gether project, organized the Poklukar Days, the fifth scientific conference on bees and beekeeping. The event, held at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, was well-attended, with as many as 70 participants, including beekeepers, students, researchers, and experts from various faculties.
Speakers at the event included representatives from the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the National Institute of Biology, the Biotechnical Faculty, and the Slovenian Beekeepers' Association. The keynote lecture was delivered by Dr. Cecilia Costa, a senior researcher at Italy’s CREA. Dr. Costa presented the history of queen bee breeding in Italy, the importance of conserving local subspecies, and the latest findings from the Horizon EU BeeGuards project, which aims to develop beekeeping practices resilient to environmental changes. She also highlighted selective breeding programs for varroa resistance and digital tools for colony monitoring.
The panel discussion featured Dr. Jens Pistorius from the Julius Kühn Institute in Germany and Prof. Dr. Ivana Tlak Gajger from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Zagreb. Their contributions further shed light on current challenges and opportunities in beekeeping.
During the event, Dr. Maja Ivana Smodiš Škerl introduced the Bee2gether project and its application, which fosters cross-border cooperation between beekeepers and researchers to enhance biodiversity.
Topics discussed at the event included:
- environmental monitoring with honeybees,
- conservation of wild bees in Slovenia,
- breeding programs and alternative pastures for bees,
- bee diseases and resistance to varroa,
- innovative approaches to support biodiversity in intensive agricultural landscapes.
The event once again demonstrated the importance of collaboration between researchers, beekeepers, and the broader public to jointly address challenges in beekeeping and biodiversity preservation.
