Honey bees, Apis mellifera, have long been valued as essential pollinators in European ecosystems, playing a crucial role in biodiversity and food security. However, their colony mortality rates within beekeeping (as currently practiced) have alarmingly approached 35% in some regions (in 2019–2020). Meanwhile, little is known about the widespread distribution, density, and survival of wild honey bee colonies in Europe, whose IUCN Red List status was recently reclassified as Endangered in the European Union’s 27 Member States.
FREE-B aims to fill that knowledge gap by exploring the existence and resilience of free-living honey bee colonies (FLCs), so that we can harness their potential for transformative, nature-based solutions to benefit the beekeeping sector and beyond. (By “free-living,” we mean bees that have chosen their home—whether a tree cavity, loghive, hole in the ground, or human-made structure such as a chimney, wall, or abandoned beehive—and which live without human intervention.)
The primary objectives of FREE-B are to locate where FLCs exist in Europe and to uncover what enables their survival. FREE-B will examine biological, behavioral, genetic, pathological, and environmental factors contributing to their resilience via six work packages:
In collaboration with beekeepers and citizen scientists, WP1 will identify the locations of FLCs via bee-lining and other methods, resulting in the development of an online reporting tool.
WP2 will assess the impact of environmental factors (e.g., latitudinal gradient, landscape composition, climate) on critical population demographics (e.g., occupation rate, density, survival) through periodic, standardized field monitoring across Europe.
WP3 will apply genomic technologies to both free-living and managed colonies to explore genetic differences and their relationship to survival.
WP4 aims to understand the impact of environmental factors, diseases, and parasites on the survival of FLCs in comparison to managed colonies.
WP5 will pilot “survivor stock” experiments, compile a database of laws and regulations related to the handling of FLCs, and promote the conservation and integration of FLCs into various habitats.
WP6 coordinates communications to raise awareness about FREE-B and FLCs, engage beekeepers and citizens, disseminate findings, and influence policymakers.
Grace is a Professor of Zoology and leads the Galway Honey Bee Research Centre with a team of collaborators, PhD students, and postdocs. 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 conservation and the evolution of organismal traits. Grace has been beekeeping for 12 years and currently manages 15–30 colonies. She became interested in free-living colonies in 2015, and has been investigating their survival, diversity, and distribution ever since. She is interested in both the conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera and the resilience of untreated bees to Varroa and other challenges introduced by humans.
Joachim is an associate professor of Entomology, specializing in insect health, especially the pathogens and diseases of beneficial insects. His primary interest is the viruses that infect bees: their transmission, epidemiology, evolution, and adaptive ecology, and how these are affected by internal and external factors. These range from rapid virus evolution in controlled laboratory experiments to long-term landscape-level changes in bee habitat, ecology, and climate change. Joachim has been a beekeeper for more than 25 years, currently managing between 25–50 colonies across several apiaries around Uppsala, Sweden.
Andrzej is a scientist specializing in the ecology of insects associated with tree hollows. His research combines molecular tools, morphometrics, and ecological analyses to investigate biodiversity, population structure, and the conservation of saproxylic insects, including honey bees. His work has enhanced the understanding of genetic introgression in honey bees, host preferences of hermit beetles, and the ecological role of rural avenues as refuges and corridors for vulnerable species. Andrzej has contributed to studies on honey bee subspecies discrimination, population genetics, and conservation strategies. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, he aims to advance knowledge of insect–plant interactions as well as to support effective conservation initiatives in fragmented landscapes.
Alice is an associate professor at BPU and researcher at CIMO. She has devoted the last 25 years to the study of honey bees. She developed a keen interest in them during her PhD research, while studying a fascinating feral population living in oak tree cavities on a wildlife refuge in Texas, U.S. For her dissertation, she examined the genetic changes in this population undergoing Africanization. Currently, her main research interests involve uncovering the processes, both natural and human-mediated, that shape extant genetic diversity patterns in honey bee populations, with a particular focus on understanding the genetic basis of local adaptation in different subspecies.
Fabrice is a senior researcher with an interest in agroecology and pollinator ecology. His research focuses on pollinator responses to changes in landscape structure, exposures to agrochemicals, and pressures from (invasive) biotic factors, as well as the subsequent implications for biological conservation and ecosystem services. For this he generally combines the use of lab experiments, field monitoring, and modeling techniques, and has a growing interest in inclusive socio-ecological approaches. His work is oriented towards applied perspectives, including the development of decision-support tools for informing environmental policies and stakeholders.
Steve is a co-founder and the Project Director of Honey Bee Watch, a global coalition tasked with better understanding how FLCs survive via natural selection. In addition, he co-produced NYC Honey Week, co-founded BCN Honey Fest in Barcelona, was lead producer of the 2019 Learning from the Bees conference and is on the organizing team of the 2026 edition, produced the BEES, DREAMS & MEDICINE speaker series, and founded The Ambeessadors. The latter has the dual mission of connecting the bee community and spreading awareness of and appreciation for the importance of bees and pollinators through research, events, educational programs, the arts, and activism.
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