Editorial board

Editor

Dr Robert Brodschneider
Robert Brodschneider is currently a researcher at the Institute of Biology of the University of Graz, Austria and lecturer of honey bee biology and pathology at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna and the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. Since his master and PhD thesis he is studying honey bees. In his research he focusses on the nutrition of honey bees on adult, larval and colony level. In 2008 he established the investigation of colony losses in Austria, and since 2014 he is co-chair of the international colony losses monitoring group of the honey bee research association COLOSS, where he is also an executive committee member since 2013. Robert has a great interest in involvement of beekeepers in scientific research, which he conducts in the framework of Citizen Science.
Email: [email protected]

Editorial Board:

Dr Karina Antúnez
Karina Antúnez is a researcher at the Department of Microbiology of the Institute for Biological Research "Clemente Estable", Uruguay. She obtained a MSc and PhD in Biology at the University of the Republic (UdelaR, Uruguay), and specialized on Microbiology. Her work has been focused on the study of different honeybee pathogens. She is currently the president of the Latin American Society for Bee Research (SOLATINA); is co-chair of the colony losses monitoring program in this region, and is also the regional coordinator of COLOSS for South America.

Dr Maria Bouga (Senior Editor of Journal of Apicultural Research)
Maria Bouga received her PhD in Biology, specialized in Genetics on honey bees. Her research and teaching activities cover aspects of Molecular Taxonomy, Genetics and Apiculture focused on genetics of honey bee, honey dew insects and Varroa destructor. She is involving also on the conservation of native bee populations. She is collaborating with the Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology & Entomology of Agricultural University of Athens in Greece where she is responsible for the Molecular Unit. She is member of the Executive Committee of the COLOSS honey bee research association (Prevention of honey bee Colony LOSSes) (http://www.coloss.org/) that is currently comprised of 1145 members from 95 countries and she coordinates the Apimondia (International Federation of Beekeepers Associations) WG7 “Queen rearing and impact on the genetic variability (and health) of productive bee colonies”

Dr Stephen Devanesan
Stephen Devanesan, the former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Associate Director of Research Kerala Agricultural University, had fine-tuned his professional career mostly in the apiary sector. Groomed as an entomologist, he laid his signature as a connoisseur in Bee industry. His vision and timely intervention had succeeded in sorting out rampant spread of Thai Sac Brood Virus among Indian Bees Apis cerana indica, which virtually wiped out honey industry in South India. His research experience in the apiary field spans over two decades and has officiated as Professor and Principal Scientist in the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Honey Bees and Pollinators representing Kerala Agricultural University in the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He was also instrumental in re-defining the Management of Apis cerana, Apis mellifera, bee health management, bee botany, melissopalynology, bee assisted pollination for yield enhancement and value addition from honey. He also provided scientific training to many farmers across the State in the hiving, domestication, mass multiplication and management of Stingless bees Tetragonula iridipennis, and popularised Meliponiculture and uplifted many rural beekeepers. His scientific achievements received accolade from the ICAR. He authored 16 books on Apiculture and meliponiculture. Besides being a member of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for honey, he is currently officiating as the President of Indian Agricultural Association, General Secretary of Federation of Indigenous Apiculturists (FIA), an organisation of Beekeepers in Kerala and serving as the Chief editor of a quarterly bulletin in Malayalam titled ‘THENEECHAKARSHAKAN’ under the banner of FIA.

Dr Jamie Ellis
Jamie Ellis is the Gahan Associate Professor of Entomology in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at the University of Florida (UF). He has a BS degree in Biology from the University of Georgia (Georgia, USA) and a PhD in Entomology from Rhodes University in South Africa. At the University of Florida, Jamie has responsibilities in extension, instruction and research. Regarding his extension work, Jamie created the UF, South Florida, and Caribbean Bee Colleges, and the UF Master Beekeeper Program. As an instructor, Jamie supervises PhD and masters students in addition to offering an online beekeeping course to over 250 university students each year. Currently, Jamie and his team have over 30 active research projects in the fields of honey bee husbandry, toxicology, conservation and ecology.

Dr Flora N. Namu
Flora N. Namu is a lecturer and researcher at the department of Natural Resources Management in Karatina University, Kenya. Her area of specialization is terrestrial ecology and specifically conservation biology. She worked on pollinators mainly bees, Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths) but also birds. She obtained her Master of Science degree in Biology of Conservation in University of Nairobi Kenya, on the Butterfly species composition and abundance in Kakamega forest, Kenya, followed by a PhD in Germany on stingless bees’ nest structure and the role of bees in spread of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt in Uganda. Her current research activities are conservation of pollinators in urban green spaces, use of bee bio-vectoring technology and review of Beekeeping projects in Kenya. In her department she is in charge of coordinating research, outreach activities and internationalization of our departmental programmes.

Stuart A. Roberts
Stuart A. Roberts is the link trustee for the IBRA journals from themanagement team. He is a research manager at the National Automotive Innovation Centre at Warwick University in the UK. He has a BEng in Materials Science and has worked for Jaguar Land Rover for over 20 years. He is a hobbyist beekeeper, managing around 40 colonies in Staffordshire in the UK. He is a BBKA Master Beekeeper and currently a member of the BBKA Examinations Board.

Dr Cooper Schouten
Cooper Schouten is the project manager for the Forest Research Centres’ Bees for Sustainable Livelihoods Research Group at Southern Cross University, Australia. Cooper received his PhD in beekeeping for development in an investigation of factors underpinning the success of international agricultural research programs. He has worked in beekeeping research, training and extension capacity for private sector organisations and NGOs throughout Australia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Cooper supervises PhD and masters students and currently oversees research projects in the fields of honey bee nutrition, biosecurity, queen bee breeding, post-harvest handling and marketing, and gender equity and participatory approaches to apiculture.

Dr Maja Ivana Smodiš Škerl
Maja Ivana Smodiš Škerl finished her PhD in 2011 at the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences University of Maribor in Slovenia. The research was focused on morphological and histological changes in hypopharyngeal glands of honey bee ( Apis mellifera carnica) and was conducted in laboratory and experimental apiary of Agricultural institute of Slovenia. Her main interests and experiences are: morphological, histological and molecular diagnostics, biology and pathology of honey bees. She is active in several national and international projects. From 2005 she is a researcher at the Animal Production Department, Beekeeping, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia. Her research and expert work is focused on Selection for Carniolan honey bee, queen breeding, effects of pesticides on tissue and cells, pathology and nutrition in honey bee colony, and sensorial evaluation of honey and other bee products. Maja has several years of experience in giving lectures to the beekeepers, mainly on honey bee biology. She is a member of COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes), where she co-chairs Varroa control Task Force. Maja is active also in Slovenian Academic Beekeeping Society (SAČD) as a president. She was a member of Editorial board in slovenian journal Slovenski čebelar (Slovenian beekeeper) (2011-2015). She is a co-author of the practical book entitled Čebelarjenje za vsakogar (Beekeeping for everyone).