Biology
Bees are an example of social insects, which live in colonies with a complex social structure. The study of this structure has fascinated generations of researchers since ancient times and has made the bee one of the most studied social insects. Since the honeybee is also one of the few insects used by humans for various commercial and recreational purposes, our knowledge of this insect allows us to improve beekeeping. To this end, CRA researchers have, since the institute’s founding, worked not only on bee diseases and pests and on bee products, but also on bee biology. Our research on honeybee biology focuses on the lifespan of individual bees, nutrition, colony development, and their interactions with wild bees.