“Melior’Api”: new solutions for beekeeping in the Alps

L’bee keeping is a major economic activity in the Alpswhere it employs around 8,000 people in the Franco-Italian cross-border area alone. So the idea of ​​establishing the Interreg Alcotra Project France-Italy 2021/2027 “Better Bee”aims to boost the capacity of an agricultural sector that is still in difficulty in the face of climate change and human activity.

In short

“Melior’Api” is a direct continuation of two other Interreg Alcotra projects, viz “Innov’Api” (2017/2021) et «Winter» (2022/2024), both of which aim to find an effective and sustainable way to combat the varroa parasite.

His boss is theNational Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE). It is led by a French partner, the Provençal Apiculture Development Association, and two Italian partners, the University of Turin and the Unione Nazionale Apicoltori Italiani.

As for the project budget, it comes to a total level 1 999 524 euroswith 1,599,619 euros coming from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and 399,904 euros from other funds. Of this amount, 1,069,524 euros (855,619 FEDER, 213,904 against) were allocated to France and 930,000 euros (744,000 FEDER, 186,000 against) were given to Italy.

Hunting in the Alps

“Melior’Api” started last October, when the various partners completed the project protocol. Among the strong points of the document, we can mention the beginning a preliminary survey of 280 apiaries which belongs to eight bee companies between Italy and France.

Thanks to the results obtained, it will be possibleestablishing a series of criteria for selecting the best colonies from which beekeepers will be able to renew part of their lot stock. These are the amount of production, tolerance to parasites and viral loads, quality in the autumn and the ability to survive in good conditions during the winter.

From the analysis of all these aspects, again, a software solution will be developed to help professionals in the annual renewal of their apiaries, taking into account contextual factors such as climate and fertilization . Finally, hard use of this new approach it will be offered directly in member facts through special training.

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