Symbiocene Talks: Bees as climate change data collectors

This Wednesday at 5 PM we will host our first talk. Our beekeeper William Blomstedt will present his innovative approach to cross-species research.

Insect pollination is vital to both the health of our ecosystem and food production. Consequently, it is important to understand how both pollinators and plants will be influenced by global climate change. Current satellites allow a near-daily view of the entire earth, but it is difficult linking the imagery with local events because of the difference in scale between a point and pixel. This research investigates the link between satellite imagery and data collected from beehives.

William Blomstedt is a geographer, beekeeper and writer. Born in Washington, USA, he attended Dartmouth College (B.A. 2007) and University of Edinburgh (M.A. 2014). He has worked as a beekeeper and queen breeder in Texas, North Dakota, New Zealand, Hawaii, Chile, Australia. He has also written over 60 articles as a contributor for The American Bee Journal and in the following year will publish a book on beekeeping essays and travel writing. In 2010 he came to Slovenia on a Fulbright Scholarship to study the change in nectar flow timing during the 20th century. He is now married and lives in Slovenia.

After the talk in the museum’s attic we will visit the beehives in the Park and demonstrate the regular check-up of the hives.

The lecture will be held in English.

Join us in the museum’s attic!