Dr Ewa Popiela from the ASc4Future Lead Research Team of the University of Life Sciences in Wrocław will study the impact of thermal stress on fertility and mating behavior of honey bee drones. She obtained a grant for her research under the Miniature competition of the National Science Center.

Bees are extremely important to humans and the entire ecosystem, not only because they produce honey, but most of all because they pollinate the plants that humans grow for food production. However, bees are threatened by climate change, which negatively affects the life of the colony. For example, changing thermal conditions are becoming a significant stressor.

The direct effects of the temperature increase on young and adult bees can have serious consequences. The ability of drones and mothers to mate and produce fertile offspring is particularly sensitive to thermal stress, because gametes are easily damaged, and unsuccessful or sterile mating flights can lead to the death of the entire colony.