Scheiner lab - Behavioral biology of the honeybee

Honey bees have been model organisms in behavioral biology for many decades. With their unique behavioral diversity, they offer ideal conditions for research into fundamental mechanisms of behavioral control. Our research focuses on social behavior, learning behavior and the adaptation of honey bees to their respective habitat. We are also investigating how the Anthropocene will affect honey bees. Here, our research focuses on the effects of pesticides and their combination, adaptation to the Varroa mite and adaptation to climate change.

• Identifying gene functions in honeybees through genetic knockout by CRISPR/Cas9
  (funded by the Volkswagen Foundation)

• Effects of multiple stressors on honeybees and wild bees
  (funded by the Bavarian Environment Ageny)

• The molecular mechanisms underlying local adaptation to high elevation habitats in the honey bee Apis mellifera
  (funded by the German Research Foundation)

• Effects of an innovative beekeeping method with reduced Varroa mite treatment on the efficiency and vitality of honeybees in near-natural beekeeping
  (funded by the federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture)

• Effects of land use on resource partitioning and foraging neuroecology in four honey bee species in India
  (funded by the German Research Foundation)