Prof. Tom D Seeley: Nature-based beekeeping

Nature-based beekeeping is an approach to beekeeping that aims to provide managed colonies with living conditions that are as close as possible to those of wild colonies. The goal is to harmonize our beekeeping methods with the natural history of Apis mellifera, so that our colonies can make full use of the toolkit of adaptations that honey bees have evolved over millions of years. Tom will review the ways in which living conditions differ between wild and managed colonies, and will also show how we can pursue beekeeping in a way that is cantered less on treating a bee colony as a honey factory, and more on nurturing the lives of our bees. The main question then becomes “What can I give to my bees?” rather than “What can I take from my bees?” Prof. Tom D Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology Emeritus at Cornell University, USA, where he is a member of the Department of Neurobiology and Behaviour. From 1980 to 2020 he taught courses on animal behaviour and conducted research on the behaviour, social life, and ecology of honey bees. Besides being a biologist, Tom is an avid beekeeper, and began keeping bees when he was a high school student in the late 1960s. His scientific work is summarised in several books, including “Honey bee democracy” (2010), “Following the wild bees” (2016), “The lives of bees (2019), and the forthcoming “Piping hot bees and boisterous buzz-runners” (2024). In recognition of his scientific work, he has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences. Tom writes: “These honours are gratifying, but for me the most important ‘prizes’ by far are the discoveries that I have made about the inner workings of honey bee colonies.” His most enduring honour, though, is to have had a species of bee named after him: Neocorynurella seeleyi.