Bees and agriculture need each other—bees pollinate many crops and agricultural land, which covers 75% of Britain, is a home for much of Britain’s wildlife and foraging territory for bees. The student will carry out c. 4-5 projects aimed at helping bees in agricultural land and improving crop pollination. The exact scope of the project will depend on the interests of the student and how the project develops in years one and two. Probable projects include:

• a. Waggle dance decoding. Decoding honey bee waggle dances to determine where in agricultural land honey bees forage. This project will likely focus on one or two crop types requiring pollination (e.g., apple) and/or one or two types of agricultural ecosystem where bees forage (e.g., mixed pastureland and arable land in the South Downs, arable intensive areas). This project will build on ongoing LASI research using decoding of the honey bee waggle dance to determine where honey bees are foraging. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lasi/sussexplan/dances
• b. Flowers for bees on farms. Monitoring foraging bees (including honey bees, bumble bees and other bee species) and other flower-visiting insects on farms to determine which plants, habitats and areas (hedgerows, field boundaries, waste land etc.) on farms have flowers that are used, and to use this information to help farmers improve the value of their farms for bees by building and expanding on what is already present.
• c. Farm apiaries. Survey of farmers to determine how many already have an apiary for bee hives on their farm, how many would like to have an apiary where a beekeeper can manage hives, how many have suitable locations for an apiary, how many keep bees themselves or would like to, and whether or not the farm grows any crops that may benefit from bee pollination.
• d. Fruit pollination. Research aimed at investigating and improving the pollination of a specific fruit crop (e.g., apple, blueberry, strawberry) by bees, including by managed colonies of honey bees and/or bumble bees.
• e. Bee forage in grazing land. In Britain, grassland for animal grazing has a higher acreage than any other crop. Grazing land can also include flowers, including nitrogen fixing types such as clover. The project will investigate the value of pasture land for both bees and how to enhance its value for both bees and grazing animals.

We are looking for a student with a talent for research and a specific interest in applied research on bees and agriculture, who is versatile and capable of both lab and field work, has personal initiative but can also work in a team and under supervision, and can work with farmers, growers and Waitrose as required. The project is most suited to a student with BSc (1st or 2.1) or MSc degrees in the general areas of biology, entomology, botany, environmental science, conservation, agriculture, horticulture.

Funding Notes:

• The project is being funded by Waitrose, who have initially committed to 2 years funding. It is very likely that funding for year 3 will also be raised.
• Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI), School of Life Sciences, Sussex University.
• This research project has funding attached. Funding for this project is available to citizens of a number of European countries (including the UK). In most cases this will include all EU nationals. However full funding may not be available to all applicants and you should read the full department and project details for further information.