Dr hab. Kaspar Bienefeld is Professor for apiculture at the Humboldt University Berlin (since 2000) and director of the Institute for Bee Research Hohen Neuendorf. Since his PhD studies at the Technical University of Munich on “Estimation of genetic parameters in the honey bee”, his research has been focused on genetics and behaviour of honeybees. He was the first to establish genetic evaluation for this species (https://www2.hu-berlin.de/beebreed/ZWS/).

Currently he is involved in various projects spanning genome wide association studies on disease (especially Varroa-) resistance, establishing genomic selection for several traits of interest, long term simulation studies for sustainable genetic progress in small populations, and cryopreservation of honey bee semen. Being one of the world leading experts in honey bee breeding, he is involved in several honeybees’ breeding programs, especially for subspecies facing extinction in the Near East. He was/is coordinator of various EU and national projects (e.g. SmartBees, with a budget of 6 Mio. Euro the biggest EU-funded research project on the sustainability of beekeeping). His research resulted in over 250 journal articles and several books (https://www2.hu-berlin.de/bienenkunde/index.php?id=16).