Pegah Valizadeh, the faculty member of the Honey Bee Research Department at the Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, attended and presented at the 48th International Apicultural Congress of Apimondia in Chile. Apimondia is the oldest, largest and the most prestigious scientific professional gathering in the field of apiculture that every two years brings scientists and beekeepers together from all across the globe. The 48th International Apicultural Congress of Apimondia was held in Santiago of Chile from September 4th to 8th, 2023. At this congress around 4,000 participants from 82 countries attended 221 oral presentations and 431 poster presentations in the following subjects: 1- Honey bee health, 2- Honey bee biology, 3- Beekeeping economy, 4- Beekeeping for rural development, 5- Apitherapy, 6- Pollination and 7- Beekeeping technology and quality.
Pegah’s research is focused on honey bee health and she had two presentations during the Apimondia congress both on this subject. Her oral presentation was titled as “A sever global alert on honey bee health: a recent unidentified devastating health phenomenon of honey bees of Iran”. This issue has been severely damaging the beekeeping of Iran in the last 2 years and yet no causing factor has been identified. In fact the main reason for Pegah going through all the hassle to attend the congress has been merely trying to continue the attempt to consult and possibly collaborate on investigating the cause with the best international scientists and experts in honey bee health. Her goal was well achieved as numerous conversations and discussions followed her talk during all the remaining days of the congress and now a good plan for a constructive collaboration has been shaped. This could be significantly important in aiming to save the beekeeping of Iran.
The second presentation of Pegah was a poster with the following title: “Breeding Varroa-resistant Iranian honey bee with the intention of country-wide distribution”. Her poster was also well attended and lots of scientific and practical comments on the subject were exchanged, which can improve the quality of the existing breeding program.
At the end of the congress, Pegah attended a one day technical tour, in which she visited several apiaries around 60 km east of Santiago. During her apiary visits, Pegah got the chance to learn about the general apiary managements and in specific the approaches in the field of honey bee health in beekeeping of Chile.
The overall outcome of Pegah attending the Apimondia Congress has been very promising for improving the health situation of the damaged beekeeping of Iran.
Public Relations and International Affairs Administration of ASRI
