This event is a virtual event, hosted on Zoom with a live stream to YouTube.

CABK members and Non-members are welcome to attend.

Registration for this event is open, please follow the link below or, on the night, view from the CABK YouTube Channel (Arrow icon, top right of this page)

Dr Mark Barnett

Matthew Richardson

Dr David Wragg

Mark Barnett, Matthew Richardson & David Wragg, the co-founders of the Community Interest Company (CIC) named Beebytes Analytics, will talk about the research that led to this opportunity at the Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh), the way the CIC was established and the R&D that should lead to a honey bee genotyping service for UK beekeepers.

Based at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Innovation Centre, the CIC will initially be providing genetic services testing for introgression of C-lineage in M-lineage honey bees (analysis of the amount of DNA from Carniolan and Italian honey bees present in dark honey bees).

Dr Mark Barnett is a Scottish Expert Beemaster and honey bee research scientist.  In 2019, he was awarded the “Inspiring Public Engagement Activity Award” by the Roslin Institute. He manages the apiary at the Easter Bush Campus of the University of Edinburgh and is the President of Edinburgh and Midlothian Beekeepers Association.  He is responsible for the Scottish Beekeepers Association Microscopy Certificate, Intermediate and Advanced Practical exams.

Matthew Richardson is the manager of the University of Edinburgh Apiary Project at the Science and Engineering campus, which supports research and teaching work related to bees and beekeeping. He is the Science and Health Officer on the board of the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association, and has a strong theoretical and practical background in beekeeping, having qualified as a Scottish Expert Beemaster.  His background is in software engineering, with particular focus on ‘big data’ management and analysis, as well as application and website design.

Dr David Wragg is a research scientist at the Roslin Institute with expertise in statistical genetics and bioinformatics. Prior to joining the Roslin Institute he was based at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, leading the analyses on a project to characterise honeybee population genetics throughout France. He has authored a number of scientific articles on various livestock species including honeybees. The breadth of this research includes characterising population genetic structure and admixture, identifying genetic associations for traits under selection, environmental adaptation, modeling gene-gene interactions and differences in gene expression in response to genotype and stimuli.