Happy World Bee Day! It is always great to have an excuse to celebrate all species of bees around the world.
We also take pride in supporting and celebrating bee scientists, beekeepers and bee enthusiasts who approach the Eva Crane Trust with their novel and exciting projects to help support the world’s bee populations. See our Grant Portfolio page for the latest updates on projects.
The first round of grant applications for 2026 closed in March, and we were impressed by both the volume and quality of submissions received. Inevitably, financial constraints meant we could not support as many projects as we would have liked. Nevertheless, nearly £120,000 has been committed to fund the following six projects:
Dr Gregorio Fernandez de Landa, University of Bologna, Italy - BUMBLEbees nutritional uPgrades for toLerance Against plant protectioN products (BUMBLE-PLAN)
Dr Paul O'Toole, University College Cork, Ireland - Testing the effects of plant biodiversity and pollen availability on honeybee gut microbiome and colony health in agricultural areas.
Dr Axel Brockmann, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India - Mapping Apis dorsata colony migration in the southern Western Ghats of India.
Dr Ana Diéguez Antón, University of Vigo, Spain - Adaptive Defence: Evolution of natural anti-predator behaviour in Iberian honey bees facing the yellow-legged hornet (AD-Iberian honeybees)
Dr Darren O'Connell, University College Dublin, Ireland - Gut Feelings: Microbiota, Varroa and the Hidden Drivers of Honey Bee Health
Dr Emilia A Moreno Coellar, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina - Quito, Home of Native Bees: AI-enhanced citizen science to map and conserve urban bee diversity in the Tropical Andes.
Sharing knowledge has always been central to the Trust’s ethos. Alongside our support for the EurBee conference in Bologna, Italy (7–10 September 2026), we are also pleased to extend our support to:
SOLATINA -the VII Meeting being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 27 – 30 August 2026
COLOSS – the 22nd COLOSS Conference in Bologna, Italy, 6 – 7 September 2026.
The next round of submission will open on 4th August. The strict deadline to submit your application is 15 September 2026. Note that in this call awards are capped at a maximum of £5,000.
Please refer to our Criteria and Guidelines page for more information. We have also provided more specific criteria for each type of application to ensure your proposal fits with the Trust’s grant fiving conditions.
In the meantime – enjoy the bees wherever you are!
