Arboreal Apiculture Salon #48
Five Years of Listening: What the Bees at Galbreath Are Teaching Us
We are delighted to invite you to our next Salon, where we will share the results of five years of ecological monitoring at Galbreath Wildlands Preserve, one of the most sustained observations of honeybee colonies living as part of a wild landscape anywhere in the US.
Michael Thiele, founder of Apis Arborea, will be joined by Dr. Benjamin Rutschmann, visiting from Germany, to walk us through what this long-term work has revealed. Among the findings: colony lifespans and survival rates that challenge prevailing assumptions about what honeybees are capable of when they live on their own terms, as well as insights into natural colony densities. We will explore what the free-living population at Galbreath is teaching us about the resilience of the wild, and how these colonies serve as a compass point for innovative models of apiculture that draw on biomimicry and integrate evolutionary processes.
This is a conversation at the edge of science and wonder, and we hope you will join us.
About Dr. Benjamin Rutschmann
Benjamin Rutschmann is a honeybee researcher and ecologist whose work centers on wild-living colonies, their nesting sites, and the forage resources that sustain them. He received his PhD from the University of Würzburg in 2022. Together with Patrick Kohl, he published the first systematic survey of wild-living honeybee colonies in Europe, confirming that self-sustaining populations still exist in Central European forests. He has since studied colony life histories and survival across Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, and has contributed to research projects spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America. Most recently, he co-authored a framework for assessing wild Apis mellifera populations that helped inform their classification as an Endangered taxon on the IUCN Red List in the EU.
About Michael Thiele
Michael Thiele is the founder and Executive Director of Apis Arborea, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring wild, free-living honeybee populations and their ecological relationships. His work integrates field research, habitat restoration, and education to support resilient pollinator communities, with a focus on biomimicry, low-density systems, and evolutionary processes. Michael’s approach bridges science and the humanities, exploring how humans can participate more responsibly within living systems. He is currently leading Apis Arborea’s 7-year field study on wild honeybee populations at Galbreath Wildlands Preserve, which will be the focus of this Salon. Michael is also a co-founder of the Arboreal Apiculture Salon.
Co-hosted by Cheyanna Bone, Jonathan Powell (Natural Beekeeping Trust), and Michael Joshin Thiele (Apis Arborea).
The Salon is a free event, serving communities around the globe. If you would like more info or have a suggestion for a topic/ speaker, please send an email.
