Antúnez Claustre, Karina

Research interests

Our main goal is to study the impact of different stressors on bee health and colony losses. At the same time, we aim to develop strategies to improve their health.

To achieve this general objective, we are working on various research lines:
- Monitoring honey bee colony losses in Latin America.
- Studying pests and pathogens affecting bees.
- Assessing the impact of pesticides on bee health.
- Developing probiotics to improve bee health.
- Exploring propolis as a strategy to enhance honey bee health.
- Improving nutrition as a strategy to enhance honey bee health.

Working area

A significant portion of the food we consume daily depends on, or benefits from, animal pollination. Pollination enables the reproduction of numerous plant species, directly contributing to the quantity and quality of the fruits produced. Among the main pollinators are bees, particularly honey bees.
In addition to their role in food production, honey bees are highly valued for the diverse products they generate, such as honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, and apitoxin. Beekeeping has gained great importance in Uruguay’s agro-export sector, with 3,000 beekeepers and 640,000 hives.
In recent decades, honey bee colony losses have been reported worldwide, along with a decline in native bee populations. Our main interest is to understand the causes of these colony losses and to develop strategies to improve bee health.