Bee Research Crisis: INRAE Shuts Down Key Experimentation Unit

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Amid discussions on the Duplomb law, the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment Research (Inrae) has made the controversial decision to shut down an experimental bee unit. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) criticized the move as a “lack of vision,” while the management maintains it aims to strengthen research on pollinators.

### Controversial Closure Amidst Pesticide Legislation Debate

As the Duplomb law reignites debates over pesticide use, the closure of this experimental unit has raised eyebrows. This summer, the Director-General of Inrae reaffirmed the decision to discontinue the Apis unit (Bees, Landscapes, Interactions, and Cropping Systems). This decision has been labeled as “incoherent and completely anachronistic” by the affected staff. Marie-Hélène Ogliastro, head of the department overseeing the unit, insists, “We are not abandoning bee research.”

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To understand the implications, one must delve into Inrae’s complex organizational structure. The institute employs over 5,500 researchers and engineers, as well as about 3,000 technicians who conduct experiments in collaboration with scientists, often within specialized labs. Since 2003, the Apis experimental unit has been conducting research on the health of the domestic bee.

A team of about ten individuals—including beekeepers, pollen specialists, and botanists—conducted experiments leveraging 200 bee colonies across two hectares at the Magneraud site in Charente-Maritime. “For more than twenty years, they have been deeply involved in developing methods for assessing pesticide toxicity,” explains Axel Decourtye, Director General of the Itsap-Institute of the Bee, an independent research institute governed by professional beekeepers.

### Advanced Research Amidst Challenges

The unit has been at the forefront of understanding the harmful potential of neonicotinoids on pollinators. “The individual skills of the Apis unit staff are undeniable,” acknowledged Marie-Hélène Ogliastro in a March 2024 note obtained by Decatur Metro. However, around the 2020s, “the situation deteriorated,” according to Dominique Simonneau, a CGT staff representative at the Magneraud site. “There were interpersonal conflicts, leading to departures that were not replaced. In 2023, our supervising department requested that the unit no longer engage in new research projects, leaving colleagues without experiments to conduct.” This led to a strong sense of abandonment: “It seemed there was an intention to let the unit slowly die.”

This feeling persisted until the announcement in June 2024 of the unit’s impending closure, which, according to Inrae CEO Philippe Mauguin’s July 2024 letter to employees, was because “the skills no longer sufficiently met the experimental needs of research units.” Dominique Simonneau finds this “completely incomprehensible,” believing “the unit still has a future.”

### Future Research Directions and Concerns

Research areas such as the effects of pesticides, adaptation to climate change, and genetic selection abound, especially since the experimental apiary is surrounded by large-scale crops that are both beneficial for significant honey production (such as rapeseed and sunflower) and are treated with chemicals. “We hope this closure does not foreshadow a future disengagement from research on honey bees and apiculture,” worries Axel Decourtye.

From the management’s perspective, there’s a different story: a decision to refocus efforts in Avignon, where the “historic” research unit on the striped insect is located. “Almost all researchers in our department working on this topic are based there,” insists Marie-Hélène Ogliastro. “Most of the tests conducted by Apis are also done in Avignon.”

She also highlights a “significant recruitment effort” of six researchers in the past four years to study pollinators. “We are not abandoning the topic; on the contrary, we are strengthening our research capabilities and have chosen to concentrate resources, both human and material, in one location for greater research efficiency and dynamism.”

This decision, however, sidelines beekeeping technicians who have settled on the Atlantic coast and are reluctant to relocate to Vaucluse. The management has set a timeline until 2027 to “facilitate” the closure of Apis.

### Broader Context of Austerity in Public Research

The decision arises amid a backdrop of austerity measures in public research. Inrae’s budget, largely consisting of a nearly static state subsidy despite inflation, forces the institute, like other research bodies, to tighten its belt. Technicians, according to union figures, are the first to suffer, witnessing a gradual reduction in their numbers. “This ability to conduct experiments in real conditions—especially in experimental units—is a ‘jewel’ we are gradually losing,” laments a CGT-affiliated researcher.

For Marie-Hélène Ogliastro, “Our scientific strategies require us to continuously prioritize our needs, especially in a tight budgetary context.” Sustaining the Apis unit would have required significant recruitment. “It’s an enhancement that was not sustainable given our other research needs,” she concludes.

The CGT recently expressed that this is a “scientific, institutional, and human waste,” criticizing a “lack of vision.” “The management does not realize the expertise we are losing, which colleagues took years to acquire and deploy,” laments Dominique Simonneau. “We may regret this closure in a few years… but then it will be too late.”