Price: $28.00

Authors: Gudrun and Nikolaus Koeniger
Ideal for: Beekeepers, Bee Breeders, Queen Producers, Bee Taxonomists, German Historians
Publisher: Wicwas Press
Binding: Perfect Bound
Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 inches

Weight: 0.552 lb (250.38 g)
ISBN: 978-1-878075-66-6

Description:

Husband and wives working together and independently in the same research area and still stay married are a rarity. Two famous such couples are Marie and Louis Pasteur and Madam and Pierre Curie. “The Bee Researchers”, Dr. Gudrun and Professor Nikolaus Koeniger are one such couple. Without doubt the most productive and famous bee research couple in the world, they both are well-known in their own speciality.

Gudrun is noted for her work on mating biology of the honey bees and Niko for his work on honey bees of Southeast Asia. Together and individually they have published hundreds of scientific papers and several books. “The Bee Researchers” is a love story of a woman who changes her career directions all for love of a man who loved bee research and discovers herself a love of bee research.

“The Bee Researchers” is a saga of their research, travels, and people that have contributed in the development of their careers. They share with the reader the difficulties of raising a family in a two-career family as told in their own words. Their story begins with both their early exposure to honey bees as children and by their incredible good fortune in being the only two students in the science curriculum that were allowed to begin their studies in the Fall of 1963. Thus began the start of their working cooperatively. The authors share their story of a hasty marriage, life in a war-torn Germany and the sociological after-effects of the Second World War. As beginning researchers and beekeepers they share their lessons learned from their mistakes. Included in their story are also their adventures of traveling on a motorcycle and anecdotes of people they encounter in their travels.

“The Bee Researchers” is a glimpse into the lives and research of the first 16 of 60 years of an ongoing research career of the Koenigers. As late as 2025 Gudrun and Niko participated in a exploratory trip to Malta to determine the presence of Apis florea.

—Hachiro Shimanuki, Retired USDA Honey Bee Researcher

This is an autobiography of two world-class bee researchers who were born in Germany during World War II and went on to become experts in honey bee mating biology and biology of the five major species of Apis.