Kirsten Traynor

Director of the State Institute for Bee Research, University of Hohenheim

Dr. Kirsten S. Traynor is a honey bee biologist, who investigates how pesticides and varroa impact social behavior in honey bees. In January 2020 she launched a new quarterly magazine 2 Million Blossoms: protect our pollinators. The 100+ page print magazine is designed to inspire, inform and entertain. How did she end up so wild about pollinators?

In 2006-2007, Kirsten received a German Chancellor Fellowship. During that time she drove over 50,000 miles throughout Western Europe to study the differences between European & American beekeeping. Fascinated with the social complexity of a honey bee hive, she returned to school and earned her PhD in biology with Dr. Robert Page. While a grad student, she spent almost a year in Avignon, France in the lab of Dr. Yves Le Conte as a Fulbright Fellow.

She’s the former editor of Bee World and American Bee Journal, the author of Two Million Blossoms: Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey and Simple, Smart Beekeeping. She previously managed a small apiary producing top quality nucs and Maryland reared queens, but has taken a break from running her own bees to focus on her new magazine.