Krispn Given

BIO:

Krispn Given MS. is the Apiculture Specialist in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. He started keeping bees at the age of nine working with his father who introduced him to the world of honey bees, he purchased his fist car selling comb honey. Today he is recognized as one of the leading international authorities in the fields of instrumental insemination and honey bee breeding. Given started breeding bees 29 years ago conducting research with 100-300 colonies looking for solutions to improve honey bee health with the use of selective breeding paradigms. He maintains the honey bee breeding program at Purdue University, teaching annual queen rearing short courses in addition to managing the honey bee laboratory’s extension and student research activities. He teaches instrumental insemination classes each year attracting researchers and bee breeders worldwide wanting to learn the specialized technique. His current research is focused on identifying, selecting and enhancing honey bee stock that express increased levels of behavioral resistance to the varroa mite. Krispn was instrumental in pioneering work developing the “Indiana Mite-biter” (in collaboration with honey bee geneticist Greg Hunt) honey bee

strain, where they demonstrated bees that groom themselves free of mites also bite more mites when groomed off the adult bees. It is a heritable trait that is beneficial to beekeepers, resulting in less winter mortality. The primary mechanism of defense is the ability to groom themselves free of varroa mites and bite them. He was also involved in several research projects the last twenty years at Purdue, he is an author and co-author of numerous publications, books, including scientific and trade journal articles. His work led him to help design innovative instrumental insemination devises made in America. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work. In 2023 he received the prestigious Rodger A. Moorse Outstanding Teaching Extension Regulatory Award, which was established by the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America to recognize excellence in teaching and research. He is a past president of the Heartland Honey Bee Breeders Cooperative. https://apisengineering.com