Honey bee scientist Esmaeil Amiri has stopped counting his stings. The assistant research and extension professor at Mississippi State University’s Delta Research and Extension Center studies honey bee health, and 25 years in the field have taught him to take the pain in stride.

What he doesn’t take lightly is protecting his team at the Center for Pollinator Health in Stoneville.

“We have an epi-pen nearby always and all the protective gear, but sometimes bees are sneaky and find a way to get in,” he said.

Aggression in honey bees can depend on the species, the hives’ temperament and even off-target pesticides, but Amiri said it also can depend on the season.

“When pollen and nectar are available, they are calm because they are busy doing their jobs,” he said.

Honey bee research wasn’t part of Amiri’s original plan. He grew up in Iran in a family that raised goats and sheep. He began studying animal science as an undergraduate. However, a visit with a friend’s father, who was a beekeeper, changed the trajectory of his life and ultimately shaped his career.

“I fell in love with bees after just a few visits,” Amiri said.

He started with 50 colonies and eventually expanded to about 300, reading all he could on the topic and being mentored by his friend’s father. Unsure of his next step, he was accepted into a multi-country agribusiness scholarship program where he earned a master’s degree in animal breeding and genetics from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Sweden, and Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Germany.

He completed a Ph.D. in agroecology from Aarhus University in Denmark and later worked in honey bee health research at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Amiri joined MSU during the COVID pandemic, drawn to a rural setting reminiscent of his upbringing and his time in Denmark.

“I enjoy it because you can easily get to the farm, check your colonies, collect samples, bring them to the lab and analyze them,” he said.

Today, Amiri is a scientist with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and a specialist with the MSU Extension Service, advancing research in pollinator health and extending that knowledge to beekeepers throughout the state. He also is a professor in the Department of Agricultural Science and Plant Protection.

At the Delta station, he began the Center for Pollinator Health, a collaborative lab between USDA and MSU researchers, created a research apiary and with the help of local gardeners, established an educational apiary garden. Most rewarding has been time spent working with young researchers new to the lab.

“I am very happy to be part of the Delta Research and Extension Center community, surrounded by supportive colleagues who help me feel at home,” he said. “I love to mentor the next generation of scientists, seeing them improve day to day intellectually and practically. I think the true joy will be seeing them all successful in their own professional careers.”

Relationships with the state’s beekeepers are another advantage, Amiri said.

“We connect several times a year and keep in touch,” he said. “They raise questions or tell us their problems. That determines what research we need to do to help them. When I make them happy and solve their problems, that’s what I enjoy most.”