Apifresh is a European project funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Program. It started on 1 July 2010 and it will last three years. The project is developed by a Consortium set up by partners from different European Countries. It is formed by four Industrial Associations, three SMEs and three research centres. Apifresh project has come out in several media: La Rioja Government newsletter IST-WORLD Madrimasd (Science and Research News from Spain) Magazize O Apicultor Computers and Electronics in Agriculture Micron The partners The coordinator is the research centre Tecnologías Avanzadas Inspiralia. The Industrial Associations are: European Professional Beekeepers Association; Orszagos Magyar Meheszeti Egyesulet; Federecao Nacional dos Apicultores de Portugal and Centro Tecnológico Nacional de la Conserva y Alimentación. The three SMEs are: Campomiel from Spain; Balparmak from Turkey and Parco Tecnologico Padano from Italy. The research centres are Tecnologías Avanzadas Inspiralia (coordinator); Centro Agrícola Regional de Marchamalo, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and TÜBITAK MAM, Gida Enstitüsü. Objectives The objective of the Apifresh project is to provide European beekeepers with the scientific and technological aids necessary to improve the quality of European pollen and royal jelly and also to promote the regulatory means that will allow European bee products compete under fair conditions against lower quality or adulterated products. These core objectives will be realised by means of the following achievements: The development of a quality standard aimed at protecting European pollen and royal jelly products against adulteration and contamination induced by environmental and bee-treatment toxic components The development of the knowledge and technological aids necessary to enforce compliance with the proposed standard, including: Definition of the analytical methods necessary to determine sensory properties, bacterial load, water content, chemical composition, and presence of pesticides and heavy metals. Determination of bee-product authenticity and unambiguous origin identification by means of PCR techniques Determination of the health enhancing compounds present in bee products. Development of a set of best practice guidelines for beekeep Development of a low-cost computer vision based decision support system for the identification of pollen vegetal species, relative proportions and geographical origin. The development of best practice guidelines aimed at improving the quality of pollen and royal jelly products in all phases of the production chain: harvesting, collecting, storage, transportation and presentation at the point of sale. Need The competitiveness of the European beekeeping sector is progressively falling as a consequence of decreased bee populations and abrupt snatching of