Spring has come early to western Oregon and it means that monitoring and sampling of colonies in the newly established sentinel apiary is already underway. The sentinel apiary is located at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture (OCCUH) on the western edge of the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis. The location provides a diversity of forage including natural, agricultural and low density urban areas. The OCCUH apiary is maintained for research and teaching purposes as part of the OSU Honeybee Lab and Oregon Master Beekeeper program. The apiary consists of colonies in a…
Category: Results
The Colony Loss Map is Up and Running
The marriage between data collection and GIS just got a little sweeter for the bees and their keepers around the country. Years of Winter Loss data are now accessible through a masterfully created, interactive web map. It has been a long time coming. We are so excited to continue to provide beekeepers with the information they need to keep healthier bees. Click the map to check it out! This is only the beginning so stay tuned as we create and build upon data accessibility for everyone. Next year’s data will be added once the survey is complete. Sign up to take the surveys and you can add…
2013 – 2014 National Management Survey
The Bee Informed Partnership is proud to release the results of the fourth annual National Management Survey for years 2013 - 2014. The results from this survey represent 564,522 colonies, 21.7% of the country’s 2.6 million colonies*. The National Management Survey, conducted since 2010, takes an epidemiological approach to acquire a greater understanding of the effects of various colony management practices and their relationship with colony health. We compare the data of apiaries that suffered high colony losses with those that suffered low colony losses and search for patterns in management practices that lead to lower mortality rates.Over the years we have been able to work…
Feeding Protein
Bottom Line at the Top The BIP survey is a significant set of data having included participation of thousands of beekeepers and tens of thousands of colonies. Although the survey has not yet become refined enough to give us causative insight, it does spell out some bottom line results. My writing is my personal take on that data, not necessarily agreed to or approved by the BIP staff. Three years worth of protein feeding data shows that there is no statistically significant benefit. Feed your bees protein (with all the added expense and work that goes with that) or don't feed your bees protein, in…
Feeding Honeybees Honey May Increase Mortality
Bottom Line at the Top After reviewing the details of the BIP survey results for two years where feeding honeybees carbohydrates is concerned, some very surprising suggestions come to light. These results are statistically significant and come from sample sizes including thousands of beekeepers from all over the USA and tens of thousands of colonies. First, it doesn't matter what carbohydrates you choose to feed your honeybees, you are either not improving their chances of survival or you are damaging their chances of survival. Those who do not feed are achieving as good or better survival rates. There is one important exception. In every case,…
Colony Loss 2013-2014
Preliminary Results: Honey Bee Colony Losses in the United States, 2013-2014 May 6, 2014 Dennis vanEngelsdorp1*, Nathalie Steinhauer1, Karen Rennich1, Michael Wilson2, Kathy Baylis3, Dewey M. Caron4, Keith S. Delaplane5, Jamie Ellis6, Kathleen Lee7, Eugene J. Lengerich8, Jeff Pettis9, Robyn Rose10, Ramesh Sagili4, John Skinner2, Angela M. Spleen8, David R. Tarpy11, Dominic Travis7, James T. Wilkes12 for the Bee Informed Partnership. Note: This is a preliminary analysis. A more detailed final report is being prepared for publication at a later date. The Bee Informed Partnership (http://beeinformed.org), in collaboration with the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is releasing…
Colony Loss Survey 2012 – 2013
A national survey of managed honey bee 2012-2013 annual colony losses in the USA: results from the Bee Informed Partnership Abstract: For the past six years in which overwintering mortality of honey bee colonies has been surveyed in the USA, estimates of colony loss have fluctuated around one-third of the national population. Here we report on the losses for the 2012-2013 seasons. We collected data from 6,482 US beekeepers (6,114 backyard, 233 sideline, and 135 commercial beekeepers) to document overwintering mortality rates of honey bee colonies for the USA. Responding beekeepers reported a total 30.6% (95% CI: 30.16-31.13%) loss of US colonies over the winter,…
Beekeeper Reports
It’s incredible how fast time can pass when you are enthralled in something new and exciting. I have been in California for more than a year and it seems like yesterday that I was standing in my parent’s driveway saying good bye to my mom, dad, and brothers as Rob and I loaded up his car for our move out west. A lot has happened in a year and making the move to the west coast has been one of the most eye opening experiences of my life. It’s been challenging, rewarding, frustrating, and fun but most importantly it’s given me the opportunity to grow…
APHIS US Honey Bee Pest and Disease Survey 2010/2011 Survey Report
The APHIS 2010/2011 Honey Bee Pest and Disease Survey report
Winter Loss Survey 2008 – 2009
A survey of honey bee colony losses in the United States, fall 2008 to spring 2009 Published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, this survey found that an estimated 29% of all US colonies died over the winter of 2008-2009. vanEngelsdorp, D., J. Hayes Jr, R. M. Underwood, and J. S. Pettis. 2010. A survey of honey bee colony losses in the United States, fall 2008 to spring 2009. Journal of Apicultural Research. 49: 7 -14.