Kathy Baylis, University of Illinois, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Economics, Heading Economics Portion of Program
“Bee Informed will open up the door to pest control methods for beekeepers. It will share information on what beekeepers in various regions are doing to control pests, and how well those controls are working. It will also let beekeepers compare the costs and benefits of alternative methods of pest control to decide what would work best for them.”
Joseph H. Connell, University of California Cooperative Extension, Oversight and Assisting Bee Informed Personnel with needs in Butte County, California
“What are you most looking forward to with the Bee Informed Project?”
“Helping to facilitate beekeepers and bee breeders success in producing strong colonies for pollination of crops in the United States by keeping them informed.”
“What honey bee attribute would you most like to have?”
“The ability to work collectively with many people to solve problems and to continually make progress.”
Keith S. Delaplane, University of Georgia, External Adviser and Liaison with the Managed Pollinator CAP
“A question about my photo for any culture watchers out there: Recognize the background? as in Famous Bands from Athens, GA.”
Susan Donohue, University of California Cooperative Extension, County Director; Oversight of Project in Butte and Surrounding Counties
“What is your favorite honey variety?”
“White honey”
Wayne Esaias, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Collaborator, honeybee.net
“My first reaction to Bee Informed was “Finally!” It has been needed for quite some time.”
“How many times have you been stung?”
“I have been keeping bees since 1992, and I have probably been stung about that many (1,992) times.”
Eugene J. Lengerich, Penn State University, Department of Public Health Sciences, Epidemiologist and Community-Based Researcher.
“Who is the most unusual team member?”
“I may be the most unusual team member because I am an epidemiologist. Epidemiologists, or disease detectives, are asked figure out the cause of outbreaks of humans disease. Rarely, do we get the chance to help figure out the cause of a problem that affect the foods available to us. This initiative could have important implications for human nutrition.”
Jeff Pettis, USDA/ARS, Beltsville, MD, Industry Expert, Area Wide Project Liaison, and Adviser
“The reason I am excited about this project is that it really does provide an opportunity to get real results back to beekeepers in a realistic time frame.”
Robyn Rose, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), National Program Manager for Honey Bee Health.
“The USDA APHIS is collaborating with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Pennsylvania State University on a national survey of honey bee pests and diseases. Data collected from this survey will contribute to the Bee Informed Partnership database in order to give geo temporal reference to beekeepers tested or self derived disease load information. “
John Skinner, University of Tennessee, Coordination with eXtension.org
“What is your favorite honey variety?”
Although I don’t have a “favorite honey variety” I enjoy blackberry, tulip poplar, basswood, black locust and a blend of sourwood and sumac.
“Who is the most unusual Bee Informed Partnership team member?”
Easily the most unusual Bee Informed Partnership member is Dennis. Why? Well, He asks the strangest questions, expects an answer in two nanoseconds, will not eat in the late evenings – even if starving, smiles and laughs even when in pain and most fun of all, you just never know what he is really thinking…
Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota, Tier 5 Bee Breeding Component
“My main role is to assist with disease and management monitoring of bee breeding operations in northern California (Tier 5 sampling). I have a long-term interest in helping bee breeders enhance their tried-and-true stocks of bees through selection for traits that increase resistance to bee diseases and parasitic mites. My goals are to encourage the production of stocks of bees in the U.S. that can defend themselves against diseases and parasites, while maintaining genetic diversity and reducing the use of chemical treatments in bee colonies. The Bee Informed project provides an amazing platform to work with bee breeders and to document change. “
“What will Bee Informed do for the beekeeping community?”
“Bee Informed will provide beekeepers with real, on-the-ground information about what works to keep bees alive and healthy and what does not work, region by region, sorted by size and scope of beekeeping operation. This project has the potential to revolutionize bee management by providing beekeepers easy access to trustworthy data.”
David R. Tarpy, North Carolina State University, Lead Molecular Analysis effort
“Bee Informed is going to be an excellent conduit of information for beekeepers to tap into so that they can better gauge the ever-changing landscape of modern apiculture.”
“What was your first reaction to Been Informed?”
‘Bout time!
“What is your favorite honey variety?”
Orange blossom, although being in NC I should say sourwood!
Dennis vanEngelsdorp, University of Maryland, Project Director
“The Bee Informed Partnership wasn’t really any one person’s idea. It was an idea that beekeepers, many beekeepers, had. As I traveled across the country sampling bees to try to find out what was killing them, beekeepers everywhere said that what they needed was a way to find out what other beekeepers did and which of those things worked. At first I didn’t think it was possible to put such a program together, but after taking a course in Epidemiology it became clear that there was a way – and in essence that’s how this whole thing got started.”
James T. Wilkes, Appalachian State University, Department of Computer Science, Information Technology Lead of Project
“How long have you been keeping bees?”
“I’ve been around bees my whole life. My father kept several stands in our backyard after purchasing his first package through mail order from Sears in 1964, the year before I was born. I started my own beekeeping in the year 2000 with three hives and now keep about fifty hives.”
