Our Mission
Bee Informed Partnership Inc (BIP) is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization using science-based, data-driven approaches to improve the health and long-term sustainability of honey bees (Apis mellifera), other plant pollinators and the ecosystems upon which they depend.
The Bee Informed Partnership is dedicated to working with beekeepers to improve colony health and increase colony survivorship. We provide relevant, timely data that helps beekeepers make informed management decisions. Beekeepers of all sides of the industry, from large scale to small scale benefit from our work.
We gather survey data from thousands of beekeepers every year and collect more than 10,000 field samples each season to understand how different management practices, forage, pests, diseases, nutrition and other environmental factors affect honey bee health. These findings are then reported back to you. We provide educational resources and information to the public and beekeepers on the importance of honey bees for our food supply and issues impacting honey bee health. You can browse our data by visiting our popular Research Portal.
You can read more about the services we provide, such as our our diagnostic test kits or planning and conducting of large field trials. Head over to our Blog where you’ll read the latest reports from our Tech Team specialists, our diagnostic lab and our IT team. Find out how you can contribute to citizen science through Sentinel and other programs.
Our organization is built on a coalition of researchers, advisors, and stakeholders from various sides of the industry that rely on honey bees for pollination and honey production. We collaborate with both domestic and international initiatives to make the greatest impact and to work with our partners across the globe. We are a 501(c)(3) non profit, The Bee Informed Partnership, Inc.SM
Recent Posts
Field Testing the Benefits of Probiotic Supplementation in Real World Commercial Beekeeping Operations
In light of the rise in probiotic supplementation's popularity among beekeepers, the California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) awarded Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) funding to test the colony health benefits of probiotic supplementation in commercial beekeeping operations. To do so, we tested two commercially available probiotic products: SuperDFM, manufactured by Strong Microbials, and Mann Lake's ProDFM.…
Sentinel Apiary Program 2020 Wrap-Up and 2021 Sign-Up
Happy New Year! The beginning of 2021 marks the end of the Sentinel Apiary Program's sixth successful year—and the beginning of an exciting new one. In 2020, beekeepers with 76 apiaries representing 394 colonies participated in the Sentinel Program. The University of Maryland lab processed almost 2,000 Sentinel samples over the season to monitor Varroa…
The Bee Informed Partnership Field Specialists' Report on 2020 Commercial Beekeeping Trends
The Bee Informed Partnership's Tech Transfer Team offers a honey bee colony health monitoring program tailored to meet the specific needs facing commercial beekeepers. The Tech Transfer Team program's Field Specialists follow commercial beekeeping operations during their yearly migrations across the country, to provide pollination services and producing honey (Figure 1). Field Specialists perform colony…
Explore Our Data
Explore our research data portal, a platform for publishing useful tools that are open and free to beekeepers, researchers and the public to use.
Our dynamic maps include:
- Sentinel Apiary: Varroa and Nosema
- Loss and Management: Colony Losses
- MiteCheck: Self-reported mite levels
- Hive Monitors: Colony weight, temperature, and humidity
- APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey: Varroa, Nosema, and molecular viral results
This is also the home of our popular National Management tool. Come explore our data.