It is hot, oppressively hot. At this time of year in Maryland, no one wants to work in the colonies and the bees don’t really want you in there either – they make that perfectly clear. Most beekeepers have extracted some honey by now and may have a stockpile of wax lying about. It is on these hot sunny days that solar wax melting season begins at our home. My background and training is in engineering so I’m not likely to go out and buy a solar wax melter – I’d rather reuse something I have and make it work with very little work from…
Author: Karen Rennich
I am the Executive Director of the Bee Informed Partnership and the Project Manager of the UMD Honey Bee Research Lab. I am fortunate to work closely with all members of our team and other organizations throughout the U.S. and I get to tackle everything from data analysis to field work and all jobs in between to keep our goals in sight and moving toward our milestones. I have a B.S. in ocean engineering from Purdue University and an M.S. in ocean engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. I designed and worked on large, underwater Navy sensor systems when I was employed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory for 14 years. I have been a beekeeper for 12 years and manage 10 colonies at home. Seeing the Bee Informed Partnership evolve from paper to reality is exciting and inspiring.
Coming soon – BIP Hive Scales
We have been working for over a year to develop a BIP hive scale that will enable beekeepers and beekeeping clubs to gather and use data from their own hives to follow nectar flows, honey production, swarm alerts, theft alerts and other valuable data about what is happening within their own colony. Having these data are helpful in making timely and educated management decisions. Owning a BIP scale will also enable beekeepers to become plugged into a national network of hive scales and receive live feedback about what is happening in their region as well as around the country. Being part of this project makes…
Survey Time: An Appeal to Our Greater Good
For a great many of us, it is as easy to slip into apathy as it is to succumb to eating our children’s Easter candy – especially the chocolate peanut butter cups. We sometime remove ourselves from involvement and responsibility of the larger social structure because, well, we think someone else will take care of what needs doing; however, this cannot be the case now. It is survey time at the Bee Informed Partnership and that means involvement FROM EACH AND EVERY BEEKEEPER. Whether you manage 1 hive or 10,000 hives, we want to hear from you. I’m making it easy on you. Here is…
Teamwork
The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake. The five most important words: You did a good job. The four most important words: What is YOUR opinion? The three most important words: If you please. The two most important words: Thank You. The one most important word: We. The least important word: I. –Unknown Our team works in a previously unoccupied basement room. In a previous life, it used to be filled with boxes holding old alcohol sample bottles. Various insects had taken up residence with the absence of people, the flooring tiles were coming up and the sink drain had…
2010/2011 US Honey Bee Pest and Disease Survey Results
Several of us on the Bee Informed Partnership team also work on the USDA/APHIS US Honey Bee and Pest Disease survey and have been part of this work since it started in 2009 with 3 states (HI, CA and FL). It grew to 13 states last year and we have welcomed 33 states this year. The results of our 2010/2011 Survey have just been released (2010/2011 US Honey Bee Pest and Disease Report). We are proud of the most comprehensive honey bee health survey to date and thank all the beekeepers in the 13 states who participated. Over 2,700 hives from the 13 states…
Bee Informed Partnership Press Release!
Today began much like any other day; a cup of coffee while answering emails before settling into the real tasks of the day. Many of us have been working on this project as a small team for over 3 months. In anticipation of NIFA announcing our 5 year grant, our work has been infused with a sense of urgency and enthusiasm. After much waiting (and to be honest, wagers on the side as to when the announcement would take place), the press release was made at 1 p.m. EST today. We can finally unite all the team members as a whole and forge on as…
Overwhelming Participation!
Late-breaking news for supporters of The Bee Informed Partnership – as of Sunday night, we have had over 4,000 participants in the Winter Loss Survey and almost 2,500 participants in the Beekeeper Management Survey! This has exceeded our expectations and we hope to keep those surveys coming. We know that it is a tough decision whether to do your taxes first or take our surveys, but we aren’t asking for any money so perhaps that will sway your decision. Please remember that the surveys are only open for 1 more week (closing on the same day that taxes are due – April 18th). Thank you…