Note: This is a preliminary analysis. Sample sizes and estimates are likely to change. A more detailed final report is being prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date. Download .pdf version here Dan Aurell1, Selina Bruckner1, Mikayla Wilson2, 3, Nathalie Steinhauer2, 3, *, Geoffrey Williams1, * 1Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA 2Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA 3Bee Informed Partnership, College Park, MD, USA *Joint last authors Corresponding Authors: nsteinha@umd.edu (NS) & williams@auburn.edu (GW) The Bee Informed Partnership (http://beeinformed.org) is a non-profit organization that works alongside beekeepers to improve honey bee…
Author: The Bee Informed Team
The Bee Informed Partnership is a collaboration of efforts across the country from some of the leading research labs and universities in agriculture and science to better understand honey bee declines in the United States. Supported by the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, we’re working with beekeepers to better understand how we can keep healthier bees.
The key to our success is the true partnership we maintain across a wide range of disciplines including traditional honey bee science, economics, statistics, and medical research that makes all these tools available to this important research. And just as important as the tools are the people. We not only have the leading researchers in the honey bee industry, we also have advisory boards from the commercial beekeeping industries, almond and other commercial growers, as well as naturalists and conservationists from across the country.
Join The 2022 Mite-A-Thon!
Varroa destructor (Varroa), and the viruses it vectors is a significant driver of honey bee colony mortality. Yet, indicators suggest that many beekeepers are not monitoring honey bee colony Varroa infestations and therefore aren’t able to connect infestation to colony loss. Varroa are ectoparasites that breed in the cells of developing honey bees, feeding on bees and transmitting several harmful viruses as they do so. Though it is encouraging to see awareness of these formidable foes growing on all sides of the beekeeping community, it is worrying that recent research results show signs of increasing acaricide resistance in Varroa, and rising virulence of Varroa-vectored viruses.…
One More Week To Complete The Survey!
If you have already taken the 2022 Loss and Management Survey, THANK YOU! Please consider sharing this with all the beekeepers in your life! If you haven't, please take a few moments to take the survey now! TAKE THE SURVEY You’ve heard a lot from us in the last couple of weeks. Thank you for your … patience? In this final week, we thought we would take a step back and let some other folks do the talking. We’re very thankful for the help and support we’re receiving from the whole community. Thank you all, and we’ll be in touch around June to share the…
Sentinel Signup Now Ending May 1st – Register Now!
That's right! It is your last chance to register for Bee Informed Partnership's Sentinel Apiary Program and be a part of the exciting 2022 season! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! The Sentinel Apiary Program is a citizen-science program designed to help beekeepers become better at inspecting colonies, keeping better records, and making timely, data-driven management decisions. Sentinel participants receive educational resources and materials needed to inspect and sample their colonies. They also gain access to a number of online tools, instructional videos, a live webinar series, and more! We’ve also made a number of exciting changes to the program this year, which includes pesticide testing…
Add Your Data Point To The Map: Take The BIP Survey!
Written By Dan Aurell, Selina Bruckner, Geoff Williams, and Nathalie Steinhauer You may have heard the statement “all beekeeping is local”. This means that, depending on where you keep bees, your beekeeping actions for a particular month could be drastically different than what is appropriate for beekeepers located elsewhere! During April, some beekeepers might be busy with tasks like installing packages and raising queens, while others might be using the mild days to crack lids on their colonies even while there’s snow on the ground. Regardless of what other tasks you are trying to accomplish this April, we hope you will find time to fill…
Join us for a new season of Survey!
The 2021-2022 Annual Loss and Management Survey is live on April 1st. New season, new survey! Our team is so excited to share with you our brand new survey. The survey is open from April 1 to April 30, 2022. Take the Survey Here! The Loss and Management Survey is a national effort that tracks long-term trends of U.S. honey bee colony health. The survey’s main objective is to monitor colony loss rates that beekeepers experience each year, the management actions that beekeepers take, and to compare these losses and practices among all types of beekeeping operations − from backyard hobbyists managing fewer than 50…
Working Honey Bees in Hawai’i
Working bees in November in Hawai’i? YES, PLEASE! BIP Tech Team Field Specialist Ben Sallmann and I pounced on the opportunity to leave Minnesota and Michigan's dreary November weather. We tackled all of the logistical challenges and hopped on a plane to Hawai'i to conduct fieldwork for the state's contribution to the National Honey Bee Disease Survey (NHBS) . National Honey Bee Disease Survey The National Honey Bee Disease Survey (NHBS) is a federally-funded, nationwide, annual honey bee survey. This survey has been conducted since 2010 and is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and…
Sentinel Apiary Program 2021 Wrap-Up and 2022 Sign-Up
Authors: Rachel Kuipers, Jeri Parrent & Nathalie Steinhauer Here at Bee Informed Partnership, we are excited to announce that registration for the 2022 Sentinel Program is open now through the end of April! Don't delay - register today by completing the quick and easy online registration form here. This past season, there were 92 Sentinel participants who sampled over 500 colonies across 129 unique locations. The University of Maryland Honey Bee Lab processed 2,312 samples from Sentinel colonies throughout the season. That’s a lot of samples—a record for the program! We also reached eight of the nine NOAA climatic regions, as well as the non-continental…
Highlights From The 2021 California State Beekeepers Association Annual Convention
This November, several BIP team members headed to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, to attend the California State Beekeepers Association Annual Convention. The convention site was right next to the beach, the weather was perfect, and beekeepers were primed for an amazing in-person meeting, after having to go a year without due to 2020 COVID-19 restrictions. For Anne Marie, Matt and Rob it was really good to visit with so many California BIP member beekeepers, and to meet a few new beekeepers too. We especially enjoyed talking shop – in the hallways at the convention by day, and in the evenings over a drink, under a…
BIP’s 2nd Annual Virtual Auction Happening Now!
Here at Bee Informed Partnership, we are often asked what people can do to help us make a positive impact on honey bees. Well, here is the perfect way for you to support our efforts to improve honey bee health and take home some great gifts to boot at BIP’s 2nd Annual Virtual Auction happening now! Until November 8th, 2021, you can bid on one or more of over 80 auction items and services that have been generously donated by the beekeeping industry and other friends of BIP. This includes a variety of beautiful, handcrafted items, such as encaustic paintings, bags, jewelry and gift boxes.…