Greetings Beekeeper! The 13th annual Bee Informed Partnership National Colony Loss & Management Survey is LIVE! In fact, it’s been live for 11 days already! If you have submitted your answers – thank you, thank you, thank you. You are one of over 2,000 beekeepers that have done so! If you have not, we are patiently waiting for you ;) Remember, you only have until April 30th to participate. The current number of survey respondents is tracking previous years. But like previous ones, we are reaching a little plateau in respondents now that we are over one week in. That’s the signal that we need to…
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.
SURVEY FAQs – Tips and Tricks to answering the Bee Informed Partnership’s National Colony Loss and Management Survey
Not even a week has passed since this year’s Colony Loss and Management survey went LIVE! As of this morning (4/5/2019), more than 1,200 beekeepers have already entered their information. WOW! Thank you for your time and continued support! So far your response rate is tracking previous years, but of course, we want to beat last year’s numbers! So please, spread word about our survey far and wide so that we can go above and beyond 6,000 responses! Thankfully you are extremely keen on helping us to better understand your bees; why else would beekeepers submit to us many excellent questions during the survey period?…
NOW LIVE! The 2018-2019 Colony Loss and Management Survey!
Good morning America! It’s beautiful outside! The birds are chirping and the bees are flying! You may even notice a few flowers outside too! Here in the South, our many azaleas are in full bloom! This means Spring is upon us! And of course, Spring means one thing: it’s time to take the Bee Informed Partnership’s annual Colony Loss and Management Survey! It’s easy! One click and you are in, ready to take the survey and to serve our nation’s beekeeping industry: TAKE THE SURVEY TODAY! The information that you provide will be invaluable to our understanding of honey bee health around the country. As…
Preliminary results: 2017-2018 Total and Average Honey Bee Colony Losses by State and the District of Columbia
By now, we hope that you have taken time to reflect on this past year’s honey bee colony losses – both your own losses, as well as those experienced by beekeepers across the nation. In case you missed it, you can view our official preliminary results abstract here: https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/2017-2018-Abstract.pdf We fared worse this year compared to the previous one, but long-term BIP efforts over the past decade suggest that we actually experienced a relatively ‘normal’ year. That means about 40% of our colonies died! The United States is vast, and extremely diverse. Everyone can appreciate that beekeeping in the desert oases of the southwest is…
It’s The Final Countdown!
Cue Europe’s classic song: https://youtu.be/9jK-NcRmVcw?t=1m57s Yes! This is it folks. Your last chance to participate in this year’s Bee Informed Partnership’s National Survey. Completed paper surveys are being returned daily – you only have to see Selina’s mailbox to agree! The online survey will close at 11.59 PM on Tuesday, April 30th. That means this is your last weekend to participate. So far we have chalked up completed online surveys from 4,307 backyard, 107 sideliner, and 25 commercial beekeepers! These are great numbers, but we are hungry! Hungry for more data! If you have not already, please consider participating online anytime until the end of…
Colony Loss and Management Survey 2017-2018 Frequently Asked Questions
Here we go! As of this morning (4/13/2018), over 2,200 of you have completed the Colony Loss and Management Survey. Thank you for your time and continued support! So far your response rate is tracking previous years, but we of course want to beat last year’s numbers! This year marks the 12th anniversary of the Colony Loss Survey! So please, spread word about our survey far and wide so that we can beat 6,000 responses! Each year we receive excellent questions from beekeepers filling out the survey. We take this as a sign that you are really, really keen on helping us better understand your bees.…
The 2017-2018 Colony Loss and Management Survey – NOW LIVE!
And no, this isn’t an April Fool’s Day joke! You’re busy! We know that. You’re out catching swarms, picking up packages, and checking your colonies! So grab a coffee or tea, sit down, relax, AND… …take the Survey Today! The information that you provide will be invaluable to our understanding of honey bee health around the country. As background, the BIP’s National Loss Survey was launched for the first time in 2006, and thanks to the many thousands of beekeepers who have participated since then, we have been able to document and better understand long-term honey bee colony loss trends. Check out the interactive state…
Mite-A-Thon has Begun!
Mite-A-Thon, the first ever national event to capture and collect Varroa mite infestations in North America has started! Please dust off your sugar shake jars, grab some powdered sugar and join us in the colonies starting today and lasting until September 16th (we hope you continue to monitor your colonies beyond this drive as MiteCheck.com is always open and your data is always welcome). Add your data to this map and make it light up! Look at the data and see what management practices are being used around the country. If you have questions about what management or treatment strategy you should use, please see…
Announcing Mite-A-Thon 2017!
Hi, I am Jamie Sherman, COO of Pollinator Partnership (P2), and I'm guest writing this BIP blog to highlight a great partnership project between BIP, P2 and many other friends of P2 - The Mite-A-Thon. You probably have heard of this already, and I'm writing today to make a special plea for your participation. Varroa mites are a big problem in beekeeping, some would argue - THE problem. Survey after survey shows that mite levels, especially in the fall, predict colony losses. Yet many beekeepers don't know what Varroa mite levels are. That's why we are doing the Mite-A-Thon, so we can get a real feel for…
Preliminary: 2016-2017 State Total and Average Losses
The Bee Informed Partnership has released preliminary state losses for 2016-2017. If there are fewer than 5 respondents in a state, we will not release those numbers to preserve confidentiality. These tables represent Annual loss, Winter Loss and Summer Loss. We also report Total Loss and Average Loss. For further details regarding the difference between Total and Average loss, please read on. The Bee Informed Partnership traditionally reports total loss, or a weighted loss rate. Total loss treats each colony the same or more simply stated, “One colony one vote.” This means that the total loss rate is more representative of commercial beekeeper loss as they manage…