Thanks to over 4,900 beekeepers this year, we have been able to track and record the loss and management practices of beekeepers for the 2016-2017 season, our 11th consecutive year. Thank you to all who have participated! For preliminary loss survey results, please see below. Honey Bee Colony Losses 2016-2017: Preliminary Results 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. Nathalie Steinhauer1, Karen Rennich1, Dewey M. Caron2, James D. Ellis3, Phoebe Koenig4, Kelly Kulhanek1, John Klepps3, Katie Lee4, Meghan Milbrath5,…
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.
One Week Left to take the 2016-2017 Colony Loss and Management Survey
ONLY 7 DAYS LEFT to take the 2016-2017 Colony Loss and Management Survey! Take the Survey Today! April 30th (this Sunday) is your last chance to participate in the 2016 - 2017 National Colony Loss and National Management Survey. Taxes are finished so there is no excuse! Please pull up a chair, pour your favorite beverage and join us in sharing your data, your management strategy, your losses and accomplishments. There is NO TIME to wait. We need your help and YOU can make a difference. The results that are received from this survey provide valuable information that help us obtain a clear picture of honey bee health…
2016-2017 Colony Loss and Management Survey is Live: Take the Survey Today!
2016-2017 Colony Loss and Management Survey is Live! Take the Survey Today! April 1st is just around the corner and for beekeepers, that means spring and the opening of the 2016 - 2017 National Colony Loss and National Management Survey. The results that are received from this survey provide valuable information that help us obtain a clear picture of honey bee health throughout the country. The Loss survey began in 2006 and we added the National Management survey in 2010 and from both of those, we have been able to gain actionable information on which management practices work and which ones do not. By correlating…
Want to Help Bees? – BIP Tech Team Fundraiser
Want to Help Honey Bees? DONATE! Help us expand the Bee Tech Team program to improve honey bee health and safeguard the food supply. WE NEED YOUR HELP. The success of the Bee Tech Team program has created demands beyond the scope of our existing funds. To scale our impact, we’re launching a campaign to raise 50K, a small portion of those funds. Help our campaign by donating funds and sharing our ask with others. ENGAGE. Help us spread the word by agreeing to share our campaign with your network. AMPLIFY. Provide a grant and/or matching funds to ensure the campaign’s success. HOW DO BEE TECH…
Nation’s Beekeepers Lost 44 Percent of Bees in 2015-16
Summer losses rival winter losses for the second year running Beekeepers across the United States lost 44 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2015 to April 2016, according to the latest preliminary results of an annual nationwide survey. Rates of both winter loss and summer loss—and consequently, total annual losses—worsened compared with last year. This marks the second consecutive survey year that summer loss rates rivaled winter loss rates. The survey, which asks both commercial and small-scale beekeepers to track the health and survival rates of their honey bee colonies, is conducted each year by the Bee Informed Partnership in…
National Colony Loss and Management Survey: You’ve Got Questions We’ve Got Answers
Thank you to the 2,500+ beekeepers who already took the survey! As of this morning (4/6/2016), over 2,500 of you already submitted your answers to the Colony Loss Survey and over 1,500 of you continued to the Management Survey. Thank you for your time and continued support! This current rate of participation tracks very well with past years and we are expecting to reach over 7,000 responses by the end of the month. Thank you also for spreading the word about our survey. The traffic on our survey website was very intense on April 1st and we apologize if any of you encountered difficulty or…
2015-2016 Colony Loss and Management Survey Is Live: Take the Survey Today!
It is April 1st and that can only mean one thing at the Bee Informed Partnership – our National Loss and Management survey is LIVE! Starting now and continuing until April 30th, your responses from this survey provide invaluable information that helps us obtain a clear picture of honey bee health throughout the country and helps guide best management practices. Thank you for all the beekeepers who, for 10 years now, have taken the time to complete the Colony Loss survey. Additional appreciation goes to those beekeepers who have provided data for our Management survey for the past 5 years. Correlating management practices with colony…
National Colony Loss and Management 2015-2016 Survey
This is no April's fool! The 2015 - 2016 National Colony Loss and National Management Survey will be ready to accept submissions starting April 1st and continuing until April 30th. The results that are received from this survey provide invaluable information that helps us obtain a clear picture of honey bee health throughout the country. Without the aid of the many beekeepers who participate in this survey we would never be able to obtain the results that we have received in the past and hope to continue to receive in the future. If you would like to take an early peek at the 2015 –…
Sentinel Apiary Project
We are breaking ground in modern beekeeping. The stage is set and like most big problems, collaboration is key. As a Sentinel Apiary participant, you will get the tools and information you need to take your beekeeping group to the next level. By doing so you become a guardian of all bees in your region and together we will revolutionize beekeeping. Applications are now available for 2016 and we are seeking beekeeping groups that manage 8 or more stationary colonies. We will arm you with data from Disease Load Monitoring and a Hive Scale so you may combat the challenges of beekeeping. To aid in…
Bee Informed Partnership Wins Silver for Website Category at Apimondia
At the 2015 Apimondia International Apiculture Congress in Daejon, Korea, the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) took home the silver prize in the category for the Best Website on a Beekeeping Topic. This meeting of researchers and beekeepers from diverse backgrounds and from around the globe was the 44th meeting of Apimondia under the theme “Bees, Connecting the World!” Apimondia is an organization that promotes scientific, social, ecological and economic apicultural development throughout the world through the cooperation of beekeeping associations, scientific organizations and individuals throughout the world. Scientists, representing many countries from around the world, came to present their research projects, prominently displaying the diverse…