Released February 1, 2010
Researchers at land-grant universities and government agencies have a new YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/BeeHealth to help the public learn about bee health. The You Tube channel features videos about bees and links to university research and resources. Jamie Ellis, Assistant Professor of Entomology, and Catherine Zettel Nalen, Extension Technician, at the University of Florida and Kirk Visscher, Associate Professor of Entomology, at the University of California, Riverside provided the first videos.
Ellis already has a strong presence on YouTube; many of his videos are linked as favorites. Four clips from videos he and his lab produced cover varroa mites, nosema disease, the small hive beetle and tracheal mites. Segments on YouTube link to the complete videos on the University of Florida site (http://www.UFhoneybee.com). The complete videos cover the history, biology, symptoms and management of these four important diseases and pests.
Visscher at the University of California, Riverside contributed a high-quality example of the honey bee dance language to the YouTube channel.
With a Google or YouTube account, you may subscribe to the channel to receive updates from the eXtension.org bee health experts. For more information, visit the bee health site at http://www.extension.org/bee_health .
Contributors
Experienced researchers and extension personnel in the United States contributed to bee health information on eXtension.org. The Web resource has a concentration in bee biology plus best management practices, disease and pest information and bee breeding. The experts are based in 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities, other universities, education centers and the USDA-ARS.
26 eXtension resource areas
Bee health is one of many Web communities within eXtension, www.extension.org, a national project of the U.S. Cooperative Extension System. Other topic resources include information on the financial crisis; animal manure management; beef cattle; corn and soybean production; cotton production; dairy cattle; disasters; diversity across higher education; entrepreneurs and their communities; families food and fitness; family caregiving; food safety, geospatial technology; goats; horses; horticulture; imported fire ants; niche meat processing; organic agriculture; parenting; personal finance; pest management; science, engineering and technology for youth; wildfire; and wildlife damage management.
eXtension is an educational partnership of more than 70 land-grant universities helping Americans improve their lives with access to timely, objective, research-based information and educational opportunities. eXtension's interactive Web site is customized with links to local Cooperative Extension sites. Land-grant universities were founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all, that universities should teach liberal and practical subjects and share knowledge with people throughout their states.
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Contacts: John Skinner, University of Tennessee, jskinner@utk.edu
James "Jamie" D. Ellis, Jr., 352-273-3924, jdellis@ufl.edu
P. Kirk Visscher, (951) 827-3973
Bee Informed Partnership