Image courtesy of Greg Hunt and Kathy Keatley Garvey

This report was developed by Multistate Research in Bee Health NC1173, "Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health". To learn more about this organization, see the reports linked from this page or their homepage on NIMMS

• Bee research coordinated by multi-state teams develop Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health

Annual Reports

The following reports from this multi-state committee where organized for publication on eXtension.org

• 2010 Annual Bee Research and Extension Reports
  • The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
  • North Carolina State University
  • Penn State
  • The University of Maine
  • Purdue University
  • The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • The University of Tennessee
  • The USDA ARS Weslaco TX Bee Lab
  • The University of Nebraska
  • The University of Minnesota
  • Rutgers University
  • Michigan State University

Issues and Justification Summary

• The following text from the NC1173 homepage describes the function of this committee.

The purpose of this committee has been and will be to coordinate research that is relevant to bee colony health. We are seeking participation of personnel with expertise in bee nutrition, toxicology, parasitology, pathology, breeding, integrated pest management, and non-Apis species. Research and extension personnel will meet annually to discuss coordination and will form subgroups that will coordinate or collaborate on research throughout the year. Extension personnel will coordinate in technology transfer and adoption of research findings to beekeepers.

Most of our committee members are involved in a $4.1 million 4-year CAP project that was funded in 2008 to study the causes of CCD and other maladies affecting bee populations. The CAP funding obtained was a direct result of the establishment of the NC 508 (now reformed as NC1173) committee in 2007. A second meeting of some NC 508 participants was convened that same year to initiate the proposal writing. The scientists conduct research that addresses genomics, breeding, pathology, immunology, and applied ecology to investigate and explain the causes of the decline in bee colonies in the US in recent years. In addition, we investigate the role of ecosystem services provided by native, wild bees in pollinating crops. Native bee pollination can be sufficient to fully pollinate crops in some agricultural contexts (Kremen et al. 2002; Winfree et al. 2007), and even when pollination services are incomplete, can serve as a supplement to or back-up for managed honey bee stocks. Native bee ecologist(s) investigate the role of native bee species in pollinating several crops and and are identifying the land and farm management practices associated with high levels of native bee pollination. Committee members work closely with the extension community and other stakeholders to develop and implement mitigative strategies that unravel the causes of CCD and other significant bee health problems.

These reports were prepared for annual meetings of the multi-state research committee, NC1173 "Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health". Data presented should be considered preliminary and not yet vetted through the peer-review process.

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