Progress 03/01/16 to 02/28/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Beekeepers were central to designing and implementing our program efforts. This support is evidenced by the breadth and diversity of participation for this proposal. Wecontinued to regularly engage beekeepers to form programs and outputs that they want, need and can easily use. Sentinel Apiaries engage small scale (< 50 colonies) beekeepers by directly soliciting their participation in the program. Over 100 sideline and backyard beekeepers participated in 2019, more than doubling the number from 2015. In 2020, we had 76 beekeepers, representing 394 colonies and in 2021, we increased the number of beekeepers to 92, representing 531 colonies nationwide, who took part in our program. They benefited directly from this research by receiving monthly reports outlining their colony health and disease and pathogen levels. Scientists also benefit from Sentinel data collection. All data is public and available for viewing online at beeinformed.org. Other research institutions have initiated similar programs, growing and spreading the idea of beekeepermediated data collection. BMP field validation is designed to impact both scientists and beekeepers. Data was collected and presented at many conferences and shared with participating research institutions. Results were also shared monthly on the BeeInformedPartnership blogs, webinars and numerous local, regional and national beekeeper club meetings. With the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many of these meetings were online, attracting an even larger group. In Minnesota,an Environmental Science, Policy and Management undergraduate student, provided approximately 10-15 hrs./week in the final months of 2021. She gathered recently published literature relevant to urban and rural policy design and Beekeeper opinions about policies. These articles support our journal manuscripts. Also, she gathered MSP municipal ordinances relevant to urban nature - specifically policies related to pollination and beekeeping. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At the Bee Informed Partnership's Headquarters at University of Maryland, several individuals have received training in relation to projects funded by this grant. A team of 6 undergraduate students process all Varroa/Nosema samples from BMP field-validation, Sentinel Apiaries, and Tech Teams. They assist with fieldwork in sampling BMP apiaries and Sentinel apiaries. They gain knowledge of honey bee health issues, life cycle, and beekeeping practices. Many undergraduates perform independent research projects in the lab with the expertise they gain from BIP programs. At UMD Eastern Shore, a graduate student supported by this project has completedfurther analyses for his Master's thesis entitled "Determinants of the Profitability of Beekeeping Operations in the United States", which is analyzing the profitability of commercial beekeeping operations in twelve states (CA, FL, HI, ID, MI, MN, MT, ND, SD, TX, WA, and WI) and the factors influencing such profitability. In Minnesota,Claire Lister, an Environmental Science, Policy and Management undergraduate student, provided approximately 10-15 hrs./week in the final months of 2021. She gathered recently published literature relevant to urban and rural policy design and Beekeeper opinions about policies. These articles support our journal manuscripts. Also, she gathered MSP municipal ordinances relevant to urban nature - specifically policies related to pollination and beekeeping. At Grand Valley State University, undergraduate studentsmade significant contributions to both BIP Research Portal and the mobile apps BIP uses to collect data over the lifetime of the grant including the update to the BIP Mitecheck app. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiary participants, results from monthly sampling are given to them directly in the form of a Disease Load Report. These reports summarize Varroa and Nosema loads from each colony and compare them to monthly national averages from the USDA-APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey. At the end of the year, as in the past 4 years, participants in each project receive a yearly report summarizing data collected from all beekeepers throughout the season. In 2021, our monthly Sentinal findings have been posted in blogs on the Bee Informed Partnership website for all beekeepers to read, view and use as well as holding live particiipant webinars. We will continue that in 2022 and beyond. Results from the Sentinel Apiary Program have also been presented at beekeeper club meetings and national and international beekeeping research conferences. The final reports and recorded videos are also posted on our website (https://beeinformed.org/programs/sentinel/) for all beekeepers to benefit from the data and results. With many journal articles being set to be publised this year, we will make every effort to disseminate this broad area of beekeeping management practices, economic results, and social science analysis to beekeepers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final report; however, many of the activies we have started with the grant will continue as we have found them to be highly effective in training beekeepers and in reducing colony losses.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Field-validate the economic and colony health effects of adopting regional, operational, and cultural BMPs derived from an analysis of 5 years of management surveys. This was completed in 2020 and resulted in a published manuscript (Kulhanek, K., Steinhauer, N., Wilkes, J., Wilson, M., Spivak, M., Sagili, R., Tarpy, D., McDermott, E., Garavito, A., Rennich, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. (2021). Survey-derived best management practices for backyard beekeepers improve colony health and reduce mortality. PLoS ONE, 16(1), e0245490. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245490) in early 2021. 2. Quantify the potential effects that different, often interacting, risk factors have on BMP success through epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets. A paper was published showing that colony conditions influenced queen brood patterns more than the queen, which is important finding for beekeepers who tend to blame all problems on the queen, rather than considering that the conditions of their combs (e.g., pesticide residue, pathogen spores) and colony size and health have a greater influence on brood health. 3. Determine barriers to and facilitators of BMP diffusion and adoption using beekeeper and other social networks. This work involved several social scientists at the University of Minnesota. These lab activities focused on analysis of the Social Science Institutions Survey data sent separately to the 2017-18 National Loss Survey respondents. This survey focused on beekeeper practices, information sources, and beliefs about policies for beekeeping and varroa management, resulting in 2,085 complete survey responses. We continued and completed data analysis for three papers: 1) Beekeeper perceptions of information, 2)Beekeeper opinions about policies, 3) Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. In 2022, we will submit Perception of Honey Bee Management Information Sources among Hobbyist and Sideliner Beekeepers in the United States, need to complete final revisions by coauthors. This was submitted and is awaiting publication in 2022. Second, the Beekeeper opinions about policies related to beekeeping manuscript development, co-author review, submission for journal review, publication will be completed. In summer 2022, social science & BMP indicator data analysis are finished for: Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. Steps for this paper are awaiting co-author review, and submission for journal review. Extension: 1. Increase the number of beekeepers using data to inform and implement regional, economical, and operational specific BMPs. 2. Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP-actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. Extension work involved a considerable amount of database and app development for all outreach activities. These included the following: • Supported work for the 2021loss survey, design, distribution, and data analysis • Updated Survey Data Explorer and Loss Map with new data from 2021 survey • New molecular results report for all BIP programs were completed • General database updates, changes in data being collected • Permissions system upgrades, more specific permission roles applied • Rewrote the Export generation system to improve security and allow broader use of exports. As a result, exports are now suitable for non-administrative users and we are now able to do any Python based data transformations before export, which means we can make more meaningful and useful exports that are not restricted to the original data tables and SQL queries. • Include Meta Data in all exports, column types, alias names, column definitions, character lengths, etc. • Improve data visualizations in all reports. • Sentinel Apiaries mobile application and web based dashboard as well augmenting BIP's MiteCheck app that automatically counts the number of varroa mites washed from a sample of bees using a machine learning algorithm to process a photo of the mites on a high contrast surface. The user is given the opportunity to interact with the ML results and correct any misclassifications or mites the algorithm misses. This information can be used to refine the accuracy of the model over time. A video demonstration of the feature can be viewed at: https://bit.ly/3r9bjtL • As a part of expanding the Sentinel Apiary program, we built a user integrated data collection and access system where individual participants are able to enter, view, and download their own Sentinel records. This provides each participant a private database to manage not just their Sentinel records, but other data from their operation including management practices and hive health data beyond the 4-8 colonies normally monitored in the program. In addition to creating more useful views and access to the data for beekeepers, this has saved lab staff a large amount of time in data entry and reporting to participants, as well as speed up the turn around time on their results and allow for broader expansion of the program. After developing the new system, we tested it with user focus groups whom were current Sentinel participants in 2020 and it was a standard feature in 2021. This initiative is a long lasting deliverable from the objectives of the grant that will serve beekeepers well beyond the end date of the grant. • The Midwest Tech Team member provided services to 19 beekeepers performed by Field Specialist Nelson Williams. He monitors the health of commercial beekeeping colonies in MN, ND and WI during the summer months and follows these colonies when they are moved to CA and/or TX over the winter months. He conducts health inspections of 1784 colonies, within 19 operations and monitors Varroa mite loads, and upon request Nosema and virus loads and pesticide residues. Reports are generated for the beekeepers to help them perform timely management practices to improve the health and survivorship of their colonies. Nelson also writes blogs and contributes to Best Management Practices for the BIP, Inc website, helps perform small-scale research trials, and gives talks to beekeeping organizations throughout the nation. • Furthermore, data collected from an experiment conducted at seven locations in five states across the U.S. (Kulhanek et al., 2021) were analyzed for publication. The paper (Best Management Practices Increase Profitability of Small-scale U.S. Beekeeping Operations" was completed in year 2021 by Stephan Tubene, Kelly Kulhanek, Karen Rennich, and Dennis vanEngelsdorp)presents the results of an eeconomic assessment of two distinct backyard beekeeping management practices (BMP vs. AMP). The specific objectives are to: (1) estimate the revenues of two outputs (honey and splits) for both BMP and AMP; (2) determine the costs of production for honey and splits under the two management practices; (3) evaluate the profits generated from the sale of honey and splits under the two management practices; (4) test the partial budgeting technique along with its profit sensitivity tool; and (5) evaluate the worth of backyard beekeeping investment. Education: 1. Increase science literacy among beekeepers and help train the next generation of agricultural scientists. The Sentinel Apiary program has engaged over 250 participants in the years since this effort began, representing many new beekeepers who are educated on BMPs and now are training the next wave of beekeepers. Extension efforts are based on sharing scientific results with beekeepers and significant presentations, webinars and online training occurred in 2021 despite the pandemic. New and existing Tech Team members, undergraduate assistants, and graduate students have learned to effectively communicate science to beekeepers.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Perception of Honey Bee Management Information Sources among Hobbyist and Sideliner Beekeepers in the United States to the Journal of Rural Studies (Engebretson, Nelson, Steinhauer, Rennich, Spivak, & vanEnglesdorp)
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Perceptions of Honey Bee Policy and Laws among Urban and Rural Hobbyist Beekeepers, written for Landscape and Urban Planning (Engebretson, Nelson, etc.)
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Determinants of the Profitability of Beekeeping Operations in the United States
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Best Management Practices Increase Profitability of Small-scale U.S. Beekeeping Operations was completed in year 2021 (Stephan Tubene, Kelly Kulhanek, Karen Rennich, and Dennis vanEngelsdorp).
|
Progress 03/01/20 to 02/28/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Beekeepers have been and will remain central to designing and implementing our program efforts. This support is evidenced by the breadth and diversity of participation for this proposal. Beekeepers have actively engaged in the development and delivery of the programs that laid the groundwork and contributed extensively to our efforts designed to identify ways to reduce losses and document the health of the industry. We will continue to regularly engage beekeepers to form programs and outputs that they want, need and can easily use. Sentinel Apiaries engage small scale (< 50 colonies) beekeepers by directly soliciting their participation in the program. Over 100 sideline and backyard beekeepers participated in 2019, more than doubling the number from 2015. In 2020, we had 76 beekeepers, representing 394 colonies, continue to take part in our program. They benefit directly from this research by receiving monthly reports outlining their colony health and disease and pathogen levels. Scientists also benefit from Sentinel data collection. All data is public and available for viewing online at beeinformed.org. Other research institutions have initiated similar programs, growing and spreading the idea of beekeeper-mediated data collection. BMP field validation is designed to impact both scientists and beekeepers. Data was collected and presented at many conferences and shared with participating research institutions. Results were also shared monthly on the BeeInformedPartnership blogs, webinars and numerous local, regional and national beekeeper club meetings. With the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, many of these meetings were online, attracting an even larger group. Changes/Problems:In September 2020, we requested, and were granted,a second 12 month no-cost extension.The rationale for the extension is as follows. Because much of this research involves in-field sampling requiring travel to multiple states, the impact from COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions from the pandemic has set some of our vital research work back one year. Working in MN, ND and WI, as our Midwest tech team does, is already weather limited and this year, we were doubly constrained from the pandemic, severely narrowing our access to beekeepers and their operations because of travel bans by states and universities. Additionally, due to large financial cuts at many land grant universities imposed by states dealing with a pandemic shortfall, hiring freezes were put in place early in the pandemic and this created a barrier to hiring those individuals (post docs) to conduct much of the analysis of the social science goals. If external hires are allowed this fall, we will immediately seek and hire students to complete the social science work, but still do not foresee completing it by the end of the current agreement. If the hiring freeze continues, with this extension request, in 2021, Dr. Nelson has identified a current student who could work on the beekeeper data sets as internal hires are allowed under the current hiring freeze regulations. These delays have not affected the scope of work; however, it has delayed the completion date. Our projected timeline to complete the University of Minnesota's work are as follows: Now that travel is allowed, work will continue in the Midwest, with the tech team's salary, fringe, supplies and travel, to be completed by the end of 2021. A former PhD student will be submitting two manuscripts from her PhD work, one on epidemiological meta-analysis of the honey bee health dataset collected by the Midwest Tech Transfer Teams from 2012-2017, and another on visible signs of Varroa in colonies and how they predict colony level mite loads. Both will be submitted by June 2021. A social science manuscript Beekeeper opinions about policies related to beekeeping" is being prepared for publication. By the end of 2021, manuscript revisions, co-author review, submission for journal review, publication will be completed. By early 2021, social science data analysis has begun for manuscripts with the preliminary title: Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. Tasks to complete in 2021 include, data analysis integrating the social science data with the BMP indicator data, manuscript outlines, first drafts, co-author review, and submission for journal review. The final analysis and manuscript will be completed by a post doc that will be hired (either externally or internally) in the spring term 2021. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At the Bee Informed Partnership's Headquarters at University of Maryland, several individuals have received training in relation to projects funded by this grant. A team of 6 undergraduate students process all Varroa/Nosema samples from BMP field-validation, Sentinel Apiaries, and Tech Teams. They assist with fieldwork in sampling BMP apiaries and Sentinel apiaries. They gain knowledge of honey bee health issues, life cycle, and beekeeping practices. Many undergraduates perform independent research projects in the lab with the expertise they gain from BIP programs. At UMD Eastern Shore, a graduate student supported by this project is currently conducting further analyses for his Master's thesis entitled "Determinants of the Profitability of Beekeeping Operations in the United States", which is analyzing the profitability of commercial beekeeping operations in twelve states (CA, FL, HI, ID, MI, MN, MT, ND, SD, TX, WA, and WI) and the factors influencing such profitability. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiary participants, results from monthly sampling are given to them directly in the form of a Disease Load Report. These reports summarize Varroa and Nosema loads from each colony and compare them to monthly national averages from the USDA-APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey. At the end of the year, as in the past 3 years, participants in each project receive a yearly report summarizing data collected from all beekeepers throughout the season. In 2020, our monthly Sentinal findings have been posted in blogs on the Bee Informed Partnership website for all beekeepers to read, view and use. We will continue that in 2021 and beyond. This includes average Varroa and Nosema levels for all participants, trends in timing and use of chemical Varroa control products, timing and use of supplemental feed products, and colony mortality. Results from the Sentinel Apiary Program havebalso been presented at beekeeper club meetings and beekeeping research conferences. The final reports are also posted on our website (https://beeinformed.org/programs/sentinel/) for all beekeepers to benefit from the data and results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Throughout the duration of this grant, we have made extensive progress in beginning experiments, streamlining data collection and cataloging, and have expanded our organization to reach more stakeholders. The BMP validation experiment is now published, and more extensive extension efforts using these data are being heavily utilized in further extension efforts and grants that will continue this work and research. We are also looking forward to learning more about the economic value of BMPs, as well as sociological factors that could influence BMP adoption; these works will be completed and published in 2021. We will continue to grow our outreach programs (Sentinel, Tech Teams, etc.) and as our programs grow, we are eager to expand our online database, hive scale and Varroa maps, and other data explorers to put as much data as possible directly in the hands of beekeepers. Overall we aim to continuously grow the catalogue of colony health data, and to learn from it how we can best support beekeepers. We want to close the gap between science and beekeepers, enabling stakeholders to have direct involvement in designing and interpreting studies. Best Management Practices potentially help beekeepers combat the multitude of risk factors colonies face today. We hope to provide them with tools to help improve their management with the ultimate goal of overall reduced colony losses. We are looking forward to one final year of developing and refining BMPs, as well as their barriers to adoption and how to communicate them effectively to beekeepers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research: Field-validate the economic and colony health effects of adopting regional, operational, and cultural BMPs derived from an analysis of 5 years of management surveys. This was completed in 2020 and resulted in a published manuscript (Kulhanek, K., Steinhauer, N., Wilkes, J., Wilson, M., Spivak, M., Sagili, R., Tarpy, D., McDermott, E., Garavito, A., Rennich, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. (2021). Survey-derived best management practices for backyard beekeepers improve colony health and reduce mortality. PLoS ONE, 16(1), e0245490. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245490) in early 2021. Quantify the potential effects that different, often interacting, risk factors have on BMP success through epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets. A postdoctoral researcher continues to work on writing up her epidemiological meta-analysis of the honey bee health dataset collected by MN Tech Transfer Teams from 2012-2017 for publication. A paper was published showing that colony conditions influenced queen brood patterns more than the queen, which is important finding for beekeepers who tend to blame all problems on the queen, rather than considering that the conditions of their combs (e.g., pesticide residue, pathogen spores) and colony size and health have a greater influence on brood health. Determine barriers to and facilitators of BMP diffusion and adoption using beekeeper and other social networks. This work involved several social scientists at the University of Minnesota.These lab activities focused on analysis of the Social Science Institutions Survey data sent separately to the 2017-18 National Loss Survey respondents. This survey focused on beekeeper practices, information sources, and beliefs about policies for beekeeping and varroa management, resulting in 2,085 complete survey responses. We continued data analysis for three papers: 1) Beekeeper perceptions of information, 2) Beekeeper opinions about policies, 3) Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. With the proposal extension, in the coming year, we will submitPerception of Honey Bee Management Information Sources among Hobbyist and Sideliner Beekeepers in the United States, need to complete final revisions by co-authors and submit it toInsectsin early 2021. Second, theBeekeeper opinions about policies related to beekeepingmanuscript development, co-author review, submission for journal review, publication will be completed. In summer 2021,social science & BMP indicator data analysis will be finished for:Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. Steps for this paper include, some data analysis across disciplines, manuscript outline, first draft, co-author review, and submission for journal review.The final analysis and manuscript will be completed by a post doc that will be hired (either externally or internally) in the summer 2021. Extension: Increase the number of beekeepers using data to inform and implement regional, economical, and operational specific BMPs. Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP-actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. Extension work involved a considerable amount of database and app development for all outreach activities. These included the following: Support work for the 2020 loss survey, design, distribution, and data analysis Update Survey Data Explorer and Loss Map with new data from 2020 survey New molecular results report for all BIP programs General database updates, changes in data being collected, Export and Import updates, incorporating new fields into reporting system. (some new fields: composite sample details, AFB EFB kit results, additional hive health metrics, weight, brood area, handle different sample types (wax vs bee bread). Permissions system upgrades, more specific permission roles applied Rewrite the Export generation system to improve security and allow broader use of exports. As a result, exports are now suitable for non-administrative users and we are now able to do any Python based data transformations before export, which means we can make more meaningful and useful exports that are not restricted to the original data tables and SQL queries. Include Meta Data in all exports, column types, alias names, column definitions, character lengths, etc. Improve data visualizations in all reports. Sentinel Apiaries mobile application and web based dashboard As a part of expanding the Sentinel Apiary program, we built a user integrated data collection and access system where individual participants are able to enter, view, and download their own Sentinel records. This provides each participant a private database to manage not just their Sentinel records, but other data from their operation including management practices and hive health data beyond the 4-8 colonies normally monitored in the program. In addition to creating more useful views and access to the data for beekeepers, this will also save lab staff a large amount of time in data entry and reporting to participants, as well as speed up the turn around time on their results and allow for broader expansion of the program. After developing the new system, we tested it with user focus groups whom were current Sentinel participants in 2020. We will apply this new application to future years of Sentinel programs. This initiative is a long lasting deliverable from the objectives of the grant that will serve beekeepers well beyond the end date of the grant. Appended below is an April 2020 BIP2 IT Close Plan that identified Sentinel program expansion steps to achieve details in the original Sentinel grant objectives.Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP-actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. The Minnesota Tech Team member providedservices to 24 beekeepers, who together manage approximately 155,000 colonies, produce approximately 4.9. million pounds of honey. Furthermore, data collected from an experiment conducted at seven locations in five states across the U.S. (Kulhanek et al., 2021) are being analyzed for a potential publication. The paper will present the results of an eeconomic assessment of two distinct backyard beekeeping management practices (BMP vs. AMP). The specific objectives are to: (1) estimate the revenues of two outputs (honey and splits) for both BMP and AMP; (2) determine the costs of production for honey and splits under the two management practices; (3) evaluate the profits generated from the sale of honey and splits under the two management practices; (4) test the partial budgeting technique along with its profit sensitivity tool; and (5) evaluate the worth of backyard beekeeping investment. Education: Increase science literacy among beekeepers and help train the next generation of agricultural scientists. The Sentinel Apiary program has engaged over 200participants in the years since this effort began, representing many new beekeepers who are educated on BMPs and now are training the next wave of beekeepers. Extension efforts are based on sharing scientific results with beekeepers and significant presentations, webinars and online training occurred in 2020 despite the pandemic. New and existingTech Team members, undergraduate assistants, and graduate students have learnedto effectively communicate science to beekeepers.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Bee Informed Partnership Mobile App presentation to AIA annual conference, January 12, 2021
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Commercial Beekeeper Focus Group: Future of Loss and Management Survey, January 6, 2021
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Sentinel Beekeeper Focus Group: Future of the Bee Informed Partnership Sentinel Apiary Program, and Mobile App, December 10, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
USDA-APHIS Data Explorer. https://research.beeinformed.org/state_reports/ Webinar with Apiary Inspectors of America, July 8, 2020
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/hive-scales/public
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/sentinel/
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
BIP, MiteCheck, and Sentinel Apiary, Ashe County Beekeepers, May 14, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
BIP, MiteCheck, and Sentinel Apiary, Wake County Beekeepers on April 14, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
BIP, MiteCheck, and Sentinel Apiary, NCSU Apiculture Online meeting on September 23, 2020
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Determinants of the Profitability of Beekeeping Operations in the United States
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Aurell, D. BIP Tech Team and Some Notes on European Foulbrood. 1st Annual Evening with AU-BEES, Alabama, Virtual. 15 December 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Williams, G. Honey bee Best Management Practices. Auburn University Student American Veterinary Medical Association Monthly Meeting, Virtual. 3 November 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Williams, G. Best Management Practices for Apiculture. Madison County Beekeepers' Association, Alabama, Virtual. 14 May 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Best Management Practices for Apiculture. Chattahoochee Valley Beekeepers' Association, Alabama, Virtual. 11 May 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Best Management Practices for Apiculture. Blount County Beekeepers' Association, Maryville, USA. 9 March 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Best Management Practices for Apiculture. Tallapoosa River Beekeepers' Association, Dadeville, USA. 20 February 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Developing Best Management Practices for Apiculture using Citizen Science. COLOSS Asia Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand. 6 February 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Keep your bees alive: listening to the Bee Informed Partnership. 2020 ACES Beekeeping Symposium, Clanton, USA. 1 February 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
The Bee Informed Partnership: Providing research-based Best Management Practices for beekeepers. 2020 Nashville Area Beekeepers' Association Advanced Workshop, Nashville, USA. 18 January 2020.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Best Management Practices: the varroa mite. 2020 Nashville Area Beekeepers' Association Advanced Workshop, Nashville, USA. 18 January 2020.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., Steinhauer, N., Wilkes, J., Wilson, M., Spivak, M., Sagili, R., Tarpy, D., McDermott, E., Garavito, A., Rennich, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. (2021). Survey-derived best management practices for backyard beekeepers improve colony health and reduce mortality. PLoS ONE, 16(1), e0245490. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245490
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Varroa Management and Overwintering Discussion. Bowie and Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association. Virtual Webinar. November, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data Driven Management and the Sentinel Apiary Program. Knox and Lincoln County Beekeepers Association. Virtual Webinar. June, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data Driven Management and the Sentinel Apiary Program. Montgomery County Beekeepers Association Monthly Meeting. Virtual Webinar.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Howard County Beekeepers Association. Virtual Webinar. April, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Bucks County Beekeepers Association. Forest Grove, PA. March, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Maryland State Beekeepers Association. Bel Air, MD. February, 2020
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Upper Eastern Shore Beekeepers Association. Chestertown, MD. February, 2020
|
Progress 03/01/19 to 02/29/20
Outputs
Target Audience:Beekeepers have been and will remain central to designing and implementing our program efforts. This support is evidenced by the breadth and diversity of support for this proposal. Beekeepers have actively participated in the development and delivery of the programs that laid the ground work contributed extensively to our efforts designed to identify ways to reduce losses and document the health of the industry. We will continue to regularly engage beekeepers to form programs and outputs that they want, need and can easily use. Sentinel Apiaries engage small scale (< 50 colonies) beekeepers by directly soliciting their participation in the program. Over 100 sideline and backyard beekeepers participated in 2019, more than doubling the number from 2015. They benefit directly from this research by receiving monthly reports outlining their colony health and disease and pathogen levels. Scientists also benefit from Sentinel data collection. All data is public and available for viewing online at beeinformed.org. Other research institutions have initiated similar programs, growing and spreading the idea of beekeeper-mediated data collection. BMP field validation is designed to impact both scientists and beekeepers. Data was collected and presented at many conferences and shared with participating research institutions. Results were also shared monthly on the BeeInformedPartnership blogs, webinars and numerous beekeeper club meetings. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At the Bee Informed Partnership's Headquarters at University of Maryland, several individuals have received training in relation to projects funded by this grant. A team of 10-20 undergraduate students process all Varroa/Nosema samples from BMP field-validation, Sentinel Apiaries, and Tech Teams. They assist with field work in sampling BMP apiaries and Sentinel apiaries. They gain knowledge of honey bee health issues, life cycle, and beekeeping practices. One undergraduate, Max O'Grady, has started his own beekeeping company. Many undergraduates perform independent research projects in the lab with the expertise they gain from BIP programs. BIP has also hired a new Tech Team member: Nelson Williams, to lead the Midwest team, sampling commercial beekeeper's colonies in MN, ND, CA and TX. At UMD Eastern Shore, a graduate student supported by this project is currently conducting further analyses for his Master's thesis entitled "Determinants of the Profitability of Beekeeping Operations in the United States", which is analyzing the profitability of commercial beekeeping operations in twelve states (CA, FL, HI, ID, MI, MN, MT, ND, SD, TX, WA, and WI) and the factors influencing such profitability. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiary participants, results from monthly sampling are given to them directly in the form of a Disease Load Report. These reports summarize Varroa and Nosema loads from each colony and compare them to monthly national averages from the USDA-APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey. At the end of the year, as in the past 2 years, participants in each project recieve a yearly report summarizing data collected from all beekeepers throughout the season. In 2019, our monthly Sentinal findings have been posted in blogs on the Bee Informed Partnership website for all beekeepers to read, view and use. We will continue that in 2020 and beyond. This includes average Varroa and Nosema levels for all participants, trends in timing and use of chemical Varroa control products, timing and use of supplemental feed products, and colony mortality. Results from the Sentinel Apiary Program have also been presented at beekeeper club meetings and beekeeping research conferences. The final reports are also posted on our website (https://beeinformed.org/programs/sentinel/) for all beekeepers to benefit from the data and results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Throughout the duration of this grant, we have made extensive progress in beginning experiments, streamlining data collection and cataloging, and have expanded our organization to reach more stakeholders. The BMP validation experiment is ready to publish, and more extensive extension efforts can begin as well. We are also looking forward to learning more about the economic value of BMPs, as well as sociological factors that could influence BMP adoption. We will continue to grow our outreach programs (Sentinel, Tech Teams, etc.) and as our programs grow, we are eager to expand our online database, hive scale and Varroa maps, and other data explorers to put as much data as possible directly in the hands of beekeepers. Overall we aim to continuously grow the catalogue of colony health data, and to learn from it how we can best support beekeepers. We want to close the gap between science and beekeepers, enabling stakeholders to have direct involvement in designing and interpreting studies. Best Management Practices potentially help beekeepers combat the multitude of risk factors colonies face today. We hope to provide them with tools to help improve their management with the ultimate goal of overall reduced colony losses. We are looking forward to one final year of developing and refining BMPs, as well as their barriers to adoption and how to communicate them effectively to beekeepers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Field-validate the economic and colony health effects of adopting regional, operational, and cultural BMPs derived from an analysis of 5 years of management surveys. In 2019, field work was totally completed for this objective. All data analyses were completed, and a manuscript has been drafted. Submission is planned for May 2020. A second manuscript of economic evaluations will also be prepared. 2. Quantify the potential effects that different, often interacting, risk factors have on BMP success through epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets. Postdoctoral researcher, Katie Lee, is writing up her epidemiological meta-analysis of the honey bee health dataset collected by MN Tech Transfer Teams from 2012-2017 for publication. A paper was published showing that colony conditions influenced queen brood patterns more than the queen, which is important finding for beekeepers who tend to blame all problems on the queen, rather than considering that the conditions of their combs (e.g., pesticide residue, pathogen spores) and colony size and health have a greater influence on brood health. Over the last fiscal year of the award, we have been working with Katie Lee (University of Minnesota) on cleaning, collating, and reanalyzing inspection data from the BIP1 project with the updated viral analyses performed by Erin McDermott (NC State Apiculture). Results indicate that quantitative measures (i.e., either molecular pathogen data or field assessments) are far more sensitive than qualitative methods (i.e., colony assessments using a rating scale) at identifying colony problems. Each of these positively co-occur with viral infection, suggesting that in the most obvious cases, visual inspections are reliable indicators of high-level infection (but not likely at low levels). As we continue to refine the data and the analyses, we anticipate meaningful interpretations of the predictive power of qualitative and quantitative inspection data. 3. Determine barriers to and facilitators of BMP diffusion and adoption using beekeeper and other social networks. We began a preliminary analysis of survey data and developed a plan for three papers based on the data: 1) Beekeeper perceptions of information sources: usefulness and trustworthiness, 2) Beekeeper opinions about policies related to beekeeping, 3) Place-based & socio-demographic factors that influence BMP use for varroa management. In the coming year, we will draft the peer-reviewed journal manuscripts using the 2017-18 National Loss Survey data with the Social Science Institutions data. Broader impacts and outcomes can inform the differentiation of BMP beekeeper types, preferred information sources, and preferences for institutional mechanisms for managing varroa across the socio-ecological landscape. Extension: 1. Increase the number of beekeepers using data to inform and implement regional, economical, and operational specific BMPs. Many talks have been given to disseminate the results of BMPs developed in this project. They will be listed in the Products section. We will continue to give talks and publish blogs and articles to further disseminate results to beekeepers over the coming year. We can assess the number of beekeepers using BMPs with upcoming Loss and Management Survey results. 2. Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP- actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. The GVSU team is responsible for the BIP Electronic Hive Monitoring Portal. Activities during 2019 focused on three areas: 1) Ongoing maintenance and backend improvements of the portal, 2) Predictive models to help improve the quality of the data via human annotation and 3) User interface improvements to make the data more actionable. We invested a fair amount of effort in 2019 in making the data more actionable to end users. We implemented a new dashboard that is displayed by default when users enter the hive monitoring area of the BIP research portal. While the dashboard itself will scale (e.g. we can easily incorporate new features in the future) our goals this past year were to a) make it easier for users to efficiently respond to the annotation predictions (described in previous section) and b) create incentives via very simple game mechanics to encourage more data collection and annotation. Both our main website and our data explorers underwent significant updates by our IT team over the past year. Some of the outcomes are: · Management Survey: clean and update data from 2019 loss survey into the online data explorer and state loss map. A new process was developed and implemented to identify duplicate entries due to the removal of IP addresses as an option to use to clean this data · APHIS report redesign based on UMD specifications · Tech Team: New report on colony #s used to aid teams to better identify colonies · Open Data: Database Overview pie chart redesigned to better highlight the types and volume of data housed in the BIP database. See https://research.beeinformed.org/bip-database-overview/ · Beeinformed.org Wordpress site redesign and maintenance: With coordination with UMD and graphic design company, participated in depth with the redesign of the public beeinformed.org site as well as many updates throughout the year to the blog and content pages. Education: 1. Increase science literacy among beekeepers and help train the next generation of agricultural scientists.? The Sentinel Apiary program grew to its largest size ever of 106 participants, representing many new beekeepers who will become educated on BMPs. Extension efforts are based on sharing scientific results with beekeepers and thus should increase their scientific literacy. We also hired new Tech Team members, undergraduate assistants, and graduate students who will learn how to effectively communicate science to beekeepers.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Inland Empire Beekeeping Association. Spokane, WA. November, 2019 (n ~ 150)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. *Keynote Address: Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Florida State Beekeepers Association. Orlando, FL. October, 2019 (n ~ 75)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Bee Informed: Informing Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Southern Maryland Beekeeping Workshop. Bel Afton, MD. October, 2019 (n ~ 20)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Inter-Apiary Varroa Transmission Experiment. Maryland Agriculture Experiment Station Farm Tour. Clarksville, MD. September, 2019 (n ~ 50)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Current Challenges in Bee Health. Western Maryland Research and Education Center Farm Tour. Keedysville, MD. August, 2019 (n ~ 50)
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., Steinhauer, N., Wilkes, J., Wilson, M., Spivak, M., Sagili, R., Tarpy, D., McDermott, E., Garavito, A., Rennich, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Survey-derived best beekeeping management practices improve colony health and reduce mortality
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Steinhauer, N., Kulhanek, K., Parrent, J., Caron D.M., Ellis, J.D., Fauvel, A.M., Rangel, J., Rennich, K., Rose, R., Sagili, R., Wilkes, J., Williams, G., Wilson, M., vanEngelsdorp, D. Ten years of national surveys of managed honey bee losses in the USA: results from the Bee Informed Partnership.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Watauga County Beekeepers March 2, 2019 presentation of Sentinel apiaries, BMPs and Mitecheck
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Davidson County Beekeepers March 20, 2019 presentation of presentation of Sentinel apiaries, BMPs and Mitecheck
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Cabarrus County Beekeepers March 20, 2019 presentation of presentation of Sentinel apiaries, BMPs and Mitecheck
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Seminar to the Department of Biology, March 20, 2019 presentation of presentation of Sentinel apiaries, BMPs and Mitecheck
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Williams, G., Steinhauer, N., Kulhanek, K., Rennich, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. The Bee Informed Partnership: Providing research-based Best Management Practices. 2019 Entomological Society of America, St. Louis, USA, 17-20 November 2019.
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/sentinel/
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/hive-scales/public
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. *Student Competition 1st Place. Survey derived best beekeeping management practices improve colony health and decrease mortality. Entomological Society of America Annual Conference. St. Louis, MO. November, 2019 (n ~ 75)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Sentinel Apiary Program: Collaborating with Beekeepers to Improve Regional Colony Health and Management. Apimondia Conference. Montreal, Canada. September, 2019 (n ~ 50)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Sentinel Pro: Colony Health Monitoring for Commercial Beekeepers. American Beekeeping Federation Annual Conference General Session. Myrtle Beach, SC. January, 2019 (n ~ 300)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. The Sentinel Apiary Program. Maryland State Beekeepers Association. Bel Air, MD. February, 2020 (n ~ 100)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., vanEngelsdorp, D. Bee Your Best Beekeeper: Data-Recommended Best Beekeeping Management Practices. Upper Eastern Shore Beekeepers Association. Chestertown, MD. February, 2020 (n ~ 50)
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., Reynolds, D., vanEngelsdorp, D. Bee Informed: The Sentinel Apiary Program and Data-Driven Management. Tri-County Pennsylvania Beekeepers Annual Meeting. Hershey, PA. December 2019 (n ~ 50).
|
Progress 03/01/18 to 02/28/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Beekeepers have been and will remain central to designing and implementing our program efforts. This support is evidenced by the breadth and diversity of support for this proposal. Beekeepers have actively participated in the development and delivery of the programs that laid the ground work contributed extensively to our efforts designed to identify ways to reduce losses and document the health of the industry. We will continue to regularly engage beekeepers to form programs and outputs that they want, need and can easily use. Sentinel Apiaries engage small scale (< 50 colonies) beekeepers by directly soliciting their participation in the program. We had 70 sideline and backyard beekeepers participate this year, doubling the number from 2015. They benefit directly from this research by receiving monthly reports outlining their colony health and disease and pathogen levels. Scientists also benefit from Sentinel data collection. All data is public and available for viewing online at beeinformed.org. Other research institutions have initiated similar programs, growing and spreading the idea of beekeeper-mediated data collection. BMP field validation is designed to impact both scientists and beekeepers. Data was collected and presented at conferences and shared with participating research institutions. As we work on developing and validating BMPs, we can disseminate the information to beekeepers as well to help them make more informed management decisions. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At the Bee Informed Partnership's Headquarters at University of Maryland, several individuals have received training in relation to projects funded by this grant. A team of 10-20 undergraduate students process all Varroa/Nosema samples from BMP field-validation, Sentinel Apiaries, and Tech Teams. They assist with field work in sampling BMP apiaries and Sentinel apiaries. They gain knowledge of honey bee health issues, life cycle, and beekeeping practices. One undergraduate, Max O-Grady, is starting his own beekeeping company. Many undergraduates perform independent research projects in the lab with the expertise they gain from BIP programs. BIP has also hired several new Tech Team members in the past two years. Phoebe Koenig (MN), Dan Aurell (TX), Garett Slater (MN), and John Klepps (CA) who have undergone extensive training and are now considered colony health experts. At UT Knoxville, technical personnel, Extension Assistant Michael Wilson has through this project been trained in new technologies in ES6 JavaScript programming, as well as many other modern web technologies through working with the Appalachian State Computer Science cooperators. Personnel at NC State who have been involved in this project thus far include three undergraduate students: Chris Juberg, Carson Noel (current), and Kim Rogers (current). While none of the students were paid from the account (and instead received academic research credit) and worked part-time (4-12 hours per week), all were exposed to sample processing, workflow coordination, and molecular techniques. Chris has since graduated and enrolled in Medical School, and he expressed his opinion that his experience on this project greatly helped to hone his skills on empirical research and laboratory techniques. Carson plans to pursue a career in Entomology with a focus in apiculture, and Kim hopes to graduate and attend Vet School. Tangentially, Erin has helped to train one PhD student in our lab (Joe Milone) on how to conduct qPCR on samples that he has collected for his project (which involves the effects of multiple pesticides on honey bee queens, including but not limited to viral pathogen susceptibility). Similarly, Tatianaide Medina Nieto was an undergraduate intern in our lab during Summer 2017, funded by an unassociated USDA project (BeeMORE) aimed at providing minority undergraduates an opportunity to study the interface between bees and microbes. Her (unaffiliated) project was to investigate how queens become infected with viruses, and thus Erin also helped to train her on the same qPCR techniques that are utilized in this project. At UMD Eastern Shore, this project has helped train Mr. Stanley Meli, an undergraduate student in Agribusiness Management. On a part-time appointment, Stan compiled and prepared survey data in Excel for further statistical and economic analyses. The following Appalachian State University students have contributed to the overall project the past two years consolidating our technology into one platform. Zack Walton - continued development of Best Management Practices survey app Kira Vashaw - design and build of first mobile app for tech team data entry Dakota Murray - early prototype of Best Management Practices survey app Ben Dummer, software contractor and former student, continued to serve as the lead software architect for the Bee Informed Partnership software platform and participated in the design, implementation, and coordination of the ongoing development efforts between Appalahcian State students, Michael Wilson at the University of Tennessee, and Jonathan Engelsma's team at Grand Valley State University. The following GVSU students have contributed to the students over the past two years. Kirthi "Sam" Samson - CIS graduate assistant - programmer on the first generation portal. Matias Gil - CIS graduate assistant - programmer / architect on the BIP2 system, and also assisted with operational tasks (bug fixes in first gen system, support, performance enhancement Nicolas Arias - CIS graduate assistant - programmer on the BIP2 System. Josiah Campbell - CS undergraduate programmer on the first generation system and BIP2, operational support Santiago Quiroga - CS undergraduate programmer on BIP2 This project provided training opportunities for nine undergraduate students: Nicole Bell, Casey Cruse, Kendra DelToro, Payton Hermanson, Jaeger Jochimsen, Ellen Leinhaupel, Claire Massaro, Catherine Morgan, and Stephen Osgood. They learned beekeeping basics, sampling methods, and even some advanced beekeeping techniques. The queen events in our "average" apiary provided an excellent learning experience for the students. We discussed the differences between swarm cells, supercedure cells, and emergency cells. We confirmed queenlessness by inserting a frame of eggs into a suspected queenless colony and checked later for queen cells. We taught them a method of purchased queen introduction that minimizes rejection by workers; and we reviewed the physical and behavioral differences between mated and virgin queens. The following personnel have received training in the Spivak lab at UMN: Katie Lee: PhD graduate student, conducting meta-analysis of BIP collected colony health data over 5 years. Cora Demler: Undergraduate assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2016 Hollie Wall Dalenberg: technician assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2017 Gary Reuter: technician assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2016 and 2017. The following personnel have received training in the Nelson lab at UMN: Dr. Andrew Kubas, Postdoctoral Associate, designed survey methods and conducted data analysis, full time. Dr. Christopher Thoms, 2018 Postdoctoral Associate, designed survey methods and conducted data analysis, full time. Current Position: Director of Institutional Research, St. Cloud Technical and Community College, St. Cloud, MN How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiary participants, results from monthly sampling are given to them directly in the form of a Disease Load Report. These reports summarize Varroa and Nosema loads from each colony and compare them to monthly national averages from the USDA-APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey. At the end of the year, as in the past 2 years, participants in each project recieve a yearly report summarizing data collected from all beekeepers throughout the season. This includes average Varroa and Nosema levels for all participants, trends in timing and use of chemical Varroa control products, timing and use of supplemental feed products, and colony mortality. Results from the Sentinel Apiary Program have also been presented at beekeeper club meetings and beekeeping research conferences. The final reports are also posted on our website (https://beeinformed.org/programs/sentinel/) for all beekeepers to benefit from the data and results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Throughout the duration of this grant, we have made extensive progress in beginning experiments, streamlining data collection and cataloging, and have expanded our organization to reach more stakeholders. The BMP validation experiment field work is completed, and we are eager to see results from the ongoing data analyses. Preliminary results are promising. We are also looking forward to learning more about the economic value of BMPs, as well as sociological factors that could influence BMP adoption. We will continue to grow our outreach programs (Sentinel, Tech Teams, etc.) and as our programs grow, we are eager to expand our online database, hive scale and Varroa maps, and other data explorers to put as much data as possible directly in the hands of beekeepers. Overall we aim to continuously grow the catalogue of colony health data, and to learn from it how we can best support beekeepers. We want to close the gap between science and beekeepers, enabling stakeholders to have direct involvement in designing and interpreting studies. Best Management Practices potentially help beekeepers combat the multitude of risk factors colonies face today. We hope to provide them with tools to help improve their management with the ultimate goal of overall reduced colony losses. We are looking forward to another two years of developing and refining BMPs, as well as their barriers to adoption and how to communicate them effectively to beekeepers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1. Field-validate the economic and colony health effects of adopting regional, operational, and cultural BMPs derived from an analysis of 5 years of management surveys. In 2019, extensive analyses of data collected from Sentinel Apiaries and Best Management field validation projects will be conducted. We expect to publish multiple papers on these data sets in the next two years. The economic validation of BMPs will continue as well. In order to properly account for all benefits of the beekeeping operations, we plan to adequately quantify implicit benefits to society including pesticide free environment, lower bees' mortality rate, enjoyment, teaching and research. These additional sources of benefits will increase the total benefits of beekeeping operations with a positive outcome of making some BMPs most effective for adoption. Our future goals are: Economic Assessment of BMPS Expand the Benefit/Cost ratio analysis to other states and U.S. regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) Profitability of BMPS Expand the profitability analysis to other states and U.S. regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, and West) Continue Literature Review Explore publication opportunities on Production and Profitability of beekeeping operations 2. Quantify the potential effects that different, often interacting, risk factors have on BMP success through epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets. Katie Lee will publish results on meta-analysis of commercial beekeeping practices that reduce Varroa mite loads and increase colony survivorship. 3. Determine barriers to and facilitators of BMP diffusion and adoption using beekeeper and other social networks. In the coming year, the Nelson lab will continue data analysis and draft more peer-reviewed journal manuscripts using the newest National BIP survey data and a focused study on beekeeper social networks in the Upper Midwest Region. Extension: 1. Increase the number of beekeepers using data to inform and implement regional, economical, and operational specific BMPs. We continue to grow the Sentinel Apiary Program and are thinking of expanding to Europe and/or Canada if there is interest. We are also expanding our Tech Transfer teams into new states including Montana and South Dakota. 2. Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP- actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. Version 2.0 (next generation) hive monitoring interface to collect data beyond weight, temp, humidity Support and onboarding of new Hive Monitoring vendors Predictive models to encourage human annotation of electronic monitoring data Enhancements to BIP mobile apps More tool improvements on BIP Research Portal Follow up activities to recently security audit Education: 1. Increase science literacy among beekeepers and help train the next generation of agricultural scientists.? We will continue to grow and expand the Sentinel and Tech Team programs to involve as many beekeepers as possible. We aim to have influential interactions with beekeepers and the public to help them use data to better their colony health, as well as the general body of knowledge about colony health risk factors.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/sentinel/
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
https://bip2.beeinformed.org/hive-scales/config/public
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Thoms, C. A., Nelson, K. C., Kubas, A., Steinhauer, N., & Wilson, M. E. (2018). Beekeeper stewardship, colony loss, and Varroa destructor management. Ambio, 1-10.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Nathalie A. Steinhauer, Kelly Kulhanek, Jeri Parrent, Dewey M. Caron, James D. Ellis, Anne Marie Fauvel, Juliana Rangel, Karen Rennich, Robyn Rose, Ramesh Sagili, James T. Wilkes, Geoffrey R. Williams, Michael E. Wilson & Dennis vanEngelsdorp. Ten years of national surveys of managed honey bee colony losses in the U.S.A. 2019.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Under Review
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Haber, A., Steinhauer, S., vanEngesldorp, D. Use of chemical and non-chemical methods for the control of Varroa destructor and associated winter colony losses in U.S. beekeeping operations.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Sentinel Pro: Colony Health Monitoring for Commercial Beekeepers, American Beekeeping Federation Annual Conference General Session
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Sentinel Apiary Program: Collaborating with Beekeepers to
Improve Regional Colony Health and Management, Entomological Society of America Annual Conference.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Sentinel Apiary Program: Pesticide Results, American Bee Research Conference, Student Competition
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Sentinel Apiary Program Electronic Hive Monitoring,Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Meeting, Invited Poster
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Current Challenges in Bee Health, Lower Eastern Shore Research and Education Center Farm Tour
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
The Bee Informed Partnership, Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association Meeting
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Improving the health and survivorship of commercial honey bee colonies
|
Progress 03/01/17 to 02/28/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Dissemination of findings are designed for three user groups, our engaged users participating in sampling and survey programs (commercial, sideliner and backyard beekeepers), other beekeepers, and the general public. Engaged users will directly receive results from their apiaries with comparisons to norms and thresholds to initiate an actionable management response. The interactive web-based tools that will generate these views of the data will be modified to public views appropriate for other beekeepers, or anyone with an internet connection, to gain understanding of our findings on colony health. These interactive tools will be included with our existing state loss exploration map at http://bip2.beeinformed.org/geo/. Static based reports, charts, and findings are posted on the Bee Informed website at http://beeinformed.org/ . We also will include results on the eXtension.org Bee Health CoP at http://www.extension.org/bee_health. These easily found and actively promoted sites will also include links to our interactive data base tools, such as public views of the Sentinel Apiaries program data. We actively promote these sites, and their content, through advertisements and articles in trade journals such as the American Bee Journal and Bee Culture, the two most popular U.S. beekeeping trade journals. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At the Bee Informed Partnership's Headquarters at University of Maryland, several individuals have received training in relation to projects funded by this grant. A team of 10-20 undergraduate students process all Varroa/Nosema samples from BMP field-validation, Sentinel Apiaries, and Tech Teams. They assist with field work in sampling BMP apiaries and Sentinel apiaries. They gain knowledge of honey bee health issues, life cycle, and beekeeping practices. One undergraduate, Max O-Grady, is starting his own beekeeping company. Many undergraduates perform independent research projects in the lab with the expertise they gain from BIP programs. BIP has also hired several new Tech Team members in the past two years. Phoebe Koenig (MN), Dan Aurell (TX), Garett Slater (MN), and John Klepps (CA) who have undergone extensive training and are now considered colony health experts. At UT Knoxville, technical personnel, Extension Assistant Michael Wilson has through this project been trained in new technologies in ES6 JavaScript programming, as well as many other modern web technologies through working with the Appalachian State Computer Science cooperators. Personnel at NC State who have been involved in this project thus far include three undergraduate students: Chris Juberg, Carson Noel (current), and Kim Rogers (current). While none of the students were paid from the account (and instead received academic research credit) and worked part-time (4-12 hours per week), all were exposed to sample processing, workflow coordination, and molecular techniques. Chris has since graduated and enrolled in Medical School, and he expressed his opinion that his experience on this project greatly helped to hone his skills on empirical research and laboratory techniques. Carson plans to pursue a career in Entomology with a focus in apiculture, and Kim hopes to graduate and attend Vet School. Tangentially, Erin has helped to train one PhD student in our lab (Joe Milone) on how to conduct qPCR on samples that he has collected for his project (which involves the effects of multiple pesticides on honey bee queens, including but not limited to viral pathogen susceptibility). Similarly, Tatianaide Medina Nieto was an undergraduate intern in our lab during Summer 2017, funded by an unassociated USDA project (BeeMORE) aimed at providing minority undergraduates an opportunity to study the interface between bees and microbes. Her (unaffiliated) project was to investigate how queens become infected with viruses, and thus Erin also helped to train her on the same qPCR techniques that are utilized in this project. At UMD Eastern Shore, this project has helped train Mr. Stanley Meli, an undergraduate student in Agribusiness Management. On a part-time appointment, Stan compiled and prepared survey data in Excel for further statistical and economic analyses. The following AppState students have contributed to the overall project the past two years. Much of this work was funded by related grants, but they provided a foundation for current work that is consolidating our technology into one platform. Zack Walton - continued development of Best Management Practices survey app Kira Vashaw - design and build of first mobile app for tech team data entry Dakota Murray - early prototype of Best Management Practices survey app Ben Dummer, software contractor and former student, continued to serve as the lead software architect for the Bee Informed Partnership software platform and participated in the design, implementation, and coordination of the ongoing development efforts between App State students, Michael Wilson at the University of Tennessee, and Jonathan Engelsma's team at Grand Valley State University. Sullivan Wilkes, local beekeeper, has contributed to the management of the sentinel apiary yards, performing Varroa and viral sampling and pollen collection. The following GVSU students have contributed to the students over the past two years. Kirthi "Sam" Samson - CIS graduate assistant - programmer on the first generation portal. Matias Gil - CIS graduate assistant - programmer / architect on the BIP2 system, and also assisted with operational tasks (bug fixes in first gen system, support, performance enhancements) Nicolas Arias - CIS graduate assistant - programmer on the BIP2 System. Josiah Campbell - CS undergraduate programmer on the first generation system and BIP2, operational support Santiago Quiroga - CS undergraduate programmer on BIP2 This project provided training opportunities for nine undergraduate students: Nicole Bell, Casey Cruse, Kendra DelToro, Payton Hermanson, Jaeger Jochimsen, Ellen Leinhaupel, Claire Massaro, Catherine Morgan, and Stephen Osgood. They learned beekeeping basics, sampling methods, and even some advanced beekeeping techniques. The queen events in our "average" apiary provided an excellent learning experience for the students. We discussed the differences between swarm cells, supercedure cells, and emergency cells. We confirmed queenlessness by inserting a frame of eggs into a suspected queenless colony and checked later for queen cells. We taught them a method of purchased queen introduction that minimizes rejection by workers; and we reviewed the physical and behavioral differences between mated and virgin queens. The following personnel have received training in the Spivak lab at UMN: Katie Lee: PhD graduate student, conducting meta-analysis of BIP collected colony health data over 5 years. Cora Demler: Undergraduate assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2016 Hollie Wall Dalenberg: technician assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2017 Gary Reuter: technician assisted with data collection from sentinel apiaries in 2016 and 2017. The following personnel have received training in the Nelson lab at UMN: Dr. Andrew Kubas, Postdoctoral Associate, designed survey methods and conducted data analysis, full time. Dr. Christopher Thoms, Postdoctoral Associate, designed survey methods and conducted data analysis, full time. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Sentinel Apiary and Tech Team programs both aim to collaborate directly with beekeepers to bridge the gap between science and management. We communicate with individual beekeepers to explain their data and any potential management implications. We believe that this allows the industry to adapt to new scientific findings as they happen, in real-time. We also believe that BIP-participating beekeepers act as ambassadors, disseminating and articulating the data and scientific findings to their beekeeping communities. Because BIP is such a large organization with so many contributing parties, we are able to reach a large audience. Through conferences, beekeeper meetings of all sizes, and school presentations, members of BIP are reaching an audience of beekeepers and future scientists all over the US. We hope to grow these programs to reach as many beekeepers as possible in the coming years. We have developed an interactive web portal built on the existing BIP platform and backed by various data sources. Through this portal, beekeepers are able to detail their management plan and then compare their plan to the current regional BMPs. This can be found athttps://bip2.beeinformed.org/survey Based on this comparison; automated suggestions for the best possible improvements will be communicated to the beekeeper. As more beekeepers participate and gradually refine their BMPs, overall colony health should increase.Through the outcomes, we expect an increased emphasis on real-time automated surveillance systems will translate into quantitative and qualitative improvements of the data sets we gather, which translates into a refined and more contextually relevant understanding of BMPs. We anticipate these improvements along with an increased emphasis on just-in-time tooling will lead to an increased adoption of BMPs among stakeholders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research: In years 3 and 4, field-validation of Best Management Practices will continue at University of Maryland, Oregon State University, University of Minnesota, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and Appalachian State University. This will consist of 6 months of samples from every colony in the study, as well as 3 more viral sampling periods. Each of these universities also operate Sentinel Apiaries and will continue to monitor and sample those. Data analysis of these projects will be completed and published by PhD student Kelly Kulhanek at UMD. For viral sample collection and analysis, the lab currently uses a phenol-chloroform extraction starting with manual homogenization of samples by rolling pin followed by steps of centrifugation, pelleting of RNA, and resuspension. We are currently updating that protocol to save time and reagents with an additional focus on safety. We are moving away from homogenization in a phenol solution to grinding in liquid nitrogen by mortar and pestle. This will reduce the amount of phenol required significantly, saving time and reducing potential exposure. We are also adding a column based kit that will enable us to bypass several of the centrifugation steps as well as the pelleting step. Re-suspending RNA from the column will lead to better yields, fewer failed reactions, cleaner products, and hours of saved labor per sample group. Overall, this will improve our ability to process samples quickly and efficiently, as well as improving sample quality and saving money. We will continue to extract total RNA from colony samples, and to test those samples for our standard panel of viruses and other pathogens. Once we have sufficient years of data, we will be able to analyze interactions with project team leaders. The economic validation of BMPs will continue as well. In order to properly account for all benefits of the beekeeping operations, we plan to adequately quantify implicit benefits to society including pesticide free environment, lower bees' mortality rate, enjoyment, teaching and research. These additional sources of benefits will increase the total benefits of beekeeping operations with a positive outcome of making some BMPs most effective for adoption. Since commercial beekeepers are categorized according to the income streams of their operation, more disaggregation will be made with their respective BMPs. Commercial beekeepers fall into two main categories--queen breeders and migratory pollinators, with some operations also focusing on honey production or production of new colonies for mail-order packages and nucleus colonies. Since the management strategies differ based on operation type, we will then develop specific BMPs for the specific types of commercial beekeepers. Adequately quantified implicit revenues will be also used along with implicit costs of production to calculate the profitability of the beekeeping operations. In addition, the sustainability of the two enterprises (small-scale and commercial beekeeping firms) will be assessed using a complete system approach by observing key sustainability factors such as synergistic and antagonistic relationships that result from interactions between BMPs and appropriateness of sampling plan. Specifically, we will ensure that the current sampling model is able to detect disease hot spots/outbreaks that would influence or modify BMP implementation when implemented as a comprehensive Honey Bee management system. Katie Lee will defend her PhD and will publish results on meta-analysis of commercial beekeeping practices that reduce Varroa mite loads and increase colony survivorship. The Deen lab will continue to define elements of putative causal pathways, incorporating data elements as they become available and contribute to broader discussions through participation and publication. In the coming year, the Nelson lab will continue data analysis and draft two peer-reviewed journal manuscripts using the 2017 National BIP survey data. In addition, we will begin a focused study on beekeeper social networks in the Upper Midwest Region. Extension: During the next year, the GVSU team will collaborate with the Appalachian State team to complete the implementation and deployment of the BIP2 software architecture. This new revision of our software applications into a single web dashboard is motivated by the benefits it brings BIP program participants (instance access to all their BIP data in one convenient platform) but is also important to best position our systems for web scale growth and operational resilience. For example, all electronic hive monitoring equipment will interface with a non-public highly available backend system that is physically separate from the end user web dashboard. Implementation is already underway, with the GVSU team currently working on the front end code for the Sentinel Hive Network on the BIP2 dashboard. We anticipate an initial "minimal viable product" deployment of this next generation system in first quarter 2018. The GVSU team will continue to work with Appalachian State team in terms of supporting and maintaining the BIP2 web portal and sentinel hive network backend system. In addition, our plan is to further refine the various applications specifically focusing on features that drive beekeeper engagement. We anticipate deepened engagement and growth within our user base will deliver qualitative improvements in the data BIP collects, which in turn will facilitate additional and improved opportunities to deliver timely BMP information within the beekeeping community. Data cleaning and combining continues for new analyses and public data visualizations. Data from multiple projects mentioned herein will soon be combined into new dynamic charts, such as a viral prevalence map we will release in coming months. This takes viral data from any project in our database, and provides the user the ability to select a virus and see which states were sampled among years and be given a prevalence chart (percentage of samples found to be positive) for that state, virus, and selected years. Our current USDA-APHIS charts provide the most insight into pesticide sampling in bee hives available and we plan to expand this type of reporting with samples taken during loss events or at other times. Working with the GVSU team, we will also be able to integrate hive scale and other sensor records into public views of Sentinel Apiary inspections on bip2.beeinformed.org. A new field app for data collection has been developed from other funds, and in year 3 & 4 of this grant, we intend to further utilize it to collect data in the field, with in-field analysis of Varroa samples to provide immediate database reports for tech team beekeepers. The app will also be expanded to allow Sentinel apiaries, and potentially other user groups to manage their colony health information in a more direct and timely matter. Education: We will continue to grow and expand the Sentinel and Tech Team programs to involve as many beekeepers as possible. We aim to have influential interactions with beekeepers and the public to help them use data to better their colony health, as well as the general body of knowledge about colony health risk factors. Quantify the potential effects that different, often interacting, risk factors have on BMP success through epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets. Determine barriers to and facilitators of BMP diffusion and adoption using beekeeper and other social networks. Increase the number of beekeepers using data to inform and implement regional, economical, and operational specific BMPs. Refine and promote interactive real-time communication tools to disseminate BMP-actionable data to all beekeepers using web-based platforms. Increase science literacy among beekeepers and help train the next generation of agricultural scientists.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This goal is being assessed in field trials of proposed BMPs across the US. Practices were developed through both expert recommendation and analysis of BIP management survey data and involved discussion with honey bee health experts about what practices they deemed "best" and most likely to improve colony health and reduce colony mortality. Management survey data was also analyzed to determine which practices were associated with lower colony loss. These Top 4 BMPs, based on both expert recommendation and survey data analysis, are being compared in the field to average beekeeping practices. Each trial consists of 20 colonies, 10 treated according to Average Practices and 10 treated according to BMPs. We are only testing the Top 4 variables, meaning only those four practices vary between experimental groups. We have completed two years of trials, and are planning on continuing for one more year. Varroa/Nosema samples are taken and full colony health inspections performed monthly from May through October. We are planning on doing more extensive and inclusive analyses after collecting the third and final year of data in 2018. Additionally, viral samples are taken three times per year in spring, mid-season, and fall. The Tarpy Lab at NCSU processes all viral samples using updated qPCR protocol to reflect the newest innovations in the field. In addition to field-validation, economic validation of BMPs is being tested by Dr. Stephan Tubene at UMD, Eastern Shore. An economic assessment of BMPs was conducted using the national management surveys and Tech Team collected data through a survey of beekeepers from several U.S. states.A cost-benefit analysis was utilized to field validate the economic impacts of BMPs under sentinel apiaries (small-scale beekeepers) and commercial beekeepers management practices. Benefit and cost variables were quantified under both practices. Dr. Spivak's PhD student, Katie Lee, is conducting an epidemiological meta-analysis of existing honey bee health datasets collected by Tech Transfer Teams from commercial beekeeping operations. Dr. Deen's activities are to define putative causal pathways in terms of directed acyclic graphs (DAG's), and to populate elements for DAG epidemiologic models in terms of energy balance and disease transmission. Much of this work is ongoing and we expect to see tangible results in years 3 and 4 when Katie Lee finishes and publishes her dissertation, and when Dr. Deen finished assembling the DAG's. This work is also being led by UMN in Dr. Kristen Nelson's lab. Her activities are to identify barriers and facilitators of Varroa management system adoption, and define key network gaps. To-date her lab has designed nine new questions for the 2017 National Bee Informed Partnership Annual Survey (online and paper), received responses from 3,926 beekeepers, and completed descriptive quantitative/qualitative data analysis of the responses. They have begun collecting current literature on beekeeper knowledge, practices, and association with partners in beekeeping. Small scale beekeepers tend to show the most resistance to adopting basic BMPs ("Situation" in Logic Model). Thus we developed the Sentinel Apiary Program ("Activities" and "Outcomes" of Logic Model), which aims to actively involve small scale beekeepers in improving their colony health and management. Piloted in 2015, Sentinel has grown from 21 to 68 beekeepers in 26 states across the US. Sentinel consists of beekeepers sampling 4 or 8 colonies for Varroa and Nosema monthly from May through October. They also perform a thorough colony health inspection each month. We work with them directly to improve their colony health, and to encourage their local beekeeping communities to do the same. All data is shared anonymously on a public map (https://bip2.beeinformed.org/sentinel) so beekeepers can get county-level information on real-time pest infestation levels. All hive scale data is shared publicly as well. The Hive Scale database and map are coordinated by Grand Valley State University, with support from UT-Knoxville and Appalachian State. The Bee Informed Partnership's Electronic Sentinel Hive Network has been operational over several beekeeping seasons. During the initial two years of the grant a number of specific tasks have been accomplished. Definition, implementation and deployment of a web-based application programming interface that has been made available to 3rd party manufacturers of electronic hive monitoring equipment to allow beekeepers participating in BIP's Sentinel Apiary Program to automatically forward electronic hive monitoring data (e.g. weight, temperature, humidity, etc.) to the Bee Informed Partnership. Facilitated and supported the integration of six commercially available "BIP Ready" hive monitoring products (Arnia, BeeWatch, Broodminder, SolutionBee, Wi-Fi HiveScale, HiveMind) into the Bee Informed Partnership's Sentinel Hive Network. Detailed comparative technical reviews of available hive monitoring equipment available via BIP's public website, that helps beekeepers determine which solution might be best for their operation. Maintained and supported BIP's production Sentinel Hive Network with over 320 live hive monitors collecting data on 15 minute intervals 24 X 7 at locations all over the USA (as of November 2017). Provide beekeeper participants real-time access (assuming their equipment supports real-time data gathering) of their hive monitoring data via a scalable web portal (http://hivescales.beeinformed.org). Data can be plotted over time and also annotated by participants. Provide the general public with a sentinel apiary map of the USA where they can browse and plot data from approximately 125 sentinel apiaries located sites all over the USA. Over the past 2 years, we have integrated and expanded data collection systems from a number of projects, (Tech Transfer Teams, Sentinel Apiaries, Emergency Response Kits, USHDA-APHIS Honey Bee Survey) into a single database interface using modern, open source technologies housed at bip2.beeinformed.org. This effort has streamlined data entry and reporting capabilities to be able to serve more beekeepers, and bring greater insights into the data. On bip2.beeinformed.org, we now have 5 new open data visualizations to allow the public to explore. Sentinel Apiaries https://bip2.beeinformed.org/sentinel A state by county breakdown of Varroa and Nosema levels per year among Sentinel Apiaries Colony Loss Map https://bip2.beeinformed.org/loss-map Newly updated state losses weighted by hives or beekeepers for any year of our survey Management Survey Explorer (https://bip2.beeinformed.org/survey Allows users to select which questions and answers they are interested filtered to year/s and state/s of interest to look for correlations between loss levels and management factors. Mitecheck https://bip2.beeinformed.org/mitecheck a public interface based off the University of Minnesota Bee Squad Mitecheck program to encourage back yard beekeepers to test and report on Varroa levels USDA-APHIS Honey Bee Survey https://bip2.beeinformed.org/state_reports/ an interactive map allowing the user to browse 9 years of APHIS honey bee data for Varroa, Nosema, viral, and pesticide trends over time. This data provides a baseline for landscape and seasonal colony health measures 18 Private reports for sampled beekeepers. We now have 18 database reports dynamically customizable for individual beekeepers to receive feedback from samples collected in their colonies, often in relation to thresholds and health measures found among peers. Designing and building the framework for the BIP2 architecture has been the focus of the first two years. Please refer to the Products Section of this report, for the primary technical results from the BIP IT team based at AppState and UT with contributions from all corners of the BIP IT team.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
"Sentinel Apiary Program: Collaborating with Beekeepers to improve colony health and management"
|
Progress 03/01/16 to 02/28/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Beekeepers have been and will remain central to designing and implementing our program efforts. This support is evidenced by the breadth and diversity of support for this proposal. Beekeepers actively participated in the development and delivery of the programs that laid the ground work for the current proposed project. Both commercial and small-scale beekeepers have contributed extensively to our efforts designed to identify ways to reduce losses and document the health of the industry. We will continue to regularly engage beekeepers to form programs and outputs that they want, need and can easily use. Sentinel Apiaries engage small scale ( < 50 colonies) beekeepers by directly solociting their participation in the program. We had 38 sideline and backyard keepeers participate this year, up 43% from 2015. They benfit directly from this research by recieving monthly reports outlining their colony health and disease and pathogen levels. Scientists also benefit from Sentinel data collection. All data is public and available for viewing online at beeinformed.org. Other research institutions have initiated similar programs,growing and spreading the idea of beekeeper-mediated data collection. BMP field validation is designed to impact both scientists and beekeepers. Data wascollected and presented at conferences and shared with participating research institutions. As we work on developing and validating BMPs, we can disseminate the information to beekeepers as well to help them make more informed management decisions. Changes/Problems:As mentioned in the accomplishments section, the establishment of the BMPsfor commercial beekeeping operations was predicated on receiving funding in January to allow us time to recruit and train our techn teams and commercial beekeepers in time for a late summer start. As funding did not arrive until early summer, we are delayed approximately 6 months but will begin that portion of the study this summer. We excpect no further delays. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Education: 1. We worked directly with Sentinel Apiary participants to train them to read and understand their monthly disease load reports. This included one-on-one phone and in person conversations about how to read Varroa and Nosema data and compare it to monthly national averages. 2. We trained one new graduate student, one new full-time lab employee, and seven undergraduate students on how to properly conduct a colony health assessment. This included demonstrations on identifying colony virus and disease, brood pattern, queen status, and frames of bees. Students were also taught to look for signs of parasites and pathogens (Varroa and Nosema). They also learned how to sample colonies for Varroa, Nosema, and viral analysis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiary participants, results from monthly sampling are given to them directly in the form of a Disease Load Report. These reports summarize Varroa and Nosema loads from each colony and compare them to monthly national averages from the USDA-APHIS National Honey Bee Disease Survey. At the end of the year, participants in each project recieve a yearly report summarizing data collected from all beekeepers throughout the season. This includes average Varroa and Nosema levels for all participants, trends in timing and use of chemical Varroa control products, timing and use of supplemental feed products, and colony mortality. Results from the Sentinel Apiary Program have also been presented at beekeeper club meetings and beekeeping research conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with another field season for both BMP testing and Sentinel Apiaries. We aim to have 100 beekeepers participate in Sentinel in 2017. We are currently actively recruiting towards this goal. We will collect Varroa, Nosema, colony health assessment, viral, pollen, and scale weight data for six months from May to October for BMP testing. Sentinel participants will collect Varroa, Nosema, and scale data. Maryland Sentinel participants will continue to collect pollen monthly for pesticide analysis. Data analysis on both projects will continue after the completion of the field seasons. Sampling kits for all Sentinel and BMP participants will be constructed and mailed. We will continue to train incoming undergraduate students and beekeepers on how to assess colony health and take samples for various parasites, pathogens, and diseases. We will work with our Bee Informed Partnership technical transfer teams to field validate commercial operation-specific BMPs. Half of the participants will be queen breeders and the remaining half will be migratory operations. They will be split and placed into 2 groups, passive and active, receving no BMP recommendations and receiving regular unsolicited BMP recommendations from their technical transfer teams. After beginning that portion of the study, we will incorporate the effects of economic assessments to optimize return rather than survivorship.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Research: 1. The list of final regional BMPs was created and shared with institutions participating in the field-validation study. These results were also presented at beekeeper meetings and conferences. Field validation of regional BMPs underwent its pilot field season. Experimental apiaries were set up in five regions across the US (NE, ENC, W, SE, C). Each apiary consists of 20 colonies (10 treated with BMPs and 10 treated with Average practices) was sampled six times from April to October. Pollen and hive scale data was collected from each apiary twice each month. Viral samples were collected from each colony twice, once in mid-summer and once in fall. Data analysis of this first year began in December 2016. 2. Due to receving grant funding 5 months after the requested start date, we were unable to begin the Commercial operation objectives but are working with our technical transfer teams now to have a training session lined up this summer as this is heavily dictated by the season. Extension: 1. The Sentinel Apiary Program underwent its second season. We grew the project by 43% from 2015 to include 38 beekeepers (2 sideline and 36 backyard). We doubled the number of states participating from 8 in 2015 to 16 in 2016. Sentinel Apiaries were also maintained at our cooperating universities. We built and distributed 50 sampling kits for Sentinel participants. Varroa and Nosema samples and data were collected monthly from each Sentinel Apiary from April to December. Pollen samples were collected from Maryland Sentinel Apiaries monthly and processed for pesticide residues by Maryland Department of Agriculture. Hive scale data was uploaded by all participants continually throughout the year.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., Steinhauer, N., Reynolds, D., Fahey, R., Nearman, A., & vanEngelsdorp, D. The Sentinel Apiary Program: Collaborating with beekeepers to improve colony health and management. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. American Beekeeping Research Conference, 2017.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Kulhanek, K., Garavito, A. The Sentinel Apiary Program and MiteCheck: Improving Your Colony Health and Management. Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. Maryland State Beekeepers Association, 2016.
|
|