The last month has been a banner month for PAm.  First, we are very fortunate to have Billy Synk joining staff as Director of Pollination Programs.  He's been UC Davis' staff research associate and beekeeper.  Billy will be a great asset to PAm.  He knows bees, the beekeeping industry, apiculture research, and has the skills to expand not only our habitat projects but also our research program.  Secondly, the Federal Strategy to improve honey bee health was released.  PAm was part of the process since the initial meeting in Washington D.C. and was mentioned twice in the final document.  PAm is poised to take full advantage of the multi-agency focus on honey bees and will work hard to pursue opportunities that can help bees and beekeepers as a result of this effort.  Lastly, six new studies on Varroa control  were approved for funding.  We are very excited to get this research underway and prevent that anniversary party for Varroa when September, 2017 rolls around and the pest has been in the country 30 years. We committed to several innovative studies that also held a good chance for success.  This week is Pollinator Week, but every day is Honey Bee Day at Project Apis m.!

Christi Heintz

Executive Director  

Billy comes to us from UC Davis, where he managed bees and participated in bee research projects with Drs. Brian Johnson and Neal Williams.  He was trained in beekeeping by noted bee breeder-geneticist Sue Cobey at Ohio State University, where he received a BS in environmental policy and management.  More recently, Billy played a prominent role in the photography exhibited in the "Quest for a Superbee" article published in the May 2015 edition of National Geographic.  He also worked with photographer Anand Varma on the honey bee metamorphosis video featured below. 

The entire 6 minutes of this TED talk is very good. If your time is limited, at least watch the segment between minute 2 and 3, time-elapsed photography of a bee developing from an egg.  It's so perfect and beautiful, no wonder we are concerned with larval exposure to pesticides and other introduced chemicals or elements that might affect this incredible process.  Isn't nature awesome! 

Photo by Christi Heintz

Honey bee on yellow sweet clover - summertime yellow gold for honey bees!

The PAm Board and Scientific Advisors reviewed 13 Varroa research study proposals requesting more than $525,000 in research funds.  With generous funding from CoBank, American AgCredit and bee brokers Lyle and Brian Johnston, we were able to fund $162,000 in research projects at this time.  

Six new studies were selected.  Evidence suggests that there are several innovative 

compounds that warrant attention for Varroa control - including spider venom, extracts from the seeds of a particular Asian flower, and oil from the seeds of an evergreen tree found in India that is already being used as a biopesticide in farming.  One study will look at cost-effective mass production of natural mite predators.  Another will identify the DNA markers associated with reducing mite loads via hygienic behaviors.  Finally, we will try to prove whether Varroa actually does feed on the hemolymph in bees, a long-time assumption that has never been adequately proven.  Look for updates on these studies and PAm's complete research program by visiting the Research Tab on www.projectapism.org.

"And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain." 

So begins The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman. I think we all have talked to the rain at one time or another.  In California, we talk to the lack of rain. 

In other parts of the country they have gotten too much rain. I've heard disappointing reports out of Texas that the tallow honey crop was very poor this year primarily because of the wet weather.  Canola in Oklahoma was a washout as well. Similarly, gallberry and tupelo didn't do well this year in Northern Florida and Georgia, however the bees are looking good and built up well, they just didn't make significant amounts of surplus honey.  The upper Midwest has received sufficient moisture to set up a good clover crop this year, if the fair weather will hold.  Reports are that yellow sweet clover has started to bloom, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.  I talked to two beekeepers in Montana and it sounds like a mixed bag; some areas are good but other areas are too dry. Fickle as the weather is, that too could change.

Favorable reports are heard about bees coming out of Maine blueberries.  Last year a late season freeze hit the bees hard and set them back, but good weather this year made a big difference.  At present, bees are just going into cranberries in New England and we are hoping fair weather will follow their pollination as well.

In California, beekeepers are scrambling for any forage they can find - or they are heading out of state.  The drought continues to hammer California agriculture with unprecedented water restrictions being imposed.  The prediction of an El Nino fall and winter couldn't come soon enough. 

But no matter where you reside, if you have the opportunity to plant flowers for bees, every little bit helps.

Dr. Gordon Wardell

Chairman, Project Apis m.