Project Apis m.'s mission
Is to fund and direct research to enhance the health and vitality of honey bee colonies while improving crop production.
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FORAGEGood nutrition is crucial for pollinators to thrive. Visit our Forage Page to learn more about how PAm replaces lost habitat, and how you can help. Visit our programs, Seeds for Bees, and The Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund |
RESOURCESBest Management Practices, Video Education, Research Archives, and beyond: Project Apis m. collaborates with other organizations to provide high quality, essential information to beekeepers, growers, and other interested individuals. |
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PAm Spotlight of the Month: August 2017
(Click on title to read more)
Developing a Rapid Assessment Technique to Understand the Effect of Forage Quality on Nutritional Status and Honey Bee Health
Principal Investigator: Dr. Matthew Smart, US Geological Survey Northern Prarie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND, 2016
Principal Investigator: Dr. Matthew Smart, US Geological Survey Northern Prarie Wildlife Research Center, Jamestown, ND, 2016
The status of the bee nutritional system may be viewed as the point from which the health trajectory of colonies initiates, ultimately leading to the successes or failures of colonies. Relatively recently, nutritional status has been shown to moderate the impacts of common honey bee parasites and diseases in the lab. Further, the environmental stress of pesticide exposure has been shown to be both chronic in agricultural landscapes, and to impact colony and bee nutritional state. Ultimately, these stressors are known to interact to weaken honey bees and colonies. Add to the known interactions between these factors (nutrition, parasites, and pesticides) the fact that suitable beekeeper habitat and pollen quality have declined over time, and there is much to be concerned about regarding the future availability of abundant and quality forage to sustain and meet the nutritional demands for healthy colonies.
Since 2015 Drs. Smart and Otto have been engaged in a large-scale field study across three critical commercial beekeeping states (ND, SD, MN) to examine the impacts of land use on colony health, productivity and survival. This region, the Northern Great Plains (NGP), of the US hosts a large proportion of commercial honey bee colonies each spring through fall for honey production and colony population growth. Most of these colonies go on to pollinate almonds in early spring. As such, the presence of abundant, diverse, clean, and nutritionally complete forage across the region is absolutely key for setting the nutritional stage for successful overwintering and robust, healthy colonies to meet early spring pollination service demands.
Since 2015 Drs. Smart and Otto have been engaged in a large-scale field study across three critical commercial beekeeping states (ND, SD, MN) to examine the impacts of land use on colony health, productivity and survival. This region, the Northern Great Plains (NGP), of the US hosts a large proportion of commercial honey bee colonies each spring through fall for honey production and colony population growth. Most of these colonies go on to pollinate almonds in early spring. As such, the presence of abundant, diverse, clean, and nutritionally complete forage across the region is absolutely key for setting the nutritional stage for successful overwintering and robust, healthy colonies to meet early spring pollination service demands.
Dr Clint Otto (center) shows a plot of honey bee forage plantings to supporters of the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund at the USGS Northern Prairie Research Center.
In collaborations with some of the largest commercial beekeepers in the US, and likely the world, we have a unique opportunity to thoroughly examine the nutritional status of honey bees given varying land use conditions in this important part of the country. We propose to lay the groundwork for establishing and utilizing a robust diagnostic tool that will aid beekeepers in determining the nutritional status of their colonies. The technique, which involves quantifying the protein, lipids, and stored carbohydrates (glycogen) in samples of adult honey bees, has been previously utilized to examine the impacts of pesticides found in contaminated pollinator forage near agricultural fields. Here, we propose to leverage another research study to collect and analyze the nutritional status of adult honey bees within the context of land use quality. Specific Objectives: 1) Determine the ‘complete’ nutritional profiles (lipids, proteins, stored carbohydrates) of adult honey bees from a large sample set of apiaries, 2) Analyze the data in the context of land use surrounding the sampled bees to determine the differential impact of land use quality on honey bee nutrition, and 3) Determine final outcomes of sampled colonies in relation to fall nutritional state (honey production, survival, population size for almond pollination).
View More PAm Directed Nutrition and Forage Research
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Since 2004, the National Honey Board has committed more than $3million to fund honey bee health
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Purchasing Root Candles Honey Blends benefits PAm. Pure and natural beeswax blended with unexpected honey fragrances containing essential oils for a sensory experience beyond what nature intended. Crafted by America's first family of beekeeping, honey, all-natural beeswax and the highest quality candles. Proceeds from the sale of this candle benefit Project Apis m.
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Healthy Hives 2020 is a major initiative funded by Bayer and managed by PAm. It's aim is to find tangible solutions that will improve the health of honey bee colonies in the United States by the year 2020.
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