Project Apis
m. Honey Bee Health; October 1, 2020
Agency
National
Honey Board (NHB)
Description
The
National Honey Board (NHB) is an industry-funded agriculture promotion
group that educates consumers about the benefits and uses of honey and honey
products. NHB research, marketing and promotional programs are funded by an
assessment on domestic and imported honey and are designed to increase awareness
and usage of honey by consumers, the foodservice industry and food
manufacturers. Project Apis m. (PAm)
is the largest non-governmental, non-profit honey bee research organization in
the USA.
With
this call for research proposals, PAm is requesting
proposals for research addressing honey bee health, nutrition and productivity.
Priority will be given to proposals which aim to produce solutions to industry
problems. Current specific areas of interest include:
Pollination
•
Addressing practices for sustainable profitability of beekeeping and the
provision of pollination services to agriculture
•
Address gaps in crop pollination and colony density economics, including
stocking rates, land use and landscape level comparisons, cover crop efficacy
and management studies including seed composition, implementation,
establishment, termination, soil benefits, pest/pathogen/beneficial insect use,
frost, irrigation, etc.
Varroa
•
Genetic tools to identify, predict and select varroa
resistant bees, and also using mite genetics in control strategies
•
Develop new technologies for Varroa detection,
prediction, treatment and control
•
Test new compounds and potential controls, ideally to deliver tools for use to
control varroa at all temps without leaving residue
•
Develop BMPs to explain “how to select for Varroa
resistance”, detail effective year long, region specific Varroa management
•
Studying and developing innovative management techniques, such as indoor bee
storage
Nutrition
& Forage
•
Address gaps in our knowledge of honey bee complete nutrition
•
Test and develop supplements for benefits, economics, nutritional chemistry
•
Create annual BMP style programs of forage and supplements (region and season
specific)
•
Develop data driven forage “how-to” for various audiences. Include economics of
forage; optimizing utility and impact for grower, beekeeper and bees
•
Study bee competition, land categorization and differentiation of public lands
for the purpose of honey bee pasture, pollinator carrying capacity; document
honey bee and wild bee interaction; research and test supplemental forage and
specific management strategies that support and allow for coexistence of honey
bees and native bees on various landscapes
Pesticides
•
Determine pesticide effects on bees outside required regulatory testing,
including tank-mix combinations and adjuvants that are applied to bee-attractive
crops
•
Develop mitigation approaches to reduce pesticide impacts in bees through (1)
reducing bee toxicity of pesticides though phytochemicals, (2) reducing bee
exposure through repellents and supplemental feeding and (3) reducing exposure
during application through precision agriculture
•
Measure pesticide exposure in colonies throughout the year in different crops
and foraging scenarios
Queen
Quality
•
Define queen quality metrics– understand what is ‘normal’, define measures,
methods, and genetic markers.
•
Study queen vs. hive interactions to understand and parse queen vs. hive factors
that affect longevity
•
Develop and improve bee genetics for commercial scale beekeeping (eg.
Varroa resistance)
•
Provide a BMP style/certification, informed by current behavior change methods
research, to improve and optimize breeding, shipping, and requeening
Other
projects may be considered, and research outside the U.S. is possible (all
application materials must be in English). The goal of this research is to help
producers maintain colony health and honey production.
Closing
Date:
October
1, 2020
Link
to Full Announcement
Contact
Information