jan-feb-2021

THE BEE BOX The Bee Informed Partnership Field Specialists’ Report On 2020 Commercial Beekeeping Trends The Bee Informed Partnership’s (BIP) Tech Transfer Team offers a honey bee colony health monitoring program tailored to meet the specific needs facing commercial beekeepers. The Tech Transfer Team program Field Specialists follow commercial beekeeping operations during their yearly migrations across the country ( Figure 1 ), to provide pollination services including almond pollination and producing honey. Field Specialists perform colony health inspections, on-site testing for several important honey bee pests and diseases, including the destructive Varroa mite, collect samples if additional laboratory testing is required, and consult with the participating beekeepers regarding their colony health management plan. The beekeepers participating in the Tech Transfer Team program collectively manage approximately 460,000 colonies, representing a little over 1 7 percent of all colonies in the U.S. and giving the BIP’s Field Specialists a finger on the pulse of the commercial beekeeping industry. Here is a short summary of what they observed this past year. Northwest Region – Ben Sallmann, Field Specialist It all started in February (2020), when California’s weather conditions were ideal and bees had access to a greater amount of forage in 2020 almond groves compared to 2019. Following the almond bloom, bees brooded up really quickly in the spring and beekeepers experienced many swarms. During that same period, the Northwest region’s weather was rainy and many of those swarms resulted in failed supercedures (queen replacement in a colony). Not surprisingly, Varroa mite infestation levels also began to increase quite early in 2020. European Foulbrood (EFB) was less prevalent in 2020 compared to 201 9, but was still observed in some of the colonies used to pollinate blueberries. The same pattern also held true for chalkbrood infection rates. Although Nosema data are difficult to assess due to reduced Nosema testing this past year, overall, samples that were analyzed showed lower spore counts compared to 201 9 data. IN YOUR ORCHARD Bee yard in Idaho. Photo Credit: Ben Sallmann, October 2020 Figure 1. Map of BIP Tech Transfer Team Regions. The yellow dots represent the home-base for each Field Specialist, and the orange dots identify the states where they provide colony health services. The arrows indicate Field Specialists’ movements as they follow U.S. commercial honey bee colony migrations throughout the beekeeping season. 2 8 A L M O N D F A C T S