| News: CheckMite+ Update Häagen-Dazs Sweetens Penn State's Bee Research Funding USDA Announces New Funding for Bee Health and Protection Wyman's of Maine Provides Gift for Penn State Honey Bee Research 'Honey of a Garden" at UC Davis Laidlaw Facility Anti-Dumping Facts |
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Update Wyman's of Maine Provides Gift for Penn State Honey Bee Research By Chuck Gill, PSU Ag Science News, March 29, 2009 UNIVERSITY PARK — The nation's largest grower of wild blueberries -- a crop that relies on honey bees for pollination -- has thrown its support behind Penn State research aimed at finding solutions to the health crisis facing the nation's honey bee colonies. Ed Flanagan, president of Wyman's of Maine, visited the entomology department in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences today to present a check for $50,000 to Robert Steele, dean of the college. The funds will support research on Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, a mysterious ailment that has led to the disappearance of up to one-third of U.S. commercial honey bee hives since late 2006. Researchers say the loss of honey bees has put at risk about one-third of the typical American diet. About $15 billion worth of fruits, vegetables and other crops -- from California almonds to Pennsylvania apples -- rely on honey bees for pollination. Every berry that Wyman's of Maine grows owes its existence to the essential pollination that comes from the honey bee's dance from flower to flower, noted Flanagan. "There is no more direct or urgent sustainable food issue than CCD facing the wild blueberry crop," he said. "There is no effective alternative to honey bees. It's simple: no bees, no blueberries!" Wyman's of Maine has taken a leadership role nationally among growers in the effort to help beekeepers solve CCD and eliminate the threat to our nation's crops. The company testified before Congress in June 2008 in support of increased USDA funding. The company has also issued a call to action for consumers, noting a portion of their wild blueberry purchases will be used to fund that commitment. Penn State has been at the forefront in the effort to identify the cause or causes of CCD. Researchers are investigating viruses and other diseases, bee immune responses, pesticides, bee nutrition and other environmental factors. Maryann Frazier, Penn State extension bee specialist, said the gift from Wyman's will provide critical support. "This funding will allow us to extend projects, collect and analyze more data and make the most of what we're doing," she said. "In particular, it will help us continue looking at how the complex interaction between pesticides and diseases is contributing to pollinator decline and possibly to CCD." To learn more about Penn State honey bee and pollinator research, visit the entomology department online at http://www.ento.psu.edu/HoneyBeeResearch.html. Wyman's of Maine has been growing and marketing wild blueberries for more than 125 years. Still family owned, the company's fruit comes from more than 10,000 acres of its own wild blueberry barrens and from the coastal hills, ridge lines and fields of other Wyman growers from Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. With a focus on sustainable food, the company's tag line is "Recommended by Future Generations." Visit Wyman's online at www.wymans.com Häagen-Dazs sweetens Penn State's bee research funding February 27, 2009 Häagen-Dazs has sweetened funding for research into honey bee colony collapse disorder with a second donation of $125,000 to Penn State University. Last year, the Oakland, Calif.-based m a ker of premium ice creams donated $150,000 toward honey-bee-related research. In addition, it contributed $100,000 toward similar programs at the University of California, Davis. The year, the money will go to the following Penn State projects: Two Häagen-Dazs graduate fellowships in pollinator health will be created, each with a $25,000 stipend. Both will work on topics, such as pathogens of bees and native pollinators, the role of pesticides in declining bee health, parasites of bees, effects of infectious disease on bee physiology, and ecology and manipulation of native bees. . The citizen-based Native Bee Survey, an ongoing effort to determine the species and population sizes of native pollinators in Pennsylvania, will receive $15,000. "The information from this survey is key to helping understand the full impact of declines in honeybee and other native pollinator populations," says Dennis vanEnglesdorp, Penn State senior Extension associate and acting state apiarist for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The purchase of high-pressure liquid chromatography equipment for pesticide analysis will be supported with $45,000. According to Diana Cox-Foster, professor of entomology and co-chair of a national working group of CCD researchers, this equipment more easily separates and detects chemicals in a sample. Among those chemicals are individual pesticides in pollen, wax and bee samples. This equipment can perform initial screenings before more expensive analyses are undertaken. . The Master Gardener Program at Penn State will receive $15,000 to support the Pollinator Education Program, a statewide initiative established with last year's gift from Häagen-Dazs. Through the program, Master Gardeners teach homeowners and gardeners how to establish local, pollinator-friendly plantings and habitats. The new funding will expand the program by which homeowners can have their own gardens certi f ied as pollinator friendly. For more information on honeybee research at Penn State, visit http://www.ento.psu.edu/HoneyBeeResearch.html. 'Honey of a Garden" at UC Davis Laidlaw Facility DAVIS, Calif. - It’s a honey of a garden, the judges unanimously agreed. The Sausalito-based team created a series of interconnected gardens with such names as "Honeycomb Hideout," "Nectar Nook" and "Pollinator Patch" to win the international bee-friendly garden design competition, a gift to the University of California, Davis, from the Häagen-Dazs® brand. The design, the work of landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki, will be brought to life this summer on a half-acre site at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road on the UC Davis campus. Sibbett is a principal with the Sibbett Group; Baker is a senior landscape architect with RRM Design Group; Brainard is an independent museum consultant; and Kurotaki is an exhibit designer who works for RRM Design Group. Last December Häagen-Dazs ice cream committed $125,000 to the UC Davis Department of Entomology for the garden project. This encompasses site planning, preparation and the design competition. The key goals of the garden are to provide bees with a year-around food source, to raise public awareness about the plight of honey bees and to encourage visitors to plant bee-friendly gardens of their own. "We’ll not only be providing a pollen and nectar source for the millions of bees on Bee Biology Road, but we will also be demonstrating the beauty and value of pollinator gardens," said design competition coordinator Melissa "Missy" Borel, program manager for the California Center for Urban Horticulture. "My hope is that it will inspire everyone to plant for pollinators!" "The winning design fits beautifully with the campus mission of education and outreach, and it will tremendously benefit our honeybees at Bee Biology," said Lynn Kimsey, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. "The garden will be a campus destination." Kimsey served as one of eight judges who unanimously selected the design from among 30 entries, submitted from as far away as England. The winning team will be honored at the garden dedication in October, where they will be presented with an engraved name plaque. They will also be given the sweet reward of free Häagen-Dazs ice cream for a year. "We had so many wonderful garden concepts submitted that making the final choice was really difficult," Kimsey said. The Sausalito-based team's design zeroed in on sustainability and visitor experience. The four interconnected gardens, "Honeycomb Hideout," "Nectar Nook," "Pollinator Patch" and "My Backyard" form the "physical and interpretive framework for our honey bee haven design," the authors said. A series of trails connect the gardens. Trellises define the entry ways and reinforce the passage to the next space. "Incorporated into each of the four sections are gathering spaces that serve as orientation points for guided tours, facilitated programs and ‘chat time’ with beekeepers and entomologists," the team explained. Identification labels will help visitors know more about the plants, or what they can plant in their own yards. The design also includes a "Learning Center" building and paths labeled "Orchard Alley," "Save the Bee Sanctuary," "Round Dance Circle" and "Waggle Dance Way." Judges initially narrowed the 30 designs to six, and then focused on diversity (the winning design has 40 different plants), bloom balance, vision, generational learning, cost feasibility and attention to detail. Judges also declared the Sausalito-based team's design "the most river or environmentally-friendly." In addition to Borel and Kimsey, the panel of judges included: David Fujino, executive director, California Center for Urban Horticulture at UC Davis; Aaron Majors, construction department manager, Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors, based in Novato; Diane McIntyre, senior public relations manager, Häagen-Dazs ice cream; Heath Schenker, professor of environmental design, UC Davis; Jacob Voit, sustainability manager and construction project manager, Cagwin and Dorward Landscape Contractors; and Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology. Schenker praised the Sausalito-based team's design as "beautiful and very functional." "The interpretive elements are imaginative," said Schenker. "I think this design team has a great range of expertise and has taken a very well-rounded approach to the program." Majors said the cost estimate was well organized and the cost of materials very realistic. "The introduction outlined how the design was scalable which shows the collaborative approach of the four-person team and their willingness to work with budget," he said. Honey bees pollinate more than 100 different U.S. agricultural crops, valued at $15 billion. However, in recent years, the nation’s beekeepers have reported losing from one-third to all of their bees due to a mysterious phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder. In response, the Häagen-Dazs brand launched the "Häagen-Dazs Loves Honey Bees" campaign in February 2008, committing a total $250,000 donation for bee research to UC Davis and Pennsylvania State University, and redoubled its efforts in 2009 with a second $250,000 donation, bringing the brand’s total donation for honey bee research to a half million dollars. It also formed a scientific advisory Bee Board, created an educational Web site (www.helpthehoneybees.com) and introduced the new Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream flavor. Bees are crucial to nearly 50 percent of their all-natural flavors. During the last several months, the public has answered the Häagen-Dazs brand's call to action by donating more than $30,000 to support additional honey bee research at UC Davis. In addition, numerous companies have launched programs to donate a portion of their proceeds to UC Davis honey bee research. |
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USDA Announces New Funding for Bee Health and ProtectionNews Release Contact:Jennifer Martin, CSREES Staff, (202) 720-8188 WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2007 USDA announced today that $4 million will be available in Fiscal Year 2008 for a 4-year Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) to research ways to improve the health and protection of honeybees, which are facing serious threats that have the potential to heavily impact the nation's food supply. Bee populations throughout the United States are in serious decline, said Gale Buchanan, USDA under secretary for Research, Education and Economics.As the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder and other bee health problems increases, it becomes more important that USDA takes the necessary steps to help protect these valuable assets. The overall goal of the Protection of Managed Bees CAP is to improve the health of managed bee populations in agricultural systems. The research USDA is seeking to fund is expected to address genomics, breeding, pathology, immunology and applied ecology that explain the cause behind dwindling bee populations. Unique to this CAP program is that the researchers will work closely with the extension community and stakeholders to develop mitigation strategies for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and other significant problems that threaten the bee industry and U.S. agriculture. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value each year. CCD became a matter of concern in the winter of 2006-2007 when an estimated 25 percent of the beekeepers in the United States reported losses of adult bees from their hives. CAP projects focus around the coordinated activities of individuals, institutions, states and regions to promote open communication and the exchange of information in response to emerging areas of national priority and need. The project should complement and/or link with existing programs and projects at the national level. In Fiscal Year 2007, CSREES committed another $1.7 million to honeybees and pollinator research, while USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will spend about $7.7 million on honeybee research focused on mites, pathogen and nutrition. National program leaders at ARS and CSREES developed an Action Plan for CCD which is a long term plan for research, extension and educational activities that are recommended to address this important problem. The plan is available on the ARS Web site. In October 2007, ARS will begin research on the Honeybee Health Areawide Project, which will provide robust bee colonies for early season crops such as almonds in California or squash in Florida. It will also include all major beekeeping routes, such as cherries, apples, cranberries, etc., with a focus on bee nutrition and pest resistance. The 5-year project will be funded at $1 million per year, with 2007 funded at $670,000. The USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is funding the CAP project under the National Research Initiative's 2008 Request for Applications. Dr. Mary Purcell-Miramontes, national program leader for arthropod and nematode biology, developed this new CAP project and will be coordinating this new funding opportunity. More information about the Protection of Managed Bees CAP funding opportunity can be found online. Background information about CCD and the Action Plan is also available at www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/ccd. CSREES advances knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System. For more information, visit www.csrees.usda.gov. ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Visit www.ars.usda.gov for more information.
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