Coalition Leads National Efforts to Support Bee Health

Heading into 2016, the Honey Bee Health Coalition continues to be one of the foremost public-private partnerships for promoting honey bee health. Here are just a few highlights of recent and upcoming efforts the Coalition is leading to support honey bee health.

­Honey Bee Health Coalition-NAPPC Event in Washington

Building upon the incredible momentum and successes throughout 2015, the Coalition partnered with the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign to host a high-profile reception in Washington, D.C. The event underscored the progress being made as well as the Coalition’s network with policymakers and allies working to strengthen honey bee health. Both efforts are highlighted in the White House’s National Pollinator Health Strategy as key examples of public-private partnerships.

The event, hosted at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s headquarters near the White House, showcased a video about the Coalition’s mission and progress to-date. The video highlights the Coalition’s mission and ongoing work to promote honey bee health through collaborative strategies.

The reception followed the Coalition’s October meeting at the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, D.C.

Managed Pollinator Protection Plan Symposium

The Honey Bee Health Coalition is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture to convene a symposium that brings key Managed Pollinator Protection Plan (MP3) stakeholders together for dialogue and sharing learnings for achieving a well-supported MP3 in each of the states. This Symposium will present best practices to develop a state or tribal Pollinator Protection Plan. Participants will learn about current state plans, work with other stakeholders, and obtain tools to engage their local, state, and tribal stakeholders to develop their state MP3.

This event is invitation-only and takes place on March 10 and 11, 2016 in Washington, D.C. For more information, please contact MP3Symposium@NASDA.org.

Honey Bee Nutrition Literature Review

As part of the forage and nutrition focus area, the Coalition aims to advance pre-competitive solutions and research addressing honey bee nutrition by starting with a broader assessment of honey bee nutritional needs. The Coalition is seeking proposals from qualified candidates to conduct a rigorous and thorough review of the honey bee nutrition literature, resulting in a comprehensive summary of the state of knowledge of honey bee nutritional needs. The Coalition is interested in proposals that creatively address the challenge of preparing a literature review on a topic with continually emerging research.

Please view the full Request for Proposals at the Coalition’s website and share it with your networks. Proposals are due Jan. 22, 2016.

Varroa Control & Sampling Demonstration Videos

Building on the success of the Tools for Varroa Management Guide, the Coalition has received a grant from the National Honey Board to produce a series of how-to videos. The videos will further empower beekeepers to utilize the principles of Integrated Pest Management and apply consistent practices when monitoring their hives for mites and other parasites and using chemical and non-chemical treatments.

The Coalition plans to start production on the videos in early 2016. The Coalition, in partnership with the experts who crafted the Tools for Varroa Management Guide, plans to finalize the videos by mid-2016.

Updated Varroa Management Guide

Following the successful roll-out of the Varroa Management Guide, the Coalition continues to update the landmark document with the latest information available. Since its release, the Coalition has improved the guide and updated its comprehensive and approachable content.

Specifically, the guide — available at www.honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroa — includes updates regarding:

• Apivar
• Mite Away Quick Strips
• How the guide lists active ingredients versus product names
• Additional important safety information

Coming to a Conference Near You

Please check out the Honey Bee Health Coalition at the following upcoming events:

• American Beekeeping Federation Conference & Tradeshow, Jan. 5 to Jan. 9, 2016 Ponte Vedra, Florida – presentation, table, and screening of Bee Understanding video
• American Honey Producers Association Annual Convention & Trade Show, Jan. 5 to Jan. 9, 2016, Albuquerque, New Mexico – presentation and screening of Bee Understanding video
• American Farm Bureau Annual Convention, Jan. 9 to Jan. 11, 2016, Orlando, Florida – tradeshow booth
• Commodity Classic, March 3 to March 5, 2016, New Orleans, Louisiana – tradeshow booth and screening of Bee Understanding video

And more to come!