Your responses to the following questionnaire will be of great help in developing the next NP 305 action plan.  Do not hesitate to send to club members or others you know in the beekeeping or related industries. Please fill out the questionnaire below, and forward this email to Karin Sypura at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and return by Wednesday, May 9th.   

Thank you for your continued support,

Karin Sypura

Program Analyst

Crop Production and Protection (CPP)

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Name:

Organization:

Telephone:

Email 1:

Email 2:

Address:

1.       Please provide a brief description of your operation/organization.

2.       Relative to research on issues related to bees, is ARS (solely or in cooperation with Federal, state, and industry partners) an important resource to you and/or your operation/organization?  In what area of research?  Please provide an example(s) and explain how ARS bee research and/or outreach helped you with decision-making or resulted in improvements to your operation/organization.

3.       With what organizations would you like to see ARS form partnerships on the subject of research on issues related to bees? How would these partnerships benefit research related to bees?

4.       What do you see as your most pressing bee and/or pollination problems over the next 5 to 10 years?

5.       What methods are you currently using to cope with these problems?  What are the roadblocks to successfully solving these problems? 

6.       What might be other solutions to these problems?  What types of practical solutions would help best? 

7.       What do you see as your most important opportunity over the next 5 to 10 years?

8.       What should be the top four or five areas of bee research over the next 5 years?

9.       What should be the top four or five bee research outputs or products over the next 5 years?

10.   Which of the priorities mentioned above do you believe ARS is best equipped to address? Why?

11.   What might ARS do to help better serve your needs in the area of bee or pollination research? 

12.   Additional issues or comments are welcomed below.

Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture, and photographer Kodua Galieti will be witnessing first-hand the greatest pollination event in the world.  Follow their travels through the almond orchard bloom from mid-February to March.  Click here for their blog.

Visit the BMP tab of PAm's website for information on Best Management Practices.  Recent additions to the BMP website are easy-to-follow elearning modules on various aspects of the BMPs.  Nutrition,  Varroa and Equipment Maintenance elearning modules are now available, with other BMP topics soon to be added.

We have added a 'Donate' button to our homepage.  Now you can help PAm with its research goals!  Your donation through PayPal is secure and convenient.  We offer a choice of payment methods, including through your PayPal account OR with a major debit or credit card.  PAm is committed to improving the health of honeybee colonies while enhancing crop production.

Why PAm?  Honeybee research is guided by beekeepers.  Focus is placed on practical solutions for managed colonies.  Efficient transfer of research results into field practice.  Economic viability for pollination businesses.  Leveraged contributions seek matching funds.  Non-profit and low overhead.

Research is costly.  Donate NOW and become part of the solution.  You will be helping PAm with our present research:  improving honeybee nutrition via more forage resources; varroa control, viral loads and their impact on health; correlating pathogen presence to beekeeper management practices; helping to build a database of pesticide prevalence in hives matrices; and improving stock and bee husbandry through extension projects.

Project Apis m. depends on the public, growers, and the beekeeping industry for its funding in order to continue.  Thank you for your support! 

NASS to Reinstate Several Agricultural Estimates Programs

Issued December 9, 2011 by the Agricultural Statistics Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service

The Annual Honey Report Saved!  Good news for the beekeeping industry as NASS reinstates the annual report.  The Annual Bee and Honey Report (Data collection begins January 23rd - Report Date is March 30th) remains a viable tool as the USDA reconsiders the elimination of the program.  PAm urged beekeepers to contact the director of NASS, as well as their local NASS office. 

Thank you for taking the time to save this important report for our industry!