Latest News from Project Apis m.
Visit us on the Web at
www.ProjectApism.org
February 19, 2010
Welcome to the latest edition of the Project
Apis m. Newsletter
What is Project Apis m (PAm)? A
non-profit organization focused on finding practical solutions to beekeepers'
challenges by supporting practical, results-oriented in-field research.
- Lab Directory available on PAm website
- - The first-ever directory of laboratories
offering analyses of honey bees, wax, pollen and other hive matrices has
been assembled by PAm and is available on PAm’s website under Downloads.
Look to this directory to find locations to send honey bee samples for
evaluation of viruses, Nosema, pesticides and several other types of
analyses. Some locations offer free testing. For a direct link,
click here.
- DeRisi Lab manufactures
ViroChip for Bees - - PAm has enlisted the services of the DeRisi Lab,
UCSF, famous for their cutting edge technology that discovered the human
SARS virus and also the Avian Bonavirus that was mysteriously killing
parrots around the world, to solve Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). PAm has
provided funding for the DeRisi Lab to systematically collect weekly samples
from a large migratory beekeeping operation so as to characterize normal
honey bee microbial flora. Meanwhile, PAm’s funding allowed the lab to
produce a virus and microbe microarray, or BeeChip, with 2000
pathogen-detection sites. Unknown pathogens are being ultra-deep sequenced
for identification. Results are expected by year-end.
- PAm’s
Executive Director receives
Honey Producer Recognition - - At
January’s American Honey Producers Association’s annual meeting in
Sacramento, a special award and recognition was given to Christi Heintz,
Executive Director of PAm. She was recognized by the beekeeping industry
with a plaque that reads: The AHPA recognizes
Christi Heintz as a "Friend
of the Industry for Years of Dedication and Service to Beekeeping
and Pollination”.
- Latest
almond pricing update posted to website - - The
beekeeping business and the almond business go hand-in-hand. Visit
PAm’s website for the latest almond pricing and industry update. Go to
www.ProjectApism.org and click on the almond.
- PAm receives second CDFA
Specialty Crop Block Grant - - PAm is again a recipient under the CDFA
Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. Under the 2009 round of funding, PAm
has been awarded $254,400 over the next 2 ½ years to develop and distribute
Best Management Practices for beekeepers. PAm will reach beekeepers across
the country that come to California to pollinate California crops to employ
better management practices specifically for pollination services. PAm will
publicize those time-tested alternatives that work, plus the latest in
scientific findings that can help bee operations. A survey is underway to
determine common practices followed by beekeepers providing 8+ frame
colonies for the current 2010 pollination season.
- Find out more about PAm in
Central Valley meetings- - PAm's success
lies in its ability to facilitate the transfer of technology from human
health to bee health, successes in leveraging contributions to double its
funding for bee research, and in PAm's low overhead and
responsive structure. Come find out why Project Apis m is the right
organization at the right time. Meetings will be held in Bakersfield and
Harris Ranch (March 2) and Modesto and Arbuckle (March 3). For details on
the program nearest you, contact
christi@projectapism.org.
- Almond Growers hear from a
migratory beekeeping operation –-At
the Almond Board’s annual conference in December, almond growers learned
more about what it takes year-round to manage a commercial beekeeping
operation. Wesley and Glenn Card, Merrimack Valley Apiaries of Louisiana
and Massachusetts, at the invitation of Christi Heintz, impressed upon the
almond-grower audience that decisions are made throughout the year in
preparation for that important early-season almond pollination contract.
- Penn State to host first
international conference on pollinator biology - -
Penn State, one of the top bee research
institutions in the United States, is hosting the
first International Conference on Pollinator
Biology, Health and Policy from July 24-28, 2010.
Click here for more information.
- Donate now to PAm!
-- Why PAm? Because PAm funds bee research that is
selected and guided by beekeepers. We are suggesting $1 per colony to
support PAm's research efforts that seek to find practical solutions
for managed colonies. Click
here to donate.
If you
sent hives to Paramount Farming Co. orchards during the 2009 pollination
season, Paramount will generously match your contribution to PAm,
dollar-for-dollar. Write your check to PAm, send it our address below,
and include a note that you were a Paramount beekeeper. “A buck a hive” becomes
two bucks and will go a long way to help resolve our many bee challenges. Do
your part, and Paramount will help!
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Donations.
Suggested
contribution: A buck a hive - beekeeper and grower. Write this contribution for
research into your pollination contracts. Send your tax deductible contribution
to:
Project Apis m.
1750 Dayton Rd.
Chico, CA 95928