32 Almond Facts
SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2014
The Bee Box
CHRISTI HEINTZ
& MEG RIBOTTO
Unique and unprecedented partnerships
have formed over the past year with
the common goal of working to
improve honey bee health. These
partnerships include cooperative
arrangements between bee interests
and other government, corporate,
academic and NGO sectors. At Project
Apis m. (PAm), we have established and
recently formed alliances with numerous
universities and with Pheasants Forever,
Costco, California State Beekeepers
Association, Pollinator Partnership
and Bee Informed Partnership. And in
the July/August Bee Box, we discussed
PAm’s involvement in top level White
House initiatives for honey bee health!
Blue Diamond Growers
allows us to reach
out to growers on the importance of
pollinators. Topics in our Bee Box
column range from honey bee
nutrition, best management
practices for beekeepers and
growers, and hive strength
inspections. New this summer is
an exciting and offcial cooperative
arrangement between PAm and
Blue
Diamond Growers
with the launch of a full
retail line of honey-favored products
from
Snack Almonds
to
Nut Thins
to
AlmondBreeze
almondmilk. To show
Blue Diamond’s
support for honey
bee health, the “BeeCause We
Care” campaign was unveiled
and along with these new products
is
Blue Diamond’s
donation to PAm of
$100,000 to fund honey bee research –
now that is a sweet deal!
As a member of
Blue Diamond Growers
, you
should know just howProject Apism. goes
about funding honey bee research. In
the past eight years since our inception,
PAm has developed a successful model
for funding quality research and science-
based solutions to honey bee challenges.
Project Apis m.’s method for funding honey
bee research starts with our mission:
to direct
research that will enhance the health and vitality
of honey bees while improving crop production.
Blue Diamond’s
contribution to PAm for
research will help meet that goal. And
more specifcally, PAm has designated this
funding for projects that meet the following
objectives:
• Provide practical solutions for almond
growers and for managed honey bee
colonies
• Yield results that can be effciently
transferred into feld practice
• Deliver an excellent rate-of-return for
beekeepers and growers
PAm’s Call for Proposals, with the stated
objectives above, was sent to scientists
coast-to-coast. The next step in the
process that is currently underway
at the time of this writing is to have
PAm’s Scientifc Advisors review the
proposals that were submitted by the
August deadline.
PAm’s Scientifc Advisors, approved by the
board of directors, are evaluating each
of the submitted proposals for their
scientifc merit. Additionally, they are
rating proposals for their relevance,
specifcity, and practicality:
Relevance
– How relevant is the
project to improving honey bee health?
Specifcity
–Will this project specifcally
help almond growers?
Practicality
– Will this study result in good,
practical solutions
assisting almond
growers using managed bees?
Finally, the Scientifc Advisors are
assessing whether the research study
funding request matches the experimental
procedure and objectives.
After review by PAm’s Scientifc Advisors,
the proposals and their ratings will be reviewed
by PAm’s board of directors, all of whom are
Prioritize
Honey Bee
Research
Needs
PAm Call for
Proposals
PAm
Scientifc
Advisor Review and
Recommendation
Honey Bee
Research
Funded
PAm
Board of
Directors
Approval
Figure 1: Project Apis m.'s Process for Funding
Honey Bee Research.