jan-feb-2020

As of mid-November, over 14,000 new inspection records were added to the database in 2019. Most were collected by our Tech Teams servicing commercial beekeepers. The Sentinel program, aimed mainly at smaller scale beekeepers, represented a steady stream of information that amounted to over 15 percent of our records. Finally, trials and contract work performed by BIP added up to another 10 percent of the records. The Tech Teams are often described as our “boots on the ground.” They work with commercial beekeepers as in-field consultants and can perform, among others, colony inspections, diagnostics and disease monitoring, hygienic testing, emergency visits and help conduct research trials. Those six specialists service over 100 commercial beekeepers from 17 different states. Altogether, those commercial beekeeper members of our program own over 17 percent of U.S. honey bee colonies. We’re also working closely with approximately 20 queen breeders, particularly in California. In 2019, the Tech Teams performed over 9,800 in-field Varroa alcohol washes, which allows them to provide same-day reporting of Varroa load to the beekeeper. Our Tech Teams typically monitor operations four times a year, at critical times, such as before and after treatment, to judge its effectiveness. We believe that active monitoring is essential to the success of operations, and help our participants make informed decisions based on objective data. Compared to the National Honey Bee Disease Survey (funded by APHIS), Tech Team members show reduced loads of Varroa mites all though the year, and particularly in the fall. The NHBS sample beekeepers from most U.S. states to monitor for potentially new invasive diseases, and is also used as a baseline of disease loads in U.S. operations, both commercial and small scale. According to the BIP Loss and Management Survey, over the winter 2018–2019, 40 beekeepers reporting 3 1 J A N U A R Y – F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0