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Almond Facts
MAY | JUNE 2015
A January 2014 article in Bee Culture by Dr. A. Gary Shilling discussed funding for honey bee research and
the importance of investing in our honey bees in a significant way. He compared the total amount annually
spent on honey bee health research (approximately $25 million), with the amount spent on human health
research ($147 billion). Let’s do the math — this is less than .02 percent of the amount spent on human
health research!
Perhaps it is unfair to compare the
health research of the lowly honey
bee with that of human health, so
let’s look at other agricultural areas.
Take beef/diary — $120 million on
research; nearly five times that spent
on honey bees. Compare pork — $80
million on research; more than three
times the research invested compared
to honey bees. Poultry? At $60 million
in research, the poultry industry spends
well over twice what is spent annually
on honey bee research.
The honey bee industry sits in the
unenviable position of possessing a lack
of adequate investment in research
funding on the one hand, and, on the
other hand, a surplus of maladies that
lead to declines in honey bee health
and shortages of available strong,
healthy colonies for honey
production and crop
pollination. Unfortunately,
there is no simple answer
for what ails the honey
bee. USDA scientists
say the cause of Colony
Collapse Disorder (CCD) is
multifactorial. Many honey
bee health challenges
are complex and remain
unsolved.
Current topics in honey
bee research can be
divided into five major
categories: diagnostics,
pests, pathogens, pesticides
and nutrition. Simple,
cost-effective and efficient
diagnostics — both field
and laboratory — will
help tremendously in
characterizing the status of
bee and colony health.
Varroa remains the major
pest issue, and Varroa’s
ability to quickly build
resistance to control
measures keeps the total
removal of this mite
elusive. Various pathogens,
including Nosema, likewise have
limited options when it comes to
control without impacting the health
of the colony. Pesticides offer an
additional challenge and an area where
information on the honey bee impact is
only partially understood. Only in the
last few years have scientists gathered
large data sets on the pesticides found
in hives and begun in earnest to
study the impact of pesticides on the
various life stages of the bee. Nutrition
concerns center upon finding enough
high quality and diverse natural forage
to sustain bee health. But little is known
about just how much natural forage
and of what specific quality is sufficient
to meet the needs for honey bees.
Blue Diamond
Growers
Despite all the questions, there are
several organizations that have a big
stake in the success of honey bees, and
they plug away at spearheading and
funding research projects.
Blue Diamond
Growers
, via the “BeeCause We Care”
program, is one of those entities.
Blue
Diamond
’s funding of $100,000 was
entrusted to Project Apis m. and is
targeting in-field diagnostics to assess
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Honeybees pollinate our Almond
trees and 1/3 of the world’ s food supply .
The health of honeybees is im portant
so Blue Diamond is donating
to Honeybee Resear ch.
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