Bee Care Program

Bee Care Program

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
At a Bayer Crop Science symposium I saw a sign saying Bayer Bee Care program so I wandered over and talked with program manager Becky Langer. "I saw Bee Care program and wondered what it was that you were doing? We have a full bee care program. For more than 25 years we have had to promote and protect the pollinators just as much as anyone else. Bees are so critical to agriculture that we have to make sure that apiculture and agriculture are working together to promote and protect those bees. You mentioned colony collapse disorder. It is important to recognize that this is a very specific set of symptoms that are not actually often seen. What we hear more commonly is an over wintering loss and this is where the beekeepers are assessing our colonies at the end of each winter and that is where we have seen some elevated losses that are not historically accepted. The beekeepers believe that 10 to 15% is what they can recover from each winter and in recent years they have seen losses of up to 30%. So the Bayer Bee Care program focus is on research, we are looking for ways to control the varroa mite, the number one factor associated with bee decline, we are working on habitat, protecting and promoting the habitat that bees need and then also responsible stewardship. How do you use the products correctly, make sure that you follow the label instructions. As an angrichemical company, we have previously developed mitacides that the beekeepers use in the hives to protect against the mites and one of the main focuses of our research is to develop new mitacides."
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