SACRAMENTO — The California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) is seeking proposals for research conducted in the area of honeybee health and management. Proposals should be designed to cover a single year of highly focused research devoted to finding practical solutions to beekeeping problems. Deadline to apply is November 5th, 2021.
2022 Priorities
This year, priority funding will be provided for well-designed projects addressing the following contemporary issues:
• Novel and viable options for varroa mite management. Management strategies should be effective in reducing the number of mites below a threshold damaging to the colony, be safe for the honeybees, should not contaminate hive products, and should be effective in a wide range of environmental conditions. Preferably, they should be low-cost and not too labor-intensive.
• Proper nutrition. Access to plentiful and diverse foraging opportunities or availability of an optimal artificial diet are crucial for colony success. Projects under this priority should address development of a complete diet for honeybees that would be economically feasible for beekeepers and would help colonies not only survive but thrive.
• Quality and health of reproductive castes continue to be an issue for beekeepers. Having a better understanding of what impacts queen and drone reproductive health and devising effective solutions for these problems is also considered a high priority for CSBA.
• Pesticide hazards to bees. Understanding the effects on honeybee health of various pesticides used in commercial farming operations is of interest. Research proposing solutions to this issue are also welcome.
• Other proposed research exploring practical and immediate solutions for beekeepers will be considered. Some examples include, effect of extreme hot and cold temperatures found in field settings on relative honeybee colony health; evaluation of novel and viable and/or optimization of established control strategies for wax moth; optimization of indoor or controlled storage strategies for control of varroa and/or Nosema and influence on relative honeybee colony health.
For more information and proposal format guidelines, see full request here.
The Research Committee of the CSBA meets in conjunction with the Annual Convention, which this year is being held November 16-18 at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort, CA. To allow for sufficient time for committee members to read and prioritize the proposals, they must be e-mailed in a PDF format to Brooke Palmer (brooke@agamsi.com), no later than Friday, November 5th, 2021. A rolling deadline will be granted to proposals with approval from the board.
–California State Beekeepers Association