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USDA Announces New Funding for Bee Health & Protection
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 09/12/2007

The federal government wants to get the latest buzz on what's happening to the nation's bee population. On Tuesday, the USDA announced that $4 million will be available in Fiscal Year 2008 for a four-year Coordinated Agricultural Project to research ways to improve the health and protection of honeybees, which are facing serious threats that have the potential to heavily impact the nation's food supply.

"Bee populations throughout the United States are in serious decline," said Gale Buchanan, USDA under secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "As the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder and other bee health problems increases, it becomes more important that USDA takes the necessary steps to help protect these valuable assets."

The overall goal of the Protection of Managed Bees CAP is to improve the health of managed bee populations in agricultural systems. The research USDA is seeking to fund is expected to address genomics, breeding, pathology, immunology and applied ecology that explain the cause behind dwindling bee populations.

Unique to this CAP program is that the researchers will work closely with the extension community and stakeholders to develop mitigation strategies for Colony Collapse Disorder and other significant problems that threaten the bee industry and U.S. agriculture.

Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value each year. CCD became a matter of concern in the winter of 2006-2007 when an estimated 25 percent of the beekeepers in the United States reported losses of adult bees from their hives.


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