The Bee Informed Partnership (BIP): Programs & Colony Health Trends
The Bee Informed Partnership offers a variety of programs, from the Tech Transfer Team working with the commercial beekeepers to the Sentinel Apiary Program with the backyard and sideline beekeepers. Combined with the yearly National Colony Losses and Management Survey, BIP has collected copious amounts of data in the past decade. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of our programs and identify honey bee health trends and associated management practices.
As the Honey Bee Health Field Specialist for the Pacific Northwest, Ben Sallman works with migratory beekeepers from around the region and helps monitor diseases, pest loads, and colony health. Most of his experience with commercial beekeeping comes from his time working with BIP in Northern California (2013–2017), where he helped queen breeders select stock and test for hygienic behavior. His interest in bees began much earlier working on his family’s apiary/organic vegetable farm in Wisconsin. When not in the bees, Ben spends his time playing the tuba and trombone in a variety of musical genres and propagating rare plants.