The Bee Informed Partnership in association with state and federal apiary services is conducting two online surveys. One is on winter losses; the other is on management practices. Participation in the surveys is totally anonymous. There is only enough information gathered to break down the survey responses into specific sub-segments such as: regions of the country, size of operation, participants in crop pollination, etc.
The surveys begin March 29 and remain open until April 15. By then, participants will know a lot about their wintering success. The results from past surveys are available through the Bee Informed Partnership website. Besides data summaries, there are graphics of the data. You can access information from thousands of beekeepers on what worked to keep bees healthy and productive, and what didn’t.
I encourage you to take the time to participate in these surveys. Last year more than 500 beekeepers from Virginia took part in the surveys. Each year the number of participants in the state has grown by 20%. Let’s keep this trend going. Take part in the surveys starting next week at http://beeinformed.org/ and, encourage fellow beekeepers to participate in the surveys.
Sincerely,
Keith Tignor
Office of Plant Industry Services, Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services