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March 2008
 Dr. John Burand, Professor in the Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences (PSIS) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, has been awarded a $150,000, 3-year USDA grant from the Northeast Regional Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Competitive Grants Program for research aimed at improving bee health in the Northeast region. Collaborators on this grant are Dr. Anne Averill and Dr. Stephen Rich, both PSIS Professors at UMass Amherst, and Dr. Francis Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology and Pest Management at the University of Maine, Orono, ME.
The research will focus on improving the health of bees that pollinate cranberries and blueberries, two very economically important crops in the Northeast region. Honey bees and bumble bees are the major pollinators of both of these small fruit plants, and are essential factors for good crop production yields. The health of the bees ultimately impacts the commercial value of both of these small fruits. The goal of the research is to develop efficient methods of monitoring the viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microflora carried by native and commercially managed bumble bee and honey bee populations in the Northeast region. Microbes know to be harmful to bees will be quantified, as will other microbes that are potentially beneficial to the bees. By comparing the microflora of thriving bee colonies with colonies that are not doing as well, researchers could ultimately develop a good microbial indicator test for bee colony health. Researchers will also expose bee colonies to insecticides, and then see the effect of each treatment on the microflora of the bees. Correlation between the microfloral changes and declining bee health will be noted. This information will provide a better understanding of factors affecting bee health, and hopefully lead to IPM practices that will aid in the maintenance of beneficial microbes associated with bees.
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