Progress report for WRGR22-006
Project Information
Building Comb from Castle to Castle: Interdisciplinary approaches between Queen Breeders & Researchers for supporting Adaptive Reproductive Practices
is a cross-country project of the Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance which is rooted in 2 previously funded WSARE Farmer grants: The Southwest Survivor Queenbee Project (FW 07-32) and The Rocky Mountain Survivor Queenbee Cooperative (FW 12-096). These initial and secondary farmer-inspired projects focused on bringing queen honey bee producers together to develop regionally-fortified genetic pools for sharing enduring stock lines. Both projects created networks of beekeepers in diverse communities which helped to raise awareness of distinct bee breeding practices and challenges in the American west. They have inspired the formation of The Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance (ABBA) which includes beekeepers from New Mexico, California, Oregon, Texas and North Dakota, Massachusetts, New York and Florida. ABBA participants are appreciative of scientific inquiries and review. As such, ABBA has connected with diverse scientists focused on complementary bee research in Texas, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Indiana, and Georgia working to support healthy bees across our great country. Building Comb from Castle to Castle project shares collaborative findings and media guides helping to build bridges between the field and the lab that can help us become better producers and stewards. This project includes genetic stock analysis for both Mitochondrial (maternal) assessment and genomic techniques to understand drone fertility in each of the participating producers breeding areas, Instrumental Insemination (I.I.) training in advanced breeding techniques for sharing across distances and times, cryopreservation of honey bee germplasm for inclusion in the USDA American Honey Bee Germplasm Respository Program, determining drone congregation area research with UAVs, and mentorship educational outreach opportunities via webinars and in-service workshops to support continued professional growth of both producers and researchers which enhances quality of life and market availability for changing times and climes.
Building Comb from Castle to Castle: Interdisciplinary approaches connecting Queen Breeders & Researchers for supporting Adaptive Reproductive Practices is a multifaceted interdisciplinary project that:
- increases knowledge of both producers, scientists, and agriculture professionals through joint participation in field assessments and scientific analysis for evaluation and result integration.
- develops partnerships between producers and the scientific community for nurturing industry support and integration adding to the collective body of knowledge
- creates collaborative producer driven research queries to develop approaches for adapting to variable environmental challenges
- processes producer queries through facilitated academic participation regional
The Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance (ABBA) is a grassroots network of queen honey bee producers located across the United States. The formation of this network manifested as continued metamorphosis and evolution rooted in 2 Western SARE funded Farmer/Rancher grants that occurred in 2007, The Southwest Survivor Queenbee Project (SWSQB; FW 07-32) and in 2012, The Rocky Mountain Survivor Queenbee Cooperative (RMSQB; FW12-96) which focused on bringing queen honey bee producers together to develop regionally-fortified genetic pools for supporting enduring stock lines. Each began as seed ideas, one building off the other metamorphosizing the potential of small to mid-scale queen breeders in an ever-increasing challenge-filled industry. Both of these preliminary and secondary projects were initiated by Zia Queenbees (ZQB) based in northern New Mexico that invited additional beekeepers in New Mexico and Colorado to share their chosen honey bee stock. The SWSQB project helped to develop camaraderie and initiate a network of NM bee producers. Several years later, it metamorphosized into the RMSQB which was also facilitated by ZQB to nurture educational and professional development opportunities for bee producers spanning 2 states through 7 counties, and nearly 500 miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Fort Collins, Colorado establishing a mountain-adapted genetic pool of naturally-resilient intermountain bee stock and for sharing techniques. Both projects created networks of beekeepers which helped to raise awareness of the distinct practices and challenges in the American west. These projects inspired similar efforts around the country. Now we expand these collective efforts with the producer-inspired Adaptive Bee Breeders Alliance which connects breeders with researchers across the U.S. for interdisciplinary collaborations nurturing production techniques carrying apiculture into the future by enhancing our collective understanding of mating behavior, regenerative production paradigms, and a network with which to support the many diverse existing and next generation of professionals.
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Education & Outreach Initiatives
Gather participating bee breeders and researchers online to meet and discuss grant parameters.
Group gathering included everyone but 2 participating breeders and 3 researchers.
First in-person gathering of participating queen breeders and researchers to discuss 2023 bee season research objectives and timeline.
Discussion of 2023 bee season objectives and research timeline discussion.