Robert Mann from New Zealand wrote:

...gets what we call in some non-yank parts of the world 'bugger all'
research funding, while some wild & dangerous notions (in which some
members of this list may have vested interests) get huge funding.

I'm not sure who Robert is attacking by this comment, and I'm going to
assume he wasn't referring to us as "wild and dangerous".   However, I'd
like to respond to the issue of "huge funding". Funding for bee research in
the U.S. is not easy to come by, and often in small amounts.  The USDA labs
probably get the bulk of the funding, and as this list has noted, the
Tucson lab is on the chopping block.  Most of these labs have barely enough
funding to stay open after they pay salaries, rent, heating, etc.

Most universities have to fund applied bee research via small grants from
groups such as the Almond Growers, some of the bee associations, and even
donations of the use of bees, hives, etc. from individual beekeepers.  In
general, the pesticide companies don't fund bee research - there's not
enough profit for them to aggressively pursue development of bee specific
products such as mite controls, and label registration testing for
assessing the hazards of pesticides has been moved from universities and
agriculture extension/experiment labs to "private labs", where it is
difficult to get the final reports.  Dan Mayer in Washington is one of the
few university associated investigators who still gets some work to test
for pesticide hazards and presents his findings to bee groups, publishes,
etc.  I spent a week with him last February in Guatemala looking at some
bee problems, and he certainly isn't getting big funding - my impression,
he's lucky to keep his agricultural experiment station work going.

Many of us who conduct bee research have to find round-about ways.  You
might be able to study some aspect of neurophysiology by applying to the
National Science Foundation (where bees just happen to be a test animal of
choice).  Note also that NSF focuses its funding on basic research, rather
than applied, and generally likes work with native bees over that with
honey bees. A bit of good news for those of you not in the U.S., NSF
research may be conducted in other countries.  Thus, Dr. Kukuk from UM
often conducts research on bees in Australia, tackling questions such as
competition among different species of bees.

My own work is funded by agencies interested in having a sentinel animal to
rapidly survey  large areas for hazardous materials that may injure bees
AND other organisms within the ecosystems in which they reside, that may
alter eocsystem functioning (such as reduced pollination, where bees act as
the "canary" for other pollinators - and we know that that not all
pollinators respond the same as honey and bumble bees, but its a start), or
that may identify materials or areas that have the potential for harming
human health.

However, my sponsors are looking for quick and economical ways of getting a
snapshot of conditions in a given area.  They are not interested in the bee
itself.  If a moth did a better job, they'd fund moths (and if fact they
are funding moths as a night flying sensor).

But, that doesn't mean that our work has no relevance to beekeepers. The
overview on copper is mainly a result of our work.  Some of our recent
trials resulted in the the first documentation of some success in the
mating of honey bee queens in free flight in an enclosure.  We are soon
going to publish a more refined model of how bees thermoregulate hives.  We
are modeling electrostatic charges on the surfaces of bees and the role
these charges play in the uptake of particulate materials (from dust to
spores to pollen and even microcapsules).  And we hope that our electronic
hives can be made affordable for use by commercial beekeepers in the U.S.
and other countries where large numbers of hives are spread out over large
areas.  The idea is that a system of  monitor hives would report back to
the beekeeper via some form of wireless communications, so that the day's
work could be planned on knowledge of what's going on at distant (hundred
mile away) apiaries.  Remember, our commercial folks often have bees spread
out over more than one state for pollination and it cost money to drive a
crew to each beeyard, so you want to go to where the crew is needed.

And finally Bob, we trained a New Zealand graduate student, who worked as a
member of our research team for two years and sent her back home, where
she's employed as part of the New Zealand varroa investigation team.  Her
name is Michelle Anne Taylor, and we are delighted that she is working on
honey bees in your country.

Cheers

Jerry







>Robt Mann
>consultant ecologist
>P O Box 28878   Remuera, Auckland 1005, New Zealand
>                (9) 524 2949
>
>