For the last two years, we’ve been trying to breed mite-tolerant bees out of regular packages here in southern Wisconsin. Read more about our theory and methods in our grant application. Our project has been funded by the Blooming Prairie Foundation and the native-seed producer and plant nursery Agrecol, which also hosts our hives. We … More Bee-Breeding Project — Lab Note 3.02
Join us in our research apiary and help us with our breeding program. … More Beekeeping Volunteer Opportunity
Bees are facing more than one challenge right now in North America. In addition to changing habitats and climates, as well as the increasing reduction of crop diversity in rural areas, bees must deal with increased use of pesticides and other chemicals in their environments. The single biggest problem, however, is the now-endemic parasitic mite, … More Helping Everyone Breed Chemical-Free Bees: An Update on Blooming Prairie Foundation–Funded Project
Scott and Paul Z. will be on the Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public Radio at 11 a.m. today talking about our bee research. You can listen over the air in the Madison area on the Ideas Network (90.9 FM) or from anywhere online right here.
A few weeks ago, Scott Johnson, director of the institute, chatted with Gena Kittner with the Wisconsin State Journal. The result was a Sunday feature article that you can read on the WSJ website: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/low-technology-institute-works-to-solve-problems-without-chemicals/article_b80d64dd-e186-58b8-bcfd-daa9c5ae26a1.html Both the cover photo and the above photo are copyrighted material from the Wisconsin State Journal, John Hart, photographer.
We are carrying out a multiyear bee-breeding project as part of an effort to reduce the need for mite treatments in honeybee colonies. This short post is specifically directed towards our fellow beekeepers. We hope to 1) give you a summary of the study we’re carrying out and 2) tell you about the precautions we’re … More Bee-Breeding Project: Information for our Fellow Beekeepers
We’re starting up the full-scale test of our bee breeding project. You can read a project description here. Lab notes are just that: a record of our work and data. The bees were installed at their Agrecol locations on April 19, 2020. We have five clusters around the periphery of the property. Each cluster got … More Hive Buildup and Splitting — Lab Note 3.01
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 10 Jun 2020 The Low Technology Institute 608-886-9584 info@lowtechinstitute.org Bee-Breeding Research against Colony Collapse Disorder Funded by Blooming Prairie Foundation, Hosted by Agrecol A method that has succeeded in breeding mite-tolerant bees in Sweden, Wales, and Africa will be tested in southern Wisconsin; mites are the leading cause of colony collapse … More PRESS RELEASE: Bee-Breeding Research against Colony Collapse Disorder Funded by Blooming Prairie Foundation, Hosted by Agrecol
We’re scaling up our bee breeding project this year. You can find out more by reading the initial proposal here or watching the video as we installed our first colonies on YouTube. Anybody following the news knows that honeybees are in crisis. Bees are a critical link not only in the human food chain but … More Thanks to Our Bee-Project Sponsors!
We just installed twenty hives as part of our bee breeding research project. In short, a mite is the leading cause of colony collapse disorder. Unfortunately the standard treatment involves repeated application of chemicals to the hive, some more harmful than others. Beekeepers in Africa, Sweden, Wales, and other locations have been breeding bees that … More New Video: No. 19 — Installing Bees for Research Project