Cooperative Agreement AP26PPQFO000C448

AWARD PURPOSE: HONEY BEES CONTRIBUTE BETWEEN $15 AND $18 BILLION DOLLARS TO THE VALUE OF THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY NATIONALLY DUE TO THEIR POLLINATION EFFORTS. COMPARED TO OTHER LIVESTOCK, HONEY BEES ARE RANKED THIRD, ONLY BEHIND CATTLE AND PIGS, IN TERMS OF THEIR ECONOMIC VALUE. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO HAVE A HEALTHY POLLINATOR SUPPLY IF WE WISH TO CONTINUE TO PRODUCE POLLINATOR DEPENDENT FRUIT, NUTS AND VEGETABLES IN THIS COUNTRY. HONEY BEE HEALTH CHALLENGES ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO PARASITES, DISEASES AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS. THEREFORE, USDA-APHIS IS FUNDING A NATIONAL BEE SURVEY IN AN ATTEMPT TO DOCUMENT WHICH DISEASES /PARASITES/PESTS OF HONEY BEES ARE AND ARE NOT PRESENT IN THE U.S. ACTIVITIES TO BE PERFORMED: AN EMPHASIS OF THIS SURVEY IS EARLY DETECTION OF CERTAIN EXOTIC HONEY BEE PESTS. SPECIFICALLY, THIS SURVEY CONTINUES TO VERIFY THE ABSENCE OF THE PARASITIC MITE TROPILAELAPS SPP. AND OTHER EXOTIC THREATS TO HONEY BEE POPULATIONS (E.G., ASIAN HONEY BEE, APIS CERANA). EARLY DETECTION WOULD BE CRITICAL IF THESE SERIOUS PESTS OF HONEY BEES ARE TO BE CONTAINED EFFICIENTLY, AS THESE EXOTICS WILL LIKELY CAUSE EXTENSIVE AND SEVERE DAMAGE IF THEY BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED. TO MAXIMIZE THE INFORMATION GAINED FROM THIS SURVEY EFFORT, SAMPLES WILL BE ANALYZED FOR OTHER DISEASES AND PARASITES KNOWN TO BE P RESENT IN THE U.S. THE RESULTING DATA FROM THIS EFFORT WILL BE COMBINED WITH PAST YEARS' DATA, ACTING AS A BASELINE FROM WHICH BEEKEEPERS AND BEE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS CAN IDENTIFY EMERGING ISSUES, IDENTIFY RISK FACTORS, AND DESIGN BEE HEALTH MITIGATION PROGRAMSDEL IVERABLES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES: DATA WILL BE COLLECTED BY STATE APIARY SPECIALISTS, AND UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND (UMD) STAFF AND A REPORT WILL BE PROVIDED TO APHIS ANNUALLY. DATA FROM ALL STATES PARTICIPATING IN THE SURVEY WILL BE COMPILED BY THE APHIS AND ARS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND. A REPORT OF COMPILED RESULTS IS PROVIDED BY UMD AND POSTED ON THE APHIS WEBSITE AND THE APHIS NATIONAL HONEY BEE SURVEY WEBSITE. DATA IS STORED IN THE BIP SECURE DATABASE AS WELL AS IN APHIS DATABASE.INTENDED BENEFICIARY(IES): HONEY BEE HEALTH IS AT RISK FROM FACTORS SUCH AS PARASITES, DISEASES, POOR NUTRITION, STRESS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS. THE NATIONAL HONEY BEE PESTS AND DISEASES SURVEY DATA IS USED TO ASCERTAIN THE SCOPE OF PARASITES, DISEASES, AND PESTS THAT MAY HAVE A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON HONEY BEE POPULATIONS IN THE U.S. THIS NATION-WIDE SURVEY HAS BECOME THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE HONEY BEE PEST AND HEALTH SURVEY TO DATE, AND PROVIDES ESSENTIAL DISEASE AND PEST LOAD INFORMATION. THIS INFORMATION PROVIDES ADDITIONAL BENEFIT THROUGH INFORMING AND GUIDING THE DIRECTION OF HONEY BEE PARASITE, DISEASE, AND PEST RESEARCH AND MITIGATION RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE U.S. APICULTURE INDUSTRY. ALL OF THE DATA COLLECTED FROM THE NATIONAL SURVEY ARE INCLUDED IN THE NATIONWIDE BEE INFORMED PARTNERSHIP (BIP) DATABASE (PROGRAMMATIC DETAILS HERE: HTTPS://USHONEYBEEHEALTHSURVEY.INFO/, DIAGNOSTIC DATA PROVIDED HERE: HTTPS://BIP2.BEEINFORMED.ORG/STATE_REPORTS/ AND VIRAL DATA PROVIDED HERE: HTTPS://BIP2.BEEINFORMED.ORG/STATE_REPORTS/VIRUSES/). THE BIP DATABASE CONTAINS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION FOR STATE APIARISTS, BEEKEEPERS OF ALL OPERATIONAL TYPES, AND RESEARCHERS. IT IS CONSIDERED THE GOLD STANDARD FOR COMPARING DISEASE LOADS REGIONALLY AND NATIONALLY. APHIS NATIONAL SURVEY DATA, INFORMATION AND PROTOCOLS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE APHIS NATIONAL HONEY BEE SURVEY WEBSITE LOCATED AT: HTTPS://USHONEYBEEHEALTHSURVEY.INFO/. SUBRECIPIENT ACTIVITIES, IF KNOWN OR SPECIFIED AT THE TIME OF AWARD: NONE KNOWN AT THIS TIME. COST CATEGORIES: PERSONNEL: $7,000; FRINGE BENEFITS: $1,700; TRAVEL: $2,803; SUPPLIES: 1109; INDIRECT COSTS: 1188