Seasonal Pollens and Nutrition Research with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman (S4, E14)

09/20/21 • 43 min

Today we talk with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman. Gloria is the Research Leader at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Gloria and the researchers there are involved in several projects, but today we talked to her about just two that are both new and promising for beekeepers and their bees.

Modeling honey bee nutrition requirements on a seasonal basis is an area that has not received much attention to date, as they have been for many other animals. It turns out that the pollens that bees collect satisfy those requirements on a seasonal basis. High energy in spring with large amounts of amines and fatty acids for brood rearing, less so in summer and more towards storage use in the fall for overwintering. This may affect pollen feeding, and pollen substitute formulas to optimize their diets at the right time.

But there are both seasonal and regional differences in pollen quality, and what is being noted is that with climate change affecting the phenology of blooming dates, bees may not be able to get the food they need when they need it.

Another project being studied is overwintering colonies in climate-controlled buildings. They are looking at how much food will a colony need to do this, what the population should be when they enter a building, and when should they come out of storage so that they are ready to build fast for early pollination work, or later for honey flows. In addition, they are researching the best time for a season’s mite controls to be placed for optimum control and honey bee health.

Along with this they looked at cost efficiencies relative to winter losses, feed costs, colony strength and labor and made some interesting finds relative to these costs.

Listen in to hear more about this exciting research!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

Carl Hayden Bee Research Lab - https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/
Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a quarterly magazine destined for your coffee table. Each page of the magazine is dedicated to the stories and photos of all pollinators and written by leading researchers, photographers and our very own, Kim Flottum.

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Today we talk with Dr. Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman. Gloria is the Research Leader at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Gloria and the researchers there are involved in several projects, but today we talked to her about just two that are both new and promising for beekeepers and their bees.

Along with this they looked at cost efficiencies relative to winter losses, feed costs, colony strength and labor and made some interesting finds relative to these costs.

Listen in to hear more about this exciting research!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

Carl Hayden Bee Research Lab - https://www.ars.usda.gov/pacific-west-area/tucson-az/carl-hayden-bee-research-center/
Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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Previous Episode

HBHC Part 3 - Pete Berthelsen, Habitat & Forage (S4, E13)

Today, we pick up on the third installment of our exploration of the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s programs as we talk with Pete Berthelsen. Pete runs the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund, a non-profit organization working to improve the habitat for all bees and butterflies, anywhere people can make it happen. They have projects in 12 states and are looking to get as many more as they can. They work with the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), trying to get seed mixes used on these 24 million set aside acres more bee and butterfly friendly, among many other projects. That means working with and coordinating activities between the USDA, seed company organizations, farmers, commercial beekeepers and others. The CRP has been in place since 1985 and has been successful in improving the soil, water quality of the land rented from farmers so it can be improved. Mostly, however, it is planted to grasses, and not pollinator friendly habitat.

It’s no wonder then that he’s intimately involved with the Honey Bee Health Coalition’s Honey Bee Nutrition and Forage program. Focusing on pollinator health and habitat is what he does, every day. The 12 states his Bee and Butterfly projects are in are prime locations for commercial honey production, the monarch butterfly migration route and very productive agricultural land.

So, when all of the members of the HBHC sat down at the table – Ag Supply companies, conservationists, food producers and food buyers, commercial beekeepers, honey packers and a host of others – there was some uneasiness in the room. But as Pete puts it, to solve a problem as big as turning around modern agriculture, you have to be a lumper, not a splitter. All of the people involved have to be part of the solution. No one can advance at the cost of other’s moving down. And Pete is working to make this happen for all the bees and all the birds, and better soil and clean water.

Find out what more this arm of the Honey Bee Health Coalition is doing to improve the health of our honey bees, and butterflies, too.

First, though we talk with Zach Techner of Cascadia Venom Collection. Zach recently stopped by Jeff’s house to ‘collect’ a large Bald Faced Hornets’ nest and a smaller in-ground Yellowjacket nest. This time of year, beekeepers are typically the first to receive calls to remove ‘bees’... and they’re typically not honey bees but hornets. Zach talks with Jeff about his full-time business collecting hornets for labs who use the venom and provides some information all beekeepers should know about hornets.

It’s an exciting episode so listen today. If you like what you hear, subscribe/follow, leave a review and let all your friends know about Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast:

Honey Bee Health Coalition - https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org
Bee and Butterfly Fund - https://www.beeandbutterflyfund.org
Cascadia Venom Collection - https://www.cascadiavenomcollection.com
Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3...

Next Episode

Good Nutrition, Good Bees with David Aston (S4, E15)

This week we talk with researcher and author, David Aston about his book, Good Nutrition, Good Bees. It’s exciting to see how much information on honey bee nutrition is becoming available. This is happening as both new research and looking at existing research in a new light.

David Aston, and his coauthor and wife Sally Bucknall, have focused on presenting much existing information, along with some of their newer work in a unique format.

Imagine, if you will, all of the things a bee does during his or her life. Starting with being a larva, pupa, then adult. Each of these stages requires a different diet, either in content, amount or timing. What happens if there isn’t enough food, or the quality is below what’s needed, or suddenly there isn’t any at all.

Then imagine the series of tasks an adult bee undertakes. Feeding larvae, raising queens, flying and foraging, making beeswax, dancing, laying eggs, mating, producing venom, and all of the rest of the tasks in their busy lives. Does the diet of a worker bee need to change as she matures? Once a queen starts laying eggs, how much food does she need to produce 1000, 1500 eggs a day? Does a bee know where to find the food needed to produce venom?

What plants are fatty acids, lipids, vitamins, inorganic elements, sterols and all the rest found that are needed to do all the things bees do? And if you are feeding you bees, what do you feed them? And how much, and when?

David Aston tackles all of these questions in his podcast and in his book. It is simply a wealth of information, so you can make sure your bees have enough good food, all of the time, for every bee in the bunch.

Listen Today!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: