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Funded Project

Funding Program: Working Groups

Project Title: IPM4Bees Midwest Working Group

Project Directors (PDs): Randall Cass [1] Matthew O'Neal [1]

Lead State: IA Lead Organization: Iowa State University

Undesignated Funding: $19,825

Start Date: Mar-01-2019 End Date: Feb-29-2020

Summary: IPM4Bees Midwest Working Group PD: O’Neal, Matthew, Iowa State University Co-PD: Cass, Randall, Iowa State University Collaborator: Wu-Smart, Judy, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Total Amount Requested: $19,825 Problem and Justification Across the United States, beekeepers of all sizes (commercial, sideline, and backyard) experience annual colony losses at higher rates than previous decades (VanEngelsdorp, et al. 2008). For many beekeepers, colony losses will result in reduced income from honey production and, more significantly, pollination services. The scientific community understands higher rates of colony loss are the result of four major honey bee stressors: 1) pests and disease, 2) loss of habitat/poor forage availability, 3) pesticide exposure, and 4) negative effects that result from multiple stressors working synergistically (Goulson et al. 2015). These stressors are impacted by increased demand for crop production and directly relate to IPM. First, controlling honey bee pests such as varroa mites and small hive beetles requires the implementation of apicultural IPM strategies. Varroa mites are especially injurious because they spread viruses between bees as they feed on them, quickly and dramatically weakening the overall health of the colony. The impact of this major pest is such that without mite management, colonies infested with Varroa mites tend to survive only 1-2 years (Le Conte et al. 2010). Moreover, in recent years the majority of colony losses reported by beekeepers (commercial sideline and backyard) are due to varroa (Seitz et al. 2016) IPM strategies for controlling pests in apiculture include cultural (apiary location and bee genetics), mechanical (traps, screened bottom boards, and breaks in brood cycles), and chemical approaches. Second, implementing IPM practices in crop production may provide benefits to commercially managed honey bees contracted for pollination services. Benefits of “pollinator-friendly” IPM practices include the reduced use of pesticide applications, more timely use of highly selective or lower toxicity chemicals, and establishing habitat refuges for beneficial insect communities. These practices aim to reduce unintended non-target exposure or adverse effects from pesticides, mitigate further pollinator habitat loss, and improve ecosystem services. IPM strategies for both apicultural and agricultural systems exist, however, little has been done to incorporate both sets of practices into one system. Coordinating timing of pesticide applications with honey bee management, for example, could greatly improve the health of bee colonies while maintaining crop productivity. Moreover, it may economically important for a farmer to conserve bees if they are growing a crop that requires insect pollination or may have increased yield with bee pollination. Coordinated IPM strategies could be further developed for specific cropping systems by connecting apicultural researchers with crop pest specialists. Improved apicultural IPM and agricultural IPM programs will also benefit other pollinators, including wild bee species. Unlike honey bees, wild bees are either solitary or live in small colonies but are not typically bred commercially and populations are difficult to monitor and track. Unfortunately, wild bee populations are similarly in decline. In fact, from 2008 to 2013 there has been a 23% decrease in mean abundance of wild bee populations particularly in the mid-west region (Koh et al., 2016). Much of this decline was seen in areas where natural habitat had been converted into agriculture. Rapid and large-scale land use conversion to accommodate increasing demands for food and energy reduces available habitat and forage for bees, while simultaneously increasing the need for pollination services (Rashford et al., 2011; Wright and Wimberly, 2013; Lark et al., 2015; Koh et al., 2016; Otto et al., 2016). Wild bee decline is an increasingly important issue and since IPM strategies that benefit honey bees are relevant to also improving native bee health, both managed and wild bees will be considered in the development or improvement of IPM practices. While the IPM practices discussed above overlap across states in the NCIPMC region and related extension work is offered in many of the states, there are few opportunities for researchers and extension agents to gather and share their work. A regional IPM4Bees Working Group is an opportunity to bring researchers and graduate students working in areas of bee health and crop pest management together and form a united response to IPM challenges through extension efforts. This collaborative group will also provide opportunities to improve our understanding of each system’s needs and challenges and foster discussions to better coordinate IPM strategies. As a result, best management practices for bee IPM in the region will be identified and institutions in the region will be equipped with standardized best practice recommendations to offer farmers and beekeepers in the Midwest. This proposal addresses the NCIPMC priority concerned with the impact of IPM on pollinators and beneficials. Moreover, it aligns with the IPM goal to “minimize adverse environmental effects from pests and related management strategies,” from the IPM Roadmap. Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes The goal of establishing the IPM4Bees Working Group is to increase learning and collaboration as well as resources for researchers, extension agents, and other stakeholders that work in honey bees, native bees, and bee-related IPM. The primary areas of focus are pollinator-friendly agricultural IPM practices and IPM for honey bee pests. This goal is supported by the project objectives. Probable Duration This proposal is for 12 months, with the primary outputs being completed by November 2019 and evaluation of outcomes completed in February 2020. Resources, Expertise, and Leveraging PD O’Neal is an applied entomologist who applies ecological principles to crop production, with a goal of preventing yield loss while delivering insect-derived ecosystem services (i.e. pest-suppression and pollination). To achieve these goals, he focuses on integrating pest management tools (insecticides, insect-resistant crops, biological control) and conservation practices that can complement each other. His short-term goals are to solve the immediate problems farmers have with insect pests that can significantly reduce crop productivity. To achieve these goals, his scholarship at ISU has explored how both pests and beneficial insects respond to various features of an agricultural landscape committed to annual crop production. This includes substantial work studying an invasive pest of soybean, the soybean aphid (Aphis glycines), first found in Iowa in 2000. This pest can reduce yield by as much as 40% when outbreaks are left untreated, and since its establishment in the US Midwest, insecticide use has increased 140%. In turn, the soybean aphid has become resistant to commonly used insecticides (i.e. pyrethroids). Complicating the management of insect pests, especially in flowering crops like soybeans, is the occurrence of pollinators, many of which are in decline within the US. With support from agribusiness and later the United Soybean Board (USB), O’Neal explored more basic questions regarding what community of pollinators reside in corn and soybean fields and what factors influence their abundance and diversity. As revealed in three peer-reviewed publications, O’Neal and his students tested various sampling protocols to account for pollinator diversity and abundance and showed that the pollinator community in these crops is comprised of at least 60 species of bees and flies, mostly wild, ground nesting bees. By studying the ecology of the target pest and the environment in which the crops are grown, there is the potential to integrate crop production with conservation practices that limit the pest’s potential to reach outbreak levels while also delivering other ecosystem services to the farm landscape. In this way, both an environmental and economically sustainable approach to managing pests can be developed. Co-PD Cass is the first and only extension entomologist at Iowa State University focused solely on honey bee and native bee research and extension. His research and extension efforts focus primarily on a USDA/NIFA funded project that explores honey bee and native bee health in agricultural and prairie landscapes in Iowa. In addition to field research, Cass travels the state presenting his team’s findings to relevant stakeholders, including farmers, landowners, and beekeepers. In tandem with his extension presentations, he is conducting a state-wide survey to identify what “pollinator-friendly” practices, including IPM strategies and habitat restoration plans, farmers and landowners are interested in. The survey also targets beekeepers to identify their greatest challenges. Cass’ previous work includes extensive experience in Latin America (El Salvador, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Chile) working with small farmers and beekeepers. In those positions he managed agricultural development programs, provided technical advising, and conducted comprehensive surveys with stakeholders. Additionally, as an employee of ISU Extension and Outreach, Cass has access to multiple services that will be instrumental in achieving IPM4Bees goals. The proposed extension videos will be filmed, edited, and produced at no extra cost with the assistance of the ISU IPM Communications office videographer, Brandon Kleinke. Similarly, Cass will work with the graphic designers from the Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications office to develop and print the proposed varroa mite IPM guide. Collaborator Wu-Smart leads the University of Nebraska Lincoln pollinator health research program. Her program aims to better understand the underlying stressors in bee health and their interactions with environmental toxicants. Her research explores different ways to promote sustainability and resilience in pollinator ecosystems in agricultural, natural, and urban landscapes. She also engages in outreach and extension programs to educate about the importance of conservation and biodiversity and promote practices that support healthy bee communities in agroecosystems. She is currently developing the Great Plains Regional Master Beekeeping Training Program and will be able to deliver extension materials and opportunities through this program. She also serves in several working groups including the Honey Bee Health Coalition (member), ESA Pollinator Education Committee (Chair), Multi-State Committees (NC1173: Sustainable Solutions to Problems Affecting Bee Health (Chair), NE1501: Harnessing Chemical Ecology to Address Agricultural Pest and Pollinator Priorities (member)), and the American Association of Professional Apiculturists (vice-president) from which expertise and potential collaborators may be reached. Resources, projects, and other educational materials may also be leveraged from these groups and existing programs. Coordination with other working groups will also allow the IPM4Bees group reduce redundancy, maximize resources, and focus on emerging or region-specific needs and challenges. Collaborator Wu-Smart will assist in the organization of the symposium and the workshop as well as provide input and feedback for extension videos and guides. Literature Cited Goulson, D., Nicholls, E., Botias, C., & Rotheray, E., 2015. Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers. Science, 347(6229), N/a. Koh, I., Lonsdorf, E.V., Williams, N.M., Brittain, C., Isaacs, R., Gibbs, J. and Ricketts, T.H., 2016. Modeling the status, trends, and impacts of wild bee abundance in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(1), pp.140-145. Lark, T.J., Salmon, J.M., and Gibbs, H.K. 2015. Cropland expansion outpaces agricultural and biofuel policies in the United States. Environmental Research Letters. 10(4), p. 044003. Le Conte, Y., Ellis, M., & Ritter, W. (2010). Varroa mites and honey bee health: can Varroa explain part of the colony losses? Apidologie, 41, 353-363. doi:10.1051/apido/2010017 Rashford, B.S., Walker, J.A., and Bastian, C.T. 2011. Economics of grassland conversion to cropland in the prairie pothole region. Conservation Biology. 25(2), pp. 276-284. Seitz, N., Traynor, K. S., vanEngelsdorp, D., Steinhauer, N., Rennich, K., et al., 2016 A national survey of managed honey bee 2014–2015 annual colony losses in the USA. Journal of Apicultural Research. 54 (4), pp.292–304. Van Engelsdorp, D., Hayes Jr., J., Underwood, R.M., and Pettis, J. 2008. A survey of honey bee colony losses in the U.S., fall 2007 to spring 2008. PLOS ONE 3, e4071. Wright, C.K., and Wimberly, M.C. 2013. Recent land use changes in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 110(10), pp. 4134-4139. Please see the proposal narrative document for more information including tables for Outputs, Milestones, and Evaluation Plans. Objectives: Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes The goal of establishing the IPM4Bees Working Group is to increase learning and collaboration as well as resources for researchers, extension agents, and other stakeholders that work in honey bees, native bees, and bee-related IPM. The primary areas of focus are pollinator-friendly agricultural IPM practices and IPM for honey bee pests. This goal is supported by the following objectives: Objective 1: Establish a working group that offers researchers, extension agents, and other stakeholders multiple opportunities to collaborate and share research and extension strategies related to apicultural IPM and agricultural IPM that benefits honey bee and native bee health. These opportunities for collaboration include the following outputs: • A symposium at the 2019 North Central Branch ESA meeting hosted by the working group. The symposium will focus on IPM strategies for bees, including honey bee pest control, agricultural best practices that are pollinator-friendly, environmental toxicology research related to bees, and the establishment of habitat to improve bee health (see appendices for letter of symposium application confirmation from NCB) • A two-day IPM4Bees workshop hosted by Iowa State University in Ames, IA. The first day will focus on research updates from participating states, presentations on tools for promoting pollinator-friendly practices, and discussion about varroa mite IPM that will lead to the development of a regional guide for varroa mite IPM. The second day will consist of visits to field sites relevant to bee IPM: the ISU apiary for mite control demonstrations, an ISU STRIPS site that demonstrates new ecosystem management tools that are beneficial to pollinators, and a prairie site planted in bee habitat with blooming succession. o Participants will be offered the incentive of a travel grant to attend, with the working group offering travel grants to cover participant travel and lodging. Funding is requested for 20 travel grants o Funds requested will also in-part support professional development of graduate students by providing five fellowships of $1,000 to attend the workshop and develop their own project related to IPM4Bees. Student participants will gain valuable networking opportunities, be able to share research, and participate in the development of the extension guide. The integration of science into practical recommendations is not typically offered through graduate training programs and this would provide students with hands-on experience on the value of applied science and what it means to stakeholders. Graduate students will apply for the fellowship through an application that includes a description of how they intend to use the fellowship funds to cover costs to attend the workshop and implement a project in their home state related to IPM for bees. IPM4Bees Fellowship projects may include activities such as IPM demonstrations with local beekeeping groups, purchasing materials for bee IPM research, or creating extension materials. The goal of these projects is for graduate students to share the information learned at the workshop and amplify the impact of the working group. Objective 2: Inform farmers and beekeepers in the Midwest on best practices related in apicultural and agricultural IPM that improves the health of bees and maintains crop productivity. This will be achieved through the development of extension materials that include the following outputs: • Two extension videos filmed during the site visits. The Iowa State University IPM Communications office has confirmed it will provide a videographer (see letter of support in appendices) to capture recordings from the field and interviews with working group members. The result will be an extension video focused on pollinator-friendly practices in agricultural production, and a second extension video focused on IPM for varroa mites in honey bees. • The publication of a regional IPM guide for the control of varroa mites that highlights the best management practices identified during the workshop. This document will be a collaboration between states and assembled at ISU. The final version will be printed and sent to each working group member and available in pdf online for free. The Iowa State University Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications office has committed to assisting with the design and printing of the guide (see appendices for letter of support).

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