How IR-4 Supports Beekeepers and Honey Bees through Research and Regulation
By: Hannah Ross & Philip Moore
Photos By: Logan Powers
From pest infestations to habitat loss to our changing climate, honey bees face formidable foes—both natural and anthropogenic. There is a delicate balance between protecting bees from those foes and ensuring colonies are unharmed by our interventions. How can we proactively protect bees while doing no harm?
This dilemma is nothing new to beekeepers. What may be lesser known is the rigorous regulatory work addressing this question behind the scenes. The IR-4 Project has an impactful sixty-year track record of securing safe, effective pest management products for specialty crops and specialty uses. IR-4’s efforts also extend to the beekeeping community. IR-4 continues to help secure registrations of hive protection products to manage devastating pests like Varroa mites.
Joining Forces with Federal Agencies
In close partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), IR-4 is working to fill gaps in beekeepers’ pest management needs, with a focus on improving the safety, effectiveness and sustainability of approved products and technologies.
Providing Regulatory Expertise with the EPA
EPA has devoted significant resources to protecting pollinators and helping beekeepers, including the establishment of a Biopesticide and Pollution Prevention Department (BPPD) that specializes in evaluating novel tools like gene-based products. IR-4 has expertise in providing the necessary data for the EPA to evaluate the safety and proper use of new products and uses, based on rigorous standards.
Because of the steep regulatory burden, agricultural producers of specialty crops or niche products often lack access to safe, effective and EPA-approved pesticide options (whether conventional or biological). This is where The IR-4 Project comes into the picture, acting as a bridge between producer needs and regulatory requirements. While the core of IR-4’s work is securing pest management solutions for growers of specialty crops like fruits, nuts, vegetables and horticultural crops, IR-4’s expertise is vital to the beekeeping industry.
Expanding Producer Toolboxes with the USDA
The USDA is the funding agency for IR-4. Beyond this fiscal partnership, IR-4 and USDA work together on critical agricultural issues, including the protection of honey bees and native pollinators. USDA’s pollinator priorities include forage, habitat and nutrition; environmental stressors; pests and pathogens; and genetics, breeding and biology.
Elizabeth (Izzy) Hill serves as Honey Bee and Pollinator Research Coordinator for USDA, where she works closely with IR-4 and USDA offices on a range of efforts, from putting more tools in beekeepers’ pest management toolbox to strategically managing emerging threats. Hill highlights that supporting honey bee health is holistic work; USDA’s pollinator priorities not only aim to serve pollinator health, but also our food system, economy and beekeeper livelihoods.
“It’s hard to imagine how we would do what we need to do without IR-4,” emphasizes Hill. “[Beekeeping is] a small industry; most pesticide registrants cannot make the economics work to invest in pest management products for honey bees. That’s understandable. But bees are such a linchpin for pollinating so many of our crops… we need to ensure we are having the right tools in our toolbox for pest management. If honey bees are affected, then all of these crops are affected.”
USDA and IR-4, in partnership with the EPA, notably joined forces on the registration of oxalic acid, an active ingredient registered for managing Varroa mites. Because the ingredient is so cheap, no private-sector registrants would take it on. USDA stepped in as a short-term registrant, working with IR-4 to submit the required data to EPA for this tolerance.
IR-4 Programs Serving Bees and Beekeepers
Through its Biopesticide Regulatory Support Program, IR-4 submits registration packages for biologically-based products on behalf of registrants. IR-4’s Food Crop Program also lends expertise to conventional product registration efforts, assisting with the submission of residue and product performance data. The specialty crop producers that IR-4 serves have a vested interest in ensuring the health of honey bees for the pollination of their crops; with these growers and public wellbeing in mind, honey bee protection is vital to its mission.
IR-4’s Environmental Horticulture (EHC) Program has driven significant pollinator protection efforts in the green industry, from determining the bee forage quality of various greenhouse and nursery crops to measuring pesticide residues in nectar following various application methods. These projects are helping develop the green industry’s understanding of honey bee health and how they can support it, from the cultivars they stock to the way they manage pests.
“We’ve been studying the amount of residues that move into nectar from systemic insecticide applications,” notes Dr. Palmer. “Foliar applications result in less residues than drench applications. If growers can shift to using foliar applications at the best times to avoid direct contact on bees, there is very little likelihood that the amount of residues in nectar are at a level that will harm bees.”
To learn more about the work of Dr. Palmer and the team of pollinator researchers involved in this project across the country, visit the Protecting Bees website.
Impacts of IR-4’s Honey Bee Work
In the field, access to pest management products has helped combat the devastating impacts of honey bee colony collapse. While there is a long way to go, existing products have moved the needle for beekeepers, as well as for growers who rely on honey bees for pollination.
Honing in on Varroa mite management has been crucial to stabilizing bee populations, and IR-4 knows that this pest is top of mind for beekeepers. IR-4 has been actively involved in nine out of 10 active ingredients currently approved for use on Varroa mites and is presently assisting with potential future registrations.* In addition to submitting registration packages to EPA, IR-4 has supported Section 18 approvals for emergency use, conducted magnitude of the residue studies on honey and beeswax, and funded efficacy studies for new active ingredients.
In his March 2023 Bottom Board column for Bee Culture, Ed Colby emphasizes the importance of proactive Varroa control. “Never ever assume that your mites are under control,” writes Colby. “Colonies overrun with these little monsters are doomed.”
Colby notes that management is always more successful in smaller numbers (before there is an infestation). He highlights his successes, failures and tips for using several active ingredients that IR-4 has been involved with, including oxalic acid, formic acid and thymol.
The existing toolbox for honey bee pest management is imperfect. With variations in efficacy, laborious and costly applications and increasing resistance to certain active ingredients (like amitraz), beekeepers often have to find their best solutions through trial and error.
“We do see some variation in efficacy due to environmental conditions—humidity, temperature—which can affect how certain products work,” explains Hill. “We have researchers looking into these questions, making custom recommendations on what types of rates or application methods might be more appropriate. We are short on efficacious modes of action.”
Knowing that more and better options are needed, IR-4 and its partners are hard at work behind the scenes fighting for accessible, workable solutions, and a deeper collective understanding of the pest management challenges we face (even those that are just emerging).
Looking beyond Varroa, IR-4 is needed now more than ever, with a new mite called Tropilaelaps gaining traction overseas. As we speak, IR-4 and USDA are collaborating on a “Tropi” working group led by USDA. Stay tuned for more on this emerging issue, and know that the brightest minds are developing strategic approaches to the management of emerging pests and pathogens. When it comes to mitigating the plight of honey bees and beekeepers, IR-4’s support is here to stay.
Sixty Years and Counting
IR-4 invites the Bee Culture network to follow along this year as we commemorate sixty years of impact across the specialty crop community. Visit the website to learn more, subscribe to the newsletter and connect with us on social media.
*Review this story on IR-4’s website to find the Appendix outlining IR-4’s role in nine out of 10 active ingredients currently approved for Varroa mite management.
