Those in the beekeeping business know that the months bookending the end of one year and the beginning of the next are busy ones. We enjoyed connecting with many of you while buzzing to the beekeeping-related conferences!
We are pleased to welcome new board member Tammy Horn Potter to the Project Apis m. Board! Read more about Tammy below.
The PAm Board along with our Science Advisory Committee has recently finished vetting National Honey Board research proposals while managing the migration of their bees to California and the world’s largest pollination event of the season, almonds.
2017 was an impactful year for PAm funded research and forage projects. In the months to come, we will bring you into the lab and out to the field with project updates and highlights. A summary of three key projects is highlighted here.
We’ve been in Hawaii conducting queen bee breeding research and proudly supporting The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund launch of Seed a Legacy, a new pollinator habitat program in 11 midwestern states. Read more about this program below.
Watch for a survey from us in the next few weeks and an updated eNews in the next few months. As always, we welcome your feedback. Let us know what you want to hear more about!
Danielle Downey
Executive Director
Read More: Danielle’s Discourse
Project Apis m. welcomes Tammy Horn Potter to its Board of Directors. A native of Kentucky, Tammy is currently the State Apiarist. She is a consummate bridge-builder and master of bee history and lore. She brings her passion for honey bees, apiculture education, collaboration, and pollinator protection to PAm’s mission.
Tammy is inspired by new advances in queen bee breeding, what she describes as “the heartbeat of honey bee health,” and the movement to bring more clean, nutritious pollinator habitat back into the landscape. “It’s tangible. It takes a long-term commitment. And it’s not easy,” she says. “But if we get long-term commitment, the land is living again. The bees are buzzing. Plants are growing. Nectar is flowing. I get to be a part of it. And that’s exciting.”
Tammy became interested in beekeeping in the late 1990s while working with her grandfather in his apiaries. Tammy has authored Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation (2005) and Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Teach Us About Local Trade and Global Markets (2012), and production industry, in forest-based beekeeping with Coal Country Beeworks, with surface mine companies to increase pollinator habitat, and as an apiary educator.
Tammy is no stranger to the multitude of issues influencing bees, beekeeping, agriculture and honey production. “It’s a complicated industry. And this is a complicated time, and there are no easy answers. We need to be asking the right questions. Roll up our sleeves. Marshal resources,” says Tammy. “PAm does a great service for the bee industry in lots of different ways.”
Tammy is a trusted voice in beekeeping circles and for honey bee advocacy. We are proud Tammy has chosen to share her experience, wisdom and leadership with PAm. Read Tammy’s bio here, and a wonderful article about Tammy published in Bee Culture here.
For the rest of the PAm Newsletter, follow this link https://mailchi.mp/projectapism.org/march-enews-springing-forward?e=64b0c98661
