Virtual Event
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Hope in the Fight Against Varroa
May 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Virtual Event
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A Presentation by Project Apis m. Executive Director Danielle Downey & Dr. Bob Danka, USDA-retired. Varroa mites remain the primary threat to honey bees for most beekeepers. The ultimate solution to the Varroa destructor problem will be bees that can defend themselves. There is hope! Danielle & Bob will explain the history and status of Project Apis m. efforts to breed reliably mite-resistant bees. They will also share some lightning-round style snapshots of some of the Varroa projects Project Apis m. is supporting, such as novel Varroa controls in development, a new selection tool on the market, and important discoveries about Varroa resistance to Amitraz. Danielle Downey began working with honey bees over 30 years ago, including training and research from bee labs in Minnesota, Canada and France, beekeeper education, work with commercial beekeepers and queen breeders, regulatory work as a State Apiarist in Utah and Hawaii, and wrangling bees for TV and film. As the Executive Director of Project Apis m., a nonprofit that funds applied honey bee research, she works closely with many industry stakeholders in the USA and Canada. She has worked on breeding Varroa resistant bees in Hawaii for over a decade. Dr. Bob Danka was a USDA scientist for 36 years, who pursued the practical application of honey bee biology. His main areas of research included the pollination of crops (apples, blueberries, cotton and soybeans), biology and management of Africanized honey bees, and genetic resistance of honey bees to biological hazards. Now retired from USDA, he remains committed to the vision of breeding and delivering productive, Varroa-resistant bees to beekeepers.
A Presentation by Project Apis m. Executive Director Danielle Downey & Dr. Bob Danka, USDA-retired. Varroa mites remain the primary threat to honey bees for most beekeepers. The ultimate solution to the Varroa destructor problem will be bees that can defend themselves. There is hope! Danielle & Bob will explain the history and status of Project Apis m. efforts to breed reliably mite-resistant bees. They will also share some lightning-round style snapshots of some of the Varroa projects Project Apis m. is supporting, such as novel Varroa controls in development, a new selection tool on the market, and important discoveries about Varroa resistance to Amitraz. Danielle Downey began working with honey bees over 30 years ago, including training and research from bee labs in Minnesota, Canada and France, beekeeper education, work with commercial beekeepers and queen breeders, regulatory work as a State Apiarist in Utah and Hawaii, and wrangling bees for TV and film. As the Executive Director of Project Apis m., a nonprofit that funds applied honey bee research, she works closely with many industry stakeholders in the USA and Canada. She has worked on breeding Varroa resistant bees in Hawaii for over a decade. Dr. Bob Danka was a USDA scientist for 36 years, who pursued the practical application of honey bee biology. His main areas of research included the pollination of crops (apples, blueberries, cotton and soybeans), biology and management of Africanized honey bees, and genetic resistance of honey bees to biological hazards. Now retired from USDA, he remains committed to the vision of breeding and delivering productive, Varroa-resistant bees to beekeepers.