News

USDA allocates $3 mil for Midwest bee health

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will provide close to $3 million in technical and financial assistance for interested farmers and ranchers to help improve the health of bees. The funding is a focused investment to improve pollinator health and will be targeted in five Midwestern states, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Midwestern states were chosen because from June to September the region is the resting ground for over 65 percent of the commercially managed honey bees in the country. It is a critical time when bees require abundant and diverse forage across broad landscapes to build up hive strength for the winter

Recent studies have shown that beekeepers are losing approximately 30 percent of their honey bee colonies each year, up from historical norms of ten to fifteen percent overwintering losses experienced prior to 2006. Wisconsin State Conservationist Jimmy Bramblett says; “Beekeepers in Wisconsin are losing unprecedented numbers of honey bee hives each year,”

Funding will be provided through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to provide guidance and support to farmers and ranchers to implement conservation practices that will provide safe and diverse food sources for honey bees.

Applications are due March 21, 2014. Details are available at the NRCS website here: