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Home > Health of Honey Bees
Helping Bees: A Unique Bee Lab
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Bees play a keystone role in the productivity of American agriculture through the pollination of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Habitat destruction, pesticides, bee diseases and parasites and the new mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder have created a honey bee crisis. Our native bees are also declining due to unprecedented habitat loss, pesticide threats and their own introduced diseases. You can help bees by supporting our efforts to keep bees healthy and on their own six feet.
The Department of Entomology has maintained an internationally recognized research and outreach program on honey bees since 1918 and currently provides the only program in a five state area (MN, WI, IA, ND and SD), the top honey-producing region in the US.
Dr. Marla Spivak, Distinguished McKnight Professor, runs the University's Bee Lab, with excellent technical support of Mr. Gary Reuter. The goal of the Bee Lab’s research is to promote the health of bee pollinators. Current federally funded research projects include studies on factors causing Colony Collapse Disorder, breeding bees for resistance to diseases and parasites, and discovering the benefits of propolis (bee-collected plant resins) to bee and human health.
The University's current Bee Lab facilities are outdated and inadequate to accommodate basic requirements for research and are physically separated across the University’s St. Paul Campus. We have plans to construct a new Bee Lab on the St Paul Campus to consolidate this important program.
This unique Bee Lab will combine a state-of-the-art research lab with a teaching space for the public to experience bees on a beautiful and safe rooftop setting. The new facility will serve as an interface between rural and urban agriculture, and between the public and the University of Minnesota.
We invite you to join our effort to help bees!
Marla Spivak
Professor,
College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
University of Minnesota
Make an online financial contribution to the Bee Lab
Financial contributions can be sent to:
University of Minnesota Foundation
Fund #7168 Bee Center
C-M 3854
P.O. Box 70870
Saint Paul, MN 55170-3854
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