Hello, and Happy Spring!

Dear Wisconsin honey bee and pollinator fans:
I hope that the very mild winter and early spring we've been experiencing have allowed you to keep up with all your gardening and bee tending needs. This is the second quarterly update of 2024 from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s (DATCP) apiary program. We are in the final stages of recruiting a new apiary coordinator, and we thank everyone for helping to promote that opportunity. Until they are able to start (hopefully later this month or in early May), please contact Plant Protection Section Manager Shahla Werner at shahla.werner@wisconsin.gov with any apiary program needs. In addition, you can send requests to our new general email, DATCPapiary@wisconsin.gov.

Honey Bee Import Reporting Tips

Thank you to everyone who has already sent in your Honey Bee Import Reports. As a reminder, Wisconsin state law (Wis. Stat. § 94.76(4) and Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 21.13) require that anyone who moves honey bees or used beekeeping equipment into Wisconsin does the following:

• Fill out and submit the Wisconsin Honey Bee Import Report (HBIR) form before importing honey bees or used beekeeping equipment to Wisconsin. Please be sure to include the earliest date or date range you plan to import bees on the form, how they will be transported here (i.e., trucking or shipping), plus the anticipated number of hives, queens, etc. you are planning to import. If you are a supplier, please write TBD in the recipient section and email DATCPapiary@wisconsin.gov a list of your Wisconsin customers as soon as you can (i.e. September).
  
  
• Provide a valid inspection certificate verifying that honey bees are free from American Foulbrood and are of European origin. The certificate must be issued within 12 months before arrival to Wisconsin; this verifies that your bees were inspected within the last year. The certificate must be issued by either Wisconsin or another state. Unless your certificate was issued by DATCP (in which case, you can just specify that on the form), certificates from other states should be emailed to DATCPapiary@wisconsin.gov when you submit your form.

Those required to fill out Honey Bee Import Reports include migratory beekeepers who provide honey bee pollination services in California and other states during winter; beekeepers who move to Wisconsin with their honey bees to pollinate cranberries or other crops; and honey bee providers who send nucleus colonies (or “nucs”), honey bee packages, or queens to Wisconsin from other states.

Links to Wisconsin Honey Bee Import Report (HBIR) resources:

• DATCP Moving Bees into Wisconsin webpage
• DATCP online HBIR form
• DATCP printable HBIR form (PDF file)

Honey bee hives in bee yard

Wisconsin Honey Bee Pest Management Options Updated for 2024

Each year, Wisconsin apiary program staff work with agrichemical management staff to update our handout for beekeepers on legal chemical treatments for common honey bee pests and diseases, such as Varroa mites, European foulbrood (EFB), and small hive beetle. 

One treatment tip that we emphasize every year is that the label is the law and must always be followed to maintain safety for beekeepers, honey bees, and nontarget organisms. We also encourage the use of an integrated pest management plan that includes treatments only when pest levels warrant controls and using more than one type of treatment to avoid the development of pest resistance. For Varroa mites in particular, we remind beekeepers that no single treatment option is 100% effective. Beekeepers should monitor mite levels frequently and use a combination of mite resistant stock, drone brood trapping and removal, screen bottom boards, brood interruption, and re-queening when needed. Rotate chemical controls and keep records of each treatment type and date.

Another section of the handout reminds people about the need to obtain a prescription before using antibiotics on honey bees, because of the FDA's Veterinary Feed Directive. Specifically, medications for American foulbrood and EFB require a Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) Order or a prescription from a veterinarian. See the DATCP Veterinary Feed Directives webpage for more information.

This year's pest management options publication includes information on AmiFlex is a Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) product to treat honey bees for Varroa mites that is now registered for use in Wisconsin. Because it is a RUP, all AmiFlex applications must be made by a Wisconsin certified pesticide applicator with an appropriate Wisconsin pesticide license. 

For more information, please see:

• DATCP's Honey Bee Pest Mangement Webpage
• 2024 Honey Bee Pest Management Options
• FAQ about the RUP requirements for Wisconsin AmiFlex applicators

DATCP Inspector Donna Stine Performing a Varroa Mite Wash

Timely, Enhanced Honey Bee Pest Diagnostics for WI Beekeepers

DATCP recently received federal support for an initiative to continue enhancing apiary outreach work, including updating our honey bee pest ID cards and pollinator protection outreach, along with expanding access to timely, molecular pest diagnostics for Wisconsin beekeepers. Specifically, in addition to participating in the National Honey Bee Survey again in 2024, we will now also be able to send up to 26 honey bee and 26 hive debris samples per year for the next two years to the National Agricultural Genotyping Center (NAGC) for analysis using their Full Honey Bee Pathogen Panel (HB-Q) and the TLC Triplex Panel at no cost to our beekeepers.

The National Agricultural Genotype Testing Center (NAGC) is a nonprofit organization that has internationally recognized accreditation as a testing facility (ISO/IEC 17025) located in the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center on the campus of North Dakota State University. NAGC tests honey bee pests, pathogens, and viruses using molecular diagnostics, helping to verify suspected pests and diseases observed during visual inspections. Samples may be comprised of adult bees, larva, honey, wax, or hive debris. NAGC tests for a full range of honey bee pests and pathogens, including acute bee paralysis virus, black queen cell virus, Kashmir bee virus, Lake Sinai Virus 1, Lake Sinai Virus 2, American Foulbrood, Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus, Deformed Wing Virus, Israeli Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, Slow Bee Paralysis Virus, European Foulbrood, Nosema apis, Nosema ceranae, Varroa Destructor Virus, Sacbrood Virus, and Tropilaelaps spp. All pests and pathogens are analyzed using probe-based detection and quantification analysis. The lab operates under a quality management system and is ISO certified. All samples are processed within 30 days of receipt and reports sent to DATCP and beekeepers with sampling results.

The NAGC is gaining acclaim and popularity in the apiary field, with half of US states now using their services. In 2023, NAGC tested 1,591 honey bee samples from 24 different states, including Hawaii. The most common sample type was adult bees (825 samples) followed by hive debris (443 samples) and brood swabs (259 samples). In January, NAGC’s Dr. Zack Bateson received the Researcher of the Year Award from the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA). This award is given annually to one outstanding scientist who has contributed positively and significantly to apiculture during the previous year in their research efforts and work. Zack’s official nomination included the following statement: "The NAGC is the only laboratory of this kind to offer such services to beekeepers and inspectors. The services offered at the NAGC, with the leadership of Zack, are well ahead of the curve when it comes to new and emerging honey bee pests and diseases. This is particularly important as the threat of Tropilaelaps increases."  

Wisconsin apiary staff are eager to provide inspection services to beekeepers this year. Our two seasonal staff, Patrick Sizemore and Donna Stine, are again expected to be available between May and November. They will be joined by our new apiary program coordinator as soon as that person is selected and can start.  If you would like to request a free, voluntary apiary inspection for your bees, or if you need a $50 certificate of inspection to move your bees to another state for pollination services, please contact DATCPapiary@wisconsin.gov so that our staff can follow up with you later this season.  

Honey Bees Support Agricultural Industry

On February 28, DATCP Sec. Randy Romansky and other staff met with the Wisconsin Honey Producer's Association leaders to discuss the vital role honey bees play in crop pollination and honey production. Concerns discussed included striving to ensure strong support for the apiary program, hiring adequate apiary inspection staff to meet beekeeper needs, enforcing import rules, and addressing emerging invasive pest threats like Tropilaelaps mites. That meeting led to a statewide press release from DATCP on contributions of honey bees to Wisconsin's agricultural industry sent on March 14.

According to USDA, Wisconsin ranked 11th in the nation for honey production in 2022. Beekeepers with five or more colonies produced 2.92 million pounds of honey valued at $8.86 million, and we had 53,000 honey producing colonies in the state. According to Wisconsin’s Pollinator Protection Plan, insect-pollinated crops like apple, cranberry, cherry, green beans, pickling cucumbers, and fresh fruits and vegetables account for $230 million in annual production. Counteracting threats to honey bees and wild pollinators, including pests and diseases, habitat loss, pesticide misuse, and improper management, is therefore paramount.

Apiary program staff provide pest and disease diagnostic services and management advice for over 250 honey producers and commercial pollinators each year. State inspections are used to generate inspection certificates required to transport hives to other states for crop pollination. Annual survey data and hive samples collected by apiary staff are part of a national USDA-funded survey on apiary health. DATCP is also charged with promoting Wisconsin's Pollinator Protection Plan to beekeepers, gardeners, farmers, restoration ecologists, and the public. At our meeting, we discussed recent program developments, including our apiary coordinator recruitment, new grants we've obtained for diagnostics and outreach, and Sec. Romanski's support of the NASDA resolution on Tropilaelaps mites. We also exchanged ideas on how we can continue to improve import compliance and continue to meet inspection and certification needs for commercial beekeepers while also providing strong support to beginning hobbyist beekeepers to reduce risks of pest and disease spread. We always appreciate the opportunity to interact with stakeholders, and we are excited about new developments in the apiary program.    

Find more information about the DATCP Apiary Program and the Wisconsin Pollinator Protection Plan via the DATCP Beekeeping and Pollinators webpage.

Division of Agricultural Resource Management | Bureau of Plant Industry

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.