Tour of Honey Bee Research Facilities at UMD

• WHAT: Tour of the UMD Honey Bee Research Laboratory, followed by an in-depth tour of research beehives located near the UMD Greenhouse.
• WHERE: University of Maryland, College Park, Plant Sciences Building: 4291 Fieldhouse Dr., College Park, MD 20742
• WHEN: Saturday, September 17, 2016, 9am – 12noon
• COST: Free
• REGISTER: Attendance is limited to 20 participants. Register now to reserve your spot!
• • Please note: This event will include several encounters with active honey bee hives. All participants must sign and bring to the event a waiver acknowledging the risks of being stung by bees. Waivers will need to be signed. DCSWA members with a known, severe (i.e.potentially life-threatening) honey bee allergy are encouraged to consider skipping this event.

About the event:

Join us for a tour of the University of Maryland Honey Bee Laboratory, which is focused on an epidemiological approach to honey bee health. Led by principal investigator Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an internationally recognized leader in honey bee research, the lab focuses on the mechanisms that are responsible for observed declines in honey bee populations. These stresses include an increase in pests and pathogens associated with honey bees, the loss of natural forage habitat due to displacement by large monocultural croplands, and pressures from other human-induced changes to the environment.

The Honey Bee Lab is a major partner and founding member of the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), which collaborates with beekeepers from across the country to better understand the loss of honey bee colonies in the United States. Through BIP, the Honey Bee Lab conducts the largest and most comprehensive honey bee survey in the world. Data compiled through the BIP survey is used in research to better improve Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices for beekeepers.

As a safety precaution, it is strongly recommended that all participants adhere to the following guidelines on the day of the event:

• Wear lightly colored clothing – dark clothing can aggravate the bees.
• Wear full-length pants and long sleeves.
• Wear closed-toe shoes.
• Refrain from wearing perfume, strongly scented deodorant, hair styling products, or other artificial scents – such odors can also aggravate the bees.
• Bring a signed UMD consent and release waiver.
  

 About our sponsor: 

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland educates more than 7,000 future scientific leaders in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. The college’s 10 departments and more than a dozen interdisciplinary research centers foster scientific discovery with annual sponsored research funding exceeding $150 million.