The Buzz On Bees

The plight of honeybees has been the focus of a lot of media attention, as bee populations around the country have plummeted due to colony collapse disorder and other factors.

But Dr. David Tarpy, whose research focuses on improving bee health and productivity, is doing something about it.

Tarpy, an entomology professor at NC State and director of the North Carolina Master Beekeeper Program, has launched an effort to breed robust queen bees in North Carolina in order to strengthen the N.C. bee population.

Tarpy has launched a program called “Born and Bred in NC,” which gives beekeepers in North Carolina access to workshops on bee breeding and rearing queen bees. The program, which was launched with funding from the Golden LEAF Foundation, is based on the  idea that breeding queen bees locally will lead to bee populations that are more genetically suited to local conditions.

Let’s hope the honeybee program is a success, because that would be sweet.