Brief Bio: Dennis, an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, has a broad interest in pollinator health. The focus of his current work involves the application of epidemiological approaches to understanding and (importantly) improving honey bee health. Dennis Is the past and founding president of the Bee Informed Partnership (BeeInformed.org) which attempts to provide a platform to collect “big data” on the state of managed honey bee colony health. Analysis of these data is providing important insights into the role management practices and environmental factors (such as landscape, pesticides, and climate) have on colony health.

Dennis was born in the Netherlands but emigrated to Canada when he was two. He grew up on the outskirts of Toronto before completing his under graduate and master’s degrees at the University of Guelph. His undergraduate degree was in in Horticulture and International Agriculture. While at Guelph, he took an undergraduate beekeeping course. Beekeepers have a saying “once stung – you know you are a beekeeper or not – it gets in your blood”. That was certainly the case for Dennis, who ended up doing a master’s degree on Honey bee Health as a result of that introductory class.

Dennis has traveled extensivly studying and speaking on bee health. His lab helps run several honey bee health monitoring programs including US national honey bee disease survey. His work has been featured in numerous documentaries, print and electronic media (including a story in the New Yorker, and Time magazine), and he has given a TED talk (https://www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees).

Keywords

Varroa – challenges in management

Varroa are considered the most important threat to honey bee health globally. In the US the impact of this mite is considered by beekeepers and researchers alike as the leading cause of high rates of mortality documented over the last 13 years. While several Varroa treatment strategies are available, their utility is often less then required and often – less than adverstised. Some of these inefficiencies are the result of varroacide resistance development. Treatment failure, however, is not explained by resistance development alone. Rather the movement of mites across the landscape, between colonies and apiaries also drives mite population growth in colonies. Fortunately, mite migration maybe manageable with inexpensive modifications such as robbing screens.