New Release: Managing Alternative Pollinators
College Park, MD – During the past 50 years, America has witnessed an almost 50 percent decline in the number of managed honey bee colonies. With two-thirds of the world’s crops requiring pollination—beekeepers and growers are seeking pollination alternatives and ways to bring honey bees back from the brink.
Managing Alternative Pollinators: A Handbook for Beekeepers, Growers and Conservationists is a first-of-its-kind, step-by-step, full-color guide for rearing and managing bumble bees, mason bees, leafcutter bees and other bee species that provide pollination alternatives to the rapidly declining honey bee.
Written by Eric Mader of the Xerces Society Pollinator Conservation Program; Professor of Entomology Marla Spivak; and Elaine Evans, author of Befriending Bumble Bees, the book includes expert information on the business and biology of pollination and how-to guidance on raising the alternative bee species.
The book is ideal for:
- Beekeepers: Detailed information on each alternative pollinator’s biology, disease, pest and chemical susceptibility, and step-by-step instructions on how to rear and manage.
- Growers: Guidance for understanding the business of pollination, matching pollinators to crops, and deciding how best to pollinate for successful agriculture and pollinator protection.
- Concerned Citizens: Easy-to-understand accounts of the honey bee’s plight, the business of pollination, and what we all can do to protect pollinators and our food systems.
Visit the Learning Center to download SARE’s Managing Alternative Pollinators for free or to order print copies ($23.50 plus $5.95 s/h). (Please specify title requested when ordering by mail.) Allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Call 301/374-9696 for more information on bulk, rush or international shipments.
Editors: Contact Sean McGovern to request review copies. Downloads of cover images are available.
Published by SARE Outreach for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and features work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), USDA. SARE’s mission is to advance - to the whole of American agriculture - innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education. SARE Outreach operates under cooperative agreements with the University of Maryland and the University of Vermont to develop and disseminate information about sustainable agriculture.
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