Current and Future Research

1) Honey Bee Diet

• Develop a liquid protein diet to promote stronger and healthier colonies for commercial pollination, queen rearing, and overwintering.
• Develop a dry and semi solid diet formulation to provide beekeepers with alternative feeding methods.
• Identify honey bee feeding stimulants from pollen.

2) Varroa Mite Research

• Study the effect of humidity on mite development.
• Identify Varroa mite volatiles.
• Rear Varroa in Laboratory.
• Explore natural and alternative controls for Varroa.
• Control Varroa through essential oil enriched honey bee diets.

3) Africanized Honey Bees

• Improve acceptance and maintenance of European honey bee queens in areas with Africanized honey bees.
• Prevent the usurpation of European colonies by African swarms.
• Identify Africanized honey bees samples through morphometrics.

4) Pollination

• Evaluate pollen transfer mechanisms of genetically modified plants and hybrid crops.