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ARS Home Pacific West Area Tucson, Arizona Carl Hayden Bee Research Center Research Cold Storage





- Cold Storage Overview
- Why put colonies in cold storage to overwinter?
- When to put colonies in cold storage?
- Which colonies to put into cold storage?
- Cold Storage Overwintering Tool
- Overview
- Objective 1: Climate effects on bloom and floral rewards
- Objective 2. Landscape level nutrition models
- Objective 3: Determine pollinator number, diversity and pathogen load
- Objective 4: Develop a management plan for overwintering colonies in cold storage
- Outcomes
- Varroa Overview
- Varroa mite life cycle and reproduction
- Varroosis
- How to Monitor, Sample, and Treat for Varroa
- Current Research: Mite Migration
- Introduction
- BEEPOP+ Model

Why put colonies in cold storage to overwinter? Prevent foragers with mites (FWM) from entering hives and re-infesting treated colonies in the fall. /ARSUserFiles/20220500/ColdStorage/Why/Why.png  Lack of flowering plants means that colonies need to be fed throughout the winter. Many holding yards lack adequate bee forage. This is a typical overwintering site in the Central Valley, CA. Because of the lack of forage, bees must be fed food supplements throughout the winter. /ARSUserFiles/20220500/ColdStorage/Why/Bee food desert 1.png Colony's must be fed with protein supplements when flowering plants are not available. /ARSUserFiles/20220500/ColdStorage/Why/PollenPatty.jpg  Changing climate and warmer fall and winter weather causes bees to forage during the fall and winter. Late season foraging corrupts the age structure in a colony, causing the population to crash in the spring. /ARSUserFiles/20220500/ColdStorage/Why/Why4.jpg


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