Haagen-Dazs announced this month at the National Beekeeping Conference announce a ‘vigorous and ambitious’ program supporting honey bees, honey bee research, and a plan to generate awareness of the plight of the honey bee. This includes a donation of $250,000 to fund sustainable pollination and CCD research. Any guesses who received this money? It certainly wasn’t OSU since they’ve closed the Rothenbuhler Bee Lab. The money instead went to Penn State and UC Davis, both of which are still doing research and are increasing their research efforts in recent years. UC Davis is also where Sue Cobey now works after leaving OSU.
I guess it isn’t completely fair to say the Ohio State University rejected the funding. I’m sure they weren’t even considered a recipient for the funding since they had already dumped the beekeeping program at the main campus and have seriously downsized the program at the Wooster campus. And why would any give OSU money to research an area they have no program? But it does make it even more unfathomable that OSU has decimated their beekeeping program just as the honey bee has gained national attention from the media, legislature and even corporate America including significant monetary contributions to research.
if some place doesn’t have an existing program up and running, $250, 000 would be a drop in the bucket to fund a research project considering you have to outfit new space, buy new equipment, bees, tools, pay salaries, etc. so giving money to existing programs just makes sense. unfotunately, many institutions have dropped their bee programs. i see that iowa state university has done that and it is a land grant facility also. they still have horticulture and entymolgy programs there but evidently they don’t feel bees are of much importance anymore. but what goes around, comes around and hopefully before the honey bee becomes extinct, they’ll realize it truly was beneficial and quit putting so much emphasis on chemicals.