by Leah Twilley
photos by Valerie Wojciechowski 

Megan Damico loves honeybees for many sweet reasons. 最大的原因是因为这些微小的生物——大约四分之三英寸的大小——对世界产生了如此重大的影响.

Damico, a senior biomedical sciences major from Livonia, 是GVSU养蜂人协会的主席，并帮助照顾荷兰和艾伦代尔校园里的养蜂场. 她整个夏天都在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校实习，研究蜜蜂. 她研究了一种发酵微生物，以确定它作为一种可能的益生菌治疗蜜蜂的用途.

“Honeybees pollinate one-third of crops grown in the U.S.,” Damico said. “They pollinate all kinds of produce, from citrus fruits in the South, up to apples and berries in the North, over to almonds in the West. 它们是我们健康饮食和维持自然环境的关键.”

But the honeybees are disappearing and researchers around the world, including Grand Valley faculty members and students, are studying the reasons why. 达米科是大峡谷特遣队的一员，他们正在密切关注蜜蜂的栖息地和健康状况, 并组织社区外展活动，向人们宣传物种的重要性.

“On average, we lose about 30 percent of hives each year in the U.S.,” said Damico. “我可以把我的热情——蜜蜂和细菌——结合起来拯救蜜蜂.”

Emily Noordyke, a 2016 alumna who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, is also working directly with bees as a field technician for the U.S. Geological Survey in North Dakota, a major hub for commercial beekeeping. She’s researching ways landscape changes can impact honeybee health. 作为一名本科生，她与Damico和其他GVSU养蜂人一起工作.

Noordyke说，随着越来越多的作物被生产出来，将需要更多的蜜蜂来授粉.

“That means we will demand more from them, but we’re providing fewer resources for them to thrive, like natural landscapes and diverse forage,” she said.

Bee informed

Researchers suspect the causes of honeybee death are disease and climate. Anne Marie Fauvel, 他是荷兰地区养蜂人协会的主席, 希望在格兰德谷开发的一款移动应用程序能够揭示密歇根州及其他地区的蜜蜂健康状况.

The app is part of Michigan PollenCheck, 这是一个由福维尔领导的四阶段跨学科项目，旨在研究蜜蜂花粉，以预测密歇根州蜂箱的健康状况. The app, part of phase three, 是由两名大峡谷学生和计算机教授Jonathan Engelsma开发的. More than 20 beekeepers across the state, from southern Michigan to the Upper Peninsula, have been trained to collect pollen and submit hive data via the app.

Noordyke, from Ada, created the training videos last year, and worked with Rebekah Suttner, a computer information systems major, to design and build the app.

Bee fact

A typical hive will store a surplus of 100 to 150 pounds of honey.

After data has been collected, Fauvel will connect with Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), a national organization supported by the U.S. 农业部和马里兰大学共同研究蜜蜂的死亡率. 福维尔说，这款应用最终将被全国的养蜂人和研究人员使用, in collaboration with BIP efforts. Grand Valley is a BIP partner.

“This summer, the app was used on a smaller scale through beta testing. 测试让我们知道在全国整合之前需要进行哪些修改和升级,” she said, adding that an Android version is in the works.

密歇根PollenCheck源于恩格尔斯玛领导的另一个研究项目，该项目得到了美国联邦政府2美元的部分资助.3 million USDA grant awarded to BIP. 该项目侧重于使用各种技术和工具从蜂群中收集数据, including a website developed by a team of students.

The website (hivescales.beeinformed.Org)储存了由电子秤捕获的信息，这些电子秤安装在全国150多个活蜂群的下面, including one in Hawaii and two at Grand Valley. The scales capture weight, humidity and temperature every 15 minutes. 它允许任何人远程监控特定蜂房的活动，并观察蜂箱重量增加和下降等数据.

“Every morning when the sun warms a hive, 当蜜蜂离开去寻找花蜜和花粉时，我们会看到重量下降了大约4磅,” Engelsma said. “在中午左右，我们看到蜜蜂把花蜜和花粉带回蜂巢时体重增加. Observing weight increases and decreases can reveal a lot of information about a hive; it’s healthy for a colony to gain weight, not lose it.”

恩格尔斯玛说，学生研究人员将分析来自秤的信息，以建立管理蜂群的最佳做法. 他说，研究的下一阶段是通过为养蜂界的人们提供工具和资源，将数据转化为可操作的东西.

Anyone can participate in the study, including commercial beekeepers, hobby beekeepers and researchers. Engelsma, 他是一个业余养蜂人，在西密歇根州的各个地方管理蜂箱, hopes to eventually have scales operating in each county in the U.S.

Honey-making process

Honey starts as flower nectar collected by bees. 它被分解成单糖，储存在蜂巢里.

蜂房的设计与蜜蜂翅膀的扇形配合会导致水分蒸发, which creates honey. 当蜂蜜成熟时，蜜蜂会在每个蜂巢上盖上一层蜂蜡来保存它.

Bee inspired

In the early morning of September 1, Damico, 福维尔和来自GVSU养蜂人的学生们穿上了蜜蜂服, complete with a rounded veil, to “rob the bees.”

“‘Robbing of the bees’ is another way of saying we take, or harvest, honey the bees created and stored during the summer,” said Damico, adding that honey is left for bees to use throughout the winter.

采集和提供蜂蜜需要三个步骤，包括收获、提取和装瓶. 每年，福维尔和学生们都会从大山谷的梅杰尔养蜂场取回蜂蜜

荷兰校区和艾伦代尔校区的可持续农业项目. This year, more than 360 pounds of honey were extracted from the hives.

几天后，这群人聚集在汉密尔顿的一所房子里提取蜂蜜. 房子的主人是福维尔的导师，也是荷兰地区养蜂人协会的成员.

“Beekeeping is a tradition and a trade,” said Fauvel, “所以我坚持让有经验的养蜂人参与进来，并向他们学习. There’s a lot of knowledge out there.”

用一把加热的刀从每个框架上去除最顶层的蜂蜡. 一组框架被放置在一个大型离心机中，离心机旋转以从每个框架中抽出蜂蜜.

福维尔说，可以使用多种技术来过滤蜂蜜，他们使用了油漆过滤器. 蜂蜜放置几天，让杂质有时间上升到顶部. After the top layer is removed, it is ready to be bottled and consumed. 这种蜂蜜在位于Allendale校区安大略湖大厅的通识研究部出售, and at the front desk at the Meijer Campus in Holland.

Damico recommends looking at the label before buying honey at stores. She said some bottles will say “pasteurized,这意味着通过加热过程来去除蜂蜜中的杂质和复杂蛋白质.

“This process basically turns the honey into raw sugar,” she said. “巴氏杀菌去除了对你真正有益的药用成分. 我们传递给社区成员的蜂蜜是未经加工的，100%来自蜂箱.”