Almond bloom in late February. Almonds bloom between mid-February and mid-March.
Each almond acre requires roughly two honey bee hives. With 2 million hives needed, that's more than half of the total U.S. hive population.
Almonds are dependent upon honey bee pollination. Test honey bee colonies in the almonds We had two experiments that were conducted during almond pollination.
Mission
The mission of the Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit is directly related to improving honey bee stock and honey bee management. This broad mission includes components related to problems caused by varroa mites, tracheal mites and microsporidians in the genus Nosema. The devastating problems caused by varroa mites and the serious problems caused by tracheal mites and Nosema are targeted as the most critical. Scientists are engaged in breeding and testing honey bees for resistance to mites and Nosema, evaluating mite-bee interactions to better describe breeding criteria, and evaluate stock production processes to explore and solve stock problems caused by mites and Nosema.