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Showing results for tags 'research'.
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Hello all, my colleague and I from the University of Auckland are looking into a solution to solving beehive theft. I am conducting research around this to hear people's experience with theft and whether they will be interested in our product. Please, can you share with me your experience as well as what will make your beekeeping experience great? Thank you
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I am an economist at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. Since 2015, I have run the NZ Colony Loss Survey. In talking with beekeepers and scientists over the last several years and by browsing the forum, it is clear to me that while scientists are great at dreaming up research ideas, not all of them have led to meaningful impacts for beekeepers. So, I have recently been working on developing a new survey, the NZ Bee Research Priorities Survey. The key idea behind the survey is to ask beekeepers themselves to prioritise possible research topics according to their own needs so scientists can create research programmes that reflect those priorities. The questionnaire has been developed in consultation with many of the most respected beekeepers from around the country as well as several of NZ’s top apiculture researchers. Since this is a survey of beekeepers’ priorities, I hope that every beekeeper will participate. The survey is designed to take about 10 minutes, but it will take longer for those who want to answer every question in the greatest possible detail. The survey can be done on a computer, tablet, or smart phone, but I think that it works best on a computer. Please share your priorities for bee research by clicking this link: NZ Bee Research Priorities Survey Anonymised results will be shared with anyone who's interested. Please just enter your email address at the end of the survey if you’d like them to be sent to you. Thanks in advance for participating.
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https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/uae-health/honey-can-combat-breast-cancer-uaeu-scientists-find-manuka A follow up and further research to published research I saw several years ago. I asked well known NZ researchers about the first article at the time; they said the research methodology and writing was legit. I hope some will take this as good news, will see it for what it is, and that we don't get people taking it to extremes either pro or anti. -
Announced yesterday, sixty-eight new science research projects will be funded under the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Endeavour Fund, totalling $248 million over the next five years. "The Endeavour Fund is an important tool in the Government’s ten-year vision for a highly dynamic New Zealand science system, and invests in excellent science that has the potential to positively impact New Zealand economically, environmentally and socially. Under the 2017 Endeavour Fund round, up to $15 million per year in total will be invested in 41 projects under the ‘Smart Ideas’ initiative over the next three years. Smart Ideas are innovative research projects that have a high potential to benefit New Zealand. Up to $43 million per year in total will be invested in 27 Research Programmes over the next five years. Research Programmes support ambitious, well-defined research ideas, which have high potential to positively transform areas of future value, growth or critical need to New Zealand." The University of Otago has been successful in winning some money from the fund. In the first instance (described below) the investment, $999,999 over three years from the 'Smart Ideas' mechanism, will support a project about parasitic wasps. These are relatively short 'test' projects requiring less than a million dollars. The second more substantial award, $6,344,620 over five years, intends to improve the pace of honey bee breeding. Building Better Biocontrols by switching reproduction in parasitoid wasps "In this project we aim to supercharge two biocontrol agents to provide long-term, effective pasture pest control. Two introduced weevils, the Argentine stem weevil and the clover root weevil, attack New Zealand pastures. These weevils are kept in control by two parasitoid wasps. These wasps lay their eggs in the weevils, their larvae eat the weevil, and finally emerge, killing the weevil. These wasps save up to $550 million per annum in pasture damage, and reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizer needed to grow pasture in New Zealand. Unfortunately, control by one of these wasps is failing as the weevil out-evolves the wasp that kills it. In this project we aim to supercharge these biocontrol agents through artificial selection. To do this we have to switch the wasps from their current asexual reproduction to sexual reproduction. This switch is possible because it appears that such switches have evolved frequently in these wasps. By switching to sexual reproduction, and selecting for improved efficiency against even resistant weevils, we hope to maintain the biocontrols we have, reducing the need for insecticides, genetically-modified methods of insect control, or the introduction of new biocontrol species." Developing and applying next generation genomic selection to rapidly improve honeybee performance "Honeybees are critical to New Zealand’s rapidly expanding and high value export seed and honey industries, and underpin the production efficiencies of horticultural and forage-based sectors. To achieve the government’s Business Growth Agenda’s export targets, these sectors require a step-wise change in their productive capacity. This programme will develop and deploy a honeybee selective breeding system, using modern genomic and bioinformatic tools and quantitative genetics methods, that will effectively and rapidly improve New Zealand's Bee stock." http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/science-innovation/investment-funding/current-funding/2017-endeavour-round
