Dr. Tanya Pankiw Receives National Recognition For Honey Bee Research

Members of the Entomology department are abuzz about Tanya Pankiw's latest honey bee research.

Pankiw and her research have gone to a new level after receiving the 2006 National Research Initiative Discovery Award recently at the 2007 Agriculture Conference.

Pankiw's project, "Pheromone Regulation of Brood Rearing in the Honey Bee," was selected from more than 30 nominees nationwide. The project focuses on the effects of brood pheromone and its effects on individual bees and colonies.

Brood pheromone is a chemical that bees use to communicate between adults and their young. The pheromone has the potential to increase the number of pollen foragers in a colony by up to 150 percent. It also can have a effects on the age when bees first forage for pollen, as well as increasing the colony's growth rate.

The chemical can increase the colony's ability to withstand parasite and pathogen infections, as well as field more foragers for pollination and nectar collections.

Pankiw said the pheromone will allow producers using bees to have increased pollination of their crops. In addition, this pheromone will become valuable to beekeepers that sell and rent to producers and other beekeepers.

The NRI Discovery Award recognizes outstanding researchers in agriculture who have supported the agency's mission to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities.

According to information posted on honeybee.tamu.edu, honey bees are very important to pollination in agricultural, urban and natural landscapes. They also pollinate around 130 fruit, vegetable, nut, ornamental and fiber crops in the United States, contributing to about $15 billion annually through improved crop yield and product quality.

In addition to a plaque, Pankiw will receive $10,000 in research funds and a one-year extension on the project.

"This is really nice and gives me flexibility on any additional work I need to do," she said.

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