ITP, in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership, is pleased to release The BeeMD at idtools.org.

The Western honey bee, Apis mellifera, plays a vital role in agriculture in the U.S. as well as worldwide. Beekeepers throughout the world manage honey bee colonies to support pollination of certain crops, to harvest honey for human consumption, and as a hobby. Yet there are challenges associated with successful beekeeping, in particular those concerning internal and external hive problems. The BeeMD will help beekeepers and others concerned with bees quickly identify honey bee health issues, through an interactive, visually rich, informative, and easy to use website.

The BeeMD was first released to the public in 2016 as a project of Pollinator Partnership’s North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, developed through a collaborative effort. On this new idtools.org platform, The BeeMD’s original “visual key” has been completely restructured and streamlined, and the entire website redesigned and expanded, offering additional informational, visual, and supportive content.

The BeeMD is a dynamic site that we expect to continually grow and update as science and events in the beekeeping community improve the diagnosis of colony problems and our understanding of hive health.

The BeeMD joins ITP’s collection of 49 identification tool websites.