FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 10 Jun 2020
The Low Technology Institute
608-886-9584
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Bee-Breeding Research against Colony Collapse Disorder Funded by Blooming Prairie Foundation, Hosted by Agrecol
- A method that has succeeded in breeding mite-tolerant bees in Sweden, Wales, and Africa will be tested in southern Wisconsin; mites are the leading cause of colony collapse disorder.
- 2020 funding will start a multiyear research study that will be sustained with help from Agrecol.
- Blooming Prairie Foundation funding will expand our pilot program into a full-scale proof-of-concept test.
- The Low Technology Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and educational organization, is coordinating this study.
Cooksville, Wisc. – The Low Technology Institute will be expanding its pilot bee-breeding study into a full-scale proof-of-concept test thanks to funding from the Blooming Prairie Foundation (www.bloomingprairiefoundation.org/). The Blooming Prairie Foundation provides funding to cooperative organizations and organic food-producers. The study, which will take place at and with the financial support of the native-prairie-seed nursery, Agrecol ( over the next decade. Essentially, bees will be allowed to flourish or perish with the presence of the Varroa mite, the leading cause of colony collapse disorder. Surviving colonies will be reproduced in order to encourage the expansion of mite-tolerant traits.
“This method has worked in Sweden, Wales, and Africa but this is the first time it’s been tried on a large scale in the United States,” states Scott Johnson, the founder and director of the institute. “Its success could mean that commercial and hobby beekeepers can get away from using toxic chemicals in their hives and still avoid winter die-off.”
About the Low Technology Institute:
Since 2016, the mission of Low Technology Institute, a 501(c)(3) member-supported nonprofit research and educational organization, has been to develop strategies to house, clothe, and feed ourselves in a post-fossil-fuel world. LTI exists at the nexus of ancient, ethnographic, and modern subsistence. The institute aims to 1) identify ancient and contemporary nonindustrial technologies appropriate for use in modern, small-scale, self-sustaining infrastructure; 2) create do-it-yourself, resource-light solutions to sustainability problems; 3) provide our findings to the public for free use; and 4) create platforms to share information related to sustainability, especially solutions derived from ancient or ethnographic sources. The Low Technology Institute emphasizes simple solutions over complex ones. The institute shares this information through its blog, podcast, research, and programming, all available at their website:
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