Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
November 18, 2013
Marking more than 25 years of service to the agricultural and beekeeping community through its Bee Care Program, Bayer CropScience continues to develop sustainable solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues in honey bee health through advanced research and development. Today, the company celebrated the opening of its Clayton Bee Care Center, a 1,200-square-foot facility which will create new approaches and solutions to benefit pollinator health and the global food supply.
Situated on 278 acres of land in Johnston County, N.C., the Clayton Bee Care Center boasts a wintering cold room and comprehensive extraction and bee hive maintenance areas to conduct research on honey bee health. This is the first dedicated bee care facility in Clayton, where Bayer CropScience has studied pollinator health for more than three years. The facility will house researchers and developers studying all aspects of honey bee health, including factors affecting proper crop pollination and treating and preventing diseases to create healthier hives and more.
“We are proud to open our Clayton Bee Care Center, which will help ensure that the hard-working, beneficial honey bee can continue to thrive and provide pollination for foods that we enjoy each day,” said Dick Rogers, apiologist/entomologist and manager of Bayer’s North American Bee Care Center. “Through this facility and Bayer’s Bee Care Program, we are committed to educating the public on the vital role bees play in our backyards, our communities, our crop fields and in our world. Healthy pollinators are incredibly important in creating and maintaining a healthy, nutritious and sustainable food supply, and we are excited about the strides that Bayer will and is already making in protecting global bee health.”
The Clayton Bee Care Center is yet another example of Bayer's commitment to bee health. The first Bayer Bee Care Center opened in 2012 at the company’s global headquarters in Monheim, Germany. Bayer broke ground on its North American Bee Care Center in Research Triangle Park, N.C. in May of this year and it is expected to be complete by spring 2014. Each facility serves to support scientific research and help educate stakeholders and the general public about the importance of honey bees to agriculture. These facilities also bring together significant technological, scientific and academic resources to protect and improve honey bee health and sustainable agriculture.
“Apiculture (the study of bees) is an integral part of agriculture that must continue to grow to meet the needs of an increasing global population,” said Jim Blome president and CEO of Bayer CropScience LP. “Through the work of the world’s brightest agricultural scientists, we can help bees continue their vital impact on crops around the world for years to come.”
The Clayton Bee Care Center is part of Bayer CropScience’s Clayton Development and Training Center, a unique facility dedicated to supporting product development testing and training for the Bayer Advanced™ line of consumer products, as well as the company’s professional pest control and turf management products. The Clayton site includes laboratory and office facilities, a greenhouse, development plots and a 9-hole golf course.
For additional information and background on other Bee Health initiatives please visit http://www.bayercropscience.us/our-commitment/bayer-initiatives. You can also follow and share with us on Twitter at @BayerBeeCare, on Facebook at facebook.com/BayerBeeCareCenter and view photos on Flickr.
Bayer CropScience is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer CropScience representative, or visit Bayer CropScience online at www.bayercropscience.us
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