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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:24.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>North Dakota develops honeybee protection plan<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>By BLAKE NICHOLSON, Associated Press<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Updated 8:52 am, Friday, December 20, 2013 <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><ul type=disc><li class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><img width=628 height=401 id=timesunion-photo-5624857 src="cid:image001.jpg@01CEFF3A.B37F1800" alt="FILE - In a March 30, 2012 file photo, honeybees fill a hive at Golden Angels Apiary in Singers Glen, Va. The state of North Dakota, which has long led the nation in the production of honey, has developed a plan to help farmers, ranchers, landowners and beekeepers work together to better protect honeybees. The goal is to reduce risks to honeybees while minimizing the impact of doing so on agricultural production. Photo: Michael Reilly, AP / Daily News-Record"></span><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>FILE - In a March 30, 2012 file photo, honeybees fill a hive at Golden Angels Apiary in Singers Glen, Va. The state of North Dakota, which has long led the nation in the production of honey, has developed a plan to help farmers, ranchers, landowners and beekeepers work together to better protect honeybees. The goal is to reduce risks to honeybees while minimizing the impact of doing so on agricultural production. (Michael Reilly, AP / Daily News-Record) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota, which has long led the nation in honey production, has developed guidelines for farmers, ranchers, landowners and beekeepers to better protect honeybees and help reverse the effects of a mysterious disorder that has vastly eroded the insects' population in recent years.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The goal of the <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22North+Dakota+Pollinator+Plan%22"><span style='color:blue'>North Dakota Pollinator Plan</span></a> is to reduce the risk to honeybees from the use of pesticides and other farming practices while minimizing the impact of doing so on agricultural production, Agriculture Commissioner <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Doug+Goehring%22"><span style='color:blue'>Doug Goehring</span></a> said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"It is completely non-regulatory," Goehring said. "It contains best-management practices and other proactive measures and ideas to help agricultural producers and beekeepers find common ground, all on a voluntary basis."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>North Dakota beekeepers last year produced about 34 million pounds of honey from about half a million colonies. The value of the honey crop was estimated at $64.6 million. Honeybees pollinate more than 90 crops in the U.S. and produce 147 million pounds of honey nationally each year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Protecting their health has become a prominent issue because of colony collapse disorder, which has caused as much as one-third of the nation's bees to disappear each winter since 2006. A federal report blames a combination of factors including a parasitic mite, multiple viruses, bacteria, poor nutrition, genetics, habitat loss and pesticides.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Beekeepers face other challenges, according to Minot beekeeper <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Will+Nissen%22"><span style='color:blue'>Will Nissen</span></a>. There are fewer crops around that bees favor; canola and sunflower production has dropped due to recent wet years and there are fewer alfalfa hay crops because of a shrinking cattle herd, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Forage for the bees is the biggest problem in our state," Nissen said. Between that and colony collapse disorder, he said, he feels his livelihood is threatened "and it gets a little worse every year."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The eight-page plan — based on information gathered at meetings of beekeepers, growers, pesticide applicators, crop consultants and others this year — has numerous suggestions aimed at increasing cooperation among beekeepers, landowners and pesticide applicators. For example, it suggests beekeepers work more closely with landowners on hive placements to ensure they are in prime spots for honey production while not disrupting crops or rural roads. The plan encourages farmers to seed plants that bees like, and to help ensure that applications of any pesticides do not harm hives. Commercial chemical applicators are coaxed to make bee safety a priority.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The guidelines will be revisited annually and updated as needed, Goehring said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Nissen said beekeepers appreciate the state <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Agriculture+Department%22"><span style='color:blue'>Agriculture Department</span></a> "stepping up to bat for us" and that beekeepers and landowners will need to work together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"Communication is the key to making the Pollinator Plan work," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>North Dakota is the first state to heed the call of the <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22National+Association%22"><span style='color:blue'>National Association</span></a> of State Departments of Agriculture to develop a formal plan and, if successful, it could provide a model for other states, Nissen said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Oregon has taken several steps, including restrictions on pesticide use, more public outreach, and an increased emphasis on bee protections as part of the licensing process for pesticide applicators, according to <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/?controllerName=search&action=search&channel=news&search=1&inlineLink=1&query=%22Bruce+Pokarney%22"><span style='color:blue'>Bruce Pokarney</span></a>, spokesman for that state's Agriculture Department.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Oregon last summer had some bee kills linked to pesticide use, including the deaths of 50,000 bees in one case.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>"These incidents that we had this past summer certainly raised the profile of the issue," Pokarney said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>_______<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Scott Hoffman Black<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Chair<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> IUCN Butterfly Specialist Group<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Xerces Society 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Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>To join the Society, make a contribution, or read about our work, please visit <a href="http://www.xerces.org/"><span style='color:blue'>www.xerces.org</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Buy our best-selling book:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.xerces.org/announcing-the-publication-of-attracting-native-pollinators/"><span style='color:blue'>Attracting Native Pollinators. 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