Bayer Celebrates National Honey Month at PGA TOUR Championship; Announces Healthy Hives 2020 USA Digital Booklet and Next Gen Beekeeping Webinar

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This September, National Honey Month will be a little "sweeter" as the Bayer Bee Care Program kicks off several efforts to raise awareness of current initiatives to improve pollinator health. Golf aficionados and guests attending the PGA TOUR Championship, September 19-23, will enjoy pollinator-themed fun at the Feed a Bee sponsored lounge, while researchers, scientists, beekeepers and enthusiasts alike will be celebrated through the release of a commemorative digital booklet presenting industry-changing honey bee research from Healthy Hives 2020 USA. Bayer will also offer a live webinar featuring three outstanding Young Beekeeper Award winners' work as next-generation voices in beekeeping.

National Honey Month annually celebrates and promotes the importance of the American beekeeping industry and honey bees. Due to the role honey bees serve as the primary pollinators of many crops we eat, the Bayer Bee Care Program has dedicated nearly 30 years to protecting pollinators through research and education.

This year, Bayer partners with the PGA TOUR to host the Feed a Bee Garden Lounge at the TOUR Championship at Atlanta's historic East Lake Golf Club. Event spectators can enjoy the tournament while celebrating the importance of pollinators through bee-themed games, a flower-wall photo booth, a meet-and-greet with influencer guest Lo Bosworth and a honey varietal tasting. The five-day PGA event will kick off early on Tuesday, Sept. 18, with a local planting at Charles R. Drew Charter School featuring hands-on educational activities on the topics of pollinator health and beekeeping.

Additionally, in partnership with Project Apis m., Bayer will launch the Healthy Hives 2020 USA digital booklet on Sept. 24. The booklet takes you through the journey of the program, the solutions-driven innovation it's prompted in pollinator health and profiles of the 10 experts powering the innovation. Healthy Hives 2020 USA is the five-year, $1 million research initiative in partnership with Project Apis m. created to improve a wide range of prevailing bee health concerns by the end of 2020. Encouraged with the progress of the initiative thus far, Bayer recently committed an additional $325,000 in funding to Healthy Hives 2020.

To close National Honey Month, Bayer will host a live webinar on Sept. 25 featuring its 2018 Young Beekeeper Award winners ? three high school seniors working to make an impact in their communities through unique beekeeping projects. The webinar will feature first-place winner Leo Schriokauer's research findings on potential treatments for American Foulbrood disease, second-place winner Daniel McSween's methods to control Varroa mites and third-place winner Jonathan "JD" Murphy's success as a young apiarist working to establish a scholarship for other young beekeepers.

Through innovative education opportunities and ongoing initiatives like Healthy Hives 2020 USA, Feed a Bee and the Young Beekeeper Award, Bayer continues to empower solutions to improve honey bee hive conditions and colony health across North America. The PGA TOUR sponsorship, digital booklet launch and live webinar align with Bayer's ongoing mission to increase education and awareness of pollinators' importance to food security, publish research findings to help beekeepers across the nation and support the beekeeping industry's next generation of leaders.

Bayer North American Bee Care Program initiatives include:

• Feed a Bee, a consumer education initiative that works with partners nationally to plant more forage for pollinators. The program is currently accepting proposals from organizations across the country to achieve the goal of planting in all 50 states by the end of 2018. For more information on how your organization can apply for funding, visit FeedABee.com.
• Young Beekeeper Award, which honors students who are actively working to support honey bees in their local communities. The program provides entrants between the ages of 12 and 18 the opportunity to win $3,000 (1st place), $2,000 (2nd place) or $1,000 (3rd place) to support honey bee-focused initiatives in their schools or communities, or to help fund their college tuition.

For more information on Healthy Hives 2020 USA programs, please visit https://www.projectapism.org/.

For more information on Bayer's worldwide pollinator health initiatives, please visit: http://beecare.bayer.com. You can also follow and share with us on Twitter @BayerBeeCare, on Facebook at facebook.com/BayerBeeCareCenter and view photos on Flickr.

Bayer 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 representative, or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.cropscience.bayer.us.

Visit the Bayer Connect - Social Hub for social media, recent news, blog posts, videos and more from Crop Science, a division of Bayer.

About Bayer 
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2017, the Group employed around 99,800 people and had sales of EUR 35.0 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.4 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.5 billion. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

About Project Apis m. 
Project Apis m. (PAm) is the go-to organization at the interface of honey bees and pollinated crops. Since 2006, we've infused nearly $7 million into honey bee research which aims to provide healthier bees, resulting in better pollination and increased crop yields for the grower, and lower losses and better honey production for the beekeeper. We work closely with commercial beekeepers, growers, and top bee scientists in the USA and Canada to direct strategic efforts focused on practical solutions. PAm funds research studies, purchases equipment for research labs, supports graduate students through scholarships to encourage careers in pursuit of science-based solutions to honey bee challenges, and has expanding efforts to enhance honey bee health and nutrition by putting forage on the landscape where it counts most for bees. We are a non-profit 501 (c) (5) organization governed by a nine-member board. Our board members are beekeepers, pollinators and honey producers representing major national and state industry organizations. PAm also has five scientific advisors who review project proposals with the board.

Contact

Bayer Media Hotline, 1-862-404-5118, or

Susan Luke
Crop Science, a division of Bayer
Tel: (314) 919-6769 
Email: [email protected]

Whitney Jones
Porter Novelli
Tel: (404) 995-7919
Email: [email protected] 

Sharah Yaddaw, Communications Director 
Project Apis m.
Tel: (916) 287-3035 
Email: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

SOURCE Bayer