UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In East Africa, beekeepers set up empty hives hoping that migrating swarms of honey bees will take up residence and provide them with honey.
However, it is difficult for beekeepers to predict when migrating swarms will arrive and leave and when to harvest honey. Darcy Gray, a graduate student in Penn State's intercollege graduate degree program in ecology, has received a Fulbright Study/Research Award to help beekeepers by examining how habitat and weather patterns drive bee migration and honey production in Kenya.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering students and young professionals opportunities to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. Recipients are chosen based on academic and professional achievement, their record of service, and leadership potential.
“The Fulbright award is enabling me to explore a subject area that otherwise might have been difficult to secure funding for,” said Gray, who arrived in Kenya in January for a six-month stay. “I am grateful for the recognition of my research to support international research on pollinators.”
Gray, of Long Island, New York, is a student in the College of Agricultural Sciences' International Agriculture and Development (INTAD) dual-title degree program, a unique course of study that provides her with international perspectives and expertise to strengthen her primary graduate degree in ecology.
“The opportunity to have coursework and advising in INTAD is exciting to me because I can integrate my interests in sustainable agriculture into my thesis and my degree,” said Gray about the program, which is administered by Ag Sciences Global. “Beekeeping is a fascinating intersection where biological and ecological research questions meet agriculture and sociology, and the INTAD program allows me to explore both ends of this in my research.”
Gray holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental biology from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Before coming to Penn State, she was a center lead for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s NASA DEVELOP Program in Greenbelt, Maryland. She designed and managed short-term applied remote sensing projects in partnership with NASA science advisers and partner organizations.
She also worked as a beekeeping specialist at SEED Madagascar, a nongovernmental organization working in southeast Madagascar. She provided beekeeping knowledge and oversaw a beekeeping sustainable-livelihoods project to support pollinator health.
Gray’s background makes her a perfect fit to undertake her current project in Kenya, according to her adviser and mentor, Christina Grozinger, Publius Vergilius Maro Professor of Entomology and director of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State.
The center has worked with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya, where Gray is stationed, for more than 15 years on several projects, including studies of bee health in Kenya.
“I was so excited when Darcy applied to Penn State for her graduate studies,” said Grozinger. “Her unique skill set and broad interests were perfectly aligned with addressing some of the most critical issues in understanding and mitigating the drivers of bee health and honey production in East Africa.”
Grozinger and Gray explained that in East Africa, beekeepers whose hives are occupied by migrating swarms of honey bees face a challenge when the flowering plants in the surrounding landscape stop blooming, causing the bees to eat all their honey and migrate again.
Beekeepers must be able to predict how many colonies their apiaries can support since that will help them know how many hives to set up. They also need to know when the plants will start and stop blooming to know when to set up these empty hives and when to collect honey.
Gray’s research will use automated sensors in hives, satellite imaging of habitat and landscape conditions, weather and climate data, and on-site assessments of honey bee colonies and flowering plants to understand how weather and habitat influence the timing of bee migration and how much honey individual colonies can produce.
“My research will broaden scientists’ and beekeepers’ understanding of the migratory patterns of honey bees in Kenya and will have implications that could be applied directly to support more stable livelihoods,” said Gray. “It is essential that we understand what information beekeepers would find most helpful in making decisions about how to manage their apiaries and colonies.”
Grozinger said she is impressed with Gray’s ability to create an integrated and holistic project that spans sociological surveys, automated sensors to monitor honey bee colony dynamics, remote sensing data, and ecological statistics. “While directly addressing the needs of beekeepers in Kenya, the approach that Darcy develops will be applicable broadly, in Africa and around the world,” said Grozinger.
Gray said that the opportunity to work in Grozinger’s lab was a significant factor in her decision to attend Penn State. “I am interested in interdisciplinary research and the integration of mapping, forage and climatic factors related to honey bee health,” she said. “Having these opportunities while working with a world-renowned pollinator scientist drew me to Penn State.”
The Fulbright Program has provided more than 380,000 participants the opportunity to study abroad since its inception in 1946. The primary source of funding is appropriated by Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The participating governments and host institutions, along with corporations and foundations, also provide support.