April 1, 2008
The apiculturist, whose career spans 31 years at UC Davis, was honored at a luncheon on Tuesday, April 1 in the Embassy Suites, Napa. The association, totaling some 1500 members, represents 10 Western states and part of Canada.
“Eric Mussen has developed a very effective Extension program that uses traditional as well as 21st century techniques,” said PB-ESA president Larry Godfrey, a UC Davis Extension entomologist. “He gives a significant number of presentations every year, publishes a newsletter, and assists people through telephone conversations and one-on-one visits.”
Said entomologist Lynn Kimsey, interim chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology: “Eric has a phenomenal knowledge of honeybees and the beekeeping industry and his activities are critical components of the Department of Entomology activities. He richly deserves the recognition represented by this award.’
Mussen helped spark the rebuilding of the honey bee program at the Harry Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and the recent Haagen-Dazs research donation of $100,000. He is one of three UC Davis scientists serving on the Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream Bee Board of Directors.
In national demand for his expertise on honey bees, Mussen appeared on Good Morning America on March 12, and has also been interviewed for The Lehrer Hour, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and the television documentary, California Heartland. Coverage also included Sticky Stuff of Modern Marvels, the History Channel.
“Eric is the primary conduit of information on apiculture, certainly for the entire western U.S. and perhaps even broader than that,” Godfrey said.
For the past five years, Mussen has functioned as the “sole University of California entomologist assisting the apiculture industry,” Godfrey said. In doing so, Mussen met “some very difficult challenges,” particularly with the surge of CCD and Africanized honey bees.
The beekeeping industry is crucial to California’s $42 billion agricultural economy, as some 90 different crops, valued at more than $6 billion, require pollination. California accounts for $6 billion of the nation’s $16 billion-pollination industry. This does not include the direct products from apiculture (honey, beeswax, pollen, propoplis and venom) and others) and the indirect value of pollination (such as alfalfa seed production to feed dairy and beef cattle).
California also accounts for half of the nation’s sales of queen-and-packaged-bees stock. The Golden State continually ranks among the top four honey-producing states, along with North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida.
In addition to CCD, Mussen’s expertise is widely sought on scores of other topics, including honey bee nutrition, diseases, pesticides, crop pollination and beekeeping. He serves as the state’s beekeeping industry liaison with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Department of Pesticide Regulation and Apiary Inspectors of America, a regulatory and enforcement group.
Mussen guest-lectures for the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine; teaches short courses on beekeeping in the Sacramento area; works closely with Farm Advisors and commercial and hobby beekeepers; and consults with commodity boards, including the National Honey Board, Almond Board of California and the California Farm Bureau Federation
Mussen has edited and published a bi-monthly newsletter, “from the U.C. Apiaries,” since he was hired in September, 1976. He and UC Davis entomologist Norman Gary co-founded the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) in 1978, with each serving terms as president. Mussen continues to maintain the WAS Web site on the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources server.
Mussen’s other activities that led to the Distinguished Achievement Award in Extension include reviewing research proposals; writing informative Bee Briefs on the Department of Entomology’s Web site; and serving as the “permanent” secretary-treasurer of the Northern California Entomology Society. He is currently treasurer of the UC Davis scientific honorary society, Sigma Xi.
Widely recognized for his work, Mussen received the California State Beekeepers’ Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999; Apiary Inspectors of America’s Exceptional Service Award in 2000, and the California State Beekeeper Association’s Beekeeper of the Year Award in 2006. In 2007, the American Association of Professional Apiculturists honored him with an Award of Excellence in Extension Apiculture, one of only five awards the group has presented in 20 years.
The UC Davis Department of Entomology, headquartered in Briggs Hall, is ranked No. 1 in the country by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894