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THE BUZZ ABOUT American Fruit Grower for

Bee Vectoring Technology

Precision Bee Vectoring

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY R&D TRIAL REPORTS STRONG DISEASE FIGHTING RESULTS
Up to 84% Improvement in Anthracnose Disease Control | Up to 60% Increase in Crop Yield

Recent innovation, which utilizes bees to RUTGERS RESULTS FIGURE 1:

Total Average Anthracnose Infected Berries (%) After
deliver patented biofungicide, can help 10 Days of Incubation (BVT Honeybee System)
growers in the Northeast and Midwest
27%
increase yields and their bottom lines – Decrease in
Anthracnose
all in the name of Mother Nature 80
70 8%
Decrease in
60 Anthracnose

A
re you interested in Center and the Philip E. Marucci 50
increasing your yield Center for Blueberry & Cranberry
40
production – and using Research conducted a trial during
30
fewer chemicals, less machinery, the 2021 growing season on com-
less labor, and no water in the mercial blueberry crops in three 20
process? Are you interested in New Jersey locations and found 10
increasing your bottom line an the BVT system with honeybees 0
extra 20% – while decreasing when used alone reduced an- Control - Grower BVT BVT
No Spray Spray Only + Spray
your impact on the planet, leaving thracnose in postharvest blueber-
only tiny carbon ries by 27% when
footprints along the compared to the
food production line? control (no spray) “We are pleased to have had the
A recent innovation and 8% when opportunity to study this new
from Bee Vectoring compared to the technology. Our experience over the
Technology (BVT) grower standard
past season shows that the technology
can help Northeast spray program.
and Midwest grow- The BVT system has promise, and could be instrumental
ers do all this and used alone also in reducing disease occurrence while
more while receiving Commercial hives with had 11% greater maintaining bee health.”
a quick return on VectorHive honeybee yield of healthy
their investment. dispensers on blueberry field. berries 10 days
– DEAN POLK, Fruit IPM Agent (Professor)
and Interim Director at the Rutgers University
BVT’s VectorHive™ after harvest than
Specialty Crop and Extension Center.
system uses commercially reared a standard spray program and
honeybees and bumblebees 60% more than the control.
to deliver BVT’s patented Vec- In another grower demonstration
torite™ with CR-7, a biofungicide on a conventional blueberry farm
for control of common fungal dis- in New Jersey using the BVT bum- Rutgers University
eases, including Colletotrichum blebee system with the standard R&D Trial Results
(anthracnose). program, anthracnose decreased View full results at
Rutgers University’s Specialty 84% compared to use of the VectoriteBVT.com/rutgers
Crop Research and Extension standard spray program alone.
NATURAL DISEASE
CONTROL IN BERRY CROPS

HOW IT WORKS search, devel-

Vectorite with CR-7 is an organic
carrier agent with BVT’s patented
strain of Clonostachys rosea, a
beneficial biocontrol. As bees exit
their hive to forage pollen, they
walk across the biofungicide, which
attaches harmlessly to their bodies.
As the bees pollinate crops, they
precisely deliver the biofungicide
directly to the flower, where plants
are most susceptible to many
fungal diseases. Once on the flower,
Vectorite and CR-7 colonizes the
plant and protects the crop against
various diseases.
When initiated at the start of the
bloom period, the VectorHive system
is extremely effective at preventing
fungal diseases, especially on blue-
berries, blackberries, raspberries,
strawberries, and other crops. Re-
opment, and
field trials have
been conducted for
the past 20 years on the
all-natural solution, also known
as “bee vectoring.”
The technology is both safe for the
bee and the environment. Since EPA
approval in August 2019, growers
in the Northeast, Midwest, and
throughout the U.S. have adopted
BVT’s precise, natural approach to
crop protection.
HOW BEE VECTORING REDUCES
LABOR AND COST
Growers lose money when indis-
criminately spraying entire fields.
Doing so does not guarantee precise
application while many chemical
products end up in waterways or in
areas between
the crops.
The VectorHive sys-
tem is an alternative to waste-
ful practices that affect a grower’s
bottom line. It can be the foundation of
a strong integrated pest and disease
management program; as a preventa-
tive agent, the biofungicide spore helps
to reduce or eliminate sprays that
usually would be done during the
bloom period in a growing season.
This means that if growers are
using chemistries restricted to four or
five sprays per season for the same
disease control objective, they can
use less than the limit (and save on
costly applications) or else save those
sprays for later in the season in case
of high disease pressure.

It has changed the way he farms.
The “it” is Bee Vector Technology’s (BVT)
VectorHive system, which safely uses bees
CASE to deliver a biofungicide spore, Vectorite with
STUDY CR-7, from hives to blooms. Also known as
“bee vectoring,” the environmentally friend-
ly technology increases growers’ yields and
reduces disease.
Blueberry
The “he” is Winn Morgan, Co-Founder of
Grower Calls Major League Blueberries, a farm in Georgia.
BVT a ‘Game Morgan says he uses Vectorite with CR-7 to
combat anthracnose and fruit drop.
Changer’ “We just don’t see fruit drop on this farm like
other farms that aren’t using BVT,” Morgan
adds. “There are technologies that we’ve used
that are good, and there are technologies that
completely changed the way we farm. And this
technology, using bees as a vector to create
a positive outcome not just for pollination but
for the health of the plant and the health of the
fruit, has changed the way we farm here.”
Morgan says the beneficial biocontrol Clonos-
tachys is the game changer. “It protects us
against a lot of diseases that we could poten-
tially have during the most crucial time of our
year, which is during fruit set and harvest.”
This “game changer” has also enabled
Winn Morgan and Major League Blueberries to see a
Morgan
return on investment close to 20 times over the
cost of the system.
“Ultimately, you have an average rate of 50%
pollination success rate. We are having a pollina-
tion success rate of 65-68% in most of our vari-
eties, so it’s growing out a bigger crop,” Morgan
says. “It really is phenomenal technology.”
Another grower in Georgia, John Bennett of
Alma Sunbelt Blueberries, says, “One of the
things that bombards us – especially in the years
where we have excessive rain or if you get behind
on picking and have overripe fruit – is anthrac-
nose. And we just haven’t had it since we’ve
started bee vectoring. That’s the reason I’ll use it
again. BVT is money well spent.”
Bennett says he also no longer sprays as many
times during a growing season. “We are a little
hesitant not to spray some, but we’ve certainly
sprayed a lot less than we used to,” he adds.
“There are technologies that we’ve
used that are good, and there
are technologies that completely
changed the way we farm. And
this technology has changed the
way we farm here.”
– WINN MORGAN
 A BVT technician delivers
the VectorHive system to
a crop field at the start of
the blooming period.

Unlike many traditional spray thousands of gallons per spray.

fungicide applications, which must BVT’s system is significantly more A blueberry crop
field at the start
be timed carefully around preharvest, precise than spray applications. Its
of a bloom period
weather (like delays in spraying after targeted approach goes right to the
in April 2021.
a rainfall or with wet inaccessible plant with no spillover.
fields) and when labor needs to be in The VectorHive system also allows
the fields, Vectorite with CR-7 growers to reduce their reli-
is applied every time bees ance on machinery. Trac-
visit blossoms (which tors can be used less
bees do continuously, often at a rate of two
day after day; unlike to three times less
spraying with the wait than without BVT’s
intervals between technology, saving
applications). growers labor, time,
Delivery is also fuel, and wear on their
highly efficient and heavy machinery.
targeted because Also, unlike many
commercially reared As bees leave their hive, they traditional chemis-
and managed bees walk through the VectorHive tries, there is no risk
conduct it. Instead honeybee dispenser and of resistance since
of fogging a field and pick up trace amounts of there is no competi- Control Disease and Improve
causing runoff, bee the biofungicide, which they tion for BTV’s propri- Yields – All Season Long
vectoring a biofungicide carry directly to blooms. etary biofungicide.
Bee Vectoring Technology’s (BVT)
allows the micro- But growers are not
VectorHive™ system provides Northeast
targeting of blossoms with a spore limited to using Vectorite with CR-7
and Midwest growers with an effective
that will never result in environmental alone for disease control. For high fungicide resistance management tool that
damage with the likes that are seen disease pressure or the perfect is beneficial on several levels:
with fogged or sprayed chemistries. conditions in which fungal diseases
In addition to reducing synthetic can proliferate, growers can add Continuous re-application of
pesticide use, the process of bee traditional sprays to reduce com- CR-7 by the bees with every
vectoring also uses no water, while mon fungal diseases across the visit to the flowers.
spraying uses hundreds or even plant, if needed.
Significant reduction in disease
incidence and severity.

Higher marketable yields with

healthier plants.

Increased fruit quality and

shelf life.

Reduced use of fungicides

(up to 50%).

Bees walk across the unique
tray filled with biofungicide in
the VectorHive bumblebee sys-
tem, picking up trace amounts
of the product on their bodies
and legs, as they exit the hive.
REAL-WORLD RESULTS
Growers who have adopted precision
bee vectoring are already seeing positive
impacts on their operations. Most realize
BVT’s technology only costs as much as
two to three sprays of traditional chemistries
would cost in a growing season.
An organic grower in the Pacific Northwest
said the cost per acre of using the technol-
ogy is miniscule compared to manually ap-
plying other products. A grower in Georgia
called VectorHive a “game changer.” (See
sidebar on page 2.)
Using BVT’s bee vectoring system has
shown better marketable yield results over
crops using traditional chemical treatments/
application methods. As previously stated,
a 2021 trial by Rutgers University and the
Philip E. Marucci Center on commercial
blueberry crops in three New Jersey
locations found that the BVT system
used alone had a 11% greater yield of
healthy berries 10 days after harvest than
a standard spray program and 60% more
than the control.
In a grower demo in Oregon, crops grown
utilizing BVT’s system measured bigger fruit.
Pre-harvest blueberries were on average
16% bigger in berry size with bee vectoring
used over plots not treated with bee vector-
ing. There was also 43% more larger berries
(≥ 12mm) with BVT in use.
Growers’ costs for inputs continue to
increase, including the cost of many tradition-
al chemical products. Some of these have
risen as much as 40% in the last year. With
BVT’s technology, growers not only help the
environment but their pocketbooks as well.
The product is readily available for the next
growing season.

RUTGERS RESULTS FIGURE 2: RUTGERS RESULTS FIGURE 3:

Total Average Healthy Berries (%) After 10 Anthracnose Infected Berries (%) After 10
Days of Incubation (BVT Honeybee System) Days of Incubation (BVT Bumblebee System)

20
60%
80 Greater Yield of 15
Healthy Berries
70 84%
60 11% 10 Decrease in
Greater Yield of Athracnose
5
50 Healthy Berries
40 0
Grower Standard BVT + Spray
30
20
There were much fewer anthracnose infected
BVT’s bumblebee delivery 10 berries reported with the BVT system used
system on-site at a crop field. 0 with the standard program, approximately 84%
Control - Grower BVT BVT
No Spray Standard Only + Spray reduction in anthracnose, than just using the
conventional standard spray program alone.

For more information on the BTV VectorHive

system, visit vectoritebvt.com or contact
Everett Hendrixon at 941.549.4971 or
ehendrixon@beevt.com