Update: July 8, 2026

You are welcome to read, print, and use this support letter to send signed copies to Ohio State Representatives, United States Representatives, and Stakeholders. 

The Closing of BARC (Bee Lab) ~ Beltsville, MD 

OSBA has been part of the BARC Lab Support Group with numerous individuals, leadership teams, industries, and U.S. Senators and Representatives. From our last meeting, BARC was just told that the USDA itself plans to shut down the Beltsville lab by Sept 30.  They told us on the call that everyone needs to be out by Sept 30. Mr. Jerry Hayes was told on good authority that people have to be out on Sept. 1. The rest of the month will be spent emptying all the material and equipment. It was stated that dumpsters have already been ordered. Note that USDA employees are unable to empty their labs; a cleanup crew will be paid to dump everything.

These labs include the Bee lab as well as all agricultural labs – food animal, crops, horticulture, soil, food quality, and even chestnut research. Everything will be destroyed. The employees have nowhere to go, and the USDA is not helping them, so the employees are mostly “jumping ship” to totally different jobs or retiring.  No effort has been made to rehome the employees, the labs, or the equipment. An old law stated that the BARC lab, being agricultural, had to remain agricultural even if the buildings are destroyed, however somehow the USDA demolition committee has gotten around that loophole. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb1267/?ys=2026rs MGA passed HB1267 this year, which puts some restrictions on the land if BARC is no longer utilizing the property.

“If we sustained 60-90% losses of other livestock animals, there would be a mobilization of veterinarians, FDA, CVM, FEMA, EPA, etc. Our veterinary disaster teams exercised a Foot & Mouth outbreak it would be economically devastating. Dr. Lamas and Dr. Hill were instrumental in declaring the emergency last year and mobilizing researchers to investigate the cause of losses. Animal pollination is a multi-billion dollar industry or we can all eat wind pollinated food-corn, wheat and soy. No fruit/vegetables and all those good amino acids we don’t get anywhere else. This will cost us all much more than keeping the labs where they are.”

The support group said we still have a chance, but we need to RAISE HELL! Wear out the phones of our U.S. Reps, esp. the DC area rep.  The Farm Bureau has helped, but not at the national level. Anything we can do to help needs to be done ASAP! Please take the time to reach out to our U.S. Leadership to help save this valuable, needed resource. You are welcome to cut, paste, use, copy, or transmit the support letter below this article.

United States Senators ~ Ohio

Name	Party	Office Room	Contact
Bernie Moreno	R	Senior Senator	https://www.moreno.senate.gov/
Jon Husted	R	Junior Senator	https://www.husted.senate.gov/

 

Supporters of the BARC Lab Support Group:

Jamie Walters, President ~ Ohio State Beekeepers Association

Roger Myers, Communications Officer ~ Ohio State Beekeepers Association

Barb Bloetscher, Member of Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA)

Elizabeth Stulberg, American Society of Plant Biologists

Danielle Downey, Project Apis m.  by Danielle Downey

Barbara Kowalcyk, GW Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security

Chris Stelzig, Executive Director of the Entomological Society of America (ESA)

Michael Goergen, The American Chestnut Foundation

Izzy Hill, Director of Regulatory Affairs with Project Apis m.

Tyler Hough, Maryland Farm Bureau

Terry Kane for the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium

Christine Hagan, Associate Director of Federal Relations, University of Maryland

Debbie Seib, President of American  Beekeeping Federation

Chad Brewer, VP Technical Service, National Cotton Council of America

Baylen Linnekin, Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign

Dr. Tracy Farone,DVM Professor at Grove City College, director of the GCC bee Project and rep for Honey Bee Vet Consortium

Pam Goddard, National Parks Conservation Assn

Allie Cavanagh with Rep. Elfreth

Peter Marx, Choose Clean Water Coalition

Dr. Zac Lamas, UMBC Researcher | Hive Armor Bioscience USA

Swanson, Alex with Sen. Van Hollen

U.S. Senators ~ Chris Van Hollen & Angela Alsobrooks

U.S. Representatives ~ Glenn Ivey, Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin

 

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Ohio Support Letter to the USDA

To Whom It May Concern,

As a member or stakeholder of the Ohio State Beekeepers Association, we are in full support of keeping the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory (BRL) part of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, MD. In conjunction with other proposed apiary law changes in Ohio, we are incredibly concerned about possibly losing the USDA Bee Lab. While we understand that, as a part of the USDA reorganization, other lab locations will be performing diagnostics for other agricultural needs, the purpose of this letter is to ensure the services of the Bee Lab continue. At the time of this writing, we have been informed that no provisions for apiary diagnostics are in place at the alternative locations.

Knowing how important this lab is to our Ohio apiary program, Dr. Mohamed Alburaki (USDA Beltsville Lab Researcher) stated, “Ohio is the leading state for samples given to them each year”, thereby helping to save colonies from diseases such as Nosema, AFB, EFB, and a prevalence of antibiotic resistance. From 1984 to 2022, the BRL processed 23,066 samples for Ohio. These facts were also published in Bee Culture magazine, May 2024. The Ohio Department of Agriculture does not have the staffing or funding to manage the samples within our own state. We estimate 607 bee samples per year ($40 per sample) is a cost savings of $24,280.00. The BARC presently provides these to the Ohio apiary inspectors free of charge. This important lab is an example of the support necessary to maintain the health of the bee industry. The BRL will be our only line of research and defense, not if, but when the Trophilalalps mite comes to the United States.

In 2025, an estimated 1.6 million honey bee colonies were lost in California between June 2024 and March 2025, representing an average loss of 62% of commercial colonies during that period, a record-high decline. These catastrophic losses significantly impacted the state’s agricultural economy and have raised concerns about future pollinator supplies and crop availability. The honey bees that survived this onslaught of diseases now become our supply of packages and queens that arrive in Ohio in early April/May for early colony build-ups. This impacts our food security, the overall decline of pollinators, and the essential pollination of crops throughout Ohio and our nation. In Ohio alone, it’s estimated that $3.875 billion worth of work that our “bee farming” contributes to.

These efforts are not only scientifically critical but also economically vital: honey bees contribute more than $20 billion annually to the U.S. economy by pollinating nearly one-third of the food we eat—including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Closure or relocation of the BRL would severely disrupt ongoing research and undermine its indispensable Bee Disease Diagnostic Service, which supports beekeepers nationwide.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting feedback on its Department Reorganization Plan, and the public comment period has been extended to September 30, 2025.

 

Video of USDA “Closing of Labs”

YouTube https://youtu.be/Jz8PDXfddwQ?si=-ynpJiwXQlpj0q9_

Critical Information

USDA is downsizing its operations by condensing and closing its labs. The Bee Research Lab (BRL) in Beltsville, MD is on the butcher’s block. We are asking all beekeepers/stakeholders of our beloved bee industry to participate in support of keeping Beltsville open. Ohio is the #1 state in having samples tested to keep our honey bees healthy. All of the Ohio County Apiary Inspectors use this facility to test apiary samples at no cost to us. This would be a critical loss in monitoring brood disease and pests. They will be our front line of defense, not if but when Tropilaelaps arrives too.

 

How to Submit Comments

(Washington, D.C., August 1, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced today the opening of a 30-day public comment period for stakeholders to provide feedback on the Department’s reorganization plan, as outlined in the Secretary’s memorandum (PDF, 2.6 MB) issued on July 24, 2025.

“As committed, we are continuing to hear stakeholder feedback on the USDA Reorganization. All stakeholders – including Capitol Hill offices, USDA employees, and members of the agricultural community – are encouraged to share their input during the open comment period. We value your perspective as we work to ensure that USDA is best positioned to serve America’s farmers, ranchers, producers, and rural communities,” said Secretary Brooke Rollins.

“President Trump made clear his second term would include relocating the sprawling federal bureaucracy to locations outside the National Capital Region,” Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden said in his Capitol Hill testimony on July 30, 2025. “The department’s July 24 memorandum begins to deliver on this promise and does so in a way that right-sizes the USDA footprint, eliminates unnecessary management layers, consolidates redundant or duplicative functions, and, most importantly, allows USDA to deliver on its mission to the American people within the bounds of its available financial resources.”