Where We Began
In 2014, Paul Stamets (Host Defense Founder), Dr. Steve Sheppard (Chair, Department of Entomology, Washington State University) and the Washington State Beekeepers Association teamed up in a research initiative called BeeFriendly™ to help reverse devastating declines in the global bee population that are critically threatening the world’s food security.
In 2015, experiments began where honey bees drank different mushroom mycelium extracts. Research is indicating that mushroom mycelium extracts provide essential nutrition that confers an immune benefit to bees. This nutritional support then translates into improved hive health.
Due to the increase in mono-cultured landscapes and loss of biodiversity, bees have lost access to many sources of nutrition that they might have benefited from in the past. Mycelium extracts may prove to be a powerful support for bees as they endure more challenging conditions in our ecosystems.
Where We Are Today
As a result of our Give Bees a Chance program, we have directly contributed over $200,000 to fund bee research, specifically studying how mushroom mycelium extracts can help bees stay healthy. In addition to cash contributions, we have also donated countless research hours and materials such as liquid extract to the research efforts.
In total, awareness efforts stemming from Paul Stamets and Fungi Perfecti have cumulatively resulted in nearly $5 million in funding for the Honey Bee & Pollinator Division at Washington State University.
