Three Montana State University graduate students recently presented their research about viruses and pathogens affecting bees at one of the premier gatherings concerning the health of honey bees and other pollinators.

Laura Brutscher, William Glenny and Alex McMenamin, along with adviser Michelle Flenniken, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture, attended the International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health, and Policy. The event, which took place July 18-20, was hosted by Pennsylvania State University's Center for Pollinator Research.

"This is one of the largest international pollinator health conferences,” Flenniken said. “It is held every two to three years, thus it is an important opportunity for master’s and Ph.D. students to present their work at this conference during their graduate careers.”

McMenamin, a second-year doctoral student in MSU’s Molecular BioSciences Program in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Agriculture and the College of Letters and Science, presented the Flenniken lab's research on Lake Sinai viruses, a prevalent and abundant group of viruses that have been detected in honey bee samples throughout the globe, including samples obtained from honey bee colonies in Montana. The viruses, as well as other pathogens, have been associated with honey bee colony losses, which have averaged 33 percent annually since 2006.

"These viruses were only recently discovered, so we think it's important to understand whether they're having an impact on colony health," said McMenamin, who is pursuing his doctorate in microbiology. "Part of that is understanding the viruses themselves."

With support from the Montana Department of Agriculture's Specialty Crop Block Program, McMenamin and others in the Flenniken lab, including research associate Katie Daughenbaugh, who earned her doctorate in veterinary molecular biology from MSU in 2005, are documenting which strains of the Lake Sinai virus are present in Montana. By investigating how the different strains are transmitted, the research team is looking to find ways to reduce the virus' spread.

Glenny, a graduate student in MSU's Department of Ecology, received funding from the university's College of Letters and Science and the Montana Institute on Ecosystems to attend the conference and present his research, which involves detecting Lake Sinai virus in North American bumble bees. Glenny is co-advised by Flenniken and Laura Burkle, MSU assistant professor of ecology.

"Bees are really important to promoting biodiversity and ecosystem function," Glenny said. "The fact that we're seeing declines in pollinators worldwide should be a concern for scientists, as well as people who care about food security."

Brutscher, a doctoral student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, said the conference was "a really good opportunity to talk to other scientists and get feedback."

"I've been reading all these papers from big-name scientists, and it was exciting to meet them in person," she said.

In 2012, Brutscher, who is co-advised by Flenniken and Carl Yeoman, assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences, received a Honey Bee Biology Fellowship from Project Apis m., a nonprofit organization that supports honey bee research, to research honey bees and the pathogens that infect them. The fellowship is the result of a partnership between national nonprofit Project Apis m., named for the western or European honey bee, and Costco, which has used sales of Kirkland Signature honey to support honey bee research.

The research Brutscher presented at the conference is focused on observing the individual genes that are expressed, or “turned on,” when a honey bee is infected with a virus.

"The goal of my research is to better understand honey bee antiviral immune responses at the organismal and cellular level," Brutscher said. "It's really exciting to begin to identify and characterize the immune pathways that honey bees utilize to fight off virus infections."

For more information about pollinator research at MSU, go to http://www.montana.edu/pollinators.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reopened the upper stretch of the Yellowstone River and its tributaries to fishing Tuesday – from the border of Yellowstone National Park to the Carbella Fishing Access Site. Recent surveys show this stretch has not experienced additional fish mortality since the department moved to open it to non-angling activities last week.

The section of the Yellowstone from Carbella Fishing Access Site downstream to Highway 89 Bridge Fishing Access Site remains closed to all use. FWP continues to see some dying fish in portions of this reach.
 
FWP will continue to monitor Yellowstone River conditions, and take into account fish mortality and test results when making decisions as to any changes in closure status.
 
More information on the Yellowstone fish kill can be found at http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/headlines/nr_4278.html.
 
FWP also reminds recreationists to Clean. Drain. Dry as this mantra is the key to preventing the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species and other harmful organisms.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has received results from additional testing performed last week on fish samples collected as part of the effort to better understand the distribution of the parasite in the Yellowstone River and its tributaries.
 
From the upper Yellowstone, tests were performed on 30 trout collected at spring creeks close to the area experiencing the highest level of Whitefish mortality. Two Brown Trout from Nelson’s Spring Creek tested positive for the presence of the parasite, while all other fish (13 Rainbow Trout and 15 Brown Trout) tested negative. It is important to make clear that there was no evidence of disease detected (presence was that of parasitic infection only) at any of these locations and no mortality documented. All the samples tested were healthy and alive when collected.

Tests were also performed on Whitefish samples collected at the mouth of the Boulder River, at Holmgren Ranch Fishing Access Site near Columbus, and at Laurel where 11 Whitefish tested positive. From these same downstream locations, three Rainbow Trout tested positive, one tested negative.
     
All tests on Yellowstone River samples are being performed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Bozeman Fish Health Center. Results are pending on a number of additional samples collected at the mouth of Big Creek near Emigrant, on the Shields River below the Chadbourne diversion dam, the Jefferson River at Sappington Bridge, as well as the Stillwater River and Boulder River where they meet the Yellowstone.

FWP fish health specialists note that fewer dead fish and less disease have been observed recently, but crews are continuing to perform surveys.

FWP continues to evaluate these results and will keep the public informed as to any decision related to reopening sections of river to recreational uses.
 
Updates on the Yellowstone fish kill can be found on our website here: http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/headlines/nr_4278.html.  

September opens our first session of classes for Kids, Teens, and Adults!!

Grades K-5 can express their inner Broadway star with Musical Theater, or crack up themselves and their friends by learning Comedy Improv. Classes run on Saturdays from Sept. 17-Nov. 12. Each class is $120, or you can enroll in both for $200.

Teen Theater is a fun and inspiring after-school program that is perfect for your creative teen. Teens will take part in the entire production process of Once Upon A Mattress which begins on Sept. 12 and culminates in several performances on our Main Stage in November. Teen Theater is for grades 6-12 and costs only $175.

Our Adult Improvisation Classes are based in a 5 Level, tiered curriculum, each class building on the previous one. After completing the introductory class, participants get a chance to hone their skills in the subsequent higher level classes. Level one starts on Sept. 11 and runs on Sundays from 7-8:30pm for 9 weeks. For previous students we are also offering Level 2 and Level 3 this session. Level 2 begins on Sept. 13 and runs on Tuesdays from 7-9pm for 9 weeks, and Level 3 begins on Sept. 11 and runs on Sundays from 5-7pm for 9 weeks. Level 1 costs $175 and Levels 2 and 3 cost $200.

For more information about any of our shows or classes, please visit vergetheater.com.

Jake TeSelle and Colten Sales are part of a new generation of Montana farmers.

The two grew up together in Bozeman, and both came from multi-generational farming families that grew traditional crops like wheat, alfalfa and barley. Now, with help from Montana State University’s Blackstone LaunchPad and a $38,377 grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture’s Growth Through Agriculture program, they’ve launched a specialty operation growing hops for local microbreweries.

They call their venture Crooked Yard Hops.

In addition, they’ve purchased a mobile harvester—which they say is the first in Montana. They’ll use the mobile harvester for their own crop and will also make it available for other nearby growers.

Crooked Yard began as a one-acre test plot in a back corner of TeSelle’s family’s farm south of Bozeman. It was spring 2015, and TeSelle was a junior mechanical engineering student in the MSU College of Engineering. Sales had just returned home from a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

That fall they harvested 20 pounds of hops and got a positive response on the samples they gave to local breweries. TeSelle and Sales said they were on to something, but they weren’t sure what to do next. A visit to MSU’s Blackstone LaunchPad sent them in the right direction.

LaunchPad Director Les Craig said he saw potential.

“They were ambitious, driven, smart, and they were clearly pursuing their passions,” he said. “It’s that entrepreneurial fabric.”

Craig said he helped with business structure, pointed them toward the state grant and pushed them to make a strategic plan.

“Instead of saying, ‘We need to plant 10 acres,’ actually saying, ‘What’s the most prudent growth strategy to step into this, and how do you balance that with your ability to put the financing together?’” Craig said.

Basically, TeSelle says, “He poured jet fuel on our business.”  

As of late July 2016, the hop bines at Crooked Yard were 15 feet tall. With help from the grant, TeSelle and Sales planted six acres. They expect to harvest 200-300 pounds this year, and next year around 4,000. Bridger Brewing has already spoken for this year’s entire crop. TeSelle and Sales also plan to purchase processing equipment, allowing them to bring hops straight from farm to beer.

While hops can flourish in Montana, growing them is not without risk, TeSelle noted. With up to 20,000 pounds of organic matter per acre, a hops trellis essentially acts like a giant green sail and is at risk of being blown over by the wind, explained Tom Britz, chairman of the National Small Growers Council for Hop Growers of America and owner of Glacier Hops Ranch in Kalispell.

That’s where TeSelle’s engineering degree comes into play.

Instead of using a heavy cable and maximizing the cable width like many farmers, which adds to an already top-heavy system, Crooked Yard chose to use a smaller, high-weave cable with a tensile loading strength of 5,000 pounds—which is still more than twice what TeSelle said they’ll need. And when their rocky ground wouldn’t accept the usual blunt trellis posts, they used five-foot driver posts with 13-foot two-by-fours bolted atop them.

“With 40 plants per row, we had to [calculate] how much force that will put on the bolts, the cable and the anchors,” TeSelle said. “It’s just a big mechanics problem.”

TeSelle added that Crooked Yard Hops would like to help other interested growers through sharing information, providing tours and other means.   

“We found when we got started that there was not a lot of readily available information, but we have made a lot of fantastic contacts and learned a lot, and we would love to pass all that on,” TeSelle said.

Crooked Yard is an example of the innovative thinking the MSU College of Engineering works to encourage, said Brett Gunnink, dean of the college.

“[We want] engineering students to gain teamwork experience with non-engineers and think about non-traditional engineering applications, but also to think about engineering as an entrepreneurial, innovative activity—whether that is development of a truly new product, or in the case of Jake, seeing how he can tweak his engineering skills and combine them with his family background in farming and create new industry in Montana.”

AREA FIRE UPDATE
August 15, 2016
NO THREAT TO VISITORS ~ NO EVACUATIONS
 
NEW FIRE REPORTED INSIDE THE YELLOWSTONE PARK BOUNDARY  
NEAR DUCK CREEK & COUGAR CREEK
Late this afternoon the Forest Service reported a new fire approximately One-Quarter (1/4) Mile inside the Park boundary about 8 miles north of West Yellowstone. It is also burning to the Northeast (away from town) in the fire scar of the '88 North Fork fire. Yellowstone Park and Custer-Gallatin National Forest teams have responded.

ALL ROADS TO WEST YELLOWSTONE AND IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK ARE OPEN.
The other three fires burning within Yellowstone NP, are now being managed as a single complex, the Buffalo Complex. Buffalo Fire: 97 acres; Fawn Fire: 936 acres; Maple Fire: 1,100 acres.

Park visitors and neighboring communities should anticipate varying levels of smoke from these fires. Usually heaviest in the morning before the temperatures rise.
Updates are posted on the Chamber website: http://bit.ly/2aM60Zb
Additional information will be shared as we receive it from Yellowstone Park and USFS.
As a result of this fire activity, some backcountry trails and campsites are closed until further notice.
 
REMINDER: DRONES ARE PROHIBITED IN AIRSPACE NEAR WILDFIRES
If you are flying, then official fire-fighting aircraft cannot. Photos are not worth it!
 
Please, also discourage your staff and community members from posting photos and inaccurate information on social media - this alarms our current and incoming visitors.
 
For more details about the fires: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov
or   https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/currentfireactivity.htm

Air Quality Reports: http://svc.mt.gov/deq/todaysair/

JERRY'S THOUGHTS ON THE SONG

I / we have a long and magically sordid history with Big Sky country. We have been doing a three-night run in Virginia City, Montana for over a decade now…always a peak performance for the band…as well as an inferno of band drama.

3-7-77 is a number associated with the VC vigilantes in the 19th century. If you google the story I’m sure you will be left as confused as I am, but know it’s a pure reading of VC life. How the fuck Passover references got in here is unclear…perhaps watching the Disney cartoon version of Moses with my kids…or a little too much time in Pikesville.

The song is the first release from a series of tracks we recorded last January at Jackpot! Recording Studio in PDX. Dave Schools producing and Dex and Adam Lee mixing.

It’s just the trio.

Dex, Stevie and me…I thought Crosby was on it…apparently, however, he was at an open mic at the Laurelthirst recording a live record between guitar takes.

So it’s just the three of us doing that thing the three of us occasionally pull off like fucking gladiators…we wanted to have this available for the VC shows…as nobody actually buys music anyway…it’s free.

Enjoy and see you at Banditos…bring bullets.

Love and Kisses.

Jerry Joseph and the Jackmormons

The Bozeman Beautification Advisory Board is preparing for the 2016 Bozeman Beautification Award Ceremony slated to take place on Wednesday, November 2 in the Baxter Hotel Ballroom. The Board will be accepting nominations from the general public now through Friday, September 9.

Nominations can be submitted online at www.bozeman.net/beautification.

Nominations can include a variety of beautification projects that have been completed within the Bozeman city limits. These projects can include but are not limited to exciting residential design, neighborhood revitalization, new or improved commercial design, exceptional landscape, public art and much more. There are many categories listed on the online nomination form as a reference but new categories are always welcome.

For more information about the Beautification Award nominations or awards ceremony, please contact Jessica Johnson at JJohnson@bozeman.net or at 406-582-2274.