Transcript
coming soon
Idaho and Oregon’s Treasure Valley have a deep connection to bee management for alfalfa seed, but in this episode we hear about how that tradition is being transferred to pollinator management in vineyards.
Ron Bitner is the newest board member of Pollinator Partnership. He received his Ph.D. in Entomology from Utah State University in 1976, where he conducted his dissertation research on the alkali bee. He has decades of experience in management and consulting of non-Apis bees and crops requiring their pollination. Today, Ron and his wife Mary live in the beautiful Snake River Valley of Southwest Idaho. Along with their family, they are the Owner/Operators of Bitner Vineyards LLC, growing 15 acres of premium wine grapes, first planted in 1981. They were Pacific Northwest Magazine’s 2009 Idaho Winery of the year., Canyon County 2013 Farm Family of the Year, and have the only LIVE certified sustainable vineyard in Idaho (www.bitnervineyards.com).
