Happy New Year and welcome to the new site for the Apis newsletter at http://ezezine.com. I am moving it to this site courtesy of my long-term sponsor Bee Culture magazine. I will continue to post it for the next couple of months as well to its previous site at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Apis_Newsletter/, but will phase it out over time. Several reasons exist for this change. Addresses are managed automatically and it’s easier for those new to the newsletter to subscribe using a specific form found at http://apis.shorturl.com. I am beginning to pickup spam at the Yahoo.com groups site as well. The newsletter has in fact always been an ezine, not a discussion group. Forums are available elsewhere across the Web at places like http://beesource.com and http://forum.beemaster.com/. Let me know how you like the new format. Note that those who wish to see the archive of issues at this site must also sign up for a subscribers account https://subs.ezezine.com/subscriptions.ez
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index is a reading on a soil moisture scale up to 800. Every 100 points on the scale equals one inch a person must dig into the ground to find moisture. Any reading above 500 is considered dangerous when it comes to the threat of wildfires.
Meanwhile we are looking for signs of the swamp maple (Acer sp.) beginning to bloom in a wetland nearby. The Florida Melitto files have been published for January through March 2009, and
I have contracted with Bee Culture to establish and maintain a global beekeeping calendar. This is a daunting project, but one that I hope will produce dividends in the future. Take a look at the recent rendition http://my.calendars.net/bee_culture and send your information to me for inclusion.
Digital Publishing at Cornell: The first twenty two volumes of American Bee Journal have been added to the digital collection at the Phillips Library,
The National Honey Board (NHB) announces a request for research proposals regarding honey bee colony production. The goal of this research is to help honey producers maintain colony health, while preserving honey quality. The primary objectives of this research are controlling pests, identifying causes and treatments for CCD, and bee nutrition and longevity; however, other projects will be considered, as well as research outside the
Approximately $245,000 has been earmarked for this . However, the amount of funds available will depend on the number and merit of proposals accepted. Project funds will be available in 2009 and may be carried into early 2010 if necessary. The duration of the project should generally not exceed 12 months.
In 2004, NHB began exploring research opportunities to help beekeepers maintain colony health, without adversely affecting the production of quality honey. Since then the NHB has funded $498,700 and 26 projects.
Research proposals should be sent to NHB on or before Feb. 15, 2009. For more information, visit http://www.honey.com/media/currentnews.asp, or contact Charlotte Jordan, project manager at (800) 553-7162.
From the UC Apiaries: Dr. Eric Mussen's From the Uc Apiaries for November/December 2008 has been published. This, along with the Apis newsletter, is one of the longest-published newsletters of its kind http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/mussen/news.cfm: To subscribe, send an e-mail addressed to mailto:listproc@ucdavis.edu. Leave the Subject line empty. In the body of your message put in the following: sub ucdavisbeenews <your first name (without these “brackets” around it)> <your last name>. On the next line, insert two hyphens, not underscores (under-lines). If I were subscribing, it would be: sub ucdavisbeenews Malcolm Sanford
Online beekeeping course: The University of Delaware offers a college-level course in beekeeping titled “Apiology and Apiculture” (ENWC 214) online http://primus.nss.udel.edu/CoursesSearch/courseInfo?&courseid=014101&offernum=1&term=2091&session=WIN§ion=194. The current course instructor is Dr. Dewey Caron. The course includes hands-on, practical activities and is offered through UD Online, the
Crop insurance for beekeepers: The federal Risk Management Agency's experimental apiculture program uses either a rainfall or vegetation index, depending on the particular area of the country. Whether beekeepers get a payment would depend on the amount of rainfall or the amount of greenness. "We're not insuring the bees. We're not insuring the honey. We're not insuring the bees' health," said Shirley Pugh, spokeswoman for the RMA, which is part of the federal Agriculture Department. "We're ensuring the conditions that the bees might require for expected (honey) production." http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D957HVR08
Monthly Blog: http://canariesinacoalmine.blogspot.com/, this bills itself as “social apicultural reflections on modern beekeeping.”
Monthly Web Site: Warre hive: http://thebeespace.net/warre-hive/ and book http://warre.biobees.com/
Check out the Florida-Haiti beekeeping initiative with pictures at http://www.naturecoastbeekeepers.com/florida-haitibeekeeperinitiative. To donate, go to: http://www.floridahaiti.org/?q=node/28; bee sure to designate the initiative if you wish, otherwise it will go into the general fund.
Spanish content: Argentinian site http://www.noticiasapicolas.com/, which also includes information on Colombian beekeeping via apicutura sin fronteras.
Caterpillars and Bees: A new study shows that not only do honey bees pollinate flowers and make honey, they also scare away agricultural pests that like to chomp on the leaves of crop plants. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/23/another-useful-honeybee-trait-their-buzz-scares-off-caterpillars/
Bees Abroad : From small beginnings, we have established BEES ABROAD as a direct funding charity for beekeepers in developing countries. You can help Bees Abroad by joining and helping the fund-raising activities in the
Chilean beekeeping and
I am collecting some links and attempting to manage them via Publish 2 for each month:: http://www.publish2.com/newsgroups/january-2009/. In the process I am cooperating with Jim Stoval at http://www.jprof.com/beeprof/about.html
Asian Bees in
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Gleanings from the January 2009 Bee Culture:
David Marder,
Serge Labesque, Glen Ellen, CA cringes at Sue Cobey’s attempts to produce a “superbee.” She replies that this isn’t the goal at all, and provides three specific goals. Reading both letters is important to anyone concerned about the future health of beekeeping in the
John Hoffman,
What’s new includes the books, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Restoring Wild Flowers to the Garden and Countryside by Charles Flower, Bees by Candace Savage, and ABC’ of Beekeeping Problems and Problem Beekeepers by William Dullas. A really cool vest from Brushy Mountain and reprints of books written in the 1800s, The Honey-Bee, Its Nature, Home and Products by W. Hetherington Harris and A Discussion of the Life of the Honey Bee by E.F. Phillips.
Editor Flottum takes on both Bayer and EPA in his editorial and isn’t done yet. Read what he says about the industry meeting with these institutions and something called Conditional Registered products.
The Science of Bee Culture will be coming in February, 2009. Don’t miss Vol. 1, No. 1 of the newest bee journal.
Steve Sheppard concludes that thymol and resveratrol have potential in the development of alternative strategies for the control of nosema disease. Read about these two interesting materials. http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/apiculture/Html%20files/Maistrello_et.al.2008.html
Randy Oliver describes what might happen when Bayer and beekeepers meet this January. Stay tuned.
Sue Cobey says increasing genetic diversity must be a continuing goal. Read what she says about the Africanized honey bee “advantage” and other concerns about stock importation. You can expect to see much more on this as time goes on. See http://gbba.vze.com
Joe Traynor writes that “Odors Rule!” and says we should be using this knowledge more in our management of bees. He suggests controlling mites like roaches using mats http://www.mitekiller.co.kr/english/E_product4.asp.
Clarence Collison takes a closer look at chalkbrood. Read why larvae must be under stress for the disease to show itself and how that comes about.
Jennifer Berry finds that pesticides, bees and wax are an unhealthy, untidy mix. Read how she was unable to find uncontaminated wax anywhere and was forced to use plastic foundation for her study. She promises more results as time goes on. Much of this we’ve known about for a long time http://apis.ifas.ufl.edu/apis96/apaug96.htm#1, but only now are understanding how the bees are affected.
Editor Flottum suggests ways to solve the new beeyard challenge. Read his tips on finding a new bee location.
Check out Bee Culture’s 2009 Calendar. Also see how you can enter next year’s contest to get your picture published.
Ross Conrad urges beekeepers to start a move to “natural beekeeping.” Read what he says about so-called “organic beekeeping.” It may surprise you.
Jim Tew has thoughts about small hive beetles, honey sale customers and renovating his home beeyard. He will provide an update on this latter project in future issues.
Jerry Bromenshenk talks about the new buzzwords for honey bee health: Integrated Virus Detection System (IVDS), genomics and proteomicsMS. He’s looking for beekeepers to take part in a survey for the latter he calls, “one analysis for all things.”
Larry Connor relates some of the challenges of producing honey as a sideliner. Read some of the ideas he got during a journey to
Ann Harman helps those who would like to plan the best meeting possible. Read her tips on getting the most from a bee meeting.
Robert Cramer looks into stopping nosema. Read how Nosema ceranae has affected his analysis, and provided some new ideas on controlling the spores of this disease using bleach and acetic acid.
Peter Seiling details the trials and tribulations of talking about religion, politics and bees. Read how he learned to discuss taboo subjects with strangers.
Connie Krochmal provides a listing of garden books for beekeepers, including the Home Gardener’s Problem Solver and Doug Welsh’s
Irene Guertin describes what it’s like to be a beekeeper’s daughter. She hopes some day to explain it all to her children.
In all the News That Fits, Ron Phipps gives the global honey report; the Haagen-Daz Design Competition is described http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/dept/beebio.cfm and Alan Harman gives a report on organic honey in
Ed Colby in the bottom board says everyone, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden have heard about CCD. Read what that has to do with labels on honey jars.
Again, Happy New Year!
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
