Dear Subscribers,
We are not as hot in Florida as the Nation's midsection at the moment, but still over 94 degrees F in the afternoon, enough to shut down vegetable gardening until the fall season in the Sunshine State. It's still pretty dry in places, but afternoon thunderstorms have resulted in mosquito hatches in certain areas. I was called out to investigate a mosquito spraying incident over on the Space Coast, which did a number on many colonies. The classic symptom of pesticide poisoning was present, piles of dead bees in front of entrances and the unmistakable odor of decomposing carcasses. Most colonies survived the onslaught, which apparently was done at night, thereby affecting only the bee beards exposed to the spray. The mosquito control folks have recently gone to fixed-wing aircraft, shifting from the usual, more agile and maneuverable helicopter they had been using. Still the effects of the application were not uniform, with some yards not as a affected as others. This reinforces the idea that "variabilility" is still one of the beekeeper's and honey bee's best friends, when it comes to survival tactics, whether challenged by weather of human activity.
Thanks to those sharing their stories of rib injuries with me. The doc was right here; it took about five weeks for me to get back to riding my bike again after cracking number six rib in a "silly crash" as those doing the Tour de France routinely call their accidents. Breathing easy again is a blessing. Like anything else, one doesn't realize how the body is all interconnected until an incident occurs.
More and more study of viruses indicates everyone has a lot to learn about how these can affect honey bees: A recent article at
ploseone.org concludes: "Ultra deep sequence analysis further identified four novel RNA viruses, two of which were the most abundant observed components of the honey bee microbiome (~1011 viruses per honey bee). Our results demonstrate episodic viral incidence and distinct pathogen patterns between summer and winter time-points. Peak infection of common honey bee viruses and Nosema occurred in the summer, whereas levels of the trypanosomatid Crithidia mellificae and Lake Sinai virus 2, a novel virus, peaked in January." Perhaps more concerning: "Notably, the restricted genetic diversity of the U.S. honey bee population may make it particularly susceptible to catastrophic and episodic losses." There continues to be some interest in the viral mapping project as outlined by David Wick at
BVS, Inc. Note that a number of individuals are urging beekeepers to think seriously about this. If anyone has some results to share, I hope they will pass them along.
When I was in Yellowstone National Park last year, there was discussion that climate shifts were occurring, causing some widespread problems. At the time, the most concerning was
whitebark pine, a food source many animals rely on being affected by a novel fungus and increasing populations of bark beetles. Now wildflowers are seemingly in trouble, the result is a mid-season decline in number of wildflowers in bloom according to a
report from ABJ Extra. "Such changes in seasonal flower availability across large areas, or in individual habitats, could have serious consequences for entire pollinator populations, which includes not only bees, but hummingbirds and others that feed on pollen and nectar.
Flying under the radar has been the result of genetically modified crops on honey marketing. In a
Catch the Buzz, Editor Flottum
concludes: "Under EU rules all genetically-modified crops or food made with GM ingredients need to be approved before they can be sold in the EU. February’s non-binding opinion by Yves Bot, an advocate general at the EU’s Court of Justice, spells out that even 'a minute quantity of pollen' from a GM crop would mean that 'honey must be the subject of an authorisation to be placed on the market'. Advocate generals’ opinions are not binding on the court, but they are often followed in judgments." This has had unintended consequences for honey produced in Chile and Argentina among others. Those wishing to learn more about GMOs might want to visit the Apis Information Resource Center at Squidoo.com and check out a
series of articles I wrote on the subject.
Traditionally, benefits of pollination have concentrated on yield or production of plants benefited. However, a new wrinkle is to look at the how nutritional aspects of pollinated plants are affected. A recent paper at
Ploseone.org concludes,"The contribution of nutrients from animal pollinated world crops has not previously been evaluated as a biophysical measure for the value of pollination services. This study evaluates the nutritional composition of animal-pollinated world crops. We calculated pollinator dependent and independent proportions of different nutrients of world crops, employing FAO data for crop production, USDA data for nutritional c omposition, and pollinator dependency data according to Klein et al. (2007). Crop plants that depend fully or partially on animal pollinators contain more than 90% of vitamin C, the whole quantity of Lycopene and almost the full quantity of the antioxidants β-cryptoxanthin and β-tocopherol, the majority of the lipid, vitamin A and related carotenoids, calcium and fluoride, and a large portion of folic acid. Ongoing pollinator decline may thus exacerbate current difficulties of providing a nutritionally adequate diet for the global human population."
National Honey Bee Day is August 20, 2011. This is a
national event and there will be many demonstrations and other kinds of information presented about the honey bee. . If your group is interested, here's the
dope: "PLEASE NOTE: The National Honey Bee Day program is based on education and promotion of the beekeeping industry. We realize that the public expects to have honey and other items available for purchase at such events. Selling honey or signing up new beekeepers to the association is expected. Having a few fliers at the end of the market booth where you normally sell honey does not constitute a "program". We will NOT list individual or company events that are solely based on profiting from the National Honey Bee Day event. For listing on this page, two requirements must be met: 1) A program must be tailored to educate, promote, and advance beekeeping to the public. 2) The event must be FREE to attend, unless extenuating circumstances dictate otherwise"
Check out the selected links for
July 2011 at Publish2.com. These include those associated with a new apiculturist at U.C. Davis, a video of the life cycle of varroa and the honey bee, Wall Street Journal article on bees and beekeepers, how the Canadian postal strike affects beekeepers, and challenges for novice beekeepers in New York, which has just legalized beekeeping.
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Gleanings from the July 2011 edition of
Bee Culture:
Remember that Bee Culture continues to be available in a
digital edition.
Charles Breinig, Montgomery County, PA writes about efforts to get beekeeping as part of local code. Jim Cowan, Aberdeen, WA provides further insight into hiving swarms. Frank Grower, Boise, ID describes encouraging beginners with mixed results. Colin Taylor can't understand why hives are not shown on hive stands. Tom Marshall, Pleasureville, KY provides further information on feeding and perfect package installation. Jimmy Carmack, Birmingham, AL describes efforts in the state to get over the recent tornado outbreak. Karen Bean says those in bear country should invest in livestock guard dogs.
New this month are a number of volumes, including
Decomposition Book, Varroa Still a Problem, a
compendium of articles by Norman Carrck ,
Backyard Beekeepers of the Bay Area ,
BackYard Queens, and Bill Turnbull's
Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper. He will be at EAS this summer in Rhode Island signing the volume.
Editor Flottum provides his take on pesticide use and the relative value of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Read why he asks, So what's left? A silent Spring? A silent summer? Silence itself?
Marion Ellis and Bethany Teeters assess the risks of honey bee exposure to pesticides. Read why a new risk assessment model is needed and how a video tracking sytem (EthoVision) might fill the bill.
Clarence Collison and Audrey Sheridan take a closer look at neonicotiniods. Read why there is so much inconsistency in reports about lethal doses and hypothetical risk of exposure for honey bees.
Roger Hoopingarner takes a look at the wonderful honey bee head. Read about the mouthparts, brood-food gland, eyes, and antennae, and how they work.
Jim Tew provides his ideas on producing honey bee queens. Read why the operative phrase is "results vary." Stay tuned for further articles on the subject in future editions.
Peter Sieling says sooner or later anyone is likely to be made president of their bee club. Read his humorous take about a very serious subject.
Michael Young and Robert Brewer take on judging honey and the controversy about color and class as determined by contestants and judges. Seems like some standardization is in order. Read how this might happen sooner than later.
Editor Flottum urges beekeepers to bee careful when it's really hot outside. Do you know the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke? Which is life threatenting and why?
Larry Connor takes on teaching and mentoring. Read about his mentoring models and also what he thinks about teaching for income and training an assistant.
Kim Flottum gives an update on that Whitehouse beekeeper guy, Charlie Brandts. Read about Charlie being proactive about queen rearing how his role as educator is changing. Stay tuned for regular reports on the U.S. most famous beehive.
Jeremy Barnes writes humans have only been here a moment. Read why we might not have much time left.
Kim Greenwood and 17 other Vermonters report what they learned about beekeeping and what they would like to learn. Finally, read the funny things they learned about bees and beekeeping.
Ann Harman provides a few recipes with honey that are good for club potluck. Read why she says a potluck contest might be just the ticket to spice up any event.
Megan Paska gives her thoughts on managing bees in the City. That's New York City, which has just legalized the craft. Read why some preventative maintenance is always required in urban beekeeping.
Ed Simon describes in great detail building a warming box and forced air stack. Read what stimulated him to take on such a project and where it led him.
The saga of a beekeeper's wife writing in 1917 in Bee Culture is worth some attention. Read how "Yours immersed in nectar," Mary's experiences compare to the contemporary scene.
Connie Krochmal lists some undesirable honey plants, including bitterweed, ragwort, horse chestnut, privet, locoweed, Carolina jessamine and Euphorbias. These are regional in nature and the best source of information is your local club and cooperative Extension Service. Here's the one for
Florida.
In All The News That Fits read the obituary of that grand lady, Bennie Lou Weaver, selection of Brushy Mountain as the World's Greatest Bee Supply Company, urban bee poo problems in New Zealand, stealing bees in England and Scotland, raising queens using plastic technology and studying on the Varroa mite's immune system.
Ed Colby writes about chickens, making splits, eating drone larvae and reviving queens he inadvertently killed. His conclusion for this month's Bottom Board, "I'll take good luck over skill, diligence and bad luck, every time." Amen.
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
http://apis.shorturl.com
Bee sure to subscribe to
Catch the Buzz, Bee Culture's latest releases of importance to beekeepers. Also access the
Apis Information Resource Center , which contains archived articles, listing of posts on blogs, web sites, and links to related materials. .
