Dear Subscribers,
The Florida State Beekeepers convention for 2011 is history. One element of the program was a debate resulting in commissioning a brand
new web site. The Association is looking to have the best site of its kind in the nation. It will not be easy as there are numerous other sites out there that are contenders. The administrator is asking all beekeepers to send comments on this site directly to him at
dennis@floridabeekeepers.org. Another highlight was a showing of the film,
Queen of the Sun. This is an intriguing mix of ideas that are thrown together amidst fabulous photography. I've seen it twice now and like most things, the more you watch (or listen as in music) the more you get out of it. It's really about the reasons folks become beekeepers and the human impact on beekeeping and honey bees. Several people have told me it makes humans want to be beekeeers. I wrote out a few themes that bear exploration:
1. Bee beards and body beards -- do these images make the public and beekeepers feel safer around honey bees?
2. What are the bees telling humans? -- modern agriculture is affecting all kinds of natural systems (are bees the classic "canary in the coal mine"?)
3. Humans should learn from the honey bee loss crisis -- be grateful in fact to have one and hopefully it is a means to help change behavior.
4. Should we open up our hearts instead of our heads as beekeepers; the ideas of "bee health" has too long been sidelined in favor of beekeeper (economic) health.
5. The bee is a sacred animal with certain "mystery" centers that needs to be appreciated; most people did not get into beekeeping to make a living. It was more a spiritual pursuit for many; economics for some came later. Think folks like L.L. Langstroth (reverend), Richard Taylor (philosopher), and Sir Edmund Hillary (mountain climber)
6. Three-quarters of U.S. colonies are shipped to California each year for almond pollination. The colonies are faced with the problems of monoculture (pesticides, contaminated water) and limited food. Already weak, moved in the worst possible time of the year (wet, cold), many colonies are literally "forced" into the almond groves. Is it any wonder many of these colonies collapse?
7. Other topics: The comb is the largest "organ" in the colony (a living thing itself), pollen literally gathers light (the bees eat and release light from this "golden dust"). The intricate relationship between honey bees and flowers is amazing (one sequence shows a human male dancer interacting with female flowers on stage; not biologically correct, but aesthetically wonderful), nature suprises humanity in many ways (potential problems with GMOs and exotic organisms (Varroa) abound), beekeeping is all about community with bees and other beekeepers.
8. There's a reference to the Maori of New Zealand and their historical relationship to the land and honey bees. Honey bees are not native to New Zealand, only arriving with European human immigrants. The Maori probably had a difficult time adjusting to these insect immigrants as did the aborigines of the Americas.
Speaking of aborignes, Ed Scott
homestead@Taosnet.com sent me some messages about the
Hamaatsa in the Southwestern U.S. and their relationship with honey bees.
Canadian Beekeeping is getting a big lift from the government in terms of bee research and education. One
initiative so far may cause the country to become a global leader in beekeeping research and diagnostic technology with the creation of the National Bee Diagnostic Center in Alberta, the government Western Economic Diversification Canada agency says. The Ottawa government is giving US$1.17 million (C$1,193,500) to Grande Prairie Regional College to create the center next to Agriculture Canada’s Beaverlodge Research Farm, 285 miles northwest of Edmonton. Federal funding will be used for capital expenses, including a mobile trailer and related diagnostic equipment. The new center will be managed by Grande Prairie Regional College and will complement the college’s beekeeper technician program.
Going the other way, it has been announced in Catch the Buzz that the U.S. Government is
axing the USDA's Annual Honey Report, yet another casualty of the economic downturn. Is there anything that can be done here? some have asked. Looks like it's a done deal. This is an indication of how much/little influence the honey industry has.
Several other reports are on the chopping block as well (the annual mink report is one). Fortunately, some states are talking up the challenge like
New York. The Empire State Honey Producers Association won a three-year $59,000 federal grant to help New York beekeepers stop the loss of honey bee colonies in the state. The association will provide matching funds. "The money is to be used to fund training for beekeepers to not only prevent, diagnose, and treat honeybee maladies but also to teach beginning beekeepers to recognize bee diseases. The directors of the grant, Pat Bono of Rochester, and Peter Borst of Ithaca, in conjunction with the association, will implement a bold, new concept for New York beekeepers by partnering with many regional beekeeping groups throughout the state. Workshops will be held at several locations. Among the many goals of the program, Bono and Borst include the retention of beginning beekeepers, as there is an increase in the number of new beekeepers, especially women."
The Idaho Honey Industry is supporting the "
sweet as can bee corn maze." It is ironic that corn does not sustain honey bee colonies, is a monoculture with lasting environmental issues like eliminating biodiversity, yet the maze unabashedly highlights "the importance of pollinators in our food supply."
More chemical interactions are being reported all the time it seems. Now we see that the antibiotic (oxytetracycline) used for a long timer by beekeepers has "
side effects." Perhaps like all those medications advertised on television, it ought to come with a disclaimer, "do not use on honey bee colonies in conjunction with pesticides!"
A recent food safety report caught a lot of
buzz. Is ultra filtered honey still honey, even without pollen? Perhaps, but again it may
depend on who you ask.
Get ready for a new acronym, MAQS™ (Mite Away Quick Strips). These are now available under a general use permit in most if not all states for Varroa treatment. Check with
suppliers at the Miteaway web site. Remember the
label is the law. Read, print it out and keep in hand to study at all times:
Here's a taste of what it will say: "WHEN TO TREAT: Use Mite-Away Quick Strips™ as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. Treat only if treatment thresholds are exceeded. Treatment period is for this product is 7 days. Treatment ends at day 7. When treatment levels are reached, use Mite-Away Quick Strips™ for single or double brood-chamber, standard Langstroth equipment honeybee hives, honeybee colony cluster covering a minimum of 6 brood frames. Outside daytime temperature highs should be between 50 - 92ºF on days of application. Excessive temperatures (> 95ºF) during the first three days of treatment can cause excessive brood mortality and absconding.Brood mortality may occur in the initial stage of treatment. Overall colony health is not expected to be affected, with brood rearing returning to normal by the end of treatment. Treatment of smaller colonies than those listed on the label will result in excessive brood mortality and even in colony mortality." Note that this product is not a silver bullet; it will take time to learn and experience will be necessary in different climatic regimes in order to use it effectively.
The American Beekeeping Federation meeting in
Las Vegas should be a good conference. It features Larry Connor's 7th Serious Sideliner Symposium with the theme: Diversity in Beekeeping. I hope to bee there signing
my book. Please stop by and say hello!
Selected links this month at
Publish2.com include: feeding bees in Australia, alleviating poverty through beekeeping, Tennesee Agricultural enhancement, the remarkable story of John and his open Varroa challenge, more and more on urban beekeeping and the lesson of pesticides and bedbug control.
Finally, always check the
bee health site for the latest practical news brought to you by the Cooperative Extension Service
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Gleanings from the November 2011 edition
of Bee Culture :
Remember that Bee Culture continues to be available in a
digital edition:
Read Editor Flottums' Bee Culture
Blog , Thinking outside the box; his journeys to Iowa and Georgia are entertaining and detailed. You won't find this information elsewhere.
SFC Jay Larrew writes from Afghanistan
mjlarrew@gmai.com that bees don't seem to build quality wax for some reason and would like assistance on the kinds of plants that might be available if someone has that information. Lida Sennott, Luther, OK thanks Ann Harman for her honey lemon slaw recipe in the July 2011 issue. Denise Feiber, Gainesville, FL describes the innovative beekeeping program being developed at the
Lake Butler Reception and Medical Center. Jeanne Hansen says she's interested in hearing from folks about her observation hive article at
jeanniealabeannie@yahoo.com, ph 608-244-5094. Stephen Felts is skeptical about Monsanto's purchase of
Remebee ; he doesn't think
it bodes well for bees or beekeepers. Ernie Schmidt asks Mr. Lien who wrote about an October swarm to contact him about starting an extra colony in a Warre hive, e-mail:
eschmidt158@aol.com.
Editor Flottum is all a twitter about a bee club offering free bee classes and having no dues. He asks how they do it? I am of the same mind. He also says that the U.S. honey crop is a bust, but we really don't know what that means for the market, given the GMO situation in Europe and the prospects of the honey crops in Vietnam, India and China. "It's a strange world out there." Amen.
There's a bunch of new gadgets now available. Nylon leggings from Walter T. Kelley,as well as a larvae grafting station and a mini mating nuc assembly. Dennis Brown has published his
personal beekeeping journey . Also available are Eat Local (a where to sell manual),
BeeVue (difficult to describe) , and Michael Bush's new book, The Practical Beekeeper, along with two he's reprinted by the dean of queen rearing, Jay Smith (Queen Rearing Simplified and Better Queens). Finally, there is the publication, Bees in the City, The Urban Beekeepers Handbook.
Clarence Collison and Audrey Sheridan take a closer look at honey bee longevity. Read about the importance of what is called "intrinsic senescence."
Greg Hunt and colleagues provide an update on bee breeding efforts in Indiana for both Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus and Varroa. They believe in encouraging "microbreeders" through rigorous training.
Jim Tew continues the above theme by giving tips on catching, marking, caging, storing and releasing queens. You can expect to see more of Dr. Tew's stuff online in the future at his
new web site.
Jim Thompson provides a color comparison of honey on four different apparati, Pfund, Lovibond 10 mm, Jack Scale and Hanna Digital. See his new series of six (6) breakpoint jars based on the above comparators.
Jeremy Barnes teams up with Maryann and Jim Frazier to travel to Kenya and establish connections with beekeepers there. Read how to project started and what transpired to provide the team with energy and ideas.
Editor Flottum travels to Missouri to see how soybean honey is produced. He finds that the crop depends on quite a lot of variables and actually changes with time. No matter how good the prospects, however, it is easy to see why any soybean honey producer might keep an eye cocked toward California to see if it's worth a try at pollinating what has become to be known as "the golden nut."
Larry Connor gives readers a Hawaii reality check. His trip to the Pacific islands gave him some good insight. Read about how folks are dealing with small hive beetle and what the prospects might be for breeding.
Roger Hoopingarner continues his series on honey bee anatomy by looking closely at the three pair of legs, each with its own structure. Is is any wonder, the insect has been characterized as an animal version of the Swiss Army Knife.
Ross Conrad is glad to see the conclusion of the 2011 honey harvest, which generally turned out to be a bust. Read why: "These are the times that test a person's resolve to keep bees..."
Connie Krochmal provides a description of the citrus plant as a source of nectar and pollen. For those used to seeing at the most two citrus varieties in the local grocery store, it may come as a surprise to find there are many more.
Judith Adamson describes how she came to install honey bees on top the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Read why she continues to get calls about this and how the activity fits into the hotel's food service program. Excerpted from http://www.backyardbeekeepersbayarea.com
Robert Helmacy asks, "Why don't we make our hives more like a honey bee nest?" Read how he tried to do this and what became of the experiment so far. As a postlude, read Dick Marron's "A Beekeepers Prayer."
Ann Harman says to keep your beeswax clean, whether making candles or skin creams. Read about her experiences with wax blocks and their quixotic characteristics.
Peter Smith has a problem with three species of woodpecker in the United Kingdom (England, Britian). Read why the peckers so far have won and what the next step might be.
In all the news that fits, T.E. Burleson's obituary,and the fact that GMO pollen is no no! in Europe dominate. But also read that Nosema ceranae has been found in the UK, Scotland and Ireland and that DDT continues to be found in human tissues 30 years after being banned. Rooftop food in the Uk, and a hand-held test that can detect pesticides in fruits and vegetables. Read why apples are a particular problem even with the skin removed.
Ed Colby in the Bottom Board is harassed by "the complainer." Read how this happened and what he did about it.
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
http://apis.shorturl.com
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