Dear Subscribers,
It looks like we had a pretty good fall honey flow in some areas. There seemed to be plenty of moisture around Gainesville. We had a great flush of beggar's tick,
Bidens alba , which is a nice nectar plant. Unfortunately, just at flush bloom the right-of-way was mowed. There's also plenty of information on control of this “weed.” by
universities and the
private sector. My favorite plant bloomed pretty much on time, the
goldenrain tree, another “invasive weed” that is also a nectar plant.
Now comes the hard part of the beekeeping year, figuring out whether to treat for Varroa or not as part of fall management. There is no easy answer, adding to both the beekeeper's and honey bee colony's stress.
My buddy, John Gamache, came back for a sojourn in Guatemala, where the authorities are apparently telling beekeepers that Nosema is on the rise. It looks like they are using spore counts as the measuring stick. It's much more complicated now that
Nosema ceranae has muddied the waters.
Ah sugar! No wonder it's a bane for some, yet basis for much of life. Seems like it's everywhere. A
Catch the Buzz release reveals: “A team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has spotted sugar molecules in the gas surrounding a young Sun-like star. This is the first time sugar been found in space around such a star, and the discovery shows that the building blocks of life are in the right place, at the right time, to be included in planets forming around the star.”
September and October are yellow jacket and hornet seasons in the U.S.. Information about the fearsome reputation of the Japanese hornet Vespa mandarina, has made it onto the
web , provoking the following: “A friend brought me a large hornet this week, thinking it was a 'Japanese Hornet'. I can find no evidence that there are any such hornets in the USA, and told her it is probably
Vespa crabro L., the European or giant hornet.”
Yellow jackets are generally the most problematic wasps for humans in the U.S., often attracted to fall festivals in search miscellaneous protein like hot dogs, hamburgers and even pizza! I usually tell folks that bees are vegetarian and wasps are carnivorous; they then give Apis a little more slack than they do its look-alike cousins. Wasp populations generally peak just before the first frost in temperate areas. Increased warming may mean they hold on longer; this can be bad news in certain areas, where it's possible that huge populations can develop. One nest was described as big as a “Volkwagen” in middle Florida some years ago.
“
Washboarding” bees have gotten some attention recently. Nobody exactly knows what's going on here, but an unoccupied bee is no doubt looking for something to do! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Epigenetics is making us look more closely at gene regulation. Turns out in a
Catch the Buzz entry ...”...scientists say what is most significant about the new study, described online September 16 in Nature Neuroscience, is that for the first time DNA methylation "tagging" has been linked to something at the behavioral level of a whole organism. On top of that, they say, the behavior in question, and its corresponding molecular changes, are reversible, which has important implications for human health.” Epigenetics was first described in some detail in 2008 in
Bee Culture. The latest information coming forward from genetic study is that all that so-called “junk” DNA organisms have is also a lot more important than first thought. Turns out that's a
switching mechanism and related to epigenetics.
Project apism (Pam) scored big recently when it was provided funding by both Monsanto (seed for bee forage) and Costco (doubling Pam's research budget) in terms of beekeeping practices and management.
Although there continues to be controversy about how much pesticides contribute to bee losses, news that more will be applied is not good. That seems likely due to a
Catch The Buzz entry detailing how resistance by weeds to chemical control is repeating an old pattern: "... herbicide-tolerant crops worked extremely well in the first few years of use, but over-reliance may have led to shifts in weed communities and the spread of resistant weeds that force farmers to increase herbicide application rates (especially glyphosate), spray more often, and add new herbicides that work through an alternate mode of action into their spray programs. Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops have increased herbicide use by 527 million pounds over the 16-year period from 1996-2011. Overall pesticide use in 2011 was about 20% higher on each acre planted to a GE crop, compared to pesticide use on acres not planted to GE crops."
A good summary of the role of pesticides in honey bee losses was provided by Dr. Reed Johnson of The Ohio State University while visiting the University of Florida. Dr. Johnson is the brains behind the citizen science insitiative known as “
broodmapper.”
His interest is in chemical (drug) interactions in bees and by extension humans too. Thus he
concludes: “Drugs can also become harmful if they interact with other drugs a person is taking. Drug interactions are a major concern for doctors and pharmacists, which is why medical professionals always ask the question 'What drugs are you taking?' As a beekeeper, and your bees’ medical professional, you also need to watch out for drug interactions and need to be asking your bees, 'What drugs are you taking?' In most cases you already know the answer to that question, since you, the beekeeper, are the one that administers drugs to control Varroa, American Foulbrood or Nosema.
“But which drug combinations does a beekeeper need to watch out for? In my first CAPS update (Johnson 2009), I reported on our work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where we discovered a potentially deadly interaction between tau-fluvalinate (the active ingredient in Apistan™ and Mavrik™) and coumaphos (the active ingredient in Checkmite+™). Over the last two years Dr. Marion Ellis and I have continued to look for interactions between a wider array of beekeeper-applied drugs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln."
Check out the selected links in
October 2012 of Publish2.com, ranging from bee brains and robots to honey derived from M&Ms. The last got a big splash for a few days
See what's new at the
Extension Bee Health site.
Sixty-seven copies of
Storey's Guide to Honey Bees were sold on amazon.com from August 13, 2012 - October 7, 2012. Seattle, Tucoma and Portland lead the list in sales.
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Gleanings from the September, 2012 Bee Culture:
Remember that Bee Culture now has a
digital edition.
Jan Rogers, Dunstable, MA sends a photo of his “vacation hive,” where bees are found hanging out on the “dock on a warm day.” Peter Smith in England says this might be one of the worst bee seasons in recent memory due to rain and cool temperatures. Bill Ferguson, Hensall, Otario, Canada reports on a sizable bee die off associated with corn planting. He believes it's from Clothianidin, used to treat the seed. He urges beekeepers to communicate with each other concerning local conditions.
Scott Winthrow, Mt. View Honey like's Bee Culture's new peel-off label. Jim Cowen, Aberdeen, WA relates as story of selling honey using a preposterous story he concocted. The taller the tale, the more honey sold it seems. Dick Largen, Bethalto, IL reports using a bee vacuum for carpenter bees. He doesn't like their “way of remodeling.”
New this month are specialized gloves and veil from
Pakistan. There is more and more of this specialized clothing coming from that country. Check out the CLEAR honey label from
Brushy Mountain Bee Farm and the new book by
Wyatt Mangum on top bar beekeeping .
Editor Flottum writes that the larger the company, the worse the customer service in his opinion. His experiences in replacing a refrigerator reveal all. Read his analysis of how honey labels are a changin' due to pollen content and how this might even bleed over into other things, like genetically modified (GM) food. The interview with Vaughn Bryant in this issue makes the point. He also reports on new content coming soon, including contributions from Toni Burnam on city beekeeping, new Mississippi apiculturist Jeff Harris (southern beekeeping) and consulting with Dr. Phil (ex-bee inspector from Kentucky).
Kathy Summers discusses volunteering in “It's Summers Time.” Just back from the Eastern Apicultural Society's (EAS) meeting in Vermont, she says Bill Mares and his team of over 70 volunteers worked two (2) years on the event, including one lady who is reported to have worn out several sewing machines making 500 burlap “goody” bags. Read what she has experienced volunteers doing over the years that are “beyond the call.”
Clarence Collison and Audrey Sheridan take a closer look at swarm behavior. Read what is known and unknown about this process. Good information about the size of an average swarm size and how likely these are to survive is featured. They admit we still don't know everything.
Zachary Wang reviews the factors affecting reproduction and life cycle of the honey bee's number one nemesis, the
Varroa mite. More and more is being learned about this pest, however, it is a complex beast that does not give up its secrets easily. One issue confounding researchers is the ability to rear mites without the presence of its host, the honey bee. Read how humidity, comb movement and cell size might somehow influence mite reproduction, which is considered the best future key to controlling this organism.
M.E.A. McNeil interviews the honey sleuth, Vaughn Bryant. Actually he should be called a “pollen sleuth,” since that is really what he is looking for. Read the history of Bryant's work that makes him a kind of lone ranger in the field of honey identification via pollen analysis, melissopalynology. As editor Flottum says at the beginning of this issue of Bee Culture, what professor Byant is learning will have a huge influence on how honey is labelled in the future.
Jim Tew continues his reflections on change. Things change whether we like it or not, he concludes, especially in beekeeping. Read what he says has happened to the craft in the last few decades, where it is today, and where it might be going.
Larry Connor pens his 5th in a series on beekeeping instructors, their approach, and essentials when teaching new beekeepers. Read what he believes is needed in educational programs directed toward those who would become bee masters. Dr. Connor will continue his successful “Serious Sideliner Symposium” in January at the annual convention of the
American Beekeeping Federation.
Editor Flottum publishes photos from his Almond Odyssey in a piece called “Letters Home.” Read about his visits to Randy Oliver in California, the Weslaco Bee Lab (slated to be closed) in Texas, and Olivarez Queens in Arizona. Note the huge inside advertisement for
Walter T. Kelley Company, which appears to be widening the niche in beekeeping supplies and paraphernalia.
Toni Burnham begins her series of columns on urban beekeeping. She will bring a whole new perspective as a beginner, where “everything old is new again.”
Ted Dennard, one of the best honey marketers around, provides his take on marketing honey. His Savannah Bee Company is top of the line and worth checking out http://www.savannahbee.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?display=home In a related article find out how Mr. Dennard is teaming up with The Georgia Sea Turtle Center to provide a healing experience for sea turtles.
Jessica Dally provides the basics on using Facebook. Her take is that we ignore social media at our peril especially if running a business. Read how to get on Facebook and what the benefits are likely to bee. I have a page, but don't access it much https://www.facebook.com/malcolm.sanford.5?fref=ts
It's best to reach me via regular e-mail: beeactor@apisenterprises.com
Ross Conrad looks at lessons gleaned from the hive, part two, its ancient wisdom. Read how honey bees and humans are alike (both take more than they need). This leads to a discussion of things that cooperative species do without realizing it from climate change to water pollution.
Peter Seiling reflects on his ex-neighbors. Read why he decided to move and why he's much happier as a consequence.
Ann Harman completes her series (Part 3) on the U.S. Master Beekeeper programs. Read how they compare with each other in this final article.
Jessica Lawrence collects tatoos. As a budding artist she sees a lot of them. Read her challenges in getting something that is artistic as well as biologically correct.
In all the news that fits read about Varroa and Australian honey bees, the obituaries of David Emde and Joe Moffett, Burma banning Chinese honey, the honey-based snack of the Canadian Space Agency, and the stance of the European Union and Canada on pesticides (especially neonicotinoids). The Foundation for the Preservation of Honey Bees is funding it's eighth awarding of $2,000 to five graduate students in apiculture and fake “active” manuka honey is being sold in large quantities around the world.
On the bottom board, Ed Colby gives “ranger” lectures about honey bees to a mixed crowd during his summer job on top of Aspen Mountain, where he keeps some bees. Read who comes to these events and what they say about the experience.
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
http://apis.shorturl.com
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