Dear Subscribers,
Traditionally, beekeepers in Florida have looked to the
Ides of March with eager anticipation. The “orange” blooms about this time and if colonies are in place, a huge citrus nectar crop is possible. Everything appears to be late this year; my weatherbug.com program shows late winter storms buffeting the plains to the northeast over and over again. The news reports the coldest February on record. This means beekeepers must be on their toes to feed if necessary; colonies can starve to death quickly if food resources in the field are also late.
It's also swarm season. A colony I'm helping a guy with in his backyard appears to have swarmed according to a neighbor who saw some bees in a tree. After we split up that mother colony, making a couple of backup nuclei using excess queen cells (inexplicably it also had a laying queen!), the next day it was suddenly taken over by another swarm!. We are trusting it's not Africanized honey bees, which is a always a possibility. The only way we will know is attempting to determine how “African” is the behavior of this colony upon inspection.
Ooops! Another call from Tampa; a spring-training baseball game was interrupted by a swarm looking for a new home. The umpires called time out for “bee removal.” I wonder if that's in the official rule book. Our
senior softball team has yet to be impacted by swarming behavior, but that would just be one of the different “rules” we have contrived when confronted with aging bodies and different levels of playing skill.
The Florida Bee College was its usual success. I got to see
Dewey Caron for the first time in a long while and was pleasantly surprised that Larry Connor made a surprise visit to the Sunshine state. They were flogging Dewey's
Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping. My visit to see the
Shimanukis in Lake Placid was a delightful interlude, and the presentation to the
Palm Beach Beekeepers Association went well. I got good comments on my Ning.com page in Palm Beach. More bee colleges are on the way
http://ufhoneybee.com.
I missed the Florida legislature's opening session this week, but folks from the Florida State Beekeepers Association were there in force to support of an initiative to fund a revamped honey bee research and extension facility at the University of Florida (IFAS). A
Florida Taxwatch studyFlorida Taxwatch study confirms that this would bring substantial financial return to the state. Meanwhile, the Florida State Beekeepers Association met in
special session on February 22, 2014 to revamp the organization in several ways, including restructuring the executive and increasing the kinds of possible memberships.
Thanks to Joe Traynor for shipping me his
March 14 newsletterMarch 14 newsletter , which in part states:
“Last week, I attended a PAm meeting in Modesto and PAm member Dave Mendes offered to be the driver from Bakersfield. This gave Dave the opportunity to give me his views on neonics – as you likely know, Dave believes them to be a real threat to bees – and allowed me to be exposed to the eastern U.S. view on the subject. Dave has abandoned his Florida citrus locations due to neonic applications for psyllids and feels that California beekeepers that are skeptical about neonic hazards will get a wake-up call when citrus growers here start water-running neonics during bloom. Neonics have been shown to weaken the immune systems of bees, making them vulnerable to the viruses that then do a number on the bees. Dave makes a convincing case for banning neonics and, because I am most influenced by the last person I talk with on a subject.”
In conclusion he said: “I still share Malcolm Sanford’s comment on neonics: 'I continue to sit on the fence on this topic – it is sooo complex' – which reminds me of a Gilbert & Sullivan ditty that I’ve always liked (nice cadence) advising a young man on how to succeed in politics: Endeavor to be clever and commit yourself forever to a firm stand on the fence – a philosophy that I have tried to live by and one that has served me well over the years.” In all fairness, I believe that I re-quoted the above comment, which was received from another source, but like Joe, it does reflect my continued feeling on this issue.
Jim Fischer in New York recently posted the following on the Bee-L network “God bless Dave Cushman.” He concluded: “Dave Cushman asked several people, myself among them, to spider and
archive his site, and keep it up after he was no longer among us. He may thereby become the first "immortal" beekeeper, in that people will continue to thank him, many perhaps not even realizing that he passed on. It is a remarkable piece of work.
There's another virtual “immortal” beekeeper that needs recognition as well, the “old drone,” and internet pioneer preceding Dave Cushman, Andy Nachbaur. He was way ahead of his time, describing in his own way what we now know are major players in the colony collapse disorder (CCD) conversation as far back as 1989. His essay on
SAD and BAD bees is a must read. The
rest of his materials are well worth a look.
Talk about creative. Every time I see this I wish I'd thought it up. “Evaporated Cane Juice” on a food label? What could this be? I know immediately, but others I've talked do don't have a clue. It's a pretty ingenious (devious?) way to put just plain sugar on a food label, and I suppose hope no one is paying attention. No longer?
March 4, 2014: The Food and Drug Administration is reopening the comment period on its draft guidance for industry on declaring "evaporated cane juice" as an
ingredient on food labels. The agency originally published the guidance in October of 2009 and accepted comments through early December of that year. It reopened the comment period for 60 days to obtain additional data and information to better understand the basic nature and characterizing properties of the ingredient, the methods of producing it, and the differences between this ingredient and other sweeteners.
A google.com news note headline blares: “Scientists have found a new way to learn the cause of bee colony collapse disorder - computer modeling.”Nothing new about this.
Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, retired from the University of Montana, originally produced an early version of a computer model of a honey bee colony called "Beepop," which he shared with me too many years ago. It has been made available
online by the Tucson bee lab and can even be purchased through
Science Direct.
The "
beehave" model presumably takes up where others have left off. Read the
full paper on how it was developed; "Beepop" is not referenced? If one looks around there turn out to many sorts of modeling software available, and I'm sure there will be more in the future. There is even something called a
bees algorithm.
Lots of webinars are starting to pop up all over the place. As a member of the American Beekeeping Federation one can tune in to Professor Emeritus Roger Hoopingarner's conversations with a beekeeper
if you are a member. A free set is offered by The Ohio State University as publicized by
Apinews.com, and finally check out Jim Tew's video offerings in partnership with John Grafton via the
Ohio State Beekeepers Association.
Amazon.com reports 108 units of Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees
http://apisenterprises.com/storey were sold from February 9, 2014 through March 10, 2014. Best selling areas were Chicago with 21 and Portland, OR with 13. The book is the text for the
Apprentice- level Montana online beekeeping certificate program.
As always, see the latest on bee extension efforts at the
Bee Health Extension site. There is a new content coordinator and a
list of webinars here as well.
_____________________________________________________
Gleanings from the March 2014 Bee Culture:
Remember that Bee Culture now has a digital edition.
http://sample.beeculture.com/default.aspx?bhcp=1
Amy Johnson, Paola, KS wrtes about the many childhood uses for dandelions, including how she loved to "blow and see the seeds fly." Richard Bransington concludes Editor Flottum displayed courage for a "balanced view of Monsanto," based on his comments in a previous issue. However, Athena Holtey, Chocorua, NH expresses concern about his reply to the Monsanto controversy that "Monsanto feeds people," and one strategy is "keeping your enemies close." She has just finished biographies of Rachel Carson and concludes things are "even worse today." Nevertheless, someone called "Ernie" thought the Editor's answer "was brilliant." Both Raymond Curocher, Litchfield, NH and Norm Adams, Freeland, MI report they are ok with continued contact with the corporation in the future.
Dave Lany, North Liberty, IN reports wrapping is one good way to help colonies survive the winter. Alan Harman says the UK is using isotope analysis of pollen in honey to good advantage. Vaughn Bryant, College Station, TX says this technology is not quite ready to go prime time.
Tyler Stewart thanks Monsanto for its support of his SAE grant. Another grantee (Mikayla Ockels, Georgetown, DE) also sends her gratitude for SAE sponsorship. Finally Tyler Stewart, Leesburg, OH reports that Monsanto is also supporting 22 Future Farmer of America (FFA) grants and asks for others to contact possible granting organizations to increase the number.
Editor Flottum in the Inner Cover is ordering trees to plant for bee food and suggests you do too. A Japanese film crew is due to visit his house and take footage of manipulating hives and cooking with honey. Stay tuned for next month's column.
It's Summers Time reports Spring is late this year. No surprise there according to co-editor Kathy who urges those sending in their calendar entries to be prompt and bee sure to include the web address. As the guy who does the online calendar, I say "amen."
Reporting bee kills is every beekeeper's responsibility. The Pollinator Stewardship Council needs as much input as possible. Check out the
web site for more details.
Clarence Collison takes a closer look at "worker policing." This is not about regulating adults, but policing the reproduction of the colony (eggs). And the eggs that are laid by workers represent the biggest issue. Read the results of research on this fascinating subject.
Jennifer Berry and colleagues report on field level sublethal effects of approved chemicals on colonies. Read the full story and why the authors conclude the chemicals they looked at are poor performers in controlling mites, and that any use of these substances is problematic.
J.L. Harris says there's big risks in losing bees when moving colonies. This is opposed to much of the conventional wisdom. Move your bees at your own risk.
Larry Connor complements Editor Flottum's advice to plant trees for bee feed. Darkly he predicts we may reach a tipping point when suppliers simply will be unable to provide sufficient honey bees for routine pollination.
Phil Craft responds to questions about buying queens in Kentucky and winter feeding in Tennessee. Read about the use of "sugar mush."
Connie Krochmal lists several bee shrubs for warm climates. There's a much wider selection than in colder areas.
Jack Blackford and colleagues search for some "new and interesting customers." They found Distillery Lane Ciderworks. Read the results of their investigation.
Ed Simon builds a telescoping top. Read what it takes to make something students will be proud to exhibit.
Dennis LaMonaca constructs a bait hive and jib for hoisting it into a tree. Read the details complete with 29 pictures!
Ideas for watering devices for honey bee colonies are given by Larry Shreffler, John Smith, Ann Harman, Russ Gilmore and Patrick Driscoll. Their cup runneth over!
Jim Tew takes on the Big Freeze of 2014 via a dream sequence. Read his conclusion on where beekeepers are with reference to cold weather.
Gail Damerow writes that chickens and honey bees are the same, only different. Hmmm! Read why back to the landers (back yarder gardeners) are drawn to both these organisms.
Jessica Lougue is excited about her Spring garden. Read her deliberations on whether to seed or not seed.
Toni Burnham is into color and that goes in spades for her bee colonies. Read more than you ever thought about concerning painting your colonies; on the the outside only please!
Ross Conrad reviews the conundrum of too much vs not enough. The mindset for one or the other can do in your honey bees, especially with our recent cold weather. It's simple according to Ross. Continually check your colonies for enough stores as the polar vortex continues to frustrate arrival of Spring.
Ann Harman visits Valley Bee Supply in Fishersville, VA. In the heart of the Shenandoah Valley this startup has grown into a full-fledged honey bee supply outlet. Read about the evolution and what might be on the future agenda.
In all the news that fits, we see a new web site for the
Eva Crane Trust, specializing in grants”to individuals and organizations that might otherwise find funding difficult in this specialized field;” the obituary of Californian Ray Hicks; the meeting of the
Russian Bee Breeders Association in Medina, OH next October and Monsanto sponsoring women speakers at EAS in Richmond, KY next summer.
On the bottom board Ed Colby finds an old “flame” of his, and wows a a skeptical crowd at a Colorado ski patrol meeting. Read how many were converted to Dr. Ron Fessenden's treatment for insomnia.
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
http://apis.shorturl.com
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