Dear Subscribers,
The rains continue here each afternoon and the honey flow appears to have now subsided in North Central Florida. These conditions are resulting in mosquito populations and there's a
new virus on the horizon that is vectored by both Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus Finally,
Eastern Equine Encephalitis continues to be a threat. Anyone working outdoors should be warned as Aedes albopictus especially can be an aggressive day biter. Naturally, beekeepers should always know what's up with mosquito populations and be in touch with their local mosquito control agency. To find a local consult the American Mosquito Control Association.
The small apiary I am involved with looks to be in pretty good shape. We finally successfully created a new nucleus from our laying worker unit. It should be ready to replace any of our large colonies should issues arise. Now we look to the fall and the fact that we need a good population of winter bees to come off in August and September (see Ann Harman's article in this month's Bee Culture) to ensure survival during the coming cold period; we also look forward to a generous fall flow to top off food reserves for the coming months. This flow can be pretty “ify” in a lot ways, including the color of the honey that is produced (e.g. dark green?)
Finally, at this time of the year, we are always cocking our eye to the tropics in some anticipation. El Nino conditions were appearing strong in the Pacific Ocean, suggesting a less active hurricane season was on the horizon, but appears now to researchers be “
coy.” All the rain so far, means a soggy soil here, and we are seeing big trees falling in our city and an increasing rate so far in dangerous
lightning strikes.
On the heels of the new honey bee research facility at the University of Florida being vetoed by our good governor, the Florida State Beekeepers Association and supporters are beginning the planning for round two. The possibility will be that the guy who wielded the veto pen in 2014 will no longer be in office in 2015. Time will tell. I note that Marla Spivak's initiative for a
new facility is going ahead. But there are reports that other programs might be in trouble, like the
Virgina grant program.
Fortunately, there appears to be increased
funding for citrus greening. Let's hope this is good news for the Florida citrus industry and production of orange blossom honey from the Sunshine State: "USDA is committed to the fight against citrus greening, includingmaking major research investments to counter this destructive disease," said Vilsack. "The citrus industry and the thousands of jobs it supports are depending on groundbreaking research to neutralize this threat."
The
Pollinator Stewardship Council welcomes President Obama’s support of pollinators with his release June 20 of his “Memorandum- Creating a federal strategy to promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators”calling it “
hopeful.” The conclusion: “To improve the health of pollinators and their environment will not be through one all- encompassing solution, simply because pollinators’ environment is not comprised of one food source, one kind of habitat, one type of pesticide, one pest, or one pathogen.”
Joe Traynors latest (July 2014) newsletter just arrived. As usual it's full of information you won't find elsewhere. Thanks to Joe for letting me feature it
here.
Some tasty bits in this newsletter to look at include:
2015 Almond Pollination
Drought Spurs Creative Thinking
What Happened to the Bees This Spring?
Grass Valley 2, Harvard 0 (those neonicotinoid studies?)
The Jerry Hayes Saga
Christi Heintz, Superstar
In Praise of Monoculture (what koolaid had he been drinking?)
Recruiting Tool for Science (who'd a thunk?)
The questions surrounding the effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators and what we are faced with if they are banned defies descriptions found in sound bytes and/or postings to blogs and web sites as
this article shows. The bottom line is one has to read the whole blasted thing; that ain't easy and is asking a lot, but otherwise we are all left with posturings by extremists with no solutions in sight. Also read Joe's take on this in his newsletter and see why he references
Grass Valley.
http://www.extension.org/bee_health
Abstract: “There is evidence that in Europe and North America many species of pollinators are in decline, both in abundance and distribution. Although there is a long list of potential causes of this decline, there is concern that neonicotinoid insecticides, in particular through their use as seed treatments are, at least in part, responsible. This paper describes a project that set out to summarize the natural science evidence base relevant to neonicotinoid insecticides and insect pollinators in as policy-neutral terms as possible. A series of evidence statements are listed and categorized according to the nature of the underlying information. The evidence summary forms the appendix to this paper and an annotated bibliography is provided in the electronic supplementary material.”
Editor Flottum reveals the present honey market conditions in a
Catch the Buzz. There is tremendous uncertainty according to Ron Phipps, the goto honey marketing guy: “The inventories of honey from both European beekeepers and packers are exhausted as the 2013 crop has been sold and used.” That fact along with difficulty finding adequate Vietnamese honey, and issues affecting the South American crop, mean that many eyes are on the Dakotas, which appear to be having a banner year.
Brazilian scientists have been busy and not just with the World Cup. Prof. Lionel S. Goncalves and colleagues have put a bee alter/geolocator on the web dedicated to cataloging bee losses. Still in the formative stages is their
bee alert program.
• The 2nd International Workshop on Hive and Bee Monitoring on Wednesday, September 17
• WAS Conference Speakers, Thursday and Friday, September 18 and 19,
• Saturday Morning Workshops covering a variety of practical topics of interest to beekeepers and geared especially for those folks who cannot get away to attend the earlier events.
The 2nd International Workshop on Hive and Bee Monitoring involves several speakers from far distant parts -- New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Italy etc. It kicks off the "Week of the Bee" at the University of Montana in Missoula and contains a candy shop of technological goodies for all those so inclined.
Keynote speaker on Thursday of the WAS conference is our own Dr. Eric Mussen, now retired from UC-Davis but still the bee guru of choice for half the world. He'll be talking about what has changed in beekeeping during his professional lifetime. You know him - entertaining, informative, plain spoken and easy for anyone to understand, be they beginner beekeepers or ones with decades of experience.
The Friday keynote is something different with enormous interest to all of us. G. Philip Hughes, Senior Director of the White House Writers Group of Washington, D.C.; Former Ambassador and White House National Security Aide for Presidents Robert Reagan and George H.W. Bush, will address the neonicotinoid pesticides and bees debate, giving a play-by-play of how this issue has been and is being played out. He will highlight the issues being ignored, misstated or oversimplified along the way by the media and politicians. He will also address the role of journalists in ‘muddying’ rather than clarifying the waters, as well as the recent involvement of the White House in honey bee and pollinator health and protection.
The WAS website will be updated in the next few days with all the information you need to get to Missoula in September - speaker program, registration form, accommodations, instructions and mapson how to find your way around Missoula and the university campus, and a glittering collection of extra events to make this a week to remember. Check it out at
http://ucanr.edu/sites/was2 and plan to join us.
Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees ,which has been adopted as the text for the
Montana apprentice beekeeping course continues to move off the shelves. Amazon.com reports 55 units sold from June 9 to July 6, 2014. Plattsburg, NY and Porland, OR led the way.
As always, see the latest on bee extension efforts at the Bee Health Extension site.
http://www.extension.org/bee_health
_____________________________________________________
Gleanings from the July 2014 Bee Culture:
Remember that Bee Culture now has a
digital edition.
Tom Theobald, Niwot, CO writes that beekeepers shouldn't be misled by the “lowball” colony loss figures reported by the Bee Informed Partnership (
BIP). Karen Bean, Maple Falls, WA tried out the phagetreatment on her colonies with AFB with good results (May Issue). Bob Gaddis, Grifton, NC urges folks to be careful with Bee-Go; when the container is exposed to Ultraviolet radiation, it might break causing an accident. Chappie McChesney of Alachua, FL describes his numerous mentoring experiences, which he says is a much needed skill for all those involved with beeginers.
Editor Flottum looks at the book/magazine publishing industry, his bread and butter. The behemoths Amazon, Hattchette publishing, and source interlink distribution (SID are fighting it out and in the process readers can look at paper become more and more scarce and dear.
It's Summers Time reflects on the violent weather this Spring, observation hives, and of course our “feathered friends.” Ooops! Foxes may be starting to invade the hen house. Keep tuned!
Michele Colopy of The Pollinator Stewardship Council says it time to stop the poisoning by shifting research resources from looking at acute toxicity to the effects of chronic sublethal exposure. This is easier said than done; the bureaucracies that administer both pesticide research and regulation can't easily and quickly change priorities. This will take time and pressure from all constituencies.
Clarence Collison takes a closer look at the honey stomach and proventiculus, a complicated, but necessary system.
Ian Stell asks whether bees pant. Read his answer.
Larry Connor provides hints on making summer increase. Read how he does it and what to look for during the process.
Jim Tew has more thoughts from the apiary. Read his discussion on “A Good Day in the Beeyard,” what he saw and did, and finally how the day ended.
Wyatt Mangum has 28 years experience with top bar hives. Read his journey from standard colony management to top bar beekeeping. Most of this article is in response to an earlier contribution by Dr. Dewey Caron, and comes from Wyatt's
comprehensive book on the subject
M.E.A McNeil and Maryann Frazier contine their series on contaminated beeswax by looking at how to find clean foundation and what it takes to clean up questionable material. Read why it's so difficult to find uncontaminated product and the exciting new technology being looked at to clean up suspect wax.
On the heels of this article, read what Ross Conrad says about paying attention to beeswax. There's much more to this product than first meets the eye.
Phil Craft continues answering questions. Read his comments about used equipment in Michigan, confining chickens and other animals near colonies (not a good idea) and confusion concerning vocabulary when referring to hive “boxes.”
Toni Burnham suggests urban beekeepers think before pressing their luck. Read what she says about beekeepers and the media and why she states that “everything old is new again.”
Connie Krochmal lists a trio of leguminious bee trees. Read what she says about Kentucky coffeetree, the mimosa or silk tree and my favorite black locust or Robinia pseudoacacia.
Jessica Louque looks at the value of starting early when it comes to ordering bees and paraphernalia for the coming season. Read how she got great and not-so-great service from various providers during a recent buying spree that was unfortunately, last minute.
Ann Harman is already thinking about winter. Not too soon it seems to be concerned not so much about winter, but getting colonies ready for that season. Read what she considers most important in the process.
Jim Thompson reveals everthing you might want to know about bottom boards. Read about all the options available concerning this valuable tool.
In all the news that fits, read about flowers smelling good and bad to insects, organizing research better via a centralized open-access, holistic approach via a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), climate change looks to only get worse, how honey could play a larger role in human health, obituary of Florida beekeeper Gerald Kress Snapp, and the National Honey Board's
Made Withh Honey Program.
Judge Dan O'Hanlon describes West Virginia's
Veterans and Warriors to Agriculture Project. Contact
jmccormick@wvda.us for more. This includes beekeeping as a way to ensure folks that have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can begin to integrate them selves back into society. A version of that is also being promoted in Florida prisons by the
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS).
