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Dear Subscribers,
The nucleus we made up didn't pan out! No brood, no queen! Perhaps we should have used a Taranov Split? So we had to revisit an earlier decision by inserting a frame of young brood and crossing my fingers that this will succeed. If not, we may have a colony of laying workers on our hands. Meanwhile, it looks like the colony that swarmed has gone queenless as well and we had to do the same with it, again adding some young brood. This again points out the need to have colonies/nucs in reserve.
Although both colonies we added brood to were light on population, we didn't see a single small hive beetle. I figured they would have been overrun by this pest (they are in the sun, which research shows inhibits beetle activity to a degree) All this activity cuts us back to two full colonies that must somehow get through the summer dearth in Northeast Florida. It is now feeling like 104 degrees F outside. So we all will have to hunker down for a long, hot summer it seems.
Recent word from Florida indicates the following: “The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reports the state’s apiary industry is flourishing, with a rapidly growing number of beekeepers, many of whom are expanding their operations. They are meeting the growing demand for honey, a commodity product trading at upwards of two dollars a pound; Florida is continually ranked in the top four honey-producing states in the country. Florida beekeepers are also providing vital pollination services to other agricultural producers across the nation, particularly in states like California that may experience pollinator deficits during the crucial almond bloom season.” This is pretty good news in the face of a lot of publicity to the contrary.
On the heels of this announcement, the Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory at the University of Florida is launching it's first-ever Florida Bee Research Symposium July 15 and 16, 2015. The call for papers closes 25 June 2015 so there's not much time to get something to the organizers. Both Apis and non-Apis bees will be the focus: “Individual submitting abstracts must represent a governmental (such as USDA, EPA, FDACS, etc.), academic (University of Florida, Florida State University, etc.), industry (Bayer, Dow AgroSciences, etc.), formal association (Florida State Beekeepers Association, Florida Blueberry Growers Association, etc.) or other similar organization. All abstracts will be reviewed for scientific merit and abstract acceptance into the program is not guaranteed. The contact authors for all abstracts will be notified of abstract acceptance and the type of presentation invited to deliver (i.e. poster or lecture).”
A spate of good news, however, can cast doubt on the narrative that's already out there about honey bees in trouble and even possibly going “extinct.” The push back by naysayers is unavoidable. The National Review is a good example with an article entitled “Bee-pocalypse Now, Nope!" It gives kudos to beekeepers who have adapted quickly to the situation, and concludes with a response to the White House's Interagency Task Force to create a Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators:
“The White House downplays these extensive markets for pollination services. The task force makes no mention of the remarkable resilience of beekeepers. Instead, we’re told the government will address the crisis with an 'all hands on deck' approach, by planting pollinator-friendly landscaping, expanding public education and outreach, and supporting more research on bee disease and potential environmental stressors. (To the disappointment of many environmental groups, the plan stops short of banning neonicotinoids, a type of pesticide some believe are contributing to bee deaths.)”
Meanwhile, an open letter to American beekeepers also condemns the effort, concluding: “It is largely ‘Greenwash’ to cover up the issue of mass bee deaths and delay action; a nice piece of window dressing designed to give the illusion that ‘something is being done’, when in truth, nothing substantial is being done at all.
“In contrast to the reaction of the NGOs, there has been a deafening silence from the national beekeeping organizations; this suggests their complete submission to the corporations which set up and dominated the Task Force: Bayer, Syngenta and Monsanto.” As usual it's difficult to please everyone.
Here's the latest on what Bayer is doing for beekeepers See also a report from Al Summers in the following document from Fran Bach at the Western Apicultural Society, which includes the following topics:
NATIONAL POLLINATOR WEEK - CELEBRATE, SUPPORT, & PLANT SOME FORAGE ALREADY!
EPA'S PROPOSAL TO PROTECT BEES FROM ACUTELY TOXIC PESTICIDES
HEALTHY HIVES 2020 WORKSHOP HOSTS DIVERSE EXPERTS TO DEFINE BEE HEALTH AND RESEARCH PRIORITIES
OTHER ARTICLES
ANOTHER VIEW - FOCUS ON NEONICS AS HONEY BEE PROBLEM IS UNWISE
MORE BOOKS ON PLANTS FOR BEES
VIDEOS
LINKS
National Geographic Magazine has come out with a story in it's May 2015 edition that deserves some attention. I have to quibble some with the title, "Quest for a Superbee", and am continually disturbed that editors for this and other publications insist on using one word for Apis mellifera (honeybee). I supposed this can be somewhat excused as most are not entomologists.
“Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an antlion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; 'honeybee' is equivalent to 'Johnsmith'.”--From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass quoted at honeybeesuite.com.
Given the above, what is the so-called “superbee” we are supposed to be looking for described in the title? The quest in reality is for a super bee (a bee that is superior). The article starts out with a description of super bee number one, developed by Brother Adam, someone it says is rarer than a human honey bee breeder, an “apicultural celebrity.” I do know of no other breeders who have a DVD based on their life. Unfortunately, this program appears to be out of stock, so I can't confirm from it that Brother Adam died “heartbroken” as published in the article, because his “growing fame conflicted with his vocation.”
Although he is gone, Brother Adam's honey bee continues to be celebrated. “Buckfast bees” are in great demand around the world for a variety of reasons, but principally because they started out as a solution to what was considered a big problem, tracheal mites. When I visited Israel in 2008, I was surprised to learn that most beekeepers there were using Buckfast queens from Belgium. The problem is we don't really have a clear definition of what a Buckfast honey bee really is. Bee breeding in its infancy and in no way can be considered anything much more than developing genetic “possibility” in honey bees. As the article states, “Blindly breeding two bees that have a desired trait is like banging together two handfuls of marbles and scooping up the result.”
The article does not mention tracheal mites, the reason the Buckfast strain exists at all. It really is more of a “brand” at the moment than a breed. Tracheal mites have been totally eclipsed by Varroa mites in recent years. Thus, the goal for super bee number two is one resistant to this relatively newer eight-legged pest. The various ideas so far to develop such a bee were trotted out in the article, including VSH (Varroa sensitive hygiene), referenced but not specifically mentioned as such, and research on RNAi, originally studied by Beeologics, now a subsidiary of Monsanto Corporation. It concludes that many folks are not optimistic about the honey bee's future and so a true “superbee” is indeed perhaps the best solution. Since this is not a bee per se, a robot seems to fit the bill and is the best humans can come up with at the moment. There is abundant evidence these “superbees” are indeed starting to be developed, but skepticism prevails in many quarters that these are the answer.
It is curious the article fails to mention that super bee number two already exists, at least in some people's minds. And in reality it is somewhat of an homage to Brother Adam. The same ideas the celebrated Monk used to find tracheal-mite resistant stock, which became the Buckfast bee, were employed by the USDA in its Russian bee project The so-called “Primorski” stock currently distributed by the Russian Bee Breeders Association is presently available to beekeepers in the U.S. As opposed to all other so-called “breeds,” including Buckfast, Russian bees actually have specific genetic characteristics that are measurable via DNA analysis.
National Geographic of course has always been known more for its photos than necessarily its text. Thus, we probably can't complain too much about the article, and given the fantastic pictures of honey bees in its pages, it's still worth a look. The article also includes a wonderful map of pollination in the U.S. (Bees on the Move), and link to the incredible video showing complete development of a honey bee from egg to adult as revealed in the photographer's TED Talk.
As always, check the latest on extension efforts at the Bee Health Extension site."Kalyn Bickerman is a Ph.D. student at the University of Maine under the supervision of Dr. Frank Drummond and works on investigating the health of native bumblebees in Maine's lowbush blueberry fields. Although her Master's work focused on the health of loggerhead sea turtles in the Pacific, Kalyn has been able to transfer her knowledge of, and her interest in, pathology and disease ecology to doing her Ph.D. work with Maine's bumblebees."
Amazon.com reports 88 units of Storey's Guide to keeping Honey Bees were sold May 18, 2015 to June 14, 2015. Chicago, IL, Boston, MA and Portland, WA led the way.
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Gleanings from the June 2015 Bee Culture:
Remember that Bee Culture now has a digital edition. Also, it's worth periodically checking out the new web site for the magazine as it matures and develops.
Burt Millette in North Carolina complains about a beekeeping mentor charging too much. Ernie Schmidt Olympia, WA thanks Ross Conrad for his article on mentoring. Joel Hausser uses Jerry Freeman's Beetle Baffle and urges readers to plant wildflowers. Gregory Stoddard is happy about using the new bee package (Bee Bus). Jim Cowan re-read the tree hive colony article (March, 2015) and has questions. Benjamin Hershberger, Caneyville, KY says advertisers should not omit snail mail from their operations. Dean Downs provides coaching on making splits. Dave Edwards looks at liquifying crystallized honey. Ditto Anastasia Ridgeway and Wilbur Shirey.
New for the Summer is Grow a Living Wall by Shawna Coronado, Cool Springs Press; The Almond and the Bee by Stephani Hsia, self published; and the Repo-4 honey analyzer from Atago USA. Slovenian Beekeeping Company sells Slovenian hives and arranges tours to that country. Finally, Betterbee is distributing Lyson (Polish) beekeeping equipment.
Editor Flottum in the Inner Cover discusses the technological challenges of shifting to a new electronic platform. See the results so far at http://beeculture.com. More to come! Read about his hat bearing NEOBA Beekeepers and his take on the monthly honey report (winter losses!)
It's Summers Time features a discussion of Kathy installing packages and arrival of new feathered creatures (ducks). She wishes all a pleasant Summer.
Clarence Collison takes closer look at social immunity in honey bees. Read about these mechanisms that protect the colony. They kind of remind one of the theory of vaccines in humans, also social critters that are protected by the "herd."
Tom Seeley and Ann Chilcott describe their vision of honey bee swarm guidance mechanisms. Read about the histor and current research in "How They Get Where They Are Going."
Michele Colopy looks at the world of reporting pre-lethal bee losses. In other words, reporting pesticide damage to colonies that don't necessarily die (sublethal effects) . This is much more difficult than acute kills where piles of dead bees are found at the entrance to a dead colony. Read some of the nuances that must be taken into conisderation and/or consult the web site of the indiegogo campaign.
Wolfgang Ritter describes "Beekeeping With a 'New' Parasite." Translated from German and published by Bees for Development about Nosema ceranae, first described in the pages of Bee Culture in 2007. Since then, studies appear to show that this new Nosema is replacing the old Nosema apis at a rapid rate, and and has a different course of infection over the seasons of the year.
Jennifer Berry provides a history of oxalic acid treatment. She says it's "Effective and Easy to Use, But..." Read why this is so and when and how to treat with this new material. It is labeled for honey bees, but can be found for sale in many places and forumations (e.g. wood bleach)....that's the "but" part. Use only the labeled material is the best advice at present.
Michael Magnini lists 9 lessons he has learned with reference to beekeeping. They are worth reading.
Phil Craft still knows his stuff. Read his answers to questions about open feeding in Kentucky and making nucs in West Virginia.
Larry Connor writes about the various "Nest Habitats" honey bees find or find themselves confined to. Read why in spite of all these, the Langstroth is still the preferred human-produced nest for bees.
Jim Tew contemplates "Temporarily Relocating Beehives." Read why this is "rarely a quick and easy beekeeping process..."
Dick Rogers meditates on beekeeping. Read why this is so, and how the practice can help you in your life and work with honey bees.
Jeff Harris provides information on the neonicotinoid class of pesticides and describes what a southern research group is doing to investigate the effects of these on honey bee colonies in the field. Read why this research tends to cost a lot of money, one of the reasons it is not easily undertaken.
Jessica Louque in the "Bigger Picture" writes about installing 200 packages of honey bees in a single operation. Read what they learned last year and are applying to this year's experience.
Morris Ostrofsky believes in overcoming barriers. And he describes how it can happen via his experience with Naomi Price, who developed the Valhalla hive. Read how this hive came about and the challenges of the future mixing barriers with beekeeping.
Ross Conrad travels to Bermuda to look at Varroa mites. He visits with officials and others providing information on control issues. Read his conclusions.
Tom Davidson is a confirmed fan of "tanging" honey bees. Read his experience about the technique and why perhaps a little mustard seed is also required.
In All The News That Fits, read that Neonic pesticide use is increasing, pollen in clouds might be a source of rain storms, a good bacterium is found in honey bees Parasaccharibacter apium, a flower that changes color and more on RNAi to control viruses via research at Penn State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Ed Colby on the Bottom Board writes, "Don't believe a word I write...yesterday's gospel morphs into today's heresy." Amen brother. Read how this translates into pollination contracts or not depending on the current wisdom.
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
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