Coronavirus COV-19 continues to dominate the news around the world. Although “we are all in this together,” we are not out of the woods yet and learning more and more about the effects, including the results of reducing carbon emissions in Earth’s environment:. The Guardian reports that the pandemic could be responsible for the resurgence on Britian’s wildflowers due to reduced mowing. The concept that beekeepers are essential workers, and so should receive special treatment during community lock down is also being bandied about. And at least one reference looks at similarities between honey bees and humans with respect to viruses.
The word “pandemic” is now on everyone’s lips and we can see its use every where. My colleague Humberto Boncristiani at Insidethehive.tv has just published his latest video using the term to describe detection of small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) in China on Apis Cerana. Yikes! What a potential disaster this could be. We have to wait to see the actual consequences of this event, but certainly it potentially merits use of the term “pandemic.” A recent email from my good friend Al Summers reports that tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi) are problematic to Apis cerana in Japan.
The honey bees themselves, of course, have gone through several pandemics of sorts over the last thirty years in the U.S., including tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi), Varroa (Varroa destructor), deformed wing and other viruses, along with small hive beetle. The biggest phenomenon, which looks to have incorporated several pandemics into one is Colony Collapse Disorder. Unfortunately, yet another exotic organism has been detected out west. A Bee Culture Catch the Buzz looks at reports by Washington State University scientists:
“A Giant Asian hornet was found on a property in Blaine, Wash., back in early December. This hornet hadn’t been found in Washington before, and the WSDA says while it isn’t usually aggressive towards people, it can lethally sting other bees (particularly a threat to honey bees). Susan Cobey, a bee breeder with the WSU Department of Entomology, describes the giant hornet as “something out of a monster cartoon with this huge yellow-orange face.’”
“’It’s a shockingly large hornet,’added Todd Murray, WSU Extension entomologist and invasive species specialist. It’s a health hazard, and more importantly, a significant predator of honey bees.’” See more detail about the hornet on Wikipedia.
The list of videos Humberto has developed over the last couple of years is substantial and impressive. I was fortunate to be subject of one play list that features my book (Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees) and website (Apis Information Resource Center), and looks at beekeeping history during my career at extension beekeeping specialist at the University of Florida.
It’s worth looking at what the Australians are doing from time to time.. Check out how they make sugar syrup for honey bees, including mixing and storing considerable amounts of the material. They also add something called “Bee Boost” to the mix. This outfit provides several courses on scientific education oriented to beekeeping. Traditionally, Australians have always been into honey bee nutriition, a legacy of one of Oz’s best known researchers on the subject Graham Kleinschmidt.
A Bee Culture Catch the Buzz looks at seeds coated with pesticides, reporting the following: “’We reviewed existing evidence, as well as proprietary and novel government data, on seed treatment usage and found that many farmers either did not know what pesticides were on their seeds or falsely assumed that seed treatments did not include certain pesticides,’ said Paul Esker, assistant professor of epidemiology and crop pathology, Penn State. ‘This lack of knowledge could lead to overuse of pesticides, which could harm the environment and farmers’ health.’”
Comb renovation is a topic that has received increased attention over the years. A pioneer here was Dr. Elbert Jaycox who taught beekeeping to many apiculturists over the years, and wrote a well-known book (Beekeeping in the Midwest) and newsletter. Here’s discussion of this topic referencing him at the Apis Information Resource Center.
A recent paper looks at this topic in great detail, concluding: “The foraging rate, gathering and storing pollen, growth of the colony, and honey yield significantly depended on the age of combs. Beekeepers can replace old combs with new ones to increase brood and honey production.”
“April traditionally is the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP)-reporting month for beekeepers since 2006. Many thousands of beekeepers have answered the BIP National Loss Survey. This has enabled us to document and better understand long-term honey bee colony loss trends in the United States. Check out the interactive state loss map to see the results throughout all the survey years!
“Those of you that have previously participated in the BIP National Loss Survey, know that it has changed and expanded over the years. For example, we added questions related to management in 2010 to help us understand how your actions influence colony survivorship. Thanks to the endurance of our participants to answer the entire survey, we have developed a dynamic management data tool.
“This year’s most obvious change is that you will be asked to create a login before taking the survey. We make changes, with the goal to continuously improve the survey based on your comments and suggestions. We thank you for input! A login will enable you to take the survey in more than one sitting, and to edit the initiated survey later. Additionally, we will be quicker in assisting you with any issues you may experience during the survey. Do not worry all the information you provide is confidential and will not be distributed to any 3rd party, EVER!”
This year BIP looks to have some competition. A Bee Culture Catch the Buzz is also reporting that the National Science Foundation will be doing a beekeeper survey: “During 2020 our team will conduct a survey of colony management needs for beekeepers of all scales and experiences. This project is supported by the US National Science Foundation under its I-Corps customer discovery program. If you are interested in participating, please send your preferred email to BeeSurvey2020@gmail.com,
Ever since Apimondia 46, with its record number of honey entries removed from the international honey show, the idea that honey fraud is epidemic has taken hold. I published a “primer” on this topic after returning from Montreal. Now a Bee Culture Catch the Buzz has released a discussion of the American Honey Producers Association’s response to Apimondia’s fraud statement.
“The American Honey Producers is the leading voice of the commercial beekeeper in the United States and we produce more than half of all domestically produced honey in the U.S. We commend Apimondia for their strong stance against Honey fraud. We agree with Apimondia that demand for honey is increasing. We also fully support and our organization agrees with the Apimondia position of the Codex Alimentarius definition of honey. We fully support and helped to establish the USDA’s commercial item description of honey which was recently finished.
“Contemporary honey fraud includes, 1) harvesting immature honey, 2) masking or mislabeling geographical and botanical origin of honey, 3) honey that has been scrubbed by resin technology (which by definition is not honey anymore), and 4) blending bio-engineered sweeteners and or extraneous pollens. This fraud, which is purposeful and economically motivated, risks damaging the image and future sales of authentic honey.”
I am in receipt of the announcement for the 47th Apimondia International Apicultural Congress to be held in the TORATAU Congress Hall in Ufa, Russia. . The building is located in a scenic place which offers a breathtaking panoramic view of the embankment of the river Agidel from its Windows near the world brands hotels. The city hosts the famous Agidel women’s hockey team. ApiExpo Area is a temporary structure which has an indoor and outdoor connection to the Congress Center. There are 3 halls which has connected to each other with a total capacity of 7000 sqm in gross. As time goes on we will get more information on this area, which is considered by Forbes Magazine to be one of the better places in Russia to do business.
A couple of websites have been produced to induce those sheltering at home, doing “social distancing,” to be become more educated about honey bees. Omaha Public Radio’s program, Six Feet of Science: Of Bugs and Bees, targets children, and looks at bees and viruses in episode one:
“This week, we have a real life beekeeper and a doctor to help answer these curious questions! We owe a big thanks to Dr. Theodore Cieslak and Carol Fassbinder-Orth from the Bountiful Blossoms Bee Co. for their expert explaining. Our show features music from Collin Smith and our theme music comes from Culxr House, Omaha Nebraska. Kitchen ABCs is a production of the Omaha Children’s Museum.
“Six Feet of Science, is a kid’s show for a time of social distancing. We know that the nationwide school closings have left many curious kids at home, and we know they have questions that just can’t wait till school starts again. That’s why we created this show! Kids call in with questions and host, Emily Chen-Newton will call an expert on the phone and we dig into the answer together. This show only works because of kids like you! So, if you have a science question, grab a parent or older sibling to help you make the call: (531) 299-9331) .
Hilary Kearney, author of QueenSpotting has created Polllinator Popcorn on the Kickstarter fund raising site :
“My hope is that this game will bring some much needed cheer, inspiration and entertainment to us all during these hard times. For those of us who are finding comfort and peace in the beauty of nature right now, I am optimistic that this game will help to enhance that feeling. I know too many of us (including myself) are struggling with financial losses. Because of this, I seriously considered delaying this launch even though it has been planned for many months and the game itself has been over a year in the making with a couple thousand of my own dollars already invested in it. However, I ultimately decided the pros outweigh the cons. I believe this game will make the world a better place and I think it feels good to come together as a community and make a project like this possible even in the face of so many challenges. In consideration of those who understandably cannot support this project at this time, I have created a special FREE version that can be played online right now! Click here to play!
The Bee Health Exension website continues to surprise, even though it appears to be static at the moment with its newsletter deactivated, as reported in previous editions of this newsletter. The considerable resources available are listed here. However, it takes some searching to find nuggets of information such as recollections of European Apis mellifera in honey bee breeding. and in-depth information on Varroa mite reproductive biology.
Eighty units of Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, second edition, were sold on Amazon.com March 23 to April 19, 2020. Chicago led the way in sales.
From the editorial endorsements:
“A must-have book for all types of beekeepers who want good information.” — Dr. James E. Tew, State Extension Specialist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Malcolm T. Sanford
https://beekeep.info
https://patreon.com/beeactor
