Dear Subscribers:
I’m heading to Los Angeles in a couple of days, flying out on Christmas day. Ironically, that’s expected to be the slowest travel day of this year’s season. And a frightening number of people are traveling, probably because the economy seems in good shape and the employment level is extremely high.
Reports on Hurricane Michael’s effects from the Florida Panhandle continue to dribble in . The Florida State Beekeeper Association’s Go Fund Me program has slowed considerably, stalling out at $7,925. Obviously we are not going to have much detailed in formation on the long-range effects for a good while yet.
A discussion on the bee-l network looked at insect loss via what’s been called “the windshield effect.” The New York Times picked this theme up and ran a story looking at what is being called the “insect apocalypse.” Honey bees at least have a human constituency (beekeepers) to fight for them; most other insects don’t, which is a big disadvantage in what more and more looks like a human-centered world.
Good news from the new Florida Bee Lab. According to the Project Apis m (PAm) newsletter, a new faculty member there appears to making some headway on raising Varroa mites in the laboratory, without exposure to honey bees, something that has eluded researchers for a long time . I mentioned this effort going as far back as 1988 when Dr. Bill Bruce then at the USDA Beltsville Laboratory visited Udine, Italy to collaborate in carrying on this kind of study.
The same newsletter reveals development of new tools for testing hygienic behavior. The report is sketchy on details, but this looks to be a promising area of research. PAm is asking its constituency to BEE IMPACTFUL by sending ideas for research and/or comments about its programs.
Recently, there’s been a lot of buzz about vaccinating honey bees against American foulbrood (AFB). Something along these lines would be a big development, possibly resulting in the disease’s eradication, as noted in remarks concerning New Zealand in last month’s newsletter. But conflating this at the moment with solving the so-called honey bee apocalypse is a bridge too far. AFB is barely mentioned by most folks when developing a list of research issues surrounding colony collapse disorder (CCD). See a recent video discussion about this research.
The December issue of the BeeAware Newsletter from Plant Health Australia mentions the AFB vaccine as well, but it also reveals a list of other important topics, not much publicized elsewhere. For example, there’s been a lot of discussion about the European Union’s banning of some neonicotinoid pesticides. An analysis of whether this is going to do much in terms of bee decline is linked to the Australian newsletter. And an article in The Australasian Beekeeper (see below) provides further information. See also discussions of a small hive beetle trap and the idea that honey bee diseases and pests don’t take holidays (Australian biosecurity is much better than found in most other countries, including the U.S.)
With further reference to Down Under, The Australasian Beekeeper has some articles of more-than-passing interest. The news feed is somewhat out of date, but the site in general is worth a visit. One post concerns the effects of inbreeding in queen production. This is a particular interest of mine and there’s a fuller discussion at the Apis Information Resource Center on queen management in general. Note that this is a big concern in the Russian honey bee program. Another looks deeply into the neonicotinoid pesticide issue. This features much of what is discussed in more detail another Patreon post.
Climate change has been on my mind. The President’s and others’ insistence that this is a hoax, often brought on by researchers attempting to get more funding, appears on the surface to be valid. In my career, I certainly saw huge emphasis on writing grants and asking for funding by a range of folks conducting studies at both universities where I was employed.
So, I looked up what some of the skeptics have been saying and found interesting discussions that do appear to have reasonable talking points. I remained confused and perplexed concerning the reported differences between the objective data, however, and the more subjective area of human causality. Both sides of the issues shown together graphically provide more information than simple wordsmithing. And there are increasing reports of a wide range of people who indeed have changed their mind over time.
Finally, especially for a writer like myself, words matter. Recall that “global warming,” was originally in widespread use beginning around 1988, and this has now been given over more in favor of “climate change.” However, the juxtaposition of these terms no doubt this can lead to confusion. Finally, there is the old bugaboo that whatever you want to call it is directly “caused” by human activity.
If one takes the climate hypothesis out of the equation and looks at other environmental issues that confront the biosphere, (1. Ozone Depletion, 2. Desertification 3. Deforestation 4. Loss of Biodiversity and 5. Disposal of Wastes), it’s difficult to conclude that climate change is an outlier, not somehow affected by humans, while the others are. The whole complex of these is the origin of what now is more and more referred to as the human era or anthropocene.
A friend of mine discussed with me his interest in a literary genre I wasn’t familiar with, narrative nonfiction. Given the discussion at wikipedia on something called creative nonfiction, I offer up the following for readers to characterize as they see fit.
Thanks again to Rosanna Mattingly (rosannamattingly@gmail.com) for continuing the efforts that Fran Bach put in over the years to bring the Western Apicultural Society’s News From the World of Bees to the wider beekeeping community.
I list below the titles for each of the referenced documents. They cannot be accessed directly from this newsletter, but can be seen via the original web-linked document associated with the date. Some of the links may also be referenced in the actual text of this document.
Washington State Beekeepers Association Conference
Wildflowers and Bees Boost Courgette Crop
Wild Bees Are Dying
Big Island Bees and Natural Disasters
Pollinator Garden at Post Office
Pollinators and Greenhouse Businesses
Citizen Science and Ag Challenges
Fruit Flies and Cultural Dating Pressures
“Headhunter” Ants
Termite Mounds Seen from Space
Locust Ecology And Opera
Spiders Nursing Young with Milk
Strength of Spider Silk
FROM CATCH THE BUZZ
1. If You Pollinate Almonds, Ask and Ask Again About These Pests
2. Good Food Awards Announces Honey Finalists
3. The United States and Support off Policies That Include Genome Editing
4. Call For Research Proposals Related to Honey Bee Health
5. If You Pollinate Apples, Your Orchards Absolutely Need To Know
6. Irish Agtech Company That Monitors Honey Bee Colonies Expands Into Us
7. Faking It – The Great Honey Robbery
FROM ABJ EXTRA
1. Honey Pacifiers Suspected in Texas Infant Botulism Cases
FROM POLLINATOR-L
Post-Doctoral Position
EAS Announcements
When The Queen Is Away
The Center For Honeybee Research Is Accepting Entries
Bee Motorway Plan To Create A Buzz
Wild West Seed Sees Flower Interest Rising
First-Ever Honey Bee Vaccine Offers Hope For Pollinators And Fruit Growers
Eyes In The Sky: Mapping Bee Health
Court Bans Use Of Chlorpyrifos Pesticide In U.S.
New Butterfly Species Named After 17th-Century Female Naturalist
Fruit Flies First Began Feeding On Our Fresh Produce About 10,000 Years Ago
Pea Aphid Youngsters Use Piggyback Rides To Escape A Crisis
How Some Sap-Sucking Insects Fling Their Pee
Assassin Fly Babies Have ‘Swiss Army Knife’ Mouths
FROM CATCH THE BUZZ
1. Bayer To F ire 12,000 – One Of Every Ten Workers – After Monsanto Legal Troubles
2. An Invitation From The Team In Montreal For Apimondia 2019
3. The Insect Apocalypse Is Here. Here’s The Rest Of The Story
4. Almond Board Of California Fueling Innovation With $6.8 Million Research Investment
5. Honeybee Protein Keeps Stem Cells Youthful
FROM ABJ EXTRA
1. Brock Harpur Joins Purdue University
GRANT OPPORTUNITY
Colorado Specialty Crops Grants Application Open
FROM POLLINATOR-L
Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program Applications Open
Research Team Position
Postdoctoral Position
Assistant Professor Position
Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Positions in Europe
There’s a lively interaction on the Bee-L discussion list about Samuel Ramsey’s work looking at what tissues the Varroa mite feeds on, which is primarily the fat body, as opposed to the haemolymph (blood). This turns the conventional wisdom most know on its head and so as with any new scientific hypothesis, a rethink is in order. The referenced youtube video looks at this situation in some detail. The specific tissue affected it turns out does make a big difference, and the fact that the mite actually produces what appear to be permanent holes in the intersegmental membrane of the worker bee for feeding, emphasizes that Varroa is not like your everyday phoretic species that simply “hitches a ride on another organism. The actual feeding activity of the mite on honey bees and fat body in particular can lead to lots of potential problems as explained in the presentation.
An interesting email showed up requesting the following: “Thanks so much for linking to us in your April fools day article. Just a heads up that we rebranded and are now called EnergySeek. Could you do me a massive favour and update the link to our new URL?” It turns out the original link is to a newsletter I wrote back in 2014, when this organ was still called the Apis Newsletter. There turns out to be no way to correct old newsletters sitting out on the Internet in a number of formats on different platforms. This is one of the paradoxes of the World Wide Web; that the benefits also produce unintended and unexpected consequences.
As customary, readers are urged to look at the Honey Bee Health Extension page. Check out the section on Africanized honey bees. If that’s too daunting, consult a shorter history at the Apis Information Resource Center.
One hundred thirty one units of Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees (second edition) were sold on Amazon.com November 18 to December 16, 2018. Rodchester, New York led the way with 25.
From the editorial remarks about the second edition at Amazon.com: “Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees is a thorough treatment of beekeeping for anyone looking to practice the craft. It spans the range of topics from beginning to advanced beekeeping, while including a suite of personal testimonies that humanize the art. It will be an important resource for years to come.” — Jamie Ellis, PhD, Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory, University of Florida.
Season’s greetings to my patrons. Thanks for supporting this digest. In the spirit of the season, I offer up something I recorded sometime ago before my horrendous cancer surgery almost two years ago. I got lucky; they can find no recurrence; and my voice is slowly recovering.
Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
