World Bee Day was May 20, 2020, accompanied by various activities around the world. A colleague send me a copy of The May 18, 2020 Time Magazine, featuring an article on the Honeybee Whisperers, a moniker taken up by Slovenian Beekeepers , who “take care of the bees not just to produce honey for money, but because we just love bees.” They have definitely been a force for change in Europe when it comes to honey bees, responsible for much of the European Union’s stance on neonicotinoid pesticides and promoting their own honey bee (Apis mellifera carnica), as well as historical figure, pioneer beekeeper Anton Jansa, and their special AZ bee hive. World Bee Day was proclaimed on Anton Jansa’s birthday, 24 May in 2017 after three years of intensive lobbying at the United Nations General Assembly. This year it got the royal touch.
Finally, Coloss.org has produced the results of a survey on the Global impact of COVID-19 on bee research and education: “According to some respondents, the COVID-19 pandemic will eventually result in an increased trust in scientists. Although desk work was only minimally impacted, other factors raised included technical issues, such as the lack of adequate IT facilities at home, or suboptimal working environments, such as simultaneous childcare duties. Eight participants also reported increased scientific productivity, such as submitting long overdue manuscripts. Nevertheless, several participants reported the risk of a diminished production for the next year due to the lack of field and laboratory work and data collection taking place during the current season.
“Overall, the survey demonstrates that COVID-19 has resulted in immediate wide-ranging, negative, disruptions to the activities of personnel responsible for research and education concerning bees. This is not surprising given the global economic and social impacts of this pandemic. As restrictions in many countries are still ongoing, this current picture will need to be updated in a few months from now to obtain information that is not currently possible to estimate. With respect to economic indicators we have currently collected only a few answers, reporting a wide range of scenarios of extra costs in labour and money. Several participants (15) conclude that the extra time lost, despite the positive mood of the groups, will never be completely recovered. Finally, further work should evaluate the influence of COVID-19 on beekeepers, and ultimately the short to medium term health of the economically and ecologically important bees across the globe.
“In light of our data, it appears that stakeholders such as governments and funding bodies should especially consider the wide implementation of web-based IT solutions as well as flexibility and extension of research grants (even cost-neutral) and fellowships to limit the impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics on bee research and dissemination.”
Last month Earth Day celebrated its fiftieth birthday around the world. Check out the way folks took action. It looks like the covid-19 situation may have taken some of the excitement away from this event. However, not all. The reports of a “better” environment seen around the world may correlate with the virus and somehow could help shift the fundamental meaning of earth day. These two events celebrate why “science matters,” in the face of what appears to be a more and more skeptics about the role of science in society.
April 25-27, 2020 The National Science Foundation met in annual meeting virtually, with participants sheltering in place and viewing web casts, several now available to the public , including Advances in Bee Health an online public program introduced by Gene Robinson, Maybelle Leland Swanlund Endowed Chair, Professor of Entomology, and Director, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This is worth serious effort to consider viewing, according to the introduction: “The Status of Pollinators in North America report released by the National Research Council in 2007 sounded the alarm—the populations of pollinators upon which we depend on for ecological stability and agricultural productivity might be at risk. Events since then have proven the report to be all too prescient, with alarmingly losses and extinctions especially for bees, the most important pollinators on the planet. This session highlighted some of the latest advances in promoting bee health involving research on nutrition, microbiome, genomic-based breeding, nesting biology, social immunity, and landscape management.
The speakers include:
Nancy A. Moran, Raymer Chaired Professor, The University of Texas at Austin;
Amro Zayed, Professor, Department of Biology, York University (recorded talk available in 2021);
Alexandra N. Harmon-Threatt, Professor, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Christina M. Grozinger, Distinguished Professor of Entomology, Director, Center for Pollinator Research, Pennsylvania State University
Australia is doubling down on ensuring its up to the challenge of keeping Varroa mites at bay, via something called “sugar shake month.” This is the last place on earth that has yet to be invaded by the mite, although the COVID-19 virus made it there pretty quickly it seems. It looks like both these scourges are being handled “down under”
A spate of stories have come out of the concept that honey bees affected by Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) for some reason are allowed back into the nest. Researchers conclude: “’
“The most important finding of our study is that IAPV infection increases the likelihood that infected bees are accepted by foreign colonies,’ said Adam Dolezal, a professor of entomology at the University of Illinois (U of I) at Urbana-Champaign who led the new research. ‘Somehow, the infected bees are able to circumvent the guards of foreign colonies, which they shouldn’t be able to do.’”
As reported previously, the Western Apicultural Society (WAS) has canceled this year’s event. It will instead be held July 8–10, 2021, along with Montana Honey Bee Summit events, including the Technology Demonstration Field Camp and the 4th International Conference on Bee and Hive Monitoring. See the President’s remarks as published in the latest newsletter
Nothing gets folks attention like sharks it seems, unless there are reports of those “murder hornets” found on the west coast and coming for us all soon . I reported on this in the last newsletter. Don your protective equipment and get ready? Doing a windshield survey of recent press releases shows lots of energy dedicated to reporting this situation. Florida seems to be getting a lot of attention, even though these insects have only been found in Washington State on the other side of the continent. A recent release should calm some nerves:
Hello Beekeepers and Friends of the UF Bee Lab,
“Many of you have seen articles being released about the Giant Asian Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, making its way to the United States recently. Fortunately, this invasive insect has been on the radar for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for many years. Fact: There have been NO sightings or confirmed identifications here in Florida. Beekeepers: you are our first line of defense- as a reminder, if you think you’ve spotted a Giant Asian Hornet (or any invasive species) in Florida, please contact your local apiary inspector or submit a sample by using the following this link: For more information on this hornet, please visit: https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-weeds/insects/hornets.
“The UF Honey Bee Research and Extension Laboratory is dedicated to providing you the most up-to-date scientific information as quickly as possible. We will release information as we hear more. Thank you. Amy Vu, Extension Coordinator, Honey Bee Research & Extension Laboratory, Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida.
What’s happening at Bee-L
Discussion of “The Honey Bee Wiki Project”
The big goal: create an authoritative, useful and used North American oriented Honey bee Wiki.
The challenges:
* ·Establish objectives and determine how they will be assessed
* ·Decide on content, content development, categories, vetting
* ·Create or find a home for Wiki administration; organizational structure
* ·Select hosting and Wiki software
* ·Determine and obtain sustainable funding
* ·Design and implement promotional campaigns
The initial vision is for a non-profit, copyright free Honey bee/beekeeping Wiki, with content (somewhat) similar to the Dave Cushman web site in the UK.
Discussion of “Bee venom and SARS-CoV-2”
Jim Fischer starts it off with:
” their health was totally normal.” — Wei Yang Fu, Et al. Many of the people who tested positive for the virus didn’t know it they had it because they showed no symptoms. The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that people who don’t feel sick are contributing to the spread of the deadly virus that has swept the world. — CNN, Et al.
A personal anecdote – in early Feb, before the symptom was reported as indicative of Covid-19, Joanne (my wife, who keeps 2 hives of her own atop avery baroque Manhattan co-op that I call “The Church of Capital Gains”) have what we thought was a bad cold or sinus infection. Our doctor declined to diagnose it as an actual sinus infection via a video appointment. It dragged on for several weeks.
She lost her sense of taste and smell for a bit, which seemed very strange, but this was before this symptom was reported as being a Covid-19 symptom. We had fled the City for “down the shore” in NJ, so we were lounging about within arm’s reach of each other much more than usual, but I had zero symptoms. There is simply no way I avoided being exposed, but I had no complaints at all, not one sneeze, not one cough. I was “perfectlyhealthy”. Still am, knock on wood. Never felt better.
>> You can’t take a sample of 5000 people of any sort and say “their health was totally normal.”
In regards to the sometimes fatal disease at hand, you might, as one is not speaking of any non-respiratory symptoms or ailments. But language also matters here. Let’s assume that the paper was drafted or thought out in Mandarin (Mandarin literally means, “speech of officials”,after all) and then translated to English.
My grasp is very limited, and I still struggle dealing with the aggravation of the shades of meaning between things like: “Wán quán zhèng cháng” vs “Wán wán quán quán zhèng cháng”. In English, “Perfectly normal” vs “Completely normal”. But see the natural emphasis of the repeated “wán” and “quán” in the second example? That’s not just “completely”, it emphasizes more than that. An easier example is “fú”, which can mean “bat”, but more often is used as “good fortune” or “luck”. One will often hear/see “fú- fú”, literally wishing one “doubly good fortune”, and one will see (written) a string of FIVE “fú”s in a row, which is the “Five Blessings” (health, riches, a long life, love of virtue, and a natural death).
So, if they really meant “absolutely normal in all ways”, then they likely would have written the English equivalent of “absolutely, positively”, which would never have survived the first edit pass by any English editor, as no one makes unconditional superlative statements in a letter to a refereed journal unless one is playing the part of the scientist that everyoneignores in the beginning of all sci-fi monster movies.
So, maybe cut ’em some slack.
See full postings for May 2020:
A Bee Culture Catch the Buzz reports on a blind beekeeper:
“I can hear how the bees are behaving — if they’re agitated, if there are other bees trying to get in the hive, or if it’s too crowded or too hot or too cold,” said Aerial Gilbert, an avid beekeeper in Petaluma. ‘What you want to hear,’ she said, ‘is a calm steady buzz. That indicates that everything in the hive is going smoothly.’ Gilbert tends to three beehives on her back patio.”
“When Gilbert went blind in 1988, beekeeping was one of the hobbies she figured she’d have to give up. But in the years since, she has found ways to do the things she used to before losing her sight. And that has meant relying a lot more on the power of sound.
“ ‘When I worked with my bees, the information I was paying attention to was visual,’ Gilbert said. ‘Now it’s the other senses’ .”
This is being studied by sighted folks using artificial intelligence via https://www.beehealth.guru/. Recently a call went out to the faithful to double down on sampling as the Spring of 2020 in coming on strong.
Could “cold storage” be a useful beekeeping tool for almond growers and beekeepers?
“…DeGrandi-Hoffman and her team found that the size of the colony and percent of varroa mite infestation in September could impact the chance of overwinter survival. With this information, they put together a tool to predict the odds that honey bee colonies that are overwintered in cold storage will be large enough to rent for almond pollination in February.
“We wanted to build a model with flexibility to help prevent beekeepers from throwing good money after bad,” she says. “They can now make those decisions based on the condition of the colony and communicate to the almond grower in September what the chances are of them having the colony sizes they’re looking for in February, and everyone can manage accordingly.”
“The tool is currently available as a table, but the team is working to develop a cold storage webpage with an online version as well.”
Wintering honey bees indoors is not a new idea but the modeling aspect adds to the conversation.
One hundred seventy three units of Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, second edition, were sold on Amazon.com April 20 to May 17, 2020. Chicago led the way in sales as it did in the reporting last month
From the editorial endorsements:
““This book belongs in every beekeeper’s library. The authors have successfully blended the science and art of beekeeping in a book suitable for beginning and experienced beekeepers.” — Hachiro Shimanuki, retired Laboratory Director of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Service
— Hilary Kearney, Girl Next Door Honey
Malcolm T. Sanford
https://beekeep.info
https://patreon.com/beeactor
