Dear Subscribers,
The 150th Celebration at the A.I. Root Company was even more significant than expected. Beyond the various presentations, it was announced that long-time editor of Bee Culture, Kim Flottum, is stepping down and taking his place will be Jerry Hayes, who readers might know as the current author of American Bee Journal’s extremely popular monthly column, “The Classroom.” Mr. Hayes has a long history of employment in regulatory (Florida State Apiarist), research (Monsanto’s now Bayer’s honey bee point person), and is currently North American Vice President of Vita Bee Health. This situation could mean some interesting developments in the possible future alignment and focus of both monthly beekeeping magazines that have been in publication since the 1800s.
Another focus of the celebration was the historical and current role of women in beekeeping. Tammy Horn, known for several books relating to the apicultural field and current Kentucky State Apiarist, discussed the current “feminization” of long-term male-dominated beekeeping organizations, especially the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) .
An interesting wrinkle is Ms. Horn’s current relationship with the family of significant female Root employee or “hand,” Jane Cole, who by all accounts, contributed greatly to the success of the company during its early years. Several contemporary relatives of Ms. Cole in fact attended the event in Medina. Finally, it is remarkable that although Mr. Flottum is “retiring,” his wife and long-term “hand” at Bee Culture (Kathy Summers), is staying on and will continue to contribute to the magazine, making Mr. Hayes’ transition to full-time editor as smooth as possible.
The fallout from Apimondia 46 continues with accolades from around the world concerning its professionalism and content. The recent thank you note from the organizers tells the tale . This will be quite a bar to clear as the Russians now begin preparations for Apimondia 47 in 2021
Given Canadian Ron Miksha report on the “surprising scandal” that occurred as part of events in Montreal, the leadership has developed a response to the events, partially described in his post :
“The Apimondia Congress provides a forum for the world to come together to face common challenges within the beekeeping sectors. Most of the world’s beekeepers are currently facing enormous difficulties with unsustainable prices for their products. Being a beekeeper is becoming more and more difficult with modern agribusiness and global climate change. However, it is the duty of Apimondia to constantly increase the quality of bee products, even in current quite unfavorable environments.
“Apimondia is working intensely to address the problem of honey adulteration. In January 2018 the first version of the Statement on Honey Fraud was released. This Statement reflects the official pledge becomes available and more voices make their genuine contributions.
“In this context, the Apimondia Executive Council has been focused on improving the standards for the World Beekeeping Awards. A higher standard for participation acceptance has been utilized in order to reflect Apimondia’s commitment with the increasing quality of beekeeping products. This year entrants in the honey categories have been subjected to external laboratory analysis using ISO 17025 accredited laboratories to test for honey purity, contamination with residues, and some traditional quality parameters.
“The results of laboratory testing indicate to us that there is much work to do and many areas that we, as a global beekeeping community, can focus on for improvement. They also reflect an increasing pressure on beekeepers to maintain the health of their bees, which may in turn increase the risk of unintentional contamination of their products.
“Honey has many special characteristics, some of which are still being discovered in many parts of the world. Whilst we face these challenging times, we in Apimondia have no choice but to meet these challenges head on, to inform, support and improve the quality of our products. Beekeepers need good knowledge, education and support globally. The World Beekeeping Awards, the Apimondia Statement on Honey Adulteration, and this Congress are part of this ongoing process to improve beekeeping and bee products.”
Given the official motto of Apimondia 46, “Beekeeping Together Within Agriculture,” Jerry Hayes at the A.I. Root commemorative gave what I consider a presentation that should be part of every beekeeper’s bag of tricks. Little is needed to carry off this “elevator” speech in an effort to educate people about what humanity, and by extension honey bees, are facing. It includes an apple, knife, paper towel and minimum script, as we confront the potential future of life as we know it on our pale blue dot. The simplicity of this metaphor for the earth’s potential resources and its relationship to human inhabitants is profound.
Thanks to Joe Traynor for his continued contribution to this website/newsletter/digest.
Read about the 2019 almond crop and prices; why almonds plantings are down; all about self-fertile almonds, the significance of California fog; bee forage expansion, farming the sun; and Dr. Robbin Thorp’s obituary, among other topics.
There’s often novel news reported that might be considered old in the scientific world. Take the idea of using honey bees as vectors for pest control, recently touted in Canada is an example. The idea has been around at least since the year 2000. Marla Spivak, a MacArthur fellow and an entomology professor at the University of Minnesota, declined an interview for the Canadian story, but sent a note saying, “I think we need more research on the risks that fungicides pose to bee health before using them as vectors.”
There’s been a lot of press in recent years about human migration. Less dramatic, but perhaps more profound, is honey bee immigration, generally facilitated by human activity. According to contributor Rusty Burlew, “while humans were busy squabbling over the border between the United States and Mexico, a tiny black immigrant bee was discreetly homesteading in California. A new sighting of a Central American native bee, a member of the genus Plebeia, was recently reported in a genteel area of Palo Alto, some 500 miles to the north of Mexico.
“Apparently, the manager of the Elizabeth Gamble Garden, an iconic public park, contacted a company for help in removing a bee nest from the premises. On seeing the nest, however, the exterminator sent a specimen to an entomologist who recognized the bee as Plebeia, one of many genera belonging to the tribe Meliponini, commonly known as stingless honey bees.
“Until this sighting, only one stingless bee colony was known to exist north of the Mexican border, a nest that was first discovered in a Palo Alto backyard in 2013 and was being monitored by the State of California. Plebeia is a small genus of heat-loving bees native to southern Mexico and Central America that ranges as far south as Argentina. Since the first sighting in California, at least three other photos of Plebeia have shown up, all within a short distance of the original nest. These recent sightings are most likely descendants of the 2013 colony.
“No one knows where they crossed the border or how they got so far north. Someone could have smuggled them in, or perhaps they hitched a ride in a shipment of goods. It is also possible, though highly unlikely, they traveled on their own over the course of many years. In any case, higher than average annual temperatures no doubt played a role in their survival.”
The article goes on to list a huge number of present and potential migrants that are out there. It’s been suggested that some 20,000 species of bees exist worldwide. Looks like plenty of opportunities for the trend to continue.
United Nations day here in Gainesville, Florida featured climate change as its main topic, the key note speaker being celebrated author Cynthia Barnett. Most remarkable was the presentation by the so-called “youth panel .” These middle school students provided a breath of fresh air to the conversation, beginning with the message from activist Greta Thunberg.
It appears more and more likely that the next and following generations will bring clearer messages to the table about climate change as they will be living with the consequences. Look for evidence of this growing movement in your own back yard. The Risk Monger’s take is intriguing, humorous, somewhat sad and problematic, suggesting the European Union is on the Elton John rather than Bruce Willis’ approach to the problem.
I am in the midst of the book called “Sapiens,” Much of what is written by the author concerns the irony of calling all humans on this earth “wise.” There have been more than one human species over millennia, but only the “wise ones ”Homo sapiens” persist today. The book’s thesis is that the ability of sapiens to substitute fictional (cognitive) myths for reality enables the species to cooperate on a grand scale, often to the detriment of the planet it shares with all other forms of life.
It is intriguing that many press releases and information sources about climate change refer to the destruction of the planet, another fiction. The reality is the planet will be just fine and life itself will not disappear. This is revealed in the legacy of the asteroid hit that killed the dinosaurs, recently published in Science Magazine:
“When the asteroid slammed into Earth, it wiped out 75% of living species, including any mammal much larger than a rat. Half the plant species died out. With the great dinosaurs gone, mammals expanded, and the new study traces that process in exquisite detail.
“Most fossil sites from after the impact have gaps, but sediment accumulated nearly continuously for one million years on the flood plain that is now the Corral Bluffs site. So the site preserves a full record of ancient life and the environment.
“Plants and animals came back much faster than thought with plants spurring mammals to diversify, the team reports today in Science. ‘They get almost the whole picture, which is quite exciting,’ says functional anatomist Amy Chew of Brown University. ‘This high-resolution integrated record really tells us what’s going on.’ “
Glyphosate is back in the news. So much so that the University of Florida has seen fit to produce a 40 minute webinar on the substance. This is mostly about defining “risk,” or “toxicity” versus “hazard” in terms of cancer when it comes to this molecule, similar to historical studies of pesticide effects on honey bees. There is now concern about other aspects of the glyphosate molecule, with reference to both the honey bee and human gut. This discussion has been added to a public posting found at the Apis Information Resource News Digest.
Honey bees and African elephants don’t mix it seems. That’s the concept being used in South Africa to help both species. It’s unimaginable that a 14,000 pound animal would fear a tiny insect, but elephants are scared of bees. Ronnie Makukule is using this simple fact to conserve vulnerable vegetation and protect crops. Elephants have the capacity to completely wipe out thickets of trees by eating or trampling them. Efforts to deter them – thorny hedges, deep trenches, or fighting back with rocks, spears, firecrackers and guns – have not only failed, but in some cases resulted in the loss of life of both humans and elephants. In the midst of what appears to be a lose-lose situation, Makukule manages the world’s largest land mammals with fences made from bee hives.
“The revolutionary method harnesses the natural animosity between the two creatures. When bees are aggravated by elephants, they target their vulnerable spots – their trunks and eyes. The elephants have since learned to stay away. Working in bee husbandry, Makukule’s fences provide a more humane method of control. It also allows him to explore his interest in conservation, which has been growing since he was a child. After Makukule was awarded a scholarship to study environmental education and nature conservation at the Southern African Wildlife College, he then ran environmental awareness programs at schools for the Timbavati Foundation. In 2016, Makukule joined Elephants Alive, using his ability to identify individual elephants and collect DNA samples to become a valuable researcher on the team. However, it’s his work as head of the Bee Project that has made the most significant impact.
“Human aggression towards elephants has contributed to their already dwindling numbers caused by poachers. Beehive fences are a peaceful means of alleviating the conflict between humans and elephants, without causing harm to either. The bees also pollinate plants and add to the biodiversity of the area. Unlike electric fences, the initial cost of beehive fences is soon counteracted by the income from honey production. It’s an ingenious method and proof that nature has the best solutions. With a little creative thinking, something small can make a huge difference in conservation and wildlife management.”
Interest in Manuka honey continues to be on the rise. There’s an ongoing discussion about the sweet in New Zealand and Australia. Now comes word that the Chinese are getting into the game in a big way.
“The Manuka Honey Appellation Society has landed government support for its quest for a Chinese trademark registration for the term ’Manuka.’ New Zealand Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor recently stated that ‘the producers’ application to Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court would protect the hard work of Kiwi manuka producers,” and as reported by Reuters, the New Zealand government is giving the Manuka Honey Appellation Society $3.6 million in funding in furtherance of its efforts aimed at trademark protection in Beijing. The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council will certainly fight back, calling the fight ‘a major trade issue in need of Department of Agriculture and Department of Trade involvement.’
“Australian Manuka honey producers, including those from the Australian Manuka Honey Association, which is currently vying for government support of their own, says that if New Zealand receives a trademark registration for the name in China, they stand to lose nearly $700 million in annual sales.
“ ‘ The Chinese market – which is in the midst of what has been coined Manuka madness is proving to be a particularly critical one for both Australian and New Zealand Manuka brands. Worsening pollution and product-safety scares are “changing consumer spending [habits]. Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group told Bloomberg. ‘Anything that’s sort of natural is doing really well,’ making Chinese demand at the forefront of the burgeoning Manuka market, and the quest for legal dominance.
Another honey from Western Australia (WA) is also being examined at as it is becoming more and more obvious that a so-called “plan b” with respect to the success of Manuka could become necessary.
“Nectar collected from WA’s jarrah tree help bees brew a mighty honey. This dark, amber honey is a delicacy—also equipped with a high antimicrobial activity. But where the antimicrobial properties of manuka are mainly due to the MGO, jarrah’s advantages stem from high hydrogen peroxide levels.
“It should be noted that these antimicrobial properties depend on the honey being raw and unpasteurized and are only relevant when applied topically, like onto a wound. In other words, eating lots of honey is not the answer!
“WA’s ChemCentre is leading multiple projects to understand what bioactive compounds are present in WA honey—specifically the chemistry of jarrah, marri, powder bark and flat-topped yate. Its goal is to design a certification process that honey producers can use that places a scientific value on these unique WA products.”
Kim Kaplan at USDA/ARS has posted an intriguing story concerning Deformed Wing Virus Genetic Diversity in U.S. Honey Bees. DWV), one of the leading causes of honey bee colony losses, is much more genetically diverse in the United States than previously thought, according to a study published by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in PLoS Biology.
“The diverse lineages of this virus are all equally bad for bees, and they make it more complicated to develop antiviral therapeutics, which could be the basis for developing a vaccine for the virus.
“The high level of genetic diversity was found among the virus population within individual honey bees as well as within bee colonies. About nine percent of the nucleotides in DWV’s RNA have polymorphic variants (places in the genetic sequence with natural alternatives) that are present at numbers higher than half of one percent of the virus population. This corresponds to 100 million to 1 billion virus copies for any single divergent genetic position in an infected individual bee.
” ‘We found the genetic makeup of DWV in the United States is showing marked expansion in diversity after going through a strong bottleneck event, probably the arrival in the United States of the Varroa mite in the 1980s. Varroa seems to cause a dramatic loss of DWV genetic diversity in honey bees, because transmission by the mites favors a few more virulent strains,’ said virologist Eugene Ryabov, an International Fellow with the ARS Bee Research Laboratory, who led the study. ARS researchers Jay Evans and Judy Chen also worked on this study.
The conclusion at this point in time is the same as for many other conditions currently affecting the honey bee. Lower the potential virus loads through aggressive control of the Varroa mite population.
Given the emphasis in my last posting of this digest on honey adulteration/contamination at Apimondia 46, a Bee Culture Catch the Buzz has been posted concerning yet another effort to certify honey in the market place:
“Confusion among honey consumers in Canada and the United States reached its peak over the last few weeks when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and a lawsuit filed in Kansas alleged that the honey industry in both countries is rife with fraud.
“For over 10 years, Mitchell Weinberg, founder of the food fraud investigation firm INSCATECH®, has been speaking about the pervasiveness of food fraud. In responding to the recent news about honey fraud, Weinberg stated: “Finally, consumers are being made aware of the fact that they are being grossly misled about the authenticity of the food they consume. The situation with honey is particularly egregious, because honest beekeepers and a handful of ethical honey packers are battling severely declining honeybee populations, authentic honey shortages and unscrupulous actors in the honey industry.”
“INSCATECH® recently launched a new honey authenticity certification program called GenuHoney™, that Weinberg is striving to make the most stringent and transparent food authenticity certification yet. Weinberg stated that honey is the first of several commodities that INSCATECH® will be certifying for authenticity. “Rebuilding consumer trust in honey and other food is paramount to INSCATECH®. GenuHoney™ will provide consumers with certification that they can finally trust”, said Weinberg.” .For more on this subject, check out the primer on honey on honey adulteration posted last month.
Dr. Tom Seeley’s keynote address on “Darwinian Beekeeping,” was a hit at Apimondia 46: The abstract states in part: “The goal is to harmonize our beekeeping methods with the natural history of Apis mellifera, and thus allow the bees to make full use of the toolkit of adaptations that they have evolved over the last 30 million years. I will review ways in which the living conditions of honey bees differ between wild and managed colonies. I will also show how we can pursue beekeeping in a way that is centered less on treating a bee colony as a honey factory and more on nurturing the lives of honey bee.”
We can see that many are taking up the mantle of Darwinian beekeeping. One concept known and “rewilding” honey bees has recently made the news in California. A Michael Thiele is championing the idea of allowing honey bees to live as they did for millions of years — in natural log hives high above the ground. “We can do this very, very simple thing — return bees into their natural nest environment, into their natural biosphere,” said German-born Thiele at his home in Sebastopol, California. “If we lose them due to human-induced mass extinction, will there be a tomorrow?”
The idea that this strategy is going to save the honey bee from the ministrations of human beekeepers could be a bridge too far. There will indeed be a “tomorrow.” That’s because the overall effect of commercial beekeeping will no doubt prevail, providing more and more incentive to continue keeping the honey bee in its current domesticated status.
A Bee Culture Catch the Buzz announces a first-of-its-kind review involving pollinators, pollination and natural hazards signals a wake-up call to scientists and policy makers: “Two scientists—lead author Charlie Nicholson, a UC Davis postdoctoral scholar formerly with the University of Vermont (UVM), and senior author Paul Egan, a senior researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences–analyzed 117 published research papers on natural hazards that threaten pollinators and pollination.
“Their paper, Natural Hazard Threats to Pollinators and Pollination published in the journal Global Change Biology, sounds the alarm to scientists and policy makers to place the impacts of natural hazards at the center of future research in order to emphasize conservation and reduce disaster risks.
“Previous research on threats to pollinators primarily focuses on direct human impacts, but scientific knowledge of natural hazard impacts has not been synthesized as yet.
“ ‘The frequency and intensity of many natural hazards, such as floods and storms, are set to increase under climate change, so bringing together the evidence of these impacts is really timely,’ said Nicholson, who joined the Neal Williams lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, earlier this year.
“In reviewing the 117 studies, published in 68 different journals dating from 1979 to 2018 and encompassing 45 countries, the authors identified patterns of mainly negative impacts to pollinators and pollination from flooding, drought, and extreme heat. The effects of hurricanes, but especially fire, revealed mixed outcomes ‘with meta-analysis revealing mainly beneficial effects for bee abundance and species richness,’ said Nicholson. .
As always, consult the latest extension efforts at the Bee Health Extension site. See the major project known as USDA-ARS Areawide Project to Improve Honey Bee Health
Fifty four units of Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees, second edition were sold on Amazon.com September 23 through October 20, 2019. Denver CO and Porland, OR 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, now retired.
Malcolm T. Sanford
https://beekeep.info
https://patreon.com/beeactor
