APIS Volume 9, Number 10, October 1991
In this issue
- Proposed Registration Fees in Florida
- Observations on Chinese Beekeeping
- Pou Pourri of Research Results at ABRC
PROPOSED REGISTRATION FEES
The Honey Bee Technical Council, an advisory body to Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner, Bob Crawford, met September 24. A proposal to institute registration fees by the Division of Plant Industry's Apiary Bureau was brought before the group.
Proposed fees would be charged on a sliding scale based on the number of colonies a beekeeper manages.These would be payable each year; there would be a penalty not to exceed $10 per year for late registration certificates, those renewed after the anniversary date. It is estimated that the sum total of these fees would constitute less than 20% of the Apiary Bureau's expenses. In addition to this registration fee, beekeepers asking the Apiary Bureau for special inspections (tracheal or Varroa mite certifications and others) would also be charged specifically for these services, not to exceed the actual cost of the service.
There was considerable discussion about the proposed registration fee. Concerns were raised about the sliding scale and the mechanism by which the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services might raise the fees in the future. The Council finally tabled the issue until its next meeting which will probably take place in November. Whether or not the Honey Bee Technical Council decides to support this legislation, there seems little doubt it will be proposed in the upcoming legislative session.
Payment of registration fees represents a radical shift in Florida's apiary inspection situation. The concept is consistent, however, with what is happening around the nation (see the article in last month's APIS) and the recent budgetary crisis. Should a ground swell of opposition to these "user fees" develop, the Florida beekeeping industry would risk degrading, if not losing, its bee inspecting effort. It is imperative, therefore, that beekeepers contact their legislators about bee inspection issues soon.
If you are not receiving information on meetings of the Honey Bee Technical Council and missed the September 24 event, you can ask to be placed on the mailing list. Write to Mr. Laurence Cutts, Apiary Bureau, Division of Plant Industry, P.O. Box 1269, Gainesville 32606, ph 904/372-3505, Ext. 128.
CHINESE BEEKEEPING
Beekeeping in the world's most populous nation has always held a fascination for many. Mr. Horace Bell, recently returned from China, reported on his three-week journey at the Honey Bee Technical Council Meeting. The typical Chinese beekeeper, according to Mr. Bell, is well informed, manages from 70 to 100 colonies, lives in a tent near the colonies and has four employees. Migratory beekeeping also exists. Five to six beekeepers often join forces; the government trucks their colonies to the rail line where they are placed on cars and accompanied by the beekeepers, tent and all, to another location.
Most beekeepers are producing royal jelly in China for which there is a huge market. Some 1,000 metric tons are collected each year, Mr. Bell said. Beekeepers manipulate their colonies each day and the bees are very gentle (no smoke or veils are used!). Bees are also fed every day and 125 grafted cells are put in each colony for jelly production.
Virtually all honey bees seen by Mr. Bell were European (Apis mellifera); he was able to find only two colonies of Apis cerana, the Asian relative of the European honey bee. According to Mr. Bell's observations, the reason so few Apis cerana bees are used is that their production is less than European bees. He understood, however, that cerana is found more in subtropical areas where Varroa might be more problematic. Varroa mites are present in China, but beekeepers use "herbal remedies" to keep populations low in European bees; cerana bees are inherently resistant to the mite. Mr. Bell was unable to determine which remedies are being used, but he collected evidence that several formulations of fluvalinate, used elsewhere in the world for Varroa control, have found their way to China.
Dr. Jim Tew, who also went to China on the same tour with Mr. Bell, also sent me an official report on the beekeeping situation. According to this document, in 1989, 7,350,000 colonies of honey bees made 189,000 tons of honey, 800 tons of royal jelly and 800 tons of marketable bee collected pollen. Product processing has grown since the 1970s to 400 factories. These market over 100 kinds of medicines and food products. A national Research Apicultural Institute employing some 130 scientists is helping China upgrade its beekeeping. There are four national bee journals, a national Chinese apicultural association with 27 branches and 40 specialized queen rearing facilities. China's beekeeping industry has definitely made impressive strides in the last 10 years. The country is looking forward to hosting the 34th International Apicultural Congress in 1994.
ABRC IN TUCSON
The warm winds of Tucson, Arizona welcomed participants to the annual American Bee Research Conference (ABRC), October 7 and 8. This meeting continues to bring together beekeepers, scientists and others to share ideas about honey bee research. The full proceedings of the conference in the form of compiled abstracts of papers presented will be published in the American Bee Journal, but here are a few interesting items I picked up while attending.
Dr. Martha Gilliam of the Tucson bee laboratory provided a description of her efforts to identify enzymes particular to certain strains of the disease. Three specific enzymes are now being looked at carefully in order to develop a testing kit.
As a follow up, Boris Yakobson from Israel provided an interesting sketch of a large chalkbrood epidemic in Israel. The country has 800 beekeepers keeping 80,000 hives; 70% of the beekeeping is commercial in nature. Israeli beekeepers manage European bees (Apis mellifera ligustica) and try to keep the feral colonies of overdefensive Apis mellifera syriaca bees at bay by constantly requeening. Average honey production is 35 kilos (77 pounds); 2/3 from citrus.
Chalkbrood was first identified in Israel in 1984, becoming epidemic in 1989 when 20% of colonies suffered serious damage. All apiaries were infested by 1990. Possible causes of this problem include stresses caused by: a new strain of the causative fungus (Ascosphaera apis), a rise in nosema levels coupled with increased use of fumagillin, a large-scale change in the genetic makeup of colonies (some 45,000 queens were brought from Australia for requeening purposes), effects of Varroa infestation and treatment for the mite, mixed infections of sacbrood and chalkbrood. Although they are searching for chemical control, the Israelis have as yet found no effective way to curb this infestation.
Detecti ng Varroa mites more efficiently was addressed by Dr. Clarence Collison and colleagues at Mississippi State and Pennsylvania State Universities. This research showed that ether roll sampling for Varroa is extremely variable. At least 1,000 bees must be sampled in order to pick up low infestation levels. Dr. Tom Webster at Kentucky State University did a study to determine if it would be effective to use cheaper vegetable oil instead of more expensive ether on bees emerging from comb. He used newly emerged bees to bias the sample toward the most infested part of a colony, the brood comb. The vegetable oil did dislodge mites. In addition more were detected in the newly emerged bee sample, but this necessarily made it a two-step process (first combs of emerging brood are removed, then the new bees are rolled in oil). Finally, he found that Apistan (R) plastic strips were far more sensitive in finding low infestations. Unfortunately, the latter method uses pesticides in a colony and is expensive.
Are destung bees suicidal? That question, asked by L.G. Schen and Dr. Justin Schmidt at the Tucson bee lab, was answered by a resounding yes. It seems that bees without stingers pursue those identified as enemies farther from the hive than do those which have retained their stings. In other words, they become expendable and are the leading vanguard of the colony's defense efforts.
Given the need to develop and maintain breeding stock, Dr. John Harbo of the Louisiana bee lab provided information on how to effectively manage laying workers to conserve genetic mutant markers. Because drones are haploid and show the markers, it makes sense that maintaining drone populations developed by laying workers is a good strategy. It also is a way to ensure drone rearing for purposes of instrumental insemination.
New information on the African honey bee also emerged at the ABRC meeting. Dr. Bill McKenna, an immunologist, from Harlingen, Texas provided insight into the search for an antivenom for bee stings. None has been found yet, but it is being investigated for the main components of bee venom: mellitin, phospholipase and hyaluronidase. He also indicated that there will probably be an increase in allergic reactions to stings as more and more persons come in contact with African bees. Killing bees using diesel fuel does not work as well as soapy water according to Dr. Bill Wilson of the Weslaco bee lab. And any detergent will not do--Dr. Wilson suggested the brand names Dawn (R), Dove (R), Palmolive (R) or any of that same type were the best. Drs. Justin Schmidt and Heyward Spangler from the Tucson bee lab did a number of tests in Costa Rica to see if an African bee attack can be stopped. They were able to reduce attacks by up to 80%, but this is certainly not sufficient considering the physical number of bees that might be involved.
Dr. Orley Taylor from the University of Kansas and colleagues presented data to show that in northern Mexico the paternity of African bees is rapidly increasing at the expense of that of European bees. This was discovered by studying frequencies of different forms of malic dehydrogenase (MDH) and hexokinase (HK) found in the bee populations. The sizes of worker bees and worker cells in combs also declines as these frequencies change. Fortunately, according to Dr. Taylor, the rate of loss is influenced by density and distribution of a managed European population, and the outcome should change as the bees approach their climatic limits in the United States.
Trapping technology continues to evolve according to Dr. Justin Schmidt and Steve Thoenes of the Tucson bee lab. The paper pulp trap now has a counterpart which accepts standard frames. In one test, there was no significant difference in attracting swarms between the two types. Traps should be placed at least 3 yards above the ground, and the more out of the way the better for passersby. Effectiveness of traps is definitely increased using pheromone lure, a combination of geraniol, citral and nerolic acid. The latter ingredient is difficult to find, but is so effective it's worth the extra effort and cost, Dr. Schmidt said.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 904-392-0190
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
©1991 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved
