Académique Documents
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Eugene Makovec
Advertising Manager -
Marta Menn
Publishing Department -
Dianne Behnke & Susan Nichols
info@americanbeejournal.com
www.americanbeejournal.com CONTENTS
Volume 159 No. 3 March 2019
DEPARTMENTS
From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 ARTICLESS
• Bee Innovative: A Report on the 2019 ABF Conference
Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . 249 Charles and Karen Lorence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
My old neighbor had one of the takers. One insisted that the honey We then boarded the tug, appro-
coolest jobs in the world. He man- bee was protected and could not be priately named the Erna E. Honeycutt,
aged a fleet for the largest barge exterminated without just cause. and headed upriver in the direction
company in the nation. Ed’s office So they called Ed. “Well,” he said, of the Arch. On the pilot’s radio, one
floated on the Mississippi River in “it just so happens my neighbor is a of the crew was saying, “Yeah, it’s
East Carondelet, IL, just across the beekeeper. Let me give him a call and about the size of a football, or maybe
Jefferson Barracks Bridge from St. get back to you.” half that.” Hmmm, I thought.
Louis County. A half hour later I was standing in As we neared the barges, the pilot
Every few weeks, Ed would hop a Ed’s backyard. He was on the phone pointed. “You see the pump housing
tugboat and travel with its crew for with one of the crew. “There’s enough sticking up from that barge? That’s
a week or so, pushing barges of corn, bees here to fill a two-foot-by-two- where the bees are.” We pulled along-
coal, pig iron and other commodities foot box,” the guy was saying. I’d side, donned our life vests and head-
throughout the great river system of brought over a five-frame nuc box ed outside.
these United States. to hive the swarm, but at this news Three crew members stood a few
One summer Sunday, Ed called I walked home and grabbed a full feet from the pump housing. An area
me with an urgent request. He’d deep. Better safe than sorry. about 12x15 feet was taped off like
just heard from one of his tug pilots, Other details were sketchy, but they a crime scene. A sheet of cardboard
who was about to shove off from St. made one thing perfectly clear: This warned in black marker: “Stay Away
Louis. Another crew had come up particular barge crew was not leaving — Bees in Area.”
the Mississippi the night before, and town with bees on board. Three of the crew stood a few feet
they’d arrived with a swarm of bees We drove the 30 or so miles to Ed’s away. “There they are,” said one as I
on one of the barges. To the best of office, where we were each required approached.
their knowledge, they’d picked them to produce a photo ID — Coast Guard I took a step closer. “Where?”
up somewhere in Arkansas; the un- regs, post-9/11. We loaded all my “Right there,” he pointed.
wanted cargo had been on board for equipment, including a shop vac and Finally, I saw them. Hanging from
at least three days. two extra bee suits. Again, better safe the bottom corner of the pump hous-
A couple of pest control companies than sorry, given the spotty informa- ing, about a foot off the ground, was
had been called, but there were no tion and the distance from home. the swarm. I’d say it was the size of a
football, or maybe half that. They fit
in my nuc box with plenty of room to
spare.
It wasn’t a wasted trip. Ed gave me
a tour of the Honeycutt, then took me
to the galley where the ship’s cook
whipped up lunch for us. It was the
best meal I’d had in months — and
you can tell my ex I said so.
Since the weather was nice, the box
was screened and there was no dan-
ger of overheating, we stopped for a
beer on the Illinois side before head-
ing home.
Back at the bee yard I made a point
of requeening the itinerants. I’ve
never met a mean swarm, but there’s
no telling how far south this one had
originated, or what kind of genes they
carried with them. I probably should
have screened out any drones too,
but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
REGIONAL
EASTERN APICULTURAL SOCIETY
ON THE ROAD TO APIMONDIA MONTRÉAL 2019! ANNUAL SHORT COURSE & CONFERENCE
Register now! South Carolina EAS 2019
To register for Apimondia Montreal 2019, simply go to July 15 - 19th
http://www.apimondia2019.com/ and follow the instruc-
Greenville Convention Center
tions. The cost to attend the scientific program and Api-
www.easternapiculture.org
Expo from 8 to 12 September 2019 is $ 375 CDN. We have
negotiated competitive prices for accommodations near
First EAS in South Carolina
the Palais des Congrès de Montréal with 3 to 5-star ho-
tels available. Montreal is a popular tourist city and we
anticipate several thousand delegates, so do not hesitate STATES
to make your hotel reservations to ensure your desired
choices will be available (go to the “Accommodation” tab). ARIZONA
Our scientific program is fascinating with numerous
symposia, round tables and training workshops on hot Arizona State University has been teaching beekeeping
bee topics. courses since 2009. In 2017 we also started to give some
Excellent sponsorship options and several ApiExpo continuing professional education courses on weekends to
spaces / kiosks are still available; we invite all beekeeping bee lovers, beekeepers and other professionals. We offer
stakeholders to take advantage of this unique opportunity four courses in two seasons this year.
to promote your business or sell your products. Interest- Spring session information is as follows:
ed? Go to the website http://www.apimondia2019.com/
and look under the “Sponsor” tab for more information, 1. Introduction to Beekeeping: March 2, 2019
or write directly to Marguglio Marienza (m.marguglio@ 2. Technical Beekeeping: March 30-31, 2019
aimgroup.eu). 3. Queen Bee Rearing: April 6 -7, 2019
Follow Apimondia Montreal 2019 on our facebook page 4. Instrumental Insemination of Queen Bees:
https://fr-ca.facebook.com/apimondia2019/. April 20-21, 2019
Rod Scarlett, Steve Pernal and Pierre Giovenazzo
Apimondia Montréal 2019 executive committee There is more information on our website at https://
courses.cpe.asu.edu/?query=bee%20courses
May 18 & 19, 2019 Keynote: Dr. May Berenbaum (Univ. of Illinois)
University of Illinois Extension Office Breakout Sessions
402 Ava RD Beginners Track
Murphysboro, IL 62966 Trade Show
Join the IQI & SIBA for a 2-day queen rearing class. This Registration opening soon at www.michiganbees.org
class is geared towards anyone who wants to learn about
queens and how to make backyard beekeeping sustainable.
Instructors are The Egyptian Queen Breeders & IQI Presi-
dent, Scott Martin. Registration is required and available MICHIGAN
through https://www.illinoisqueeninitiative.com sOutHeast MiCHigan Beekeepers assOCiatiOn
TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA
MarCH 21- 23, 2019
fOuntainHeaD COllege Of teCHnOlOgy virginia state Beekeepers assOCiatiOn (vsBa)
3203 tazewell pike – knOxville, tn, 37918 suMMer Meeting
For more information and to register for this exciting fri., May 31st (nOOn) – June 1, 2019
event please visit www.honeyconvention.com freDeriCksBurg HOspitality HOuse, freDeriCksBurg, va
The HONEY Convention is dedicated to educating all
beekeepers and people wanting to help honey bees. With Featuring Kim Flottum, Dr. Jennifer Tsurdua, honey and
over 380 people last year at the convention, we are grow- hive product workshop, and more. See: https://www.vir-
ing and will be even bigger in 2019. If you are just getting giniabeekeepers.org/
started or even thinking about honey bees, we have classes
for you. If you are a beekeeper for a year to 50+ years, we
have classes for you. There will be over 20 speakers and VIRGINIA
over 60 classes to pick and choose to attend.
There will be a FREE beginners beekeeping class that will Dr. leO sHaraskin’s natural Beekeeping
talk about what you need to become a beekeeper. We en- an all Day intensive wOrksHOp
courage all to come! This class is free and open to the public. april 6, 2019
The HONEY Convention is a not for profit, 501C-3 chari-
table organization. Blue riDge COMMunity COllege (Off i-81)
weyers Cave, virigina
TEXAS Keeping bees can be simple, healthful, and rewarding.
Dr. Leo shares time-honored methods that take the sting
CENTRAL TEXAS BEEKEEPERS SCHOOL
NOW ACCEPTING STUDENTS
out of beekeeping and make it fun and accessible to all.
Experienced beekeepers – from backyard hobbyists to
Learn how to produce your own honey and help save commercial – who seek ways to keep their bees treatment-
the bees by attending the Eleventh Annual Central Tex- free with minimal intervention and expense will glean a
as Beekeepers School on Saturday, March 23 at Brenham swath of ideas that can be applied to their existing opera-
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
BEE LAB PRESENT:
A
United States advertised packaged prices have
s always, weather plays a tre- Demand for honey is strong, espe- dropped slightly from last year
mendous part in our market cially varietals. (about $125-140 as opposed to $140-
report. It’s been warm and New Mexico reports a colder- 150 for a three-pound package).
wet, for example, in the Mideastern than-usual winter, but with normal Iowa honey crops were down for
states, while drought-driven forest moisture conditions, and many bee- the year, but demand for honey has
fires disrupted markets out west. keepers plan on expanding in the been high, especially over the holi-
Northeast—The good news in this coming year. days.
region is that the mild winter has al- East Central—Wisconsin beekeep- One Iowa reporter says, “... the
lowed plenty of “cleansing flights.” ers report adequate stores going into closer we look at the mite load the
The bad news is the bees are burn- winter, but mostly mild temperatures more disappointed we get,” but
ing lots of fuel in the process. Over- and little snow thus far. After a very “Randy Oliver continues to reinforce
all honey sales seem to have fallen in cold fall, this mild period has allowed our hopes!”
recent months in Maine. New York some operators to apply needed ox- From South Dakota we hear crops
beekeepers report higher public in- alic acid treatments. are down significantly, with harvests
terest in “raw” honey. Honey prices in the Badger State only at 60% of what was produced
Mideast—Tennessee and Ken- remain steady as demand is high. last year. The movement of honey at
tucky beekeepers report very strong “Clean wax with no pesticide resi- the wholesale level is poor, due pri-
demand for local honey has driven due” commands $7.00 to $10.00 per marily to cheap imports. A large pro-
up prices, but that this has also cre- pound. ducer reports: “The U.S. crop is very
ated a market for cheap “fake honey.” An estimated 30,000 Wisconsin col- short. Prices are weak but have to go
One Tennessee source expects onies left the state by mid-December up unless they fill the gap with im-
that, “with all the rain and normal to overwinter in warmer climes prior ports. We are holding out for $2.25.
weather, we could have a great early to heading to almonds and other pol- Same as last year.”
bloom of trees and flowers.” lination crops in late winter/early Mite counts are reportedly better in
In Kentucky, even Whole Foods spring. The state’s Agriculture De- Illinois, and loss predictions are about
has jumped onto the “local honey” partment recently met with honey 10 percent, leading to high hopes for
bandwagon, and many local small producers to stress the importance of the coming season.
beekeepers are running out of honey. enforcing notifications and health in- Intermountain—Fall was relatively
Winter has also been “very mild but spections of colonies and used equip- warm, and bees looked good going
wet,” according to one reporter who ment entering the state. into winter.
expected to be feeding by sometime In Michigan, a source reports that a West—A Washington reporter says,
in February. “short crop” has led to strong whole- “Forest fires created a lot of smoke
Southeast—Colder weather has set sale prices. and depressed late nectar flows,”
in in Florida. Retail sales have beeen An Indiana beekeeper says, “The and also affected farm crop produc-
good, driven in part by specialty more the public hears about food and tion. Add to that the warm winter,
items such as “honey on the go” — honey fraud, the more they look for causing colonies to eat up their stores,
small samples of honey in packets local food and honey.” and winter losses are expected to be
or juice boxes that can be easily con- West Central—Nebraska reports higher than normal.
sumed by joggers or backpackers. an early, cold winter. Retail sales are The good news is, strong holiday
But while retail sales in Florida are sales buoyed the Washington retail
going well (“consumers have money market. One source reports that the
in their pockets”), several large pack- Northeast
Intermountain “rising tide” of public awareness
ers have reportedly stopped buying West West Central East Central
“keeps lifting all boats.”
wholesale honey due to low-price But unfortunately some retailers
pressure from imports and/or a lack are not altogether honest in their
of cash. marketing of local or “artisanal”
An Alabama beekeeper reports honey — for example, a Washington
good sales results via marketing on Mideast store places a “local honey” sign over
Facebook. honey from Washington, Oregon,
Southwest—Colonies were in Idaho and Colorado, and new lines
good shape going into winter with Southeast
of “local” honey are being rolled out
plenty of stores. Southwest by large-scale operators.
Argentina
Clover White $1.27 - 1.33
Clover Extra Light $1.27 - $1.30
Mixed Flowers White $1.10 - 1.40
Mixed Flowers Extra Light $1.10 - 1.23
Mixed Flowers Light Amber $0.99 - $1.20
Brazil
ORGANIC Light Amber $1.37 - 1.768
ORGANIC Amber $1.67
India
Mixed Flower White $0.90 - $0.97
Mixed Flower Extra Light $0.90 - $0.95
Mixed Flower Light Amber $0.87 - $0.96
Q
HIVE ey bees are to be considered pets or
JERRY COMMENT (UGH) livestock now as they need informed
COMPARISON beekeeper management. So, regard-
I have to submit the Classroom DATA less of the cavity or container you
column approximately two months place them in, being able to remove
Hello. I’m trying to find detailed
in advance of the publication date frames, sample for varroa and visu-
statistics for various hives, such as to-
for that ABJ. Sooooo, this is a couple ally inspect for other pests, parasites
tal number of bees, number of mites,
months old but it is a bizarre gem that and diseases, you have to be a good
worker/drone counts, brood count,
I wanted to share with you. beekeeper manager.
how often they swarm, how often a
I was cleaning my kitchen and had But the world isn’t perfect. There is
queen is replaced ... can you point me
the radio on and a program called an old adage from beekeepers that all
to such info?
‘Ask Me Another’ came on. It is a things being equal 30% of their colo-
Saturday game /quiz show with con- nies are textbook strong, viable and
Josh McFarland
testants and lots of questions. At the active, 30% are mediocre, and 30%
Hope, Arkansas
A
start of the show, they introduce the are junk.
Q
players and give some background
of each. One of the contestants was
introduced as a recent college gradu-
TEMPERATURE
ate who is also a Beekeeper. My ears, Good morning Josh McFarland CHANGES
of course, perked up and I quit mop- from Hope, Arkansas home of Bill
ping. He said he received a degree in I was outside this afternoon here in
and Hillary.
Philosophy and had his bees on the the Midwest looking at my six colo-
The short answer is no, nothing like
side of his house under his bedroom nies. The temperature was sunny and
that exists.
window. The emcee, of course, asked 37°F. Some of the bees were flying
Diversity in and of the honey bee
the question we all get, “Have you ‘a lot’ and some colonies not at all. I
colony is too great to be able to quan-
ever been stung”? He said yes, many thought when the temperature got to
tify based on the cavity they live in.
times, and that is why he takes a can about 57°F or so the colony forms a
Honey bees can live in a variety of
of Raid out with him everytime he cluster and stays there. Mine were ob-
cavities. I have seen them in hollow
looks in the colony. viously not. Are they sick or stressed
trees, a wall of a house/building, at-
WHAT??? I have NEVER ever or hungry? What’s going on?
tic, mailboxes, old car gas tanks in
NEVER heard of anyone using Raid salvage yards, underground in a cav-
or any pesticide as a management Mark
ity under a tree’s roots, water meter
tool for beekeeping. Can you imag- Lincoln, Nebraska
boxes and on and on. As long as the
A
ine!!! I think we are making progress cavity meets some marginal volume
and this happened on National Public then swarms will accept it. And then,
Radio. I am depressed. of course, there are different cavity
I have had a love for honey bees sizes of managed equipment globally
for lots of years. New beekeepers do that beekeepers provide and honey Great question, and glad you went
need some time to learn and this is bees adapt to. out and made the observation. Let
why I have said many times finding The number of honey bees in a me say I don’t know why your bees
a 5+ year beekeeper mentor is a good colony is dependent on the fecundity thought sunny 37°F was good but
thing to do. It shortens the learning of the queen, flower nectar and pol- here are a few things to think about.
curve. Please give the correct advice len resources in the area, how much First, you are absolutely right that
when the opportunity strikes. comb has worker size cells and how the marker of 57°F outside temp, in-
A
don’t have this long lasting cooling ing which doesn’t inundate the colony
will react to temperatures differently with food but supplies it in a helpful
and sooner than these other colonies. consistent amount over time.
There is so much that happens with
this diversity of genetics in honey bees You know what happens when you
Q
that creates survival and perceived in- assume, but I am assuming that you
consistency. Darwin would be proud. want to feed your colony(ies) because OXALIC WITH
they have less than 40-50 pounds of
DRONES
Q
guesstimated stored honey at this
time of year. This is guesstimated by I’m a young queen breeder in
HOW SHOULD I FEED?? lifting up one end of the colony at the Southern Virginia.
handhold. Not perfect but you can Can you inform me about the ef-
Hello there, get a good idea. fects of oxalic acid vapor on drones?
Hope 2019 is treating you kind. I If they are ‘lite’ in weight, then yes, Some breeders recommend using
have a question: supplemental feeding is appropriate. powdered sugar to control varroa
A
por in our operation and would do were interesting. I know the research
so in our drone colonies, but don’t started in 2017 in Washington State.
know what research has shown of What is the progress and what is
the effects on the drones’ fertility or your opinion on the mushroom
mating abilities. Sorry for the latish reply, I have soup recipe?
been on the road.
Respectfully, I do not know of any organiza- Thanks again,
Noah Renno tion that has a plan to be able to kill, TS of NW CO
Appalachian Bee Farm hurt, damage a little bug (varroa) on
A
a big bug (honey bee) safely and ef-
ficiently with a single-use, ‘silver bul-
A
let’ product.
The awkward part is that unfor-
tunately, corporations are all about The jury is still out, Terry. I don’t
money because they have to bring think honey bees are collecting mush-
OA can be effective at this time value to stockholders. Fortunately, room “stuff” because they read in the
of year when there are not a lot of they are the only ones that have sig- Apis mellifera Medical Association
drones being reared and not a lot of nificant money to pursue projects Journal ― I made that up :) ― that
brood in general which means most like RNAi that I spent time on. Like eating mushroom spores or mycelia
of the varroa are exposed in the ‘dis- everything else in life, there is a bal- made them healthier. Bees collect stuff
persal’ phase and can be impacted by ance and I tried to maintain that with ― fungal spores, dust from livestock
miticides. OA is most effective at this all of the researchers who worked on troughs, bird feeder dust, etc., etc. ―
time if used ONCE. Works well. RNAi for varroa control. But, walking and bring it home to eat when there is
OA is a harsh caustic acid and if a tightrope over Niagara Falls is hard, not enough natural pollen. And some
used multiple times those bees ex- so balance means not falling off but it of this stuff collected automatically
posed multiple times will experience, doesn’t mean not swaying back and by accident may have some medici-
many times, damage to their bodies. forth a bit as you cross. nal or nutritional value or both. Until
Primarily to the tips of their anten- Total, safe, efficient and cost-effec- the smart researchers explore this a
nae which is their ‘nose.’ Tough to tive Varroa control would not be a bit we don’t really know. Look at all
pick up communication when your money maker for any company, the of the botanically based medicines
nose is not working. Think of the last market is simply too small. That is humans have and use officially and
time you had a good cold and your why we don’t have a perfect product all of the herbal-based materials used.
nose was stuffed up. You couldn’t to control varroa safely and sanely. Let’s hope that the mushroom thing is
smell. Honey bees communicate with The gamble for any business is how amazing. In the meantime enjoy your
odors/pheromones and without this do you make more money than you lemon/ginger herbal tea with your
communication link, things don’t go spend. And for big corporations, shitake mushroom lunch. :)
as smoothly in the colony. it could be a product or it could be
One of the challenges is not getting public perception which would slow
caught up in the hype to use foggers down the lawsuits. The PR (Public Re-
and vaporizers and whatever 5, 6, 7 lations) value for the big corporation
times a year. would be the revenue generator be-
cause maybe more people would see
the good and they would stay out of
Q
the courtroom having to pay lawyers
FUTURE VARROA lots of money. That is why you see
CONTROL some of the large corporations sup-
porting Pollinator Forage projects.
As always thank you for “The It’s cheaper than actually solving the
Classroom,” the first read every industry’s health challenges. Devel-
month. Since you have left a giant oping a product to kill a little bug
corporation, are they (major compa- (varroa) on a Big bug (honey bee) is
nies) close to finding an effective cure tremendously difficult and expen-
or control of the dreaded varroa? sive. Not that those Pollinator Forage
We often hear about drug com- projects are not good ideas, but the re-
panies more concerned about the ality is that they are cheaper and get
almighty dollar than helping the more media attention and positive
people. The case of the $200 EpiPen public perception than R&D to come
that cost $20.00 to make. I do under- up with valuable treatments.
stand that they need to make money For me, the take-home message is,
for their stockholders. Is that the case ‘you never know until you try.’ And
with the major ag companies with the if you can keep your integrity in the
varroa problem or do they see that situation that is the best you can do.
T
wenty-one beekeepers from exhibitors answered questions and interest groups met in the afternoon
our home state of Illinois at- showed off their latest equipment and these addressed the small scale/
tended the recent American and technical items for sale. sideliner group, package bee and
Beekeeping Federation convention Thursday’s keynote speaker was queen breeders, honey producers and
held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Dr. Reed Johnson, Department of En- packers, and commercial beekeepers.
from January 8-12. There were over tomology at Ohio State University. Each lane had several programs pre-
900 people registered from through- His presentation was “Interaction sented by professionals.
out the United States and Canada. Between Insecticides and Fungicides The speaker highlighted on Friday
Each day a renowned researcher Applied to Almonds During Bloom.” was Dr. Dennis VanEngelsdorp, who
opened the meeting with their latest Other topics on Thursday included spoke on the topic “Mites Matter.” Dr.
research. Wednesday began with a “Toward a Fungal Pharmacy: Using VanEngelsdorp is also president of
presentation by Dr. Marla Spivak, Metarhizium and Mushroom Ex- the Bee Informed Partnership. One of
Department of Entomology at the tracts for Honey Bee Health” by Dr. the speakers who always meets with
University of Minnesota. Her key- Walter Sheppard of Washington State great accolades is Peter Berthelsen.
note presentation was “Restoring Bee University. He is in charge of the Bee and But-
Health: Molecules to Landscapes.” “Bee-Friendly Microbial Control of terfly Habitat Fund and his talk was
Dr. Spivak is always a thought-pro- Arachnid and Arthropod Pests” was “The Art and Science of Getting Great
voking speaker! Other inspiring talks presented by Vera Strogolov. Dr. Jen- Honey Bee Forage on the Landscape.”
included a report from the Founda- nifer Tsuruda spoke on the use of pho- Another great lecture was by Bob
tion for the Preservation of Honey tography for record keeping. Special Danke and Frank Rinkevich of the
Bees and the introduction of founda- USDA Bee Lab in Baton Rouge. Their
tion scholars. Also, the 2018 American topic was “An Integrated Approach
Honey Queen and Princess and the to Breeding Better Bees.” The Foun-
new 2019 honey queen contestants dation for the Preservation of Honey
were introduced. Bees is always well attended and
The highlight of Wednesday’s this year gave four scholarships to
meeting was the report by Dr. Samuel students studying apiculture at four
Ramsey from the USDA Bee Research different universities in the United
Lab at Beltsville, Maryland. His topic States.
was “Tropilaelaps Mites: A Fate Worse The Kids and Bees program took
Than Varroa.” This was a spectacular place Friday morning and was at-
report saying that we have not seen tended by over 300 kids and their
the worst yet ... that Tropilaelaps will parents. Hands-on participation in-
eventually come and it will be larger cluded “The Art of Beekeeping,” “The
and more devastating than Varroa. Science of Beekeeping,” “The World
Interestingly enough, Dr. Ramsey ul- of Beekeeping,” and “The Future of
timately won the Roger Hoopingar- Bees: It’s Up to You!” This program is
ner award for most outstanding pre- always a huge success.
sentation as voted by the members of Friday afternoon, the honey show
the conference. was concluded with the auction of the
Wednesday also saw the opening Jim and Karen Belli’s “Best in Show” pine- prize-winning honey and beeswax
of the trade show where eighty-seven apple wax sculpture (photo by Jim Belli) competition. Illinois was extremely
Bill and Marianne Knight, aka The Sand Lovers, pose next to their professional sand
sculpture, built from Tuesday through Friday. Marianne said the first hive was rebuilt
following critiques from show attendees. (photo by Eugene Makovec)
Diagnosing a Dead-Out
by TINA SEBESTYEN
O
ne of the things I love most of these things, but examining the en- on the bottom board, and keep you
about beekeeping is the in- trance is a good habit to get into. The from knowing how many bees were
trigue, the mystery. Studies clues you find at the entrance will be there from whatever happened prior
show that it is not the finding of a critical for diagnosing a dead hive to your digging around. You might
treasure that provides happiness, it is any time other than early spring. see a mountain of hive beetles piled
the seeking. We beekeepers should be up in the corner. You might see that a
eternally happy, in that case, because Step two: examine the Bottom Board lot of bees fell out of the cluster onto
we will always be seeking answers. If possible, remove the hive bodies the floor. This happens when the clus-
On the other hand, one of the most from the bottom board without sepa- ter is too small, and the bees on the
frustrating things about beekeeping is rating them from one another. The outside of it become paralyzed by the
seeking and not finding any answers. reason for this is that if you break up cold and fall. There may be almost no
It is heart-breaking enough to lose a the cluster of dead bees, they will fall bees on the bottom board, but huge
colony, but when it is impossible to onto the bottom board. It’s this thing piles of wax fluff that is a result of a
learn from your mistakes because you called gravity that operates even in- colony being robbed. You may find
don’t know what mistakes you made, side bee hives. The fallen bees will the bottom board almost solid red
it is enough to drive you crazy. An- obstruct your view of whatever is with little mite bodies. Also pay at-
other reason it is so important to be
able to diagnose a dead-out is so that
you know whether you can use the
old equipment, and especially the old
comb, for the next colony. I will walk
you step by step through my method
of diagnosing a dead hive.
tention to the location of the pile of Step four: examine the cLuSter it is a sign that they starved. There
dead bees. If they are all against the Is there a cluster of dead bees be- will almost always be bees head-in to
sunny side of the hive, whether that tween the combs? Sometimes there the cells, whether or not they starved.
is the south or west, you now have a will be a small cluster, but also in- Bees rest in cells that way, and they
clue about how they were handling dividual bees frozen in place on the warm themselves and surrounding
the cold. The floor is also where you comb away from the cluster. This is a brood this way as well.
might find a dead mouse, or mouse tragedy that you can feel better about. Is there brood remaining in the
nest. I have never seen a mouse kill a Sometimes, a nice warm afternoon combs? If there is no brood at all, but
bee colony, though they can eat a lot allows the bees out of the cluster to there is a cluster of bees, now you
of the honey and comb and cause the move to new areas of honey or pol- know that they probably died before
death of the colony by starvation. len, or to collect water from the hive the winter solstice, or thereabouts.
walls. If the temperature should drop If there is a lot of capped, but un-
Step three: Look at the inner cover suddenly, they become paralyzed emerged brood, more than baseball
and topS of frameS: where they are, and never make it sized, and few or no dead bees, it is
If the inner cover is soaking wet and back to the life-saving warmth of the likely the bees absconded in the late
black with mold or fungus, and di- cluster. Also, look at where the cluster fall. A likely scenario is that there
rectly below this is the soggy, moldy is in the combs. If it pressed against was a high mite count and the dis-
cluster, the bees may have died be- the South (sunny side) wall, it is an- eased bees sacrificed themselves by
cause of the condensation dripping other clue that they didn’t have a leaving one at a time and not return-
onto the cluster. Wet bees are dead large enough cluster of bees to main- ing to the hive.
bees. Mold on the cluster alone does tain warmth. As you begin removing It is very difficult to look at the
not necessarily mean that it was lack combs, look to see if the cluster was brood cappings and tell what hap-
of ventilation that killed the bees. If in contact with honey. There may be pened. You will usually see a bee
the bees died early in the winter from honey in the hive, and maybe even or two half emerged, as though the
any cause, the cluster will probably just inches from the cluster, but if the colony left just as the bee was coming
be moldy, and the bees mushy and bees are not in actual physical con- out, and she froze right there. When
black. Look for evidence of too much tact with the honey, they may have bees die as they emerge with tongues
moisture around the hive and around starved. There is an old wives’ tale sticking out it is a sign of PMS (Para-
the cluster. that if the bees are head-in to the cells, sitic Mite Syndrome). There will usu-
ally be perforated cappings. These
may be from PMS, Foulbrood, or they
may just be cappings that weren’t
quite finished when the colony ab-
sconded. Stirring the dead capped
After brushing the brood with a toothpick won’t tell you
dead bees away, much either, as the dead brood be-
bees head-in
gins to turn brown and mushy from
keeping warm and
warming the small
rot and the passing of time, and looks
brood chamber just like brood that died of European
started at the winter Foulbrood (EFB).
solstice (three As you are looking at the combs
weeks prior to that the cluster is on, brush the dead
photo date). bees away. Most of the cells within the
cluster will be filled with bees head-in
to the cells. But on the comb around
the cluster, and on combs adjacent to
the cluster that are relatively bee free,
Bottom board with dead bees against North wall The size of the brood area tells us that the bees died in the
late fall.
of bees, look at the date on the top of sues. If, however, you are not treating There are many other pathogens and
the frame. If it is brood comb that is for mites, or are treating too late in toxins that are not routinely tested for.
more than three years old, just get rid the year, you can be sure that a heavy The truth is that it is pretty hard to
of it. By that age, it has several lay- mite load was the problem. This will accurately diagnose a dead-out un-
ers of cocoons and has had too much have been a strong, populous colony til you have seen a lot of them, and
traffic to even think of keeping it. If that will now have a small cluster or a lot of healthy hives over the years.
by some outside chance, you forgot to no bees at all remaining. You will find Look and learn, and remember to be
write the date on the top of the frame, plenty of honey in the hive, and the conservative in your decision to keep
look at the color. If it is dark brown, or brood comb will be surrounded by old comb. I know how precious that
anywhere close to black, get rid of it. uric acid crystals in the cells. In this drawn comb seems, but against the
Another place to gather clues is case, getting rid of the brood comb is value of the life of your new bee col-
from your hive log. What were their probably a good idea. ony, it is not that important. Bees can
mite numbers? Did you treat, but Testing of the comb and brood re- draw comb quickly in spring, use that
then forget to do a final mite count mains can be done at the USDA Bee trait to your benefit.
to be sure the treatment worked? Did Lab at Beltsville. Fresh samples are
the colony have queen problems last best, but the bacteria that cause AFB https://beeinformed.org/2016/03/08/
summer? If the bees are all or mostly and EFB, and the fungus that causes why-did-my-honey-bees-die/
just gone, and they left behind a few Chalkbrood produce hardy, viable https://www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-
frames of emerging brood and a lot spores that can be detected from area/beltsville-md-barc/beltsville-
of honey, and you don’t see the uric comb or brood remains. DWV de- agricultural-research-center/bee-
acid crystals, nine times out of ten, grades quickly, and will be difficult to research-laboratory/
the cause of the death was queen is- diagnose without infected adult bees. https://beeinformed.org/2013/10/15/
parasitic-mite-syndrome-pms/
https://aem.asm.org /content/
78/4/981.short
Swarz, Ryan; Fort Lewis College,
formerly of the USDA Bee Lab at
Beltsville on comb and brood testing
Tina Sebestyen
has been keeping
bees since 2007 in
top bar, Langstroth,
and more recently
the long Langstroth
hive. She is founder
of the Four Corners
Beekeepers Assoc, and is Vice President of
the Colorado State Beekeepers Association.
She is currently working to produce the Mas-
ter Beekeeper Program for the state of Colo-
rado. She helps with large scale queen pro-
duction for commercial operations, raises
locally adapted queens for NW New Mex-
ico and SW Colorado, helps produce nucs,
does structural removals of bee colonies, and
writes and speaks about bees everywhere
A bee dead on emerging with tongue sticking out, a sign of Parasitic Mite she gets the chance. She can be reached at
Syndrome (PMS) bee.seeking@gmail.com
P
oland is unique in that instru- Europe, especially Germany, most an average of 15 to 20 drones, in drone
mentally inseminated queens, bee breeding programs are supported congregating areas consisting of an
IIQs, are commonly used in pro- by the use of isolated mating stations. estimated average of 16,000 drones
duction hives, as well as for breed- In some countries, such as Denmark from 250 colonies. The random, mul-
ing purposes. Annually, an estimated and Sweden, isolated mating is ac- tiple mating behavior of the queen
50,000 to 80,000 IIQs are produced complished on islands. functions to enhance intra-colony ge-
and sold by commercial queen breed- In the U.S., drone saturation of netic diversity, which is well known
ers to beekeepers to head field colo- mating areas is practiced, although to increase overall colony vigor and
nies for pollination and honey pro- maintaining the purity of subspecies fitness — although this random mat-
duction. Beekeeping in Poland has is of little concern. Most of the major ing behavior makes it difficult to
a long history of government sup- queen producers are clustered, such maintain selected, valued traits with
port for quality control and selective as in northern California, where di- consistency.
breeding. For over 40 years Polish verse sources of drones are inadver- In Poland four subspecies of bees
law has regulated breeding stocks, tently shared. This contributes to are bred and selected: the national
farm animal management and repro- genetic diversity, yet dilutes the char- bee or the local black bee, Apis mel-
duction. This effort has resulted in the acteristics of select breeding stocks. lifera mellifera; the Carniolans, Apis
routine use and perfection of instru- Honey bee mating behavior is dif- mellifera carnica; the Caucasians, Apis
mental insemination techniques for ficult to control and presents a major mellifera caucasica; and Italian bees,
honey bees. challenge. Queens mate in flight with Apis mellifera ligustica. In recent years,
Visiting Poland a few years ago, I
had the pleasure of being hosted by
Dr. Jakub Gąbka, honey bee research-
er from the Agriculture University in
Warsaw. Jakub spent several months
with me at University of California,
Davis in 2012. He labored long days
and nights in the lab inseminating
queens for various research projects
and also greatly enjoyed the com-
pany of the bee lab crew. Covered
in bees during a fun day of making
bee beards, his bee bearded face was
featured on the cover of ABJ, photo-
graphed by Kathy Garvey. I promised
to return the visit, looking forward to
again seeing Dr. Jersy Woyke, whose
early work advanced the use of in-
strumental insemination at the pro-
duction level.
This routine use of IIQs in produc-
tion colonies is impressive. In the rest
of the world, instrumental insemina-
tion is largely limited to the develop-
ment and maintenance of breeding
Jakub’s colonies at the Parliament in Warsaw.
stocks and for research purposes. In
An acknowledged interna-
tional authority in the field
of honey bee breeding
and instrumental insemi-
nation, Susan Cobey's
focus is enhancement
of honey bee stocks and
improvement of colony
health through selective
breeding. She works with
Washington State University on the germ-
plasm importation project and runs Honey
Bee Insemination Service, offering training,
specialized equipment and insemination ser-
vices. Founder of the New World Carniolan
Closed Population Breeding Program, she
has maintained this stock for 36 generations.
I
magine a world where the effects As most readers of this column of imidacloprid, they may have less
of drinking a beer never wear off will know, there’s been a large body ability to do so with fipronil. This
because the human body can’t of work over the past decade or so could explain why the 10-day LD50
break down the alcohol and eliminate on risk to bees from neonicotinoid of honey bees for imidacloprid is 123
it. As a person drinks more beer, the insecticides, including imidacloprid. nanograms per bee (ng/bee), but the
alcohol in their blood builds up to This work includes speculation that 10-day LD50 for fipronil is only 3 ng/
higher and higher levels – it bioac- imidacloprid was the culprit for acute bee. With these data in mind, Holder
cumulates. In this world, even occa- losses of honey bee colonies in France and colleagues set out to test whether
sional beers could kill. in the mid-1990s. However, most ex- fipronil could in fact bioaccumulate
What does this have to do with bees? posure data show that imidacloprid in bees, how this impacts its toxicity
It turns out that some insecticides can levels in pollen, nectar and honey are compared to imidacloprid, and how
also bioaccumulate, which can greatly generally quite low – on the order of the viability of full honey bee colonies
increase the duration of their toxic- a few parts per billion. These low- might be affected.
ity to bees, thereby increasing their level exposures are not good for bees, So, what did they find? Did fipro-
risk. This is the topic for our sixteenth of course, but there’s little evidence nil bioaccumulate in bees? In the
“Notes from the Lab,” where we high- they’re sufficient to cause acute mass laboratory, Holder and colleagues
light “Fipronil pesticide as a suspect die-offs of colonies. found that nearly all of the highly
in historical mass mortalities of hon- On the other hand, there is reason toxic sulfone metabolite of fipronil
ey bees,” written by Philippa Holder to suspect that fipronil can poten- persisted in bees for at least 6 days.
and colleagues and published in the tially cause colonies to fail at similar In contrast, >90% of imidacloprid is
journal Proceedings of the National low-level exposures. Why? While typically excreted from honey bees
Academy of Sciences of the United honey bees can rapidly metabolize within 48 hours – just about the same
States [115:13033-13038 (2018)]. and detoxify parts per billion levels rate as humans eliminate blood alco-
Holder and colleagues’ study was
inspired by two main observations.
First, between 1994 and 1998, there
were several instances of mass honey
bee colony deaths near agricultural
areas in France. Second, French farm-
ers (especially sunflower growers)
started to use two new insecticides at
this time. Fipronil, a phenylpyrazole
insecticide, was introduced in 1993,
and imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid in-
secticide, was introduced in 1994. Both
fipronil and imidacloprid are systemic
insecticides, meaning they can be tak-
en up by any plant and incorporated
into pollen and nectar. Thus, there’s
substantial risk of exposure to pollina-
tors, including honey bees. Dr. Philippa Holder working on pesticide dosing experiments in the lab
Allow me to introduce this article with a disclaimer. I do not claim to be a crop farmer
nor pesticide expert. But over the past decade, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to those
with various points of view — from beekeepers who run their operations on ag lands,
conventional growers, and fervent organic farmers, to the ecotoxicologists of the chemi-
cal companies, as well as activists and alarmists from all sides of the spectrum. From this
overload of information, I’m trying to sort out in my mind how we can aim for win-win
solutions. I welcome comments on this continuing deep dive into The Pesticide Situation.
T
homas Malthus long ago point- constrained by both the environment decades.” The researchers suggest that
ed out that the human popu- and biology. Somewhat alarmingly, a the rapid rates of productivity growth
lation grows geometrically, recent analysis1 detected “sizable and enjoyed during the period from 1960
whereas our food production tends significant slowdowns in the rate of [ag- through 1980 were an aberration. This
to increase linearly. But during the ricultural] productivity growth in recent is not good news.
last century, three main factors have
allowed agricultural production to
grow faster than the human popula-
tion: (1) the invention of the diesel
tractor, (2) a declining birth rate, and
(3) the “Green Revolution.” During
that revolution in the 1950s and ‘60s,
new technologies — such as high-
yielding crop cultivars, irrigation, and
notably, the use of chemical fertilizers
and new classes of pesticides — were
brought to agriculture, resulting in
marked increases in agricultural pro-
ductivity. Unfortunately, farmers with
large-scale plantings have now em-
braced those pesticides to the point of
dependence, or perhaps even less jus-
tified, as a means of risk management.
But the Green Revolution appears
to be losing steam, and the specter
of mass starvation is looming closer,
especially with our warming climate
taken into account. Fig. 1 One result of the Green Revolution can be vast landscapes dominated by mono-
cultures — such as by the corn (yellow) and soybeans (green) grown in Iowa farmland
a decLine in growth in productivity above (both being grown mainly as feedstocks, rather than directly for human food).
Unlike Moore’s Law, in which com- Such monocultures are conducive to the evolution of pest species adapted to utilizing
puters just keep getting faster and these food sources, as well as surviving any pesticide repeatedly applied to control
faster, advances in agriculture are them. The map for your area can be downloaded at.2
R
ecently I got into a mild po- sheer number of times they are men- of these particular factors is more
litical debate with my grand- tioned. So is it really possible we are impactful than another. There are
parents. I love them dearly, too often talking about pesticides, at quite a few reasons for this. The mag-
and none of us really feel the need to the risk of understating other impact nitude at which a particular factor
persuade the other side to our view- factors? That is a simple question, impacts a hive may vary depending
point. As a result these debates are with complex answers upon the condition of the colony or
mild, don’t lead to tempers, and end I mainly want to talk about impact other variables. A factor’s impact on
without resolution. That is fine by all factors on honey bee health. Now if colony health may change over time
of us. Life is too short to be ruining you aren’t in the habit of reading or work synergistically with another
visits over political stances. scientific papers, or you have ap- factor. Confusingly a factor may seem
But in this last conversation I ended proached beekeeping without a re- to have very little impact at all on the
with, “Sometimes the things that are search background, then you may not colony level, yet show measurable
talked about most often on the news know what an impact factor is. How- impacts on the individual level.
aren’t actually the most important ever, if I said varroa, nutrition, queen There are some great examples of
topics. They are just talked about the quality and pesticides, you would how convoluted an impact factor can
most.” I said that, and the proverbial probably say, “Oh! All of those things affect a colony. In a longitudinal study
lightbulb went off in my head. I was can impact a honey bee colony.” And on sublethal impacts of the neonic-
making a connection from our little both you and I, using either set of otinoid Imidacloprid, there were few
political debate to this article. And words, would be completely correct. consistent effects at the colony level,
that is that sometimes in beekeeping We might be using different vocabu- across all three of the experimental
we talk incessantly about certain top- lary, we may have a different perspec- locations (Meikle, 2016). There were
ics, and little about others. There are tive or background to approach the sublethal effects seen in several of the
consequences when we give too much subject from, but we all understand groups. However, hive mortality was
weight to one topic over others. The the concepts well. I say this, with em- not seen, even in the groups receiving
greatest consequence is it shifts our phasis, because if you have met me the highest dosage. “The total area
social consciousness about the sever- you know I mispronounce words of- of brood in all stages (eggs, larvae,
ity of the topic. In short, we observe ten, and that learning new vocabulary pupae), or area of stored pollen (bee
how many times something is talked is not my strong point. So I would not bread), was not significantly associ-
about, and naturally assume that be- want anyone in our diverse commu- ated with any treatment in our test,”
cause it is mentioned so often, it must nity to feel left out simply because we said Jon Zawislak, replying to ques-
be the most important issue of the day. aren’t always using the same words. tions about this study. There was also
So I pondered this: Are we talking In short, risk factors are things that no apparent relationship between
about pesticides killing bees too often? may negatively affect colony health. treatments and winter survival, in
That is a funny question to bee- These things may be living or non- this limited test.
keepers and non-beekeepers alike. living (Steinhauer, 2018). If the factor Similarly, a three-year study feed-
Our newsfeeds, media and even sim- is living we would refer to it as a biot- ing “field relevant” doses of imida-
ple internet searches are filled with ic factor, and if non-living we would cloprid to colonies saw no effects on
headlines and click baits about neo- refer to it as an abiotic factor. So if we colony performance during the expo-
nicotinoids and other pesticides. The would take a look again at the list of sure and “shortly after the 12 weeks
sheer number of times pesticides are things commonly affecting a colony, of exposure” (Dively, 2015). Well after
mentioned would have me believe mites and the viruses accompany- exposure, colonies showed responses
that pesticides are the biggest culprit ing them, nutrition and queen qual- linked to dose-exposure. Namely,
for colony losses. I imagine for non- ity would fall under living or biotic the colonies that were fed the high-
beekeepers, who are not experienced factors. Pesticides would fall under est likely exposure levels, 20 and
with the intricacies of queen qual- non-living, or abiotic factors. 100 ug/kg respectfully, saw higher
ity or varroa, pesticides would really It is very difficult for researchers queen turnover rates, varroa levels
stand out as the culprit simply by the and beekeepers to parse out which and winter mortality. The paper then
L
ike so many beekeepers, I start- question … I would ask for the
ed my first hive by catching a best and easiest way to prevent
swarm. It was the summer of swarming, for one who is anx-
1974. I was working for a commer- ious to secure the largest crop of
cial beekeeper. We had moved most comb honey. 1
of his two thousand hives into apple
orchards and were now getting them In those days, beekeepers spent a
back to their summer locations. There huge amount of effort going through
was a big swarm on one of the apple their hives looking for queen cells and
trees, low and easy to see. When I dutifully cutting them out, in hopes
asked the boss if we were going to of preventing swarming. Miller him-
collect it, he said we didn’t have self notes that beginners are usually
time for that, the time would be bet- taught this, but he acknowledges that
ter spent getting the bees out of the it is not a sure way to prevent swarm-
orchards and supered up, to prevent ing at all. It appears that if their
further swarming. So, I asked him if I “minds are made up” they will cast a
could have it. He told me if I wanted swarm no matter what the beekeeper
to come back there on my own time, does. And cutting cells is certainly
to catch a swarm, it was OK with him. one of the most laborious methods.
It was getting dark by the time I My first mentor told me he never did,
got there. I had an empty box fitted because it didn’t really work. Besides,
with a moving screen on the bottom he said, you will cut out all the beau-
and the top. I plunked the swarm into tiful, fat, easy to notice cells and miss
the box but as I did, some bees ended some runty one tucked in the corner
up on the ground. “What if the queen of a frame. That will end up being the
is down there?” I thought. Down on queen of that hive.
my knees in the dim light, I poked at
the little handful of spilled bees. Sure
enough, there was the queen, black
colored and almost impossible to see
in the near darkness. I scooped her up
and put her with the rest of the bees
in the box, and headed on home. Like
swarms do, they quickly filled the
frames with fresh wax and nectar. I
had become a beekeeper for life.
Also, like most beginners, I got a
book about beekeeping. My first was
“Fifty Years Among the Bees,” by Dr.
C. C. Miller. Despite being more than
one hundred years old, it’s still a great
read. Miller had this to say:
by JERRY HAYES
Buckfast Abbey
B
ack in January I had an op- an interview to tell us about the past, stayed but remained “lay” brothers.
portunity to go to England for present and future of Buckfast Abbey They didn’t live in the Abbey with
business and I thought a few and honey bees there. the choir monks but had rooms in a
days extra would be fun to see things separate building. They didn’t have
I had never seen before. The country Q) Buckfast Abbey has some history the same religious commitments as
is full of incredible history. As a bee- with honey bees that some beekeep- the choir monks.
keeper, part of that incredible his- ers may not be aware of. Can you tell Adam chose to stay at the Abbey for
tory is found at Buckfast Abbey. For us about Bro. Adam and that history? his lifetime but stayed as a lay brother
newer beekeepers, Buckfast Abbey and never became a professed monk.
was the home of a person known as A) Adam arrived from Germany in At this time the monks were rebuild-
Brother Adam who became one of the 1910 when he was 11 years old to be- ing the Abbey. Adam started training
early active proponents of selective come an alumnate (a sort of trainee as a stonemason but he had asthma
honey bee breeding. He developed monk). The boys were educated in and struggled with the dust and so
what was known as the Buckfast Bee, the conventional sense but were also he was put to work helping Bro. Co-
which was known globally and even trained in skills such as gardening, lumban look after the Abbey bees. In
bred in the U.S. cooking, carpentry and stonemason- those days the Abbey had around 45
For me this was an exciting op- ry as part of the community which colonies. He loved working with the
portunity to visit Buckfast Abbey was self-sufficient with its own farm- bees and later took over the running
and meet and visit with Clare Dens- land and animals. Some would go of the Abbey apiaries.
ley who is now the Head Beekeeper on and become priests or monks but The “Isle of Wight disease” was first
there. Clare was kind enough to do they could leave if they chose. Some noticed on the Isle of Wight, a tiny is-
land off the east coast of the British
Isles, in 1904. By 1908 it had spread to
the mainland, and over the next seven
years it seemingly wiped out a good
proportion of the indigenous honey
bee colonies in England. Buckfast Ab-
bey lost 29 of their 45 colonies. The
government employed scientists to
try to find out what was causing this
epidemic and one of the things which
they discovered was acarine: a thoracic
mite which affects the honey bees’ res-
piration. That this was the cause of the
mass die off of colonies in the British
Isles is debatable and some scientists
disagreed with the prognosis, particu-
larly Leslie Bailey of Rothamstead agri-
cultural research centre. He attributed
the phenomenon to an accumulation
of circumstances but with overcrowd-
ing of colonies and raised virus levels
at its core. One of the main viral condi-
tions thought to be active at that time
Brother Adam is the younger of the two in the apiary. was chronic bee paralysis virus.
I
n the first section I covered the basics of actual land us- As you can see, both worldwide and here in the U.S.,
age here in the U.S. and how modern agriculture is actu- herbicides are the biggest use pesticide, followed by in-
ally helping us by getting the maximum use of the land secticide, and at about the same level fungicides. This has
we farm. So much so that we are actually decreasing acre- changed a bit in the last 5 years as fungicide usage is on
age under the plow. Part two dealt with the common myth the rise.
that we are ruining the soil, and how modern agriculture
actually gives us safer food without harm to the earth. herBicideS
This section is going to cover pesticides; first what they Herbicides are the number one pesticide used in agricul-
are and then how they are actually used. I am going to start ture. There were several reasons for this, from weeds ac-
off with a bit of a primer on basics, and then move onto ap- tually reducing yields to seed contamination in crops like
plication and how it affects us. wheat. In crops like corn and beans weed infestation can
As you read, please do not assume I am pro-pesticide, or in reduce yields, and in crops like wheat, contamination from
any way trying to claim that our pesticide usage is harmless, or other seeds like rye grass can actually cause your loads to
that it could not be improved. I am simply explaining where we be rejected or downgraded at the elevator. In general her-
are with the understanding we are one of the few countries that bicides are considered safe for bees. No one would argue
actually makes enough food to feed our population, and at the that the loss of forage is good, but for the most part the
same time is seriously trying to minimize our impact on nature. herbicide itself is not a bee killer. Yes, I am aware of recent
Please keep in mind as we go that some of the data from work on Roundup (glyphosate), (see “The ‘Controversy’
the USDA is a bit older and some is fresh. The USDA num- Surrounding Pesticide Risk to Bees,” by Scott McArt and
bers are only updated every 5 years and the information is Dan Wixted, January 2019 ABJ), but in general for more
a bit slow to be available. That said, without further ado than 50 years herbicides have been considered a low risk
let us get started. to insects. Some of this is due to a low exposure risk, as
The term pesticide is a generic term. To us, as beekeep- in general herbicides are applied before plants bloom, and
ers, we usually think of insecticides when we hear that the fact most herbicides are both short lived, and have ex-
word, but pesticides include three major groups: fungi- tremely high LD50 values.
cides, herbicides and insecticides. There are also others Herbicides are further broken down into groups based
such as nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, ro- on what they kill and how they are applied. We have
denticide and bactericide. Just to cover the basics for this broadleaf killers, grass killers (corn is a grass) and ones
discussion I am going to stick to the big three of fungicides, that do both. This is further broken down into Pre-emer-
herbicides and insecticides. gence (applied in the soil), and post-emergence (applied
after growth starts). There are soil sterilizers, seed germi-
nation retarders, contact herbicides and growth inhibitors.
Not to get too far into the weeds here (pun intended), suf-
fice it to say, weed control is a very complex issue.
A very good friend of mine farms about 7,000 acres here
in Illinois He has a wonderful way of putting things in
perspective; he said very simply, ”We are trying to control
weeds for about 45 days while the plant get started and
canopies, and we spend a lot on money and time to do it.”
The basic concept is simple: Let the crop get a good head
start and most crops will shade out competing weeds. As a
result most herbicides are applied early season either dur-
ing planting, just after planting or within the first 30 days of
Figure 1 planting. I am going to mention here that Roundup really
rthe
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California Bee Breeders Assoc.
American Honey Producers Assoc.
(L) A female Agapostemon (green metallic sweat bee) peeks from a mountain hollyhock bloom. (R) Ashmeadiella are solitary,
desert-loving bees. Although they are found in dry areas from Canada to Costa Rica, they are found nowhere else on Earth.
lost in the Anza-Borrego desert and The house itself is built from na- Oregon beekeeping organizations.
unable to find my car: Super-heated tive rock overlooking untold miles Together with Larry, she designed
rocks all look alike. I shuddered with of central Oregon, and a bank of the Valhalla Long Hive and, later, the
the unpleasant memory and realized floor-to-ceiling windows surround- Valkyrie Long Hive. Both versions
I could never find my way out of this ing an open floorplan brings it all in- are built for beekeepers who cannot
maze without help. Words of warning side. Free from the electrical grid, the — or would rather not — lift heavy
came to mind, lyrics from the song property is outfitted with solar panels bee boxes, and both are designed to
Hotel California: “You can check out that power everything from the well maximize honey bee health. In ad-
any time you like, but you can never pump to the freezers. dition, the Prices have mentored
leave!”1 What had I done? But the real magic is outside where countless beginners, taught classes,
As we crept in tandem up the hill- a multi-season rotation of flowering and assisted with all manner of bee
side, I believed it was the steepest, plants feed Naomi’s honey bees as crises.
rockiest road I had ever driven. In well as an ever-evolving panoply of The Price home is a hub for busy
fact, I continued to believe that until wild pollinators. The parched rocks beekeepers. At least from my perspec-
we got to the actual steep part, which give way to gardens brimming with tive, every knock on the door or ring
made the first section seem positively vegetables, berries, and flowers. of the phone was another beekeeper
wimpy. I shuddered and eased into Along the pathways, concentric with questions, tales from the hive,
four-wheel low. rows of lavender shimmied with im- or samples of honey. Most intriguing,
patient digger bees, and tall strands the Prices have developed their own
off the grid and into the Light of silvery lamb’s ear quivered with protocol for trap-outs, one in which
A mile and a half along, near the bumbles and masons vying for lunch. they actually coax the queen to leave
top of the hill, we passed through Nearby, patches of golden yellow rab- her hive.
a post and wire gate onto the Price bitbrush winked with striped sweat In addition to their unfettered love
land. Suddenly, the Ponderosa pine, bees and green-eyed sand wasps. for honey bees, Naomi and Larry are
Douglas-fir, and western juniper active with the Oregon Bee Project, a
gave way to a sweeping multi-county everything Bee group attached to Oregon State Uni-
vista. In the midst of such an enchant- Naomi and Larry Price are bee- versity that is creating a record of na-
ing place, I felt I had emerged on the keeping rock stars. Naomi, a master tive bees found in Oregon through
other side of the rabbit hole. beekeeper, is active in a number of the work of citizen scientists. It is the
(L) To line their nests, leafcutters (Genus Megachile) cut perfect circles from leaves and flower petals. They carry pollen on hairy
abdomens instead of their legs. (R) This small bee, Megachile angelerum, is nectaring on lavender blossoms.
Prices’ passion for native bees that and protecting them from pesticide curLycup gumweed
convinced me to visit. exposure and disease. The first — and undisputed winner
— is curlycup gumweed, Grindelia
the oregon Bee project StaLking the native BeeS squarrosa. Gumweed is a wildflower
In 2014, after a disastrous bumble Since bees evolved as desert-loving in the sunflower family (Astera-
bee kill that made national news, the creatures, the greatest bee diversity is ceae) that can be found in many of
state declared a pollinator emergency still found in dry areas of the world. the drier regions of North America.
and the Oregon Bee Project came to Sure enough, the Oregon high desert The entire plant grows to about one
life. Sarah Kincaid, an entomologist — which rises from 2000 to 9700 feet foot tall and has yellow flowers that
with the Oregon Department of Agri- above sea level — is a perfect place open to roughly one inch in diameter.
culture, says Oregon is the “only state for bee hunting. The natives are at- The plant is easily recognized by the
in the whole country that has a fund- tracted to the desert plants as well as recurving bracts that surround the
ed mandate to put together a strategic cultivated ones, and the Prices know flower and lend the name “curlycup.”
health plan for pollinators.” all the best places to look. So with The first time I touched it, I knew I
According to Kincaid, the state may my pickup jammed with backpacks, was in trouble. It is incredibly sticky,
be home to more than 500 species of cameras, and assorted nets, tubes, gummy, and smells like turpentine.
native bees, many of which may play catch-cups, and guide books, I em- Soon, everything I touched was also
a vital role in Oregon’s six billion dol- barked on this journey two years in sticky and gummy and smelling of tur-
lar agricultural industry. But since a row. pentine, including my camera, water
the bees in Oregon have never been With so many pollinator-friendly bottle, and backpack. The white, resin-
completely cataloged, it is impossible plantings, a world of bees exists in the ous ooze seeps from the flowers days
to know which species are in decline. Prices’ own backyard. On both visits, before they open and coats the outside
So, with the help of other state agen- I found an ever-evolving selection of of the bud with an odorous milky ar-
cies and an eager band of citizen bees to photograph, from tiny fruit- mor that glints in the sunshine.
scientists, the Oregon Bee Atlas was fly sized carpenter bees (Ceratina) to The patch of gumweed at the Price
formed to expand knowledge of the bulky bumbles to wily cuckoo bees household is not large, but it’s ex-
state’s bees. The Atlas, a part of the looking to freeload. Of the flowers I tremely well-attended. We saw a
Oregon Bee Project, has broader goals saw, four native plants were especial- wide variety of bees on the flowers,
of increasing habitat for pollinators ly popular with the wild bees. including many parasitic cuckoo bees
(L) Triepeolus are cuckoo bees that lay eggs in the nests of many other bee species. They often have red legs and a smiley face on
their thorax. (R) This green mason bee (Osmia) is sampling German garlic flowers.
D
icamba is a broadleaf plant absorbed into leaves can travel and happens when the sun heats soil in
herbicide in the chlorophe- translocate within the plants. It will the daytime. Moisture rising from the
noxy group of chemistry. break down in the soil within 30-60 soil carries dicamba molecules with it
Much like 2-4D, dicamba mimics a days into carbon, hydrogen and oxy- until it hits a dense layer of cold air
plant hormone (auxin) readily taken gen. If you want a comprehensive above. As dicamba laden moisture
up by the plant when applied. These chemical study of everything known cools, it falls back to earth as dew and
compounds cause the plant to grow about dicamba, I suggest you look up deposits dicamba on all the plants in
abnormally, which results in the death PubChem open chemistry data base the area. This also happens with 2-4D,
of the plant. The hormones in dicamba in the National Library of Medicine/ but dicamba is toxic in much smaller
and 2-4D are active only in broadleaf National Center for Biotechnology in- concentrations than 2-4D. Think of
plants and not in grass plants. formation (PubChem and dicamba). dicamba as 2-4D on steroids, it is that
Dicamba has a low toxicity for ver- Chemically speaking, dicamba is much stronger.
tebrates in general. Mammal toxic- only slightly toxic to honey bees and If you look at the test results on
ity ranges from an LD50 of 700-2000 much less toxic to people. But there various plants, you will find that we
depending on the species. For people is an insidious effect of dicamba on have fewer species of broadleaf flow-
the LD50 is over 1,000. honey bees that goes way beyond di- ers along our roadsides, field borders,
An LD50 is: lethal dose to 50% of the rect toxic effects. Most people do not public properties, lawns, ditch banks
population measured in milligrams/ realize that honey bees require a large and many areas bees forage. Swamp
Kilograms of body weight. Chemicals variety of flowering dicotyledonous milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, has
with an LD50 under 100 are consid- plant nectar and pollen for proper nu- been greatly diminished in Missis-
ered deadly poisonous. Compounds trition. Monocotyledonous grasses do sippi River lowlands; while common
with an LD50 from 100-500 are con- not provide any honey bee nutrition milkweed, Asclepias tuberosa, has de-
sidered medium toxicity. Anything unless those plants have an infesta-
over 500 is considered a low toxicity tion of honeydew producing aphids.
chemical compound. In other words, bees must have
For comparison, 2-4D has an LD50 multiple species of flowers upon
of 4,000, where table salt has an LD50 which to forage from early spring
of 3,000 and pyrethrin has an LD50 until fall frost. Nutritionally, bees re-
of 2,000. These LD50s are for mam- quire many different species of pollen
mals. Pyrethrin and pyrethroids are and multiple species of nectar from
extremely toxic to bees. Dicamba has a wide variety of flowering dicotyle-
a low toxicity for honey bees. donous plants. They cannot survive
Dicamba absorbs into human skin on only those plants that provide sur-
readily. It is also readily processed by plus nectar. If bees forage on just two
the digestive system if swallowed. or three species of plants, they will
Dicamba is then excreted through become nutritionally deficient and
the urinary tract and passed away the colony will decline. Add an infes-
in urine. Any link between dicamba tation of Varroa mites and you have a
and cancer is unclear and weak in the recipe for Colony Collapse Disorder.
most stringent testing. Dicamba can Dicamba and 2-4D are notorious for
irritate skin but there are no long term volatility. When these compounds are
known effects. Always keep in mind applied to kill weeds in an agricultur-
that children are more susceptible to al field they float in the air and move
any chemical than adults. Dicamba off target. A temperature inversion Damage to linden
for Protecting
by Stephanie Regagnon,
Pollinators President and CEO, FieldWatch
H
oney bees and other pollina- online or through the BeeCheck app across the country in the national reg-
tors play a crucial role in agri- (available on Android and iOS) and istry. FieldWatch seeks input from
culture. According to the Unit- provides streamlined data input and beekeepers and strives to modify and
ed States Department of Agriculture, access for FieldWatch members. With innovate its tools to be more useful
honey bees are responsible for polli- BeeCheck, beekeepers have access to for its members. Feedback from bee-
nating over 100 commercially grown the following features: keepers who use BeeCheck indicates
crops in North America. Agriculture that they like the easy to use tools and
is a complex industry with multiple • Input start and stop dates to al- the ability to sync with the national
operators who work alongside each low beekeepers to move hives on a registry and precision agriculture
other. Oftentimes, apiaries are lo- planned basis mapping systems.
cated in the proximity of row crops. • Update the location of hives with Since its creation 10 years ago,
Row crops are treated with products real-time GPS technology FieldWatch has expanded its foot-
that are vital to protecting them from • Identify the number of hives at print to 21 states, welcoming Cali-
weeds and pests, yet not beneficial each apiary location fornia and Maryland into the fold
for honey bees. In the case of travel- • Identify beekeepers as hobbyists or in 2019. California’s addition to the
ing hives that are moved across many commercial national registry is especially mean-
states to pollinating sites, pesticide • Enter state registration data ingful to commercial beekeepers who
applicators and farmers are simply • Mark locations private, so that only travel to the state every spring for the
not aware of the fact that apiaries applicators who are registered with almond tree pollination. FieldWatch
are stationed next to their proper- FieldWatch may see them is the only organization that enables
ties. While many states don’t make it voluntary apiary registration in mul-
mandatory for beekeepers to register Beekeepers around the country tiple states, giving beekeepers from
their locations, there is a clear bene- have embraced FieldWatch’s online all over the country confidence their
fit in making the location of apiaries mapping tool. BeeCheck has a total of bees will be safer while in California.
known to pesticide applicators, so 11,700 beekeepers using the software, California will also be part of a state-
they can avoid them during spraying with 21,696 apiary locations mapped wide pollinator protection program
activities.
In order to enhance communication
and mutual understanding among
beekeepers and pesticide applicators,
the nonprofit organization, Field-
Watch®, provides free and secure
online mapping tools that benefit
both groups. BeeCheck®, developed
by FieldWatch, helps beekeepers
communicate their beehive locations
to pesticide applicators, promoting
stewardship and protecting apiaries.
Beekeepers who use the BeeCheck
online platform and BeeCheck mo-
bile app can map their apiaries and
easily update their beehive locations
through real-time GPS technology
when out in the field. The BeeCheck Commercial, sideliner, and hobbyist beekeepers may register and map their hive loca-
mobile app is available free of charge tions with BeeCheck®.
Brandon King, 15, getting ready to install the Harmless Bait Hive he’s just completed.
Brandon was a Youth Scholarship beekeeper with the Lincoln Land Beekeepers
Association, and caught his second colony in this box.
Simple, cheap/free, easy and safe! – not too high up – not too awkward – not too
complicated – no damage to tree – and great results! Average of 2 swarms per box
for 3 years.
1. Tools needed to assemble: c. Five empty brood frames with- between these two cuts to form a
a. Circular saw out foundation (may use starter channel for the ear of the frame.
b. Cordless screwdriver with Phil- strips). I like to mark all of the f. Do the same on the opposite
lips bit, and a bit for a 1” hole. top bars on these frames so I side of the box for the other end
c. Drywall screws, staple gun, know their origin when inspect- of the frame.
staples ing the hive in the future (natu- g. Test a frame in position - it
ral foundation). should slip in and out of the
2. Tools needed to mount box on a d. Fiberboard/plywood cut to size grooves with ease.
tree: to cover both the ‘top’ and ‘bot- h. Using drywall screws attach
a. 1 or 2 ratchet straps tom’ of brood box a precut “top/bottom” fiber-
b. 5‘ (or taller) stepladder (modi- e. Drywall screws (long enough to board (3d above) to an open
fied as explained in 6d) secure fiberboard to box) side of the box.
f. Scrap aluminum soffit material i. Drill a 1” entrance hole about an
3. Materials needed for bait box: (to keep rain off of box) wide inch above the floor of the box.
a. Old, well used hive body/brood enough to cover top of box. Staple a 2” X 2” wire mesh (½”
box (about 16X20X10”) (may be g. Cotton ball with a few drops of holes) over the hole (inside the
too bad to use on a hive); left- Honey-B-Healthy and lemon box) to let the bees in and keep
over wax and propolis makes it grass oil extract in a small Zip- the mice and birds out. Drill an-
smell like “home” to the bees. loc with small holes pricked in other hole in the opposite end
b. 1 frame of old brood comb (dark the bag. They also like a couple above the frame ear rest and
is okay), empty cells only — NO drops of anise extract. I will also staple 1/8” screen over it. This is
pollen, honey, nectar or disease. try Swarm Commander this a vent hole; if the box is too hot
This should be relatively good season. the bees at times do not want to
comb because you may need to h. Wire mesh (1/2”) and #8 screen. enter (see last photo below) —
install it in the final hive for a my guess — I may be wrong.
season. 4. Bait box construction: j. Place two empty frames in posi-
a. Using circular saw, cut slots for tion in the box followed by the
ears of the frames. frame of old black brood comb
b. Set blade depth at about the (3b) and then the other three
same depth as the original frame empty frames. Push the frames
rest notch on the brood box. together and on each side install
c. Beginning with the guide one screw through the outside
against the 20” side of box care- of the box into the last frame
fully cut a slot across the 16” ear to hold the frames in place
board. when moving.
d. Put a 5/8” thick scrap board k. Place the other “top/bottom”
between the saw guide and 20” piece of fiberboard (3d) on the
side and cut another slot the remaining open side and secure
Box ready for old dark comb in frame at same depth. it with screws.
right. Aluminum roof in place. Ziploc with e. With the saw or a chisel care- l. (HINT: Mark box and both sides
essential oils and random comb. fully remove the excess wood (L and R) so you will know
by Robyn M. Underwood
Department of Entomology,
Pennsylvania State University,
501 ASI Building,
University Park, PA 16802 USA;
rmu1@psu.edu; Tel.: 610-301-4283
A
s the old saying goes, ask ten options require a high degree of in- that includes management decisions
beekeepers a question and tervention while others involve do- that can fundamentally describe a
you will get at least twelve ing nothing at all. Placement on the beekeeper’s management system.
different answers. Then, the answer continuum depends on the degree of As you look over the continuum,
will likely start with “Well, that de- intervention, which is higher when you will see your management choic-
pends.” Beekeeping is a complex en- (1) a chemical is present, as the raw es represented. If you are a new bee-
deavor, requiring a problem-solving product or as a residual contaminant, keeper, these are all things you will
mind. From the initial decision about for a longer time, or (2) the honey have to consider before you begin
which equipment to purchase, to bee colony is more fundamentally or as things arise. If you write down
how to handle a pest or parasite situ- manipulated. While the continuum your choice for each line on the con-
ation, there is a spectrum (or contin- here does not include every decision tinuum, you are recording the details
uum) of choices (Fig. 1). Some of the a beekeeper must make, it is a subset of your “management system.” That
is, you have a certain way of doing
things in your apiaries. Perhaps you
are noticing that your decisions fall
mostly within a given color on the
spectrum, or perhaps some of them
are on the far left while others are on
the far right. All of these things are
related to your personal philosophi-
cal values. Thus, you have a beekeep-
ing philosophy. This may or may not
match the philosophy of the beekeep-
ers around you. You also have a given
number of colonies you will keep and
this impacts your management.
In a research study, we used sur-
vey data from the Bee Informed
Partnership’s management survey
for the 2016–2017 beekeeping year
(the survey questions are available at
https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/
uploads/2017/03/2016-2017-Loss-and-
Management-Survey-PREVIEW-
final.pdf — accessed on 8 January
2018) to investigate whether manage-
ment decisions are made randomly
Figure 1. The continuum of beekeeping choices. Beekeepers can choose from a vari- or if beekeeping philosophy and op-
ety of management practices for chemical use, hive manipulations, feeding, and bee- eration size influence decisions. We
keeping goals. Image by Nick Sloff. Reprinted from Underwood et al. (2019). chose 13 of the 94 questions to include
acknowLedgmentS:
A huge thank you goes out to Steve
Finke and Steve Berner of the Le-
high Valley Beekeepers Association
in southeastern Pennsylvania. It was
their idea to explain, in picture form,
the idea that every aspect of beekeep-
ing has a spectrum of possible choices.
Their original diagram sparked this
work. This research was funded by
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture, National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, Organic Agriculture
Research and Extension Initiative,
Agreement Number 51300-26814.
referenceS:
Underwood, R, B. Traver, and M. Lopez-
Uribe. Beekeeping Management Practices
Are Associated with Operation Size and
Beekeepers’ Philosophy Towards In-Hive
Chemicals. Insects 10, 10; doi:10.3390/in-
sects10010010. 2019.
I
n the first part of my study (see hordes; they are mostly lone enemies protection and the strong mouthparts
ABJ December 2018), I focused of bees — though, despite acting in- are adapted to impale and inject fluid
on the impact of social wasps and dependently, their numbers are nev- into its prey. The long, spiky legs en-
hornets on colonies of honeybees. The ertheless large enough, at particular able the fly to grasp its captured boo-
relationship between these insect spe- times of the season and in particular ty securely.
cies and honeybees is most often on a localities, to have some minor effect In my apiary in Greece these flies
warlike basis, with many aggressors on colony life. are abundant from early to mid-
usually challenging a mostly well- summer. They choose a perch near
defended bastion. Often, due to many roBBer/aSSaSSin fLieS the hives and await a passing bee.
varying circumstances, the colonies Robber or Assassin flies are mem- Then, swiftly, a bee is caught in mid-
succumb to heavy predation, espe- bers of the Asilidae family. There are flight and immediately paralyzed
cially if the beekeeper hasn’t adopted many species varying in size from by chemicals in the saliva which the
strategies to control the invaders. 3mm to 50mm, each of them shar- fly injects into its body. Once a bee
However, the damage these hyme- ing the same physical and behavioral is caught, the fly settles some way
noptera insects can wreak on a colony characteristics which help them to from the hive, allowing chemicals in
cannot be predicted, as their strength cope with stinging insects sometimes the saliva (neurotoxic and proteolytic
or even absences of a cyclic nature is larger than themselves. The head has enzymes) to work on the bee, liquify-
a phenomenon which is still puzzling two very large eyes between a hol- ing the contents of its body. This fluid
to many entomologists. low, above which are a pair of short, meal is then sucked up and digested
The insects and spiders that are sharp, horn-like antennae. The face by the fly. Each robber fly can catch
featured in this issue do not attack in has stiff moustache-like bristles for several bees each day. Whilst honey
bees often have a chance of defend-
ing themselves from most of their en-
emies, against a robber fly they have
no chance, hence their other apt name
of ‘assassin’ fly.
The females lay clumps of eggs in
the ground or on the surface, the lar-
vae feeding mostly on rotting vegeta-
tion and the larvae of other insects.
The larvae go through three instars,
followed by pupation (overwinter-
ing below soil level), with the adults
emerging in spring. However, de-
pending on the habitat and climate,
metamorphosis can sometimes take
up to three years.
Seeing Robber Flies at work is not
at all pleasant, and eliminating them
from the apiary is very difficult, indeed
impossible. The best chance of catch-
ing them is when they have secured
their prey and have settled down to
Robber Fly ― the key anatomical characteristics of the fly can be seen in this photo enjoy their meal, using a small net that
― the short horn-like antennae, the bristly moustache (mystax), the concave struc- children use on the beach. Where I live
ture (divot) between the large compound eyes, the sword-like mouthparts and the is an excellent habitat for the Asilidae
spiky, long legs. (J. Phipps) species. They love open sunny spaces
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