Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
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Volume 158 No. 9 September 2018
Contents
Email
info@americanbeejournal.com
Web
www.americanbeejournal.com
Editor - Kirsten Traynor Advertising Manager - Marta Menn
Publishing Department - Dianne Behnke & Susan Nichols
Queen Bees with a Norhtern
Latitude Attitude — 1045
● Bee Inspired
Laura G. Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
Articles
● Liability Insurance: Can We Afford the Risk? In Praise of the Langstroth Hive — 1049
Justin Kay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007
Bee Brief . . . . . . . . . . . 963
Departments
● The Varroa Problem - Part 17c
Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013 Letters to the
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 965
● Beekeeping Filipino Style
Peter John S. Rafosala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023 News & Events . . . . . . 969
The Classroom
Columns The Curious Beekeeper
Jerry Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987 Rusty Burlew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1049
Bees & Beekeeping, Past & Present Notes from the Lab: The Latest Bee Science Distilled
Wyatt A. Mangum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029 Scott McArt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
The Scientific Trenches
Alison McAfee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1041
CULVERS ROOT
I took the attached photograph the
other day in our wildflower meadow
and wanted to share it with you.
I live in the mountains of western
North Carolina and the bee is on a
flowering plant that I have identified
as Culvers Root. The red plant in the
background is Red Beebalm.
Your Truly,
Mike Elliott
WEST VIRGINIA
the wv Beekeepers association
fall conference on august 24 & 25 2018
“By 2020, if not before, the American Honey Market will be very
different and much healthier.”
1. Trade Wars and Fraud profit organization that sets standards The challenge of establishing a
The summer of 2018 has seen the for the identity, strength, quality, and definition of honey with the speci-
eruption of international trade wars. purity of medicines, food ingredi- ficity required to help prevent both
These wars involve a wide range of ents, and dietary supplements manu- circumvention and adulteration has
nations and changing tariffs, non- factured, distributed and consumed been an important topic in recent
tariff trade barriers, opposition to worldwide” (USP.org). The USP has months. Adulteration and circum-
violations of both international law announced that a meeting of a honey vention to mask true country of ori-
and intellectual property rights law. expert panel will be held in 2018. gin are inextricably linked in today’s
Blatant incidences of food fraud in a Intolerance of fraud is growing global marketplace.
growing number of categories have among authorities in charge of imple- The trade wars cited are occurring
been in the news, such as seafood. menting laws. Equally import, con- within a context of tremendous inter-
Since 2001, the U.S. has had high sumers are increasingly sympathetic national and national debt, including
antidumping duties in place on to beekeepers, whose livelihoods are the national debt of the two big-
Chinese honey, and only a few con- dependent on food authenticity and gest global economies (the U.S. and
tainers of Chinese honey have been ecological sustainability. China), volatility of currencies, eco-
imported each year since the impo- The international trade war in- nomic stress and a global sweep to-
sition of those duties. Additional volves increased rejections, and re- wards autocracy and rising tensions.
Trump administration tariffs on Chi- ciprocal tariff and non-tariff trade
nese products would not be expected barriers. One large Australian re- 2. u.s. Honey ImporT Trends
to directly affect honey imports into tailer, Coles, removed honey that Over the past 5 years, U.S. import
the U.S. has Chinese components from their volumes have increased on average
Professor Michael Roberts, from retail stores. The Chinese govern- 10,720 metric tons per year. The in-
the Resnick Program for Food Law ment rejected recent honey imports crease comes from Asian sources, at
and Policy at the UCLA School of from Australia and Canada. Those a rate of 11,365 metric tons per year,
Law, has pointed out that efforts to rejections apparently did not cite any while imports from the Americas
detect and curb food fraud cost $8 known regulation. In 2017 China im- decreased by 3,495 metric tons per
billion. Food fraud globally costs ported honey valued at $91,200,000 year. The total volume of imports
an estimated $30-40 billion per year according to global trade statistics. increased from 141,000 tons in 2012
(John Spink, Michigan State Uni- The collapse of honey prices from to 202,000 tons in 2017. Import prices
versity, 2014). Within the context of world exporters, and shifts in the pat- from all sources reached an aver-
food fraud, honey is ranked third terns of honey exports, are directly age high in 2014-2015 of $1.59/lb.
after milk and olive oil (U.S. Phar- linked to the prevalence of adulter- ($3,500/MT), declined in 2015-2016,
macopeia). Prof. Roberts has written ated honey in the international honey and then prices from Asian countries
“Economically Motivated Adultera- market. This issue was addressed in continued to decline through 2017 to
tion is designed by nature not to be the Apimondia Roundtable on Eco- an average of $0.91/lb. ($2,000/MT).
detected.” He has recommended that nomically Motivated Adulteration Prices for conventional honey from
the honey industry “engage with US held in October, 2018 and chaired by the Americas rose by about 15% from
Pharmacopeia (USP), a scientific non- Prof. Norberto Garcia. 2016 to 2017. Prof. Garcia has pre-
I
United States lots of clover, but it was hard for the
n many parts of the United States, The tallow flow in Louisiana was bees to work. Clover year.” Honey
unusual weather events have im- good where the bees were good. crops are up 10-25% in the Dakotas,
pacted honey production. The “Splitting them hurt the crop, but with reporters noting 85 lb aver-
West Central and Southeast regions those that weren’t split did good.” We ages. Canola, alfalfa and sweet clo-
are enjoying a boom, while most of hear that demand for local honey is ver all produced well. Prospects for
the rest of the country reports below high, especially for local comb honey. a late flow look good, as the region
average harvests. Chunk honey is fetching $17.75 per has enjoyed “good moisture and late
Northeast—Maine reports that pint and $10.50 per 1/2 pint at retail blooming alfalfa.”
prospects are fair, as “we need rain; prices. Reports note that the hobby market
very dry at this point.” The black lo- East Central—From this region we remains strong with more backyard
cust flow was good with good move- hear that beekeepers were able to re- beekeepers popping up and supply
ment in the retail market. cover and make up winter losses. The stores selling equipment increasing.
From New Hampshire we hear season started 2 to 3 weeks late, with One reporter noted that “many
honey crops are down about 10%, a good flow off black locust and the queens have quit laying due to high
due in part to the hot weather with clover bloom just starting at the time heat and no nectar.”
90+F temperatures and no rain. So this report was completed. He reports In marketing a bit of a war has
far clover has been the best flow, that he’s “hopeful.” emerged. “We’re seeing a conflict
while locust didn’t produce. This From Illinois we hear that this with producers over glass vs. plas-
year’s crop is thus darker. “If you do year’s season is similar to last, and tic.” Wholesale demand has picked
not have rain, you get no nectar.” both are down 20% compared to nor- up as there is less supply. “Due to
Retail honey is moving slowly, but mal. Best flows were from locust and drought small beekeepers/packers
at higher prices. sweet clover, while dandelion and are searching for local honey.”
Mideast—One reporter from Ken- soy didn’t produce much. Average “It appears that more beekeepers
tucky notes that his crop is up to harvests were 30-40 lbs. (hobby) are using farmers markets
6,500 lbs from 2,500 lbs last year with Another Illinois reporter notes to sell their honey, causing a glut of
colonies on average producing 40 lb, “poor weather, poor buildup, lots many honey booths in farmers mar-
up from 25 last year. The best flow of queen issues.” Due to the bad kets. So far it does not appear to drive
came off blackberry, while clover weather, locust, linden, and spring the price down.”
was disappointing. harvests were poor and fruit crops Intermountain—This region is suf-
Mixed flows were reported in Ken- were average. “Erratic weather has fering from a drought in many areas.
tucky from tulip poplar with some shortened or rained out most flows. All areas in Utah have some level of
stating average and others total rain Our normal dearth starts mid-July. drought conditions, ranging from ex-
out. Average blackberry and locust. The bees are starting to act as if there treme to moderate.
Sourwood started and then dried up, is one.” Most areas have now harvested
due to extended periods of dry, ex- Colony numbers have increased that first crop of alfalfa. One issue
treme heat. In Tennessee both Dutch slightly. “The summer has improved that many beekeepers face is that
and sweet clover produced well. and I am using it to prep the bees for farmers are harvesting their alfalfa
The number of managed colonies fall as our fall flows are not reliable before it has had a chance to reach
has decreased. “Too much rain at the anymore. Goldenrod used to be a full bloom. This reduces the nectar
wrong times.” given.” potential for bees.
Southeast—Honey crops from Health-wise, beekeepers have in-
Florida are up 20%, with colony av- Intermountain
Northeast dicated that their bee colonies are
erages at 50+ lbs compared to 40 lbs West West Central East Central looking good at this time. There have
last year. Tupelo had the best flow, been some varroa mites reported, but
while tallow disappointed. most beekeepers are doing what is
Colony numbers are stable. necessary to keep mite populations
Honey prices in the wholesale mar- to a minimum at this time.
ket are low due to “import pressure.” Mideast Beekeepers as of late June were fin-
Southwest—This region reports ished with the task of placing supers
good flows from Russian olive in on their colonies in preparation for
April and May, Russian Knapweed Southeast the expanding colonies. Beekeepers
and Coyote Willow in June and July. Southwest
are hopeful for a good honey crop.
Demand for honey continues to then cold and dry. Water wars have per colony compared to last year, with
exceed the supply. There is contin- commenced. Similar complaints in extracted crops lighter than usual.
ued concern from beekeepers on California, where lack of rain resulted Washington state reports a very short
pricing going forward. in poor flows from sage and wild- spring, with blackberry providing a
West—This region is reporting flower. Eucalyptus and poison oak much needed boost to colonies.
mixed honey crops with some stating have average flows. In coastal California, queens have
50-60% less production compared to Clover failed to produce in Oregon, been hard to mate due to incoming fog.
last year and others stating crops are though one reporter notes average The honey market is hot with
up 15% over last. It’s been hot, dry, yields at 75 lbs, an increase of 10 lbs “more demand than I can supply.”
Q
Hello,
STORING HONEY
A
My options are:
A
and the invention of bee space and or get value from its use.
hanging frames. Was he the first to In 1815 a Ukrainian beekeeper
create the “modern movable frame” named Peter Prokopovich invented
beehive? the movable frame beehive. He did
Thank you for your information include a space of 8-9mm between the Hello Mark,
and eagerness to share! end bar and the wall of the beehive, I am glad you had a good crop.
but missed this pretty close bee space Exciting. Honey is a supersaturated
History Buff, between the frames. Prokopovich sugar solution based on the flower
Columbus Ohio had several hundred colonies, which nectar collected. Honey that granu-
in the early 1800’s was unusual. His lates/crystallizes is following a
large number of colonies was possible natural process as the honey tries to
because of his unique movable frame balance the sugar ratios in it. Some
hive. honey will never granulate and some
It took our own Lorenzo Lang- like canola will granulate so quickly,
stroth, who was born in 1810 when sometimes while still in the comb,
Prokopovich was using his movable forcing beekeepers to extract it equal-
frame hives in Ukraine, to figure out ly quickly. Most honeys have sugar
that the 3/8 inch bee space could be ratios that fall in the middle and will
used as a universal distance between granulate slowly. The ratios of indi-
frame hardware, the frames next to vidual sugars are important to de-
each other, and the hive body itself. termine if the honey will granulate
This allowed for much easier frame slowly or quickly. I know most of
movement and management. Lang- us and our customers are imprinted
stroth received a patent for this in on liquid honey. But most of the rest
1852. There is no reason to believe of the world prefers what we call
that Langstroth could read Ukrainian ‘Creamed Honey’ which is finely
or anybody cared about Ukrainian crystallized honey. It is smooth,
beekeepers back in the 1800’s. creamy, has a wonderful mouth feel
This bee space distance is the uni- and it doesn’t drip or run all over the
versal engineering metric that allows place. Google up Creamed Honey or
anyone designing a beehive to allow the original ‘Dyce Process’ because
the beekeeper to open up and inspect there is a potential market for this
a honey bee colony, so they can man- wonderful product.
A
the least amount of heat needed to re- and less negative impact on colony
liquefy it. health.
All the best and have fun.
Q OLD COMB
ROTATION
Hey Ken,
Thank you for The Classroom com-
pliment. I appreciate it for all of us
beekeepers.
Q
Hi Jerry,
BEE STINGS
A
cluding gloves if needed. This will
give you a solid feeling of control and
confidence so you can do your job to
keep them healthy.
Hello Michele, You’ll do great,
Honey bees sting for only two rea- Jerry
Q
sons, species defense and colony de-
fense. What is species defense? When
you walk across your yard in your
FREEZING FRAMES
A
bare feet and you step on a honey bee OF HONEY
and she stings you, in the future, you
will look out for honey bees in your What are your thoughts on freez-
yard before putting down your feet... ing or refrigerating full honey
protecting the species. Colony defense frames in storage until the honey Chris,
is when members of the honey bee harvest is over? Then I can process Historically most beekeepers start
colony sacrifice themselves by sting- them all at once. Temperatures in a colony of honey bees in April or so.
ing an entity considered a predator to NW Colorado can reach 100 de- The reason is that the colony has to
protect the colony in general. grees before the summer is over. grow in population, perhaps build
One of the significant ways honey Also keeping out little critters. comb out from the foundation the
bees communicate within the colony Really enjoy The Classroom beekeeper has given it, store honey as
is with ‘odors’ called pheromones. Thanks for all your help, a food surplus and all of this long be-
The major management tool for bee- fore the next winter appears. The col-
keepers to facilitate ease of opening Terry ony has to grow and stabilize biologi-
up a hive to inspect and sample a col- cally with enough resources to make
A
ony is the smoker. When smoke is in- it through the winter. For a new bee-
troduced into a hive, the smoke masks keeper to do this successfully while
the chemical odor communication of experiencing all the new situations
individual bees to their nest mates that becoming a beekeeping imposes
and stops or dilutes alarm pheromone Freezing is better than refrigerat- is tough, even when you have plenty
odors. Bees use alarm pheromones to ing. Honey is a supersaturated sugar of time. In a perfect world, it could
organize colony defense to attack and solution with many different sug- be done. But even for an experienced
sting the intruder...you the beekeeper. ars in it from many different nectar beekeeper, it’s tough to have a colony
I did not see in your question that you sources. If these sugar ratios are off build out strong enough from scratch
were using a smoker. I hope you are balance or skewed the honey will try this late in the year.
as it lowers the colony’s defensive re- to balance itself and will ‘granulate’, My suggestion is to take time and
actions initially and long-term as the i.e. sugar crystals will form. This re- join your local beekeeper’s associa-
‘alarm’ pheromones are not activated. balancing happens best at refrigerator tion. They hopefully have a mentor
When a honey bee stings, the in- temperatures. I would freeze them to program. Subscribe to American Bee
jected venom contains proteins that retain the liquid honey that can then Journal, google up ‘Tools for Varroa
cause pain and destroy various cells be extracted later. Management’ from the Honey Bee
in the area of the sting causing more Health Coalition and memorize it. By
pain. Which of course is what the bees next spring you will be ready to be
Q
want to do to discourage you from in- successful and keep the bees alive.
terfering through hive management. Starting a Nuc Sorry if I sucked the immediate fun
Certainly, if you have or are having
sting reactions that concern you, you
Now out of this, but honey bees—primar-
ily because of varroa mites—need
should visit a doctor that specializes Hello there. I’m about the pull the consistent management to keep them
in allergies. Per the question regard- trigger on getting a hive etc. and healthy and productive. All new bee-
ing some long-time beekeepers, who clearing some space in my yard. I keepers who I have seen jump into
suddenly develop severe reactions. have a friend, who might sell me a beekeeping without preparation fail,
Q
businesses. (front door) and nice landing area
Be careful. (porch). Both are designed for us, not
SIGNING A Take care, the bees.
PETITION Jerry But honey bees are survivors most
Jerry, I got an email from a lady of the time. Especially now, with your
Q BEES BUILDING
this morning who wants me to help, they can live and do well in a
sign a petition. I clicked on this variety of cavities.
link — https://act.credoaction.com/ COMB IN DIFFERENT
DIRECTION
Q
sign/epa_bees_2018_2?sp_ref
=418506522.4.185399.e.595981 Hello Jerry
.2&referring_akid=.9228635. This swarm season I have been try- How Many Varroa?
RTznu1&source=mailto_sp — and ing my hand at swarm trapping. Out
read the blurb with it. Knowing that of 5 swarm traps I have so far gotten
you are knowledgeable about all the I did a mite wash and found 1 mite.
a swarm in three of them. One thing
chemical turmoil that goes on in the So, I was wondering what mite treat-
I noticed in each of these three is that
country and globally, I wanted to ask ment you would recommend.I am in
the bees build the comb perpendicu-
you to review this and advise. I have a Arizona.
lar to the entrance rather than parallel
club of beeks that number about and as in the Lang hive. Is this how bees
this lady is asking me to invoke these Jerry D.
usually do comb in the wild? Are we
members to sign as well; I, however, making ventilation, etc. difficult for
loathe to simply present something them by having the entrance as we do
without checking out the facts. on the Lang?
Thanks, if you’ll respond to what Thanks,
might be legit, but more than likely Jefferey D.
A
might be something that is one-sided
and lacks a factual, research basis.
Thanks for your always-informa-
tive column, which I always read first
Good morning Jeffrey,
A
when the magazine comes.
Free bees. Good time to treat for
varroa when you first get them before
Ron brood rearing starts.
Back in the early days of hive de-
sign when we were first starting to
The recommendation currently is if
understand bee space, there were
you have 3-5 mites per 100 bees in an
entrances on bottom boards offered
alcohol wash, then you should select
with two options.
and start your varroa treatment.
For a simple visual, picture the
Keep your sampling up because
frames in your hive body the way
that 1 per 100 could change quickly
they are now. One bottom entrance
as brood that has been parasitized
was called the ‘cold way’. And it was
emerges and female foundress mites
the entrance on the short side of the
emerge.
box as we have now. It was called
I would start with ApiGuard a thy-
the ‘cold way’ because air could en-
A
mol (herb oil) gel. It provides good
ter and blow easily between frames
control of varroa and very little col-
as the frames were oriented with bee
lateral damage to the bees.
space facing the entrance opening.
Follow the label directions.
The other entrance was called the
My biggest concern would be turn- Don’t pat yourself on the back just
‘warm way’. This entrance was on
ing over my contact information to yet. Especially in Arizona, where in
the long side of the box. Because the
them. None of their petitions are ca- most places you don’t have winter, so
frames were parallel to the entrance
pable of causing any federal agency the bees rear brood year round.
opening the thought was that air did
to do anything. EPA, for example, not have as easy a path into the hive
Q
opens public comment periods when and so allowed the colony to regu-
it makes decisions regarding pesti- late temperature and humidity more
cides and that is when EPA will con- efficiently. ‘OTHER BEES’
sider petitions and other information. Back in the old days before varroa
Looking at the range of topics, my wiped out 90% of wild/feral colo- I am located in the Netherlands and
guess is that ‘credoaction’ is collect- nies, honey bees would select a cavity was wondering what your experience
ing lists of people that they can sell to with an entrance above the location over the years has been with bees oth-
others for politically-related market- of the brood nest, if possible. That al- er than the honey bee:
LOHMAN APIARIES
since 1946
Quality Queens and Packages
Old World Carniolan
for Over-wintering and Honey Production
Dennis Lohman Apiaries
6437 Wagner Road
ARBUCKLE, CALIFORNIA 95912
530-476-2322
Member of California Bee Breeders Association
L
ong before temperatures plummet, the bees are
preparing for winter. As soon as the days start get-
ting shorter, it helps to start planning for winter,
preparing your colony to survive the long dearth.
For colonies to survive the winter, you need healthy
winter bees. Winter bees differ greatly from summer bees
in their physiology. They have more fat body, special tis-
sues that line the inside of their abdomen and produce a Quality Queen
very important protein called vitellogenin (VG). This VG A colony typically needs a large, healthy population
is an egg-yolk precursor normally used by insects in egg to winter well. The queen must have a good brood pat-
production, but repurposed in honey bees as an immune tern, laying a large number of eggs in late summer. These
booster, energy reserve and predictor of longevity. develop and emerge as healthy adult bees in August and
Colonies raise their winter bees predominantly in September, becoming the winter bees of your cluster.
August and September, just as varroa mite levels peak Big clusters winter much better than small clusters, as
nationwide. When mites rise above 3 mites per 100 bees, they can better thermoregulate colony temperatures. The
beekeepers need to do something to reduce the pressure larger size also allows the cluster to stay in contact with
of this parasite. Unfortunately samples from the National food stores more readily; they occupy more space and so
Honey Bee Disease Survey show that mite levels on aver- can easily move up into additional stores. A small cluster
age rise above this threshold from July-November. may consume all the food in their vicinity during a cold
snap, then starve with ample stores just out of reach.
If you have a poor quality queen in late summer, it is
better to “pinch” (eliminate) her. If the remaining bees are
healthy, combine them with another colony. It is much
easier to winter one strong colony, than three weak ones.
The strong one will come roaring through the winter and
can then usually be split back out into three colonies the
next spring.
Plenty oF Pollen
Bees require protein rich pollen to rear the next genera-
tion. Ideally you want to provide your colony with at least
one to three frames of stored pollen, what beekeepers call
bee bread. Not all areas have late summer and early fall
pollen sources available. If your colony has no incoming
On a weekly basis, rotate frames of capped brood and empty cells (from where brood has emerged) without
bees from the upper to lower hive body, and eggs/larvae plus nurse bees from the lower to upper hive body
(making sure you don’t include the queen). Close the open door on the left upper half of the double screen
and open the door immedi-
ately below, so that nurse
bees who have “graduat-
ed” to being forager bees
will be re-directed down-
stairs. Open a new door
around the corner on the
upper half of the double
screen for the next crop
of “graduating” nurse bees
to exit/enter by . Transfer
individual frames contain-
ing capped queen cells
plus adhering bees to a
nuc or queen castle . Re-
place with frames (and
bees if desired) containing
honey, pollen, and older
brood from other hives . If
you backfill with frames
of capped brood or drawn
but empty comb, put those
frames “downstairs” and
re-balance frames, as nec-
essary . Repeat next week
and continue for as long as
you want to produce addi-
tional queen cells .
N
What does a new beekeeper need to
early every bee club has one- off I-26 in the small town of Saluda, know to be successful? He responded
that magnanimous person NC. It has been in business for nearly with yet another simple but profound
around whom a club quietly 25 years. answer: “You’ve got to love the bee
revolves. When he or she speaks, the During that time Mr. Holbert has first.” He went on to say that your pri-
room quiets, ears tuned attentively. helped countless beekeepers, young ority must be keeping the bees alive
A person from whom everyone has and old, new and veteran, get start- and healthy, and anything else must
received help throughout the years. ed and keep their colonies alive and come after that most important task.
Someone, who seems to be an endless strong. He has run as many as 90 of Holbert’s Bee Supply will close
fount of knowledge. Knowledge born his own colonies, sold nucs, packages, on the Saturday of Labor Day week-
most certainly from years of experi- honey and bee supplies. He spreads end this year. It is the end of an era
ence, but also an innate understand- his knowledge to those who visit the for this rural area of Western NC,
ing of how bees behave and what store, and often speaks to local bee where a small, unassuming bee store
bees intuitively do. For my club, that clubs, conducts 4H presentations, area and a wise, equally unassuming bee
individual is Mr. Phil Holbert. Each farm tours and so on. Dave Smith of store owner provided so much to the
time I hear him talk about honey bees, Polk County Bee Club recalls: people and bees of the neighborhood.
I am struck by the depth of his under- “Several of us took the same bee Lewis Cauble, Apiary Inspector for
standing. His passion for the bees is class from Mr. Holbert. During the the Western NC Region, sums up Mr.
infectious, and he has a deep appre- class, it became apparent that bee- Holberts contribution best:
ciation for their lifecycle in tandem keeping could be overwhelming, “When I first started my new job
with the natural world. once we left the class. We asked Mr. as Apiary Inspector, I moved from
Mr. Holbert and his wife, Jan, both Holbert if he would be our mentor Orange County, NC to Saluda and
grew up on apple farms in the foot- afterwards. He smiled his cheshire was introduced to Phil by the previ-
hills of Western North Carolina. Mr. cat smile and said, ‘you need to keep ous Apiary Inspector. When I lived in
Holbert tells of his father keeping in touch with each other. You are Saluda, I would enjoy stopping in at
4-6 hives of German black bees for
pollination purposes. Back then, he
says, very little was required of the
beekeeper. Several times a year they
would visit the hives to add or re-
move honey supers and that was all,
no mite treatments or feeding. He has
been keeping his own bees for about
40 years, his first hives collected as
swarms from his father-in-law’s hive
and brought home.
A few years prior to retirement
from his first career, Mr. Holbert was
approached by a retiring bee store
owner in the area. Would he take on
the store? Mr. Holbert agreed, but
was still working full time elsewhere.
His father kindly handled the store
on days he couldn’t be there. Hol-
bert’s Bee Supply is a Dadant & Sons
dealership located in a building just
Phil’s shop to catch up and get a feel not in the bee supply business for the
for what was going on in the bee com- money, but rather to share his passion
munity around Polk, Henderson, and and wisdom with those around him,
Rutherford Counties. There is no bet- which is rare these days.”
ter place to gather that information These days, Mr. Holbert wishes to
than at Phil’s shop, either firsthand have a little more time with his own
through the folks that are stopping by colonies. He wants to join his wife of
to purchase supplies, or from Phil. nearly 24 years and do some of the
“I would usually find a person or things she’s been yearning to do. He
two just hanging around and soaking is grateful to his wife Jan for her un-
up bits and pieces of wisdom from derstanding and support throughout
Phil. I have met more than one good so many years of beekeeping.
beekeeper who learned their craft by Perhaps you are your bee club’s
simply absorbing it from hanging version of Mr. Holbert, or someday
out in the shop. They never actually you may become your bee club’s Mr.
worked shoulder to shoulder in the Holbert, but I think we can safely say,
bee yard with Phil, but rather listened a small nugget of Mr. Holbert is in
intently to his advice and applied it to all of us beekeepers: possession of a
their own hives. boundless curiosity about bees and South Georgia Apiaries
“Phil is one of the finest fellows in
my 21 county area. His fingerprints
their environments, and a spirit of
generosity with our time and talent.
Quality Italian Queens
are all over beekeeping in Henderson, As a final question, I asked if he Queen cells
Polk, Rutherford, and beyond. He is liked all bees or just honey bees: “just
honey bees, the others are just a nui- for pick-up only at:
sance.” And there you have it folks. 300 Wisteria Ln.
Many thanks to Mr. Holbert, and Baxley, GA 31513
all of you out there serving your
beekeeping communities in so many Tel (912) 366-9022
ways. Without you, traditional meth- Fax (912) 367-0012
ods would be lost, and new ones
would never be discovered.
Sanders Honey
Queens
For Sale
Josh Sanders
7288 Perdie Lee Rd
Nicholls GA 31554
Mr. Holbert sitting comfortably in his bee
supply store.
The unassuming building that has been
serving beekeepers for years.
912-399-8480
1006 American Bee Journal
B
“ ees? . . . as in Farm Bees?” the even after reducing your risk, you odds over the long term will eventu-
insurance agent said. can’t entirely eliminate it, like the risk ally be true, but over the short term
“Um, yeah, I guess. Honey of someone else driving recklessly on may not be.
bees actually. I keep a few hives in my the highway. For those situations, you If you flip a coin, you have a 50%
back yard, is that a problem?” I asked, look at the odds that liability or loss chance it lands on heads. Does that
a little confused. While beekeeping will fall on you, and if so how much mean that if you flip a coin twice
isn’t exactly a normal hobby, I figured will it cost you. you’ll get heads once and tails once?
State Farm would have run into bees If the odds compared to the cost Maybe, maybe not. But over the long
as a part of a homeowner’s insurance are low enough that you can absorb term, the average prevails, and one
policy before. the potential loss, you chalk it up to half of all coin tosses end up being
“Gee, I’m not sure if we allow that. life and move on, realizing that you heads.
I’ll have to look into it and get back to may encounter a loss in the future. The same holds true for legal li-
you,” she said. But more on that later. However, if the odds compared to ability and loss. If the average per-
America is a litigious society. Open the amount are high enough that you son is sued once every 40 years and
a newspaper and you’ll read a ridic- can’t absorb the potential loss, you has liability in the amount of $4,000
ulous story about someone getting deflect that risk onto someone else. (completely made up statistics, by
sued for some nonsense. In society to- Enter the insurance realm. Insurance the way), that doesn’t mean that you
day, beekeeping, honey, or your bees companies absorb the potential loss won’t be sued twice this year with li-
could easily be that next “nonsense” in exchange for a premium that’s ability in the amount of $50,000. But
that exposes you to a legal nightmare. paid. That premium is based on the statistically, it means several other
What could you be sued for? May- same odds of loss compared to the people aren’t being exposed to liabil-
be someone buys some of your honey estimated amount of the loss, plus a ity (if the statistics were accurate).
and gets sick, or slips on your prop- profit. The insurance company’s larger
erty while trying to buy honey, or the The main difference between the assets mean they can play the bigger
neighbor gets stung by one of “your insurance company and you is size. game, and ride out the tough times
bees,” or the neighbor’s dog gets The company has significantly larger in exchange for profit in the good
stung and dies. It’s an almost endless assets than you. As any statistician or times. You, however, can’t afford the
list of potential issues that someone poker player will tell you, statistical tough times, as a $50,000 loss may
may claim you, or your bees, caused
and hold you responsible. Or maybe
you sell honey at a farmer’s market
or craft fair, and someone gets hurt at
your booth. All of these examples are
real situations that expose legal risk
to you, the beekeeper. So how do you
protect yourself?
I
use the term “scientific beekeep- Practical application: keep in mind and facilitated by the mite. Once the
ing” because I find it disturbing that it is not varroa that kills a colo- infestation rate of varroa exceeds
as to how much “information” ny—it is typically a virulent strain about 15% (~50 mites in an alcohol
given to beekeepers consists of a of Deformed Wing Virus, vectored wash of ½ cup of bees), DWV tends
muddle of misinterpreted anecdotes,
indiscriminate repetition of so-called
“facts,” and the promotion of theories
and practices lacking any supportive
evidence. I can’t fault beekeepers for
buying into the reasoning of internet
beekeeping gurus who push ideal-
istic arguments for why you need to
keep bees this way or that, but I sug-
gest that you instead ground your
management practices in bee biology,
rather than upon catchy names.
Beekeepers can rationalize any-
thing they do, but as an industry,
we truly need to address The Var-
roa Problem, and our part in creat-
ing the varroa/DWV Monster. One
of my most common suggestions to
those touting an idea, is to “think it
all the way through”—to follow the
logical outcome to the end. My hope
is that by providing some graphics
that detail the genetic consequences
of our actions, we can then visualize Fig. 1 Brood exhibiting signs of Parasitic Mite Syndrome. This is an indicator that the
the long-term genetic pros and cons colony doesn’t have much longer to live, unless varroa is immediately controlled. An
of various management strategies on important thing to keep in mind is that there may be no external indication that the
the evolution of The Monster. colony is suffering, and one may not even notice any adult bees with deformed wings.
I love what I do, which makes me a happy beekeeper! A brood frame from a Russian hive.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Suzanne Sumner
for her comments on the manuscript.
Visit TBHSbyWAM.com
T
he harpoon shoots out from its world’s supply of fumagillin, in the that won’t last forever. “There are no
egg-shaped case like a micro- form of their quick-dissolving prod- other chemical medications approved
scopic military-grade weapon. It uct, Fumagilin-B. “The production for treatment of nosema anywhere in
hits its target – a honey bee midgut cell and sale of Fumagilin-B has been the the world,” Ursula says. “There are
– dead on, piercing the cell membrane bread and butter of Medivet Pharma- some labs around that are trying to
and latching on. But the harpoon ceuticals for many years,” Ursula Da test other compounds to treat nosema,
was not built to kill (at least not right Rugna, president of Medivet, wrote in but I don’t know of any that are close
away). Instead, still attached to its case a public letter announcing their clo- to registration and approval for sale.”
via a tubular tether, it begins inject- sure. “Once all our inventories have This sounds like a disaster, but
ing infectious material into the host been sold we will dismantle our facili- could it actually be good for the in-
cell, seizing the cell’s resources to do ties; it is expected we will be closed by dustry in the long term? If there is no
its bidding in as little as two seconds. June 2018.” longer an effective treatment for the
The poor cell has no choice but to com- Medivet’s ghostly website still
ply, facilitating the mass production of warns of a scam, where an unknown,
more tiny, egg-shaped spores until it ineffective substance was being sold
ruptures, releasing new spores into cheaply under the label of Fumagilin-
the gut to begin the cycle anew. More B. But this fraud, which was confined
spores find more cells to infect, and mainly to Middle-Eastern countries, is
the nosema infection spreads. not what forced them to close.
Nosema spores might look non- Medivet relied on another company,
descript, but their modus operandi is CEVA Sante Animale in Libourne,
anything but. The microscopic spore France, to supply the active ingredi-
particles drift in the honey bee’s mid- ent in Fumagilin-B: fumagilline DCH
gut lumen, waiting to come across the (which stands for dicyclohexylamine).
unsuspecting epithelial cells lining But for reasons that aren’t clear, CEVA
the gut wall, and then they strike (Fig- Sante Animale’s outsourced manu-
ure 1). Nosema disease, or nosemosis, facturer is no longer allowed to pro-
is now the most globally prevalent duce it, and it’s unlikely that another
honey bee disease, and in some re- company will step in soon to fill their
gions (mainly in the Mediterranean), shoes. “I don’t know of another com-
it can be devastating.1 Although once pany that can do it,” Ursula says.
thought to only affect adult bees, it “Without fumagilline DCH, no more
can actually proliferate in larvae too.2 Fumagilin-B can be produced.” Fig. 1 A. The honey bee gut system. Mod-
The only approved treatment against Now, as we tip-toe into fall – when ified (with permission) from Kwong et al.
nosemosis is the antibiotic fumagillin, most beekeepers would begin treat- 2016.10 B. A Nosema spp. spore invades
but now, it’s no longer for sale. ing for nosema – many are wondering a honey bee midgut cell. The polar tube
On April 12, 2018, Medivet Pharma- where to turn. After their announce- (also called the polar filament) shoots out
ceuticals Ltd. – a company based out ment last spring, Medivet’s Fumagil- from the spore and pierces a midgut epi-
of High River, Alberta – announced lin-B inventory quickly sold out to thelial cell. The spore contents transfer
that they were closing their doors. their distributors and customers. No into the midgut cell and begin replicat-
And shutting down Medivet means doubt some beekeepers have a stock- ing. Eventually, the cell bursts and new
shutting down production of the pile of the antibiotic at home, but even spores spill back into the gut lumen.
Phone 707-449-0440
Fax 707-449-8127
P.O. Box 1672
Vacaville, CA 95696
www.honeybeegenetics.com
The Good:
• The price is reasonable
• There is standardization among
manufacturers
• The parts are interchangeable
between hives and between api-
aries
• It’s easy to increase or decrease
space in a hive, depending on
colony strength
• You can set up a colony to pol-
The Legos of the bee world, Langstroth hive bodies and frames can be reversed linate or to collect honey, pollen,
and swapped between colonies. © Rusty Burlew
Spring Lake Hutterite Colony in southwest Saskatchewan with a resident population Our storage bins with a canola crop
of 99. blooming in the foreground.
A frame of crystallized honey, ready to be placed into the top super of the colony. The feeding hole in my top board.
Bees working to remove the crystallized honey in the top box and store it down below.
Left: An old frame from which the bees Foundation in a jig, ready to be pressure
cleared out the crystallized honey. washed at the car wash.
The author working hives at one of the apiary locations. The Hutterite colony uses
approximately 1,000 lbs of honey annually, mainly for baking and canning.
by Malcolm T. Sanford
https://beekeep.info
O
ver the last few years, I have ate the potential dwelling places they where the power is evenly diffused
been involved in a developing find, advertise their discoveries to among all the scout bees in a swarm.
cohousing community. The their fellow scouts with lively dances; Thus, the swarm bees choose their
concept of cohousing first started in debate vigorously to choose the best home without a leader integrating
Denmark, but has now made its away nest site, then rouse the entire swarm information from different sources
across the pond, first popping up in to take off; and finally pilot the cloud or telling others what to do. Mimick-
the western U.S., and is now a fledg- of airborne bees to its home.” ing the bees, a human group leader
ling movement found in most of the The experimental details devel- should act as impartially as possible,
country. The idea is primarily one of oped by Dr. Seeley along with some minimizing his or her influence on
designing for something called “in- of his collaborators are extremely cre- the process.
tentional community.” At first glance ative. The results from a host of stud-
it appears to be something old (“it ies make a great case for understand- 3. Seek Diverse Solutions to the
takes a village”), but in the modern ing how honeybees generally make Problem
world, it’s really something fairly the wisest decisions. This is all the The house-hunting process of a
new. It is also not a commune nor more remarkable given the size of in- honeybee swarm is open to the wid-
condominium, but has certain charac- dividual bees, which would seem to est possible array of choices, giving
teristics of both. set certain limits on their brain power the bees the best start in selecting liv-
To ensure the entity we design is via a reduced number of potential ing quarters. Humans could also do
the community we want and that it neurons. the following just like the bees do:
will prosper in the future, our com- In Chapter 10, Dr. Seeley discusses 1) Ensure the group is sufficiently
munity has recently gone deep into “swarm smarts.” He states that al- large for the challenge and consists of
the “weeds of governance” to see though honeybees should not neces- people with diverse backgrounds and
what possibilities there are. The first sarily be followed as “gurus,” several perspectives; 2) Foster independent
idea that comes to mind is to em- principles of their deliberations might exploratory work and create a social
ploy democratic governance to guide “raise the reliability of decision mak- environment in which the group’s
the way. Who could argue with that ing by human groups.” He looks at members feel comfortable about pro-
given U.S. history? Plenty of folks it these within the context of New Eng- posing solutions.
seems. First there are two kinds of land town meetings, and comes up
democracy, direct and representative. with the following “lessons.” 4. Aggregate the Group’s Knowledge
The U.S. in fact is not a direct democ- Through Debate
racy, nor is it what many might call a 1. Compose the Decision-Making Most impressive about the bees’
“republic.” Many of the founding fa- Group of Individuals with Shared social choices is the ability to distin-
thers seemed to favor “representative Interests and Mutual Respect guish good options from bad. This
democracy.” No matter how you cut Humans rarely share a singularity arises from an ingenious balance be-
it, however, human democracies cur- of purpose like the bees in a swarm, tween interdependence and indepen-
rently have issues. so they are less inclined to be highly dence. In humans this can be fostered
There’s an exciting book out, pub- cooperative when tackling a problem by open and fair debate to integrate
lished in 2010, that every beekeeper together. One thing humans can do information, encouraging good com-
should read. It’s called Honeybee De- is remind members at the outset of munication among the group, and
mocracy, written by Cornell Univer- a meeting that they in fact all have a ensuring that group members listen
sity’s Thomas Seeley. In the prologue, stake in the group’s welfare. critically, yet form their own opinions
he writes: “We will examine the way and register views independently.
that several hundred of a swarm’s 2. Minimize the Leader’s Influence on As a trained scientist, Dr. Seeley
oldest bees spring into action as nest- the Group’s Thinking continually looks for gaps and incon-
site scouts and begin exploring the One of the most striking features sistencies in his data. He also reflects
countryside for dark crevices. We will of the swarm bees’ decision-making that honeybees are not humans, and
see how these house hunters evalu- is that it is perfectly democratic, one so in his epilogue, is not ready to de-
I
n the 1920s, two great American icons—Thomas goldenrod’s natural latex produc-
Edison and Henry Ford—grew concerned that tion from 5% to 12%. The black
their supply of foreign rubber might disappear. and white photo shows Edison
Without rubber, the Ford assembly line would screech on the left with the goldenrod he
to a halt. The cars needed tires. So they joined up with developed. This goldenrod was
Harvey Firestone, who created the famous brand of later named after him, Solidago
tires still available to this day to see what they could edisoniana.
A
dream up.
F
lthough Edison filed and
amous for his many inventions, Edison was at was granted a patent
heart a tinkerer and a botanist. Down in Fort for his rubber extrac-
Myers, Florida, where both Ford & Edison had tion process from plants in 1927,
estates, they started investigating domestic plants. tires made from goldenrod never
Many plants produce latex, which can be refined into rolled on our streets. Edison died A jar of latex in
natural rubber. Over four years, Edison studied more on October 18th, 1931 and re- Edison’s lab
than 17,000 plants, growing a large selection at his es- search into goldenrod rubber continued for another five
tate. He finally settled on humble goldenrod. Through years after his death. During World War II, scientists de-
careful breeding and hybridization, Edison increased veloped a synthetic process for rubber and so domestic
rubber production from natural resources ground to a
halt. Nevertheless, the collaboration of Edison, Ford and
Firestone represents a major advance in modern research
on producing materials from renewable resources.
W
hile we associate these three men with great
inventions, they loved to camp together, call-
ing themselves vagabonds. When camping in
Maryland near a waterfall, they were disappointed to see
that a group of boys had the premium spot. So they of-
fered them $10 if the boys would set up camp elsewhere.
Why would they leave behind the luxury of their homes
for the wilderness? They wanted to embrace nature, to
“cheerfully endure wet, cold, smoke, mosquitoes, black
flies, and sleepless nights, just to touch naked reality
once more.”
M
ost beekeepers probably that bees are only collecting plant topic called melissopalynology (from
think they know where nectar to make honey? What about the Greek words meli and mellisa,
their honey comes from. For other sources of sugar, such as hon- meaning “honey” and “bee,” and pal-
example, when goldenrod blooms eydew from insects? These are the ynology, the “study of pollen”). Me-
around the Dyce Lab in upstate New topics for our tenth “Notes from the lissopalynologists spend lots of time
York in September, I’m pretty sure Lab,” where we highlight “Entomo- at the microscope looking for pollen
that’s what my bees are visiting and logical signatures in honey: an en- grains in honey. Those pollen grains,
turning into “goldenrod honey.” Dur- vironmental DNA metabarcoding which are picked up by accident as
ing apple bloom in May, it’s “apple approach can disclose information the bee forages for nectar, provide
blossom honey.” In November and on plant-sucking insects in agricul- clues to the honey’s origin, since pol-
December in New Zealand, it’s “ma- tural and forest landscapes,” written lens from different plants can look
nuka honey.” by Valerio Utzeri and colleagues and very different.
But what do we really know? published in the journal Scientific Re- But mellisopalynology is not an ex-
How much goldenrod nectar is ac- ports [8:9996 (2018)]. act science. Sometimes pollens from
tually in “goldenrod honey?” How The question of where honey different plant species look similar
much manuka nectar is in “manuka comes from is not new. In fact, there’s under the microscope. Also, because
honey?” And are we naïve to think a longstanding field of study on the bees accidentally pick up different
amounts of pollen at different plant
species, it’s difficult to estimate exact-
ly how much nectar a particular plant
species contributes to the honey. And
to be honest, it is a little odd to focus
on pollen while trying to figure out
where the nectar comes from. Why
not just look at the honey directly?
Recently, major improvements in
DNA sequencing allow us to look di-
rectly at honey to infer its origins. In
fact, the whole field of palynology is
going through a bit of an upheaval as
DNA metabarcoding stands to replace
traditional palynology approaches.
But what new insights can these me-
tabarcoding methods provide? This
is the question Utzeri and colleagues
were interested in pursuing.
For their study, Utzeri and col-
leagues purchased 13 different hon-
eys from Italy, France and Eastern Eu-
rope. They extracted DNA from the
honeys, amplified the DNA by a pro-
Valerio Joe Utzeri, lead author, sampling a honey for DNA metabarcoding analysis. cess called PCR, then sequenced the
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