Newsnotes - February 2012

Deadly Fly Parasite Spotted for First Time

SF State researchers’ new find may help understanding of ‘colony collapse disorder’

SAN FRANCISCO -- Honey bees can become the unwitting hosts of a fly parasite that causes them to abandon their hives and die after a bout of disoriented, "zombie-like" behavior, San Francisco State University researchers have found.

The phenomenon, first observed on the SF State campus, may help scientists learn more about colony collapse disorder (CCD). This mysterious ailment has drastically increased honey bee colony losses across the United States since its discovery in 2006.

So far, the fly parasite has only been found in honey bee hives in California and South Dakota, said SF State Professor of Biology John Hafernik. But the possibility that it is an emerging parasite "underlines the danger that could threaten honey bee colonies throughout North America, especially given the number of states that commercial hives cross and are deployed in," Hafernik and colleagues write in the January 3, 2012 issue of PLoS ONE.

Hafernik, who also serves as president of the California Academy of Sciences, didn't set out to study the parasitized bees. In 2008, he was just looking for some insects to feed the praying mantis that he had brought back to SF State's Hensill Hall after an entomology field trip. He scrounged the bees from underneath the light fixtures outside the biology building.
"But being an absent-minded professor," Hafernik joked, "I left them in a vial on my desk and forgot about them. Then the next time I looked at the vial, there were all these fly pupae surrounding the bees."

The fly, Apocephalus borealis, deposits its eggs into a bee's abdomen. Usually about seven days after the bee dies, fly larvae push their way into the world from between the bee's head and thorax. But it's the middle part of this macabre story that may be the most scientifically interesting to those studying the dramatic and mysterious disappearance of honey bees.
After being parasitized by the fly, the bees abandon their hives in what is literally a flight of the living dead to congregate near lights. "When we observed the bees for some time—the ones that were alive—we found that they walked around in circles, often with no sense of direction," said Andrew Core, an SF State graduate student from Hafernik's lab who is the lead author on the study.

Core won first place at the 2011 California State University Research Competition and the Geraldine K. Lindsay Award for excellence in the natural sciences at the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his presentation of the bee research.

Bees usually just sit in one place, sometimes curling up before they die, said Core. But the parasitized bees were still alive, unable to stand up on their legs. "They kept stretching them out and then falling over," he said. "It really painted a picture of something like a zombie."
Bees that left the hives at night were more likely to bear the parasite than those who foraged during the day, the researchers found. Genetic tests of parasitized hives also showed that both bees and flies were often infected with deformed wing virus and a fungus called Nosema ceranae.
Some researchers have pointed to the virus and fungus as potential culprits in colony collapse disorder, and hive abandonment is the primary characteristic of the disorder. It may be time, Hafernik said, to consider how the fly parasite fits into the CCD picture.

He said the next step is to find out exactly how the parasite is affecting the bees' behavior. It is possible, he said, that the parasite is somehow interfering with the bees' "clock genes" that help them keep a normal day-night rhythm.

The researchers also don't know if the infected bees are leaving the hive of their own accord, or whether they give off some sort of chemical signal that provokes their hive mates into throwing them out. "A lot of touching and tasting goes on in a hive," Hafernik said, "and it's certainly possible that their co-workers are finding them and can tell that there's something wrong with them."

The scientists will deploy a range of tools -- from tiny radio tags to video monitoring -- to help them answer these questions and discover ways to protect the hives.
"We don't know the best way to stop parasitization, because one of the big things we're missing is where the flies are parasitizing the bees," Hafernik noted. "We assume it's while the bees are out foraging, because we don't see the flies hanging around the bee hives. But it's still a bit of a black hole in terms of where it's actually happening."

Genetic analysis of the parasites confirmed that they are the same flies that have been infecting bumblebees, raising the possibility that the fly is an emerging and potentially costly new threat to honey bees.

"Honey bees are among the best-studied insects in the world," Hafernik noted. "So at one level, we would expect that if this has been a long-term parasite of honey bees, we would have noticed."

Decisions, Decisions: House-hunting Honey Bees Work Like Complex Brains

Researchers report how the signaling of honey bee nest-site scouts parallels that of neurons in primate brains

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – House-hunting is full of decisions, for us and honey bees. One early decision we both face is where to live. P. Kirk Visscher at the University of California, Riverside, often in collaboration with Thomas Seeley at Cornell University, NY, has long been studying how honey bees make these decisions.
Swarms of honey bees split off from their mother colony and go house-hunting, looking for a secure cavity in a tree or elsewhere that will make a good home for the new colony. In this process, they communicate to each other what they have found by dancing: a scout bee returning from a good site moves over and over in a figure-eight pattern that indicates the direction and the distance to the site, and other scouts read these dances and inspect the site themselves.

Usually, the swarm's scouts find more than one site, in which case the swarm faces a decision that must be made quickly since the swarm is exposed and the season for honey collection is passing. The decision, however, must also be good decision, the future welfare of the colony depending on a good home site.

Visscher, Seeley and colleagues report Dec. 8 in Science Express that they have found another, overlooked, signal that plays a role in this process – a signal that is similar to those that occur between neurons in the brains of monkeys making decisions. Called the "stop signal," it is a very short buzz delivered by the sender scout while butting her head against the dancer. Its effect is to shorten and ultimately end the dance.

"It appears that the stop signals in bee swarms serve the same purpose as the inhibitory connections in the brains of monkeys deciding how to move their eyes in response to visual input," said Visscher, a professor of entomology. "In one case....

Newsnotes - January 2012

Mite Away Quick Strips Now Approved in All 50 States

BASF Corporation News Release

WYANDOTTE, MI, November 8, 2011 – NOD Apiary Products obtained state-level pesticide registration for Mite Away Quick Strips™ (MAQS) in all 50 states, as of May 31, 2011. Since their launch in Hawaii in 2008, MAQS have revolutionized the beekeeping industry, providing a pest control solution that is both effective and sustainable. The backbone of this easy-to-use strip is a film made of BASF’s biodegradable plastic Ecoflex®, which is filled with formic acid in a saccharide (plant sugar) formulation. With the final phase of registration now complete across the United States, MAQS have the potential of increasing protection to more than 2.5 million honey bee colonies. 

MAQS protect hives from Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that threatens bee populations and reduces honey production. The strip is designed to penetrate the brood cap, stopping the mite where it reproduces. It is the first mite treatment to successfully target this area of mite infestation in the hive, destroying the male mite, as well as immature female mites infesting the bee brood.

By combining the Ecoflex product with NOD Apiary’s mite-control technologies, the companies have not only created a convenient and effective solution, but also demonstrated their commitment to sustainability: By utilizing formic acid in a saccharide (plant sugar) formulation, these strips reproduce a defense mechanism observed in nature. Formic acid is found in the venom of bees and the bite of many insects, and as a result, is biodegradable, leaving no lasting residue.

“BASF has brought the technology and expertise from our Agricultural and Specialty Polymer divisions together to help create a sustainable solution for bee farmers,”said Keith Edwards, Manager, Biodegradable Polymers, for BASF in North America. “MAQS are addressing a challenge that directly impacts the economic losses beekeepers have been experiencing. This product will help reverse the annual loss cycle for beekeepers, facilitating the sustainability of both the bee farming community and our environment.”

Now that NOD has completed U.S. registration, they are working on completing the registration process in Canada.  The application for full federal pesticide registration in Canada has been submitted to Health Canada and is currently undergoing the regulatory process. In Europe, NOD and BASF have been actively working together with registration authorities to extend this product to other beekeeping communities by 2012.

New York Beekeepers Receive USDA Grant

Courtesy of Peter Borst
Empire State Honey Producers Assoc.
www.eshpa.org

A federal grant awarded to the Empire State Honey Producers Association (eshpa.org) will help New York beekeepers to stop the loss of honey bee colonies in the State.

The 3- year, $59,000 grant will train beekeepers to not only prevent, diagnose, and treat honeybee maladies, but give them the tools to teach other beginning beekeepers to recognize bee diseases.

The honey bee has been in the national spotlight following large-scale unexplained losses of numbers. The silver lining in this cloud has been a renewed interest in beekeeping. Like any other specialized activity, beekeeping has a steep learning curve and may not yield immediate returns.

Dennis VanEnglesdorp, senior extension associate at Penn State, is enthusiastic about the potential of the USDA funding: “It doesn't matter if you keep two or 100's of hives – keeping bees is one of the most relaxing and fascinating occupations.” The Project Director of the Bee Informed Partnership (beeinformed.org), an extension project that endeavors to decrease the number of managed honey bee colonies that die over the winter, adds, “Unfortunately, keeping bees alive isn't that easy, and it seems to be getting harder all the time.  Projects like this one are exactly what we need to help keep colonies alive and so ensure we have the pollinators needed to pollinate our gardens and orchards.”

The directors of the grant, Pat Bono of Rochester, and Peter Borst of  Ithaca, in conjunction with the Empire State Honey Producers (which will provide matching funds), will implement a bold, new concept for NY beekeepers by partnering with many regional beekeeping groups throughout New York State. Workshops will be held at several locations across the State.

Among the many goals of the program, Bono and Borst include the retention of beginning beekeepers, as there is an increase in the number of new beekeepers, especially by women. With successful  beekeeping, these beginning beekeepers would be less apt to quit the profession, and it will help attract, and encourage new beekeepers, who constitute the next generation of pollinators and  honey producers. A successful program in New York State will also serve as a model and example for other states in the New England and snow belt region.

The grant is administered by the USDA-NIFA Beginning Farmer and  Rancher Development Program, which provides funding to support training, education, outreach, and technical assistance initiatives  for beginning farmers or ranchers.

Honey bees pollinate about $300 million in value of New York State crops, such as apples, berries, squash, pumpkins, and grapes.

"This grant will allow beekeepers, to learn and identify honeybee disease. The knowledge that the trainers acquire will continue to benefit NY beekeepers for many years", says Greg Kalicin, president of the Empire  State Honey Producers Association (eshpa).

The Empire State Honey Producers Association, the state beekeeping organization of New York, welcomes new members, and presents informational and educational programs twice a year. The group has  been promoting the interests of New York beekeepers since 1868.

Why is this grant important?
There has been a lot of media attention directed at the plight of bees in Europe and North America. The underlying causes for the bee decline are complicated and numerous. All the same, bee health is one of the key areas of interest and one which we can address directly. Other, more nebulous factors, like large mono-cropped areas and loss of natural habitat, are more difficult to tackle. The overall health of the bee industry has been hit hard by exotic parasites from other parts of the globe. Increasing the level of beekeeper skill in diagnosing and treating bee afflictions is the chief goal of the grant.

How will the USDA grant impact honey producers?
The decline of honey bees in the US has had the effect of driving honey prices upwards, but lowered yields make it difficult for honey producers to take advantage of strong prices. By restoring vigor to their colonies, they will be able to obtain larger honey crops. Better crops and better financial returns will increase the incentive to treat bees as valuable assets and encourage honey producers to pay close attention to the details which lead to healthy colonies.

How will it impact other farmers who depend upon bee pollination?
There are a lot of crops that are absolutely dependent on bees for  pollination, such as apples and almonds. Growers need a reliable source of bees in season to obtain the fruit set they need to grow a paying crop. Many growers actually pay beekeepers a handsome fee to bring bees in, so this is an additional source of income for honey producers,  provided they have healthy bees early in the season when they are needed. But beyond that, there are many farms that benefit from bees being present locally, even if they do not hire beekeepers directly. Essentially, locally produced bees provide a valuable resource for gardeners and farmers.

Peter Loring Borst
Spencer, NY

Editors Note: Mr. Peter Borst has worked in the beekeeping industry since 1974 as both a commercial beekeeper and later as senior apiarist at Cornell's Dyce Bee Lab and has trained numerous students. He has also worked as a NY State Apiary inspector.

Protein Love Triangle Key to Crowning  Queen Bees?

A honey bee becomes a royal queen or a common worker as a result of the food she receives as a larva. While it has been well established that royal jelly is the diet that makes bees queens, the molecular path from food to queen is still in dispute. However, scientists at Arizona State University, led by Adam Dolezal and Gro Amdam, have helped reconcile some of the conflicts about bee development and the role of insulin pathways and partner proteins. Their article "IIS and TOR nutrient-signaling pathways act via juvenile hormone to influence honey bee cast fate" has been published in the December issue of the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Central to the dispute within the scientific community about "who would be queen" has been a ground-breaking study published in the journal Nature by Japanese scientist Masaki Kamakura in 2011. He found that a single protein in royal jelly, called royalactin, activated queen development in larval bees through interaction with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Kamakura's work suggested that insulin signals do not play a role in queen development, despite previous studies suggesting otherwise, including work pioneered with the insulin receptor protein by Amdam's group.

Undeterred by Kamakura's findings, Dolezal, a doctoral student, and Amdam, a Pew Biomedical Scholar and professor in ASU's School of Life Sciences, looked for ways to resolve the disparity between the research studies. Amdam's team's first step involved taking control of the insulin receptor's partner protein, IRS, which the insulin receptor relies upon for signaling. The scientists found that by blocking IRS, they caused a central developmental hormone to crash, which forced larval bees into the worker mold despite their diet of royal jelly. Amdam's team then "rescued" the now worker-destined bees. They found that by giving the bees hormone treatments, the bees could then develop along the queen trajectory.

However, while Dolezal and Amdam's studies showed that they could block queen development, and then rescue it, and clarified the role of IRS in the queen-making process, their work could not resolve the remaining conflict with Kamakura's results.

Taking a new tack, the Amdam group, which also included Navdeep Mutti, Florian Wolschin, and Jasdeep Mutti, and Washington State University scientist Kulvinder Gill, turned to mathematical modeling, combining their results with approaches that analyze potential partner interactions. These models, developed to understand and clarify complex relationships in physics and biology, allowed the ASU researchers to build a model of consensus – explaining how the IRS partner protein could partner to both epidermal growth factor receptor and the insulin receptor. And while the insulin receptor itself may play no role – as Kamakura's findings suggest – Dolezal and Amdam's findings show that the IRS partner protein may in fact be key to a molecular love triangle, interacting with both receptors, and with the bond to epidermal growth factor receptor being the crowning feature in queen development.

Honey Bee Mystery Protein Is A Freight Train For Health and Lifespan

Why are bee colonies worldwide suffering mysterious deaths? A unique study describes a single bee protein that can promote bee health and solve a major economic challenge.

Honey bees are the most effective pollinators of many agricultural crops and vitally important to food production.

Honey bee health is a topic of considerable concern due to massive deaths of bee colonies in the USA and Europe. Recently, the European Union reacted by promising more resources for honey bee research, estimating European pollination to an economic value of EUR 22 billion.

"Detailed studies on the molecules that keep bees healthy are extremely important to the food industry as well as the global provision of food," said Dr. Heli Havukainen, who defended her PhD thesis at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) on November 25. Her study of honey bees is a collaboration between UMB and the University of Bergen (UiB), Norway.

More protein = better health and longer life
One of these molecules is a protein called vitellogenin. "Simply put, the more vitellogenin in bees, the longer they live. Vitellogenin also guides bees to do different social tasks, such caregiving or foraging. It also supports the immune function and is an antioxidant that promotes stress resistance. In my research, I set out to find out how this molecule is shaped and how it behaves on a nano-scale. This provides us with more knowledge about how vitellogenin is good for honey bees," Havukainen said.

Like a freight train
Under the supervision of Professor Gro Amdam (UMB and Arizona State University) and Associate Professor Øyvind Halskau (UiB), Havukainen discovered that vitellogenin can be described as a freight train consisting of a locomotive and a carriage. The protein carries fat as its cargo, which it picks up in the bees' belly-fat cells - the main station. The vitellogenin "train" travels in the bee's blood and delivers the fat cargo at different local stops or stations.

"I found out that, instead of starting the train journey from the fat cell main station, some vitellogenin molecules are divided in two, so the locomotive is separated from its cargo. The cargo cannot move without a locomotive and it stays in the fat cells, while the locomotive disappears. We soon realized that this is a typical behaviour for the vitellogenin molecule," Havukainen said.

Prior to this study, scientists believed vitellogenin to be one entity, like a cargo ship, unable to separate from its cargo. Therefore, Havukainen's new discovery is a big step forward for research that aims to keep bees healthy and long lived.

"We figured out that vitellogenin can drop its fat cargo as a reaction to changing chemical conditions. How this "drop" occurs and which factor makes the locomotive move and leave its cargo are important questions in the protein world, and probably equally important to the bee," Havukainen said.

What's up with the train hitch?
The research group believes that the separation of vitellogenin in two parts is a key to understanding how the protein works. They are now in search of the factor that breaks the fragile connection, or the train hitch of the protein, and lets the locomotive go.

"My discovery is that vitellogenin is not one entity. It consists of two functional parts. Now, I want to stop the separation process, so the locomotive and fat cargo are always together. This will help us figure out why the locomotive sometimes ditches its cargo and travels around on its own, and what the consequences are for the bees. This way, we can learn how vitellogenin affects social behavior, immunity and stress resistance, and ultimately global food production and provision, Havukainen said.

Three Arrested In Jacksonville Honey Dumping Scheme

Courtesy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three people accused of misclassifying Chinese honey as rice fructose in order to avoid more than $1 million in duties have been indicted in federal court on charges related to smuggling goods into the United States and providing false descriptions of the merchandise.

Chin Shih "Jeff" Chou, 48, from Taiwan, Qiao "Dott" Chu, 25, from China, and Wei-Tang Lo, 48, from Hacienda Heights, Calif., represented a number of honey importation companies in executing the scheme.

According to an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the defendants labeled shipping containers filled with Chinese honey as rice fructose instead of honey to avoid a $2.63 per kilo anti-dumping duty. Once the containers of honey passed through customs, they were forwarded to a warehouse, washed of all markings and relabeled as amber honey, which was then sold to domestic purchasers.

"HSI agents and CBP officers working together at our nation's ports of entry provide an important safeguard against those seeking to break the law for their own enrichment," said Susan McCormick, ICE HSI special agent in charge in Tampa. "This type of criminal behavior poses serious dumping risks to domestic U.S. honey producers who are in danger of being run out of the market because of this fraud."

The investigation revealed that Chou and his associates, through various shell companies, successfully imported 900 containers of rice fructose over the past two years. HSI agents, in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are in the process of seizing or detaining 123 containers of falsely manifested rice fructose located at 11 ports of entry throughout the United States. The loss of duty owed to the U.S. government on these containers alone is approximately $1,150,000.

Intelligence generated by the investigation so far is leading to thousands of barrels of misclassified honey that have already entered the United States. Many more seizures are expected in the continuing investigation.

Maxant Industries Announces New Honey-wax Separator

Maxant Industries in Ayer, MA has begun full scale production of the model 7000 high speed continuous honey-wax separator. This machine, which has been in development for over 15 years, has proven itself to be a valuable tool for the volume producers. The model 7000 is used in conjunction with pick, knife, or flail type uncappers and extracting machines. The model 7000 is essentially a constant flow machine and works best if the flow is even. Production of 13-25 barrels per 8 hour day can be expected, depending on conditions.

The model 7000 is a high speed compact machine that works on the principle of centrifugal force to separate the wax and the honey. It works on the same principle as the years old technology to separate cream from milk, except that the emerging wax must be shaved off somehow. The Maxant concept is unique. two very sharp knives (like a lathe tool) slowly move up and down peeling off the emerging wax. The wax is ejected down through the middle of the machine in a sawdust form. No heat exchangers are required. Each machine is shipped complete with instructions.

African Bee Product Company Wins Prize

Bees for Development is pleased to announce that our partner organization Guiding Hope of Cameroon has won first prize in the prestigious Best New Business category at the 2011 Africa Small Medium and Micro Enterprise Awards. The award is a major recognition for over five years of hard work from a team of six and over 1000 beekeepers in the remote savannah and highlands forests in the Congo basin.

Now selling over 120 tonnes of beeswax, propolis and honey a year to buyers in the UK, across Europe and Canada, Guiding Hope can hardly keep up with demand! The skilled families that have been practicing beekeeping and honey hunting for centuries, although largely illiterate and living on an average of just over US$2 a day,  are now receiving up to 50% higher prices.

Guiding Hope’s core trading principles are to support local communities, trade fairly, profitably, and look after the environment.
Bees for Development is a Welsh NGO based in Monmouth that supports beekeeping as an effective way for poor people to strengthen their livelihoods and fight poverty. We provide information to assist them, working at the heart of an international network of people involved with apiculture in developing countries.

The Journal of Apicultural Research Celebrates 50 Years of Publication

IBRA’s flagship scientific journal the Journal of Apicultural Research (JAR) has now completed 50 years of continuous publication. In that time, over 1,600 scientific papers have been published in its pages.

IBRA Scientific Director and JAR Senior Editor Norman Carreck says: “In an era when most scientific journals are published by large corporations who have hundreds of titles, for a small independent charity like IBRA, this is a great achievement”.

JAR was founded in 1962 to satisfy the need for a peer-reviewed scientific journal to publish research on all aspects of the study of all species of bee. It has published papers making an important contribution to our knowledge of a wide range of topics. These range from studies of bee biology such as the swarming behaviour of bees, to the properties of hive products such as honey, beeswax and propolis. Throughout its history, many papers have reported research on honey bee pests and diseases. For example, the first ever report that the parasitic mite Varroa could become a pest of the European honey bee was published in JAR in 1963, and more recent papers have made a major contribution to our understanding of the international problem of honey bee colony losses.

Issue 1 of volume 1 of JAR contained a paper written by Prof. Jerzy Woyke of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland, as does this Issue 4 of Volume 50, published today. In total Prof. Woyke has published 68 papers in JAR, and 2010 marked the 60th year of his scientific publishing. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to bee science, IBRA Council has now conferred Honorary Membership upon Prof. Woyke. IBRA Chairman Hans Kjaersgaard says: “This Honorary Membership is in recognition of his long and distinguished career as well as his many contributions to our journals. He is our longest serving contributor and the only person who contributed to the very first edition who is still busy writing”.

Prof. Woyke has replied: “This is the most important distinction for me, since IBRA is the most distinguished organization of the bee researchers of the world”.

Newsnotes - December 2011

Two Million Blossoms—Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey

A New Book
by KIRSTEN TRAYNOR

New scientific findings from around the world demonstrate honey heals chronic wounds, beats antibiotic-resistant superbugs, eliminates tissue scarring, reduces brain damage, improves memory and minimizes the harmful side-effects of cancer treatments. An easily assimilated antioxidant, honey proves more effective than over-the-counter cough medicines, acts as a natural laxative, stimulates good intestinal flora, and alleviates spring allergies.

This ancient remedy has recently been rediscovered by the medical community. As conventional therapies increasingly failed to clear infected wounds, doctors started applying honey dressings with astounding success. Chronic wounds that refused to mend for many years using standard medical care costing over $300,000 suddenly started healing when treated with honey.

In 2007, the FDA approved medical honey for diabetic foot ulcers, leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, 1st and 2nd degree burns, donor sites, traumatic wounds and surgical wounds. Two Million Blossoms lets you discover the remarkable healing properties of honey.

“This delightful book Kirsten has written is the book I wanted to write myself twenty years ago, but I never progressed further than producing outlines for the chapters. I felt it was very important the public know about the information I was finding and discovering on the potential of honey, as it could prevent people from suffering needlessly from ailments that detracted from their quality of life. But I was also very aware that more scientific research was needed to be able to persuade the present-day medical profession to seriously consider using honey as a medicine. Research always turns up as many new questions as it does answers, and I am still working on finding the answers, so the book never got written. I was also hesitant to face the difficulty of writing something that the general public would easily understand. It was for these reasons that I was so pleased to be approached for help by someone with the writing ability that I longed for, who had a keen interest in writing such a book, and an excellent understanding of the subject.

“What Kirsten has written in this book should be distinguished from what is generally written about the health-promoting properties of honey. The many claims that are made, which are not supported by scientific research or medical evidence, add to the widespread prejudice that there is against any medicine that is not the product of the research and advertising of pharmaceutical companies. There is much recycling of misinformation, especially on websites. Kirsten has been very careful to seek and use only information that is based on the findings of scientific research and professional clinical practice.

“Readers of this book should find it an interesting and enjoyable learning experience, and very beneficial for their health.”

Dr. Peter Molan
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Director of the Honey Research Unit
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Waikato
New Zealand

The Author
Kirsten Traynor is a honey bee biologist and science writer, who spent several years researching the medicinal benefits of honey. As a German Chancellor Scholar of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, she spent eighteen months in Europe working at the Institute for Bee Research in Celle and communicating with honey researchers and medical doctors around the world. An inaugural speaker at the International Symposium on Honey and Human Health, she detailed the historical and modern uses of honey.

She is especially grateful to the following experts for sharing their vast knowledge of honey:
·    Dr. Peter Molan—honey researcher and pioneer of Manuka honey’s healing properties
·    Dr. Jost Dustman—former head of the Institute for Bee Research in Celle and honey advisor to the German Beekeeping Organization
·    Dr. Werner von der Ohe—honey guru and current head of the Institute for Bee Research in Celle
·    Dr. Arne Simon—pediatric oncologist and researcher at the Bonn University Hospital

Book Orders
To order “Two Million Blossoms” contact Dadant & Sons, Inc. at our Hamilton, IL office. Toll-free 1-888-922-1293. Price: $19.95 plus shipping. Two Million Blossoms - M00120.

New Beekeeping Books Recently Released From X-Star Publishing Company

The Practical Beekeeper Volume I, II & III Beekeeping Naturally
by Michael Bush
Hardcover: 676 pages
Publisher: X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY (June 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1614760641
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 2 inches

This book is about how to keep bees in a natural and practical system where they do not require treatments for pests and diseases and only minimal interventions. It is also about simple practical beekeeping. It is about reducing your work. It is not a main-stream beekeeping book. Many of the concepts are contrary to "conventional" beekeeping. The techniques presented here are streamlined through decades of experimentation, adjustments and simplification. The content was written and then refined from responding to questions on bee forums over the years so it is tailored to the questions that beekeepers, new and experienced, have. It is divided into three volumes and this edition contains all three: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. However, the individual volumes may be ordered if desired.
Available at online booksellers. For more information: www.XStarPublishing.com

*******

Classic Queen Rearing Compendium
by G.M. Doolittle, C.C. Miller, Henry Alley, Jay Smith, Isaac Hopkins and Frank Pellett
Overview of queen rearing by Michael Bush

If you want to raise queens, these books are the place to start. These are the seminal works on modern queen rearing techniques. These men laid the groundwork and worked out the details of practical systems of queen rearing. Pellett did a lot of distilling down of the various systems, which is very valuable, Smith perfected a lot of what Doolittle started. Miller and Hopkins were the queen rearing examples for the beekeeper who just wanted a few good queens for themselves. These queen rearing books are also available as individual volumes.
Hardcover: 830 pages
Publisher: X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY (September 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1614760594
ISBN-13: 978-1614760597
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2 inches

Available at online booksellers. For more information: www.XStarPublishing.com

National Honey Board Offers Free Decals To Industry Members

Firestone, Colo., – The National Honey Board has developed vehicle or sign decals to help promote honey and spread the message that honey is just one ingredient, the way nature intended.  Beekeepers, packers and other honey industry members may receive up to six of these decals for FREE.

The decals are available in two sizes: The smaller decal is 14.5” tall x 15” wide and the larger decal is 22” x 24”. Use the decals on bee yard, shop or farmers market signs, vehicles or anywhere they might be seen by the public.

After receiving up to six free decals, individuals may purchase additional quantities of the smaller decal for $8.00 each and the larger decal for $12.00 each, plus shipping costs.

To order the decals, call the National Honey Board office at 800-553-7162 and ask for Andrea Brening, NHB’s fulfillment coordinator.

The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey.

Ibra Strikes Gold At Apimondia

The International Bee Research association (IBRA) has won a Gold Medal at the International Apicultural Congress held at Buenos Aires, Argentina, for its book “Varroa - still a problem in the 21st century?”

This important new book covers the major problem affecting bees worldwide, the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. One of the book’s authors, Professor Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia, USA, coordinator of the US$4.1M “Managed Pollinator Coordinated Agricultural Project”, a multi-institutional consortium funded by the US Department of Agriculture and dedicated to the goal of understanding and mitigating the causes of bee decline says: “It is simply non controversial among the world’s practicing bee scientists that Varroa destructor is problem #1”.

In recent years, the world’s headlines have been full of stories of mass deaths of honey bee colonies, but scientific consensus suggests that there is no single cause, and that different interacting factors may be occurring in different regions. It is inescapable, however, that varroa is present in all regions where recent colony losses have occurred, and the mite is known to interact with other pests and diseases, principally viruses. Varroa is, however, not new, but remains a problem because conventional approaches to control have failed, with the mite becoming resistant to many of the chemicals used.

In this new book, a team of international scientists addresses all aspects of the varroa problem, with chapters on: mite biology; varroa and viruses; chemical control; Integrated Pest Management; biological control and breeding bees for varroa tolerance. The final chapter looks forward at prospects for improved control and innovative ways to tackle the problem.

IBRA Scientific Director Norman Carreck says: “We are delighted at this recognition that our book brings together in one place the state of our current knowledge of how the global varroa crisis can be tackled.”

Idaho Corn Maze Is “Sweet As Can Bee”

Courtesy of Benjamin Kelly
Idaho Honey Industry Association

This corn maze in Boise, Idaho is “Sweet as can Bee” and was created by owner and manager Jim Lowe specifically to highlight the importance of pollinators in our food supply. The maze is cut in approximately 18 acres of corn and most people enjoy 45 minutes to one hour of getting lost as they wander the pathways and rows of corn.

The process of creating the maze begins with a concept, planned out path-by-path on a computer. The field of corn is planted as usual and then with a lot of head-scratching and elbow-grease, the pathways are cut out—preferably when the corn is still fairly short. The particular process is somewhat more complicated, but uses simple geometry, measurements and intuition which are all important tools to create the maze design.

Along with the thousands of people who attend the maze from the last full week of September through Halloween, the maze includes a mini-maze for children, a Field of Screams for the teens and an obstacle course that is set up for the annual Saturday morning 5k race. Of course, there are the traditional hayrides and a 12-acre pumpkin patch with 38 different varieties to choose from.

The origins of The Farmstead first hit the Treasure Valley in 1997. In the early years a number of different farmers tried their hand at the operations of mazes. In 2006, Kuna residents Jim and Hillary Lowe assumed the owner/operator role for what has become a Treasure Valley tradition. Jim had been involved in corn mazes since 2000, designing mazes for The MAiZE, Inc. and traveling the country to carve them into cornfields in nearly every state. A life-long involvement in agriculture and a BS degree in Agri-Business made The MAiZE a perfect fit for Jim’s interests.
2009 marked the re-branding of the event to The Farmstead—Corn Maze and Pumpkin Festival. Of course, you can still count on the world-class maze designs and creative fun you have come to expect from The MAiZE. We hope the new name will more fully represent all of the traditions we share from our family to yours.

For the Lowes, The Farmstead is a passion. It is a whole year of work and planning for the exhilaration of a six-week whirlwind of fun. On any given day, you can find Hillary, Jim’s wife running the ticket booth or supplying the concession stands and Jim fixing the antique tractors or calling the pig races. The Lowe kids, although still young, are not to be left out of the action. Brooklyn, age 7 helps in the shaved ice and concession and even runs her own little candy stand from time-to-time. Max, age 4 is eager to keep an eye on the tractors and help with the hayride any chance he gets.

According to Rick Waitley, executive director of the Idaho Honey Industry Association, we are very honored as an industry to have The Farmstead select a theme from our industry. On Saturday, October 15 the theme at the maze was “Honey I’ll see you at the Farmstead”. There were coloring sheets for kids, honey stickers, playdough made with honey (using the recipe supplied by the National Honey Board) and honey recipe cards made available through the Idaho Preferred Program at the State Department of Agriculture.

Since a little over one-third of our food supply is directly tied to pollination, Director Waitley applauded the educational efforts that Jim and Hillary go to during the corn maze season to involve schools, day cares and families in helping them learn and have an appreciation for Idaho agriculture.

Canadian Student Merit Award Offered

The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists student merit award was established to recognize outstanding achievement by a student in the field of apiculture. This is an annual award valued at $500.00. All Canadian students attending Canadian or foreign universities and all foreign students attending Canadian universities, graduate or undergraduate, are eligible to apply. Eligible students will have demonstrated excellence in research, extension, or any other area contributing to the development of apiculture. An application consists of a cover letter, curriculum vita and two letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation should include commentary on the student’s achievements as a researcher and/or excellence in extension, citing specific examples and their contributions to the industry. Interested students should forward applications to Alison Van Alten (alison_bee@yahoo.com) by Dec. 15, 2011. Applications may also be mailed to Alison Van Alten, 300 Carlisle Road, Carlisle, ON L0R 1H2.

Newsnotes - November 2011

Two Million Blossoms - Discovering the Medicinal Benefits of Honey

A New Book
by KIRSTEN TRAYNOR

  New scientific findings from around the world demonstrate honey heals chronic wounds, beats antibiotic-resistant superbugs, eliminates tissue scarring, reduces brain damage, improves memory and minimizes the harmful side-effects of cancer treatments. An easily assimilated antioxidant, honey proves more effective than over-the-counter cough medicines, acts as a natural laxative, stimulates good intestinal flora, and alleviates spring allergies.
  This ancient remedy has recently been rediscovered by the medical community. As conventional therapies increasingly failed to clear infected wounds, doctors started applying honey dressings with astounding success. Chronic wounds that refused to mend for many years using standard medical care costing over $300,000 suddenly started healing when treated with honey.
  In 2007, the FDA approved medical honey for diabetic foot ulcers, leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, 1st and 2nd degree burns, donor sites, traumatic wounds and surgical wounds. Two Million Blossoms lets you discover the remarkable healing properties of honey.
  "This delightful book Kirsten has written is the book I wanted to write myself twenty years ago, but I never progressed further than producing outlines for the chapters. I felt it was very important the public know about the information I was finding and discovering on the potential of honey, as it could prevent people from suffering needlessly from ailments that detracted from their quality of life. But I was also very aware that more scientific research was needed to be able to persuade the present-day medical profession to seriously consider using honey as a medicine. Research always turns up as many new questions as it does answers, and I am still working on finding the answers, so the book never got written. I was also hesitant to face the difficulty of writing something that the general public would easily understand. It was for these reasons that I was so pleased to be approached for help by someone with the writing ability that I longed for, who had a keen interest in writing such a book, and an excellent understanding of the subject.
  "What Kirsten has written in this book should be distinguished from what is generally written about the health-promoting properties of honey. The many claims that are made, which are not supported by scientific research or medical evidence, add to the widespread prejudice that there is against any medicine that is not the product of the research and advertising of pharmaceutical companies. There is much recycling of misinformation, especially on websites. Kirsten has been very careful to seek and use only information that is based on the findings of scientific research and professional clinical practice.
"Readers of this book should find it an interesting and enjoyable learning experience, and very beneficial for their health."

Dr. Peter Molan
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Director of the Honey Research Unit
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Waikato
New Zealand

The Author
  Kirsten Traynor is a honey bee biologist and science writer, who spent several years researching the medicinal benefits of honey. As a German Chancellor Scholar of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, she spent eighteen months in Europe working at the Institute for Bee Research in Celle and communicating with honey researchers and medical doctors around the world. An inaugural speaker at the International Symposium on Honey and Human Health, she detailed the historical and modern uses of honey.

She is especially grateful to the following experts for sharing their vast knowledge of honey:
· Dr. Peter Molan-honey researcher and pioneer of Manuka honey's healing properties
· Dr. Jost Dustman-former head of the Institute for Bee Research in Celle and honey advisor to the German Beekeeping Organization
· Dr. Werner von der Ohe-honey guru and current head of the Institute for Bee Research in Celle
· Dr. Arne Simon-pediatric oncologist and researcher at the Bonn University Hospital

Book Orders
To order "Two Million Blossoms" contact Dadant & Sons, Inc. at our Hamilton, IL office. Toll-free 1-888-922-1293. Price: $19.95 plus shipping. Two Million Blossoms - M00120.

NEW BEEKEEPING BOOKS RECENTLY RELEASED FROM X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY

The Practical Beekeeper Volume I, II & III Beekeeping Naturally
by Michael Bush
Hardcover: 676 pages
Publisher: X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY (June 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1614760641
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 2 inches

  This book is about how to keep bees in a natural and practical system where they do not require treatments for pests and diseases and only minimal interventions. It is also about simple practical beekeeping. It is about reducing your work. It is not a main-stream beekeeping book. Many of the concepts are contrary to "conventional" beekeeping. The techniques presented here are streamlined through decades of experimentation, adjustments and simplification. The content was written and then refined from responding to questions on bee forums over the years so it is tailored to the questions that beekeepers, new and experienced, have. It is divided into three volumes and this edition contains all three: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. However, the individual volumes may be ordered if desired.
  Available at online booksellers. For more information: www.XStarPublishing.com

*******

Classic Queen Rearing Compendium
by G.M. Doolittle, C.C. Miller, Henry Alley, Jay Smith, Isaac Hopkins and Frank Pellett
Overview of queen rearing by Michael Bush

  If you want to raise queens, these books are the place to start. These are the seminal works on modern queen rearing techniques. These men laid the groundwork and worked out the details of practical systems of queen rearing. Pellett did a lot of distilling down of the various systems, which is very valuable, Smith perfected a lot of what Doolittle started. Miller and Hopkins were the queen rearing examples for the beekeeper who just wanted a few good queens for themselves. These queen rearing books are also available as individual volumes.
Hardcover: 830 pages
Publisher: X-STAR PUBLISHING COMPANY (September 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1614760594
ISBN-13: 978-1614760597
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2 inches

Available at online booksellers. For more information: www.XStarPublishing.com

National Honey Board Offers Free Decals to Industry Members

  Firestone, Colo., - The National Honey Board has developed vehicle or sign decals to help promote honey and spread the message that honey is just one ingredient, the way nature intended.  Beekeepers, packers and other honey industry members may receive up to six of these decals for FREE.
  The decals are available in two sizes: The smaller decal is 14.5" tall x 15" wide and the larger decal is 22" x 24". Use the decals on bee yard, shop or farmers market signs, vehicles or anywhere they might be seen by the public.
After receiving up to six free decals, individuals may purchase additional quantities of the smaller decal for $8.00 each and the larger decal for $12.00 each, plus shipping costs.
  To order the decals, call the National Honey Board office at 800-553-7162 and ask for Andrea Brening, NHB's fulfillment coordinator.
The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey.

Ibra Strikes Gold at Apimondia

  The International Bee Research association (IBRA) has won a Gold Medal at the International Apicultural Congress held at Buenos Aires, Argentina, for its book "Varroa - still a problem in the 21st century?"
  This important new book covers the major problem affecting bees worldwide, the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. One of the book's authors, Professor Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia, USA, coordinator of the US$4.1M "Managed Pollinator Coordinated Agricultural Project", a multi-institutional consortium funded by the US Department of Agriculture and dedicated to the goal of understanding and mitigating the causes of bee decline says: "It is simply non controversial among the world's practicing bee scientists that Varroa destructor is problem #1".
  In recent years, the world's headlines have been full of stories of mass deaths of honey bee colonies, but scientific consensus suggests that there is no single cause, and that different interacting factors may be occurring in different regions. It is inescapable, however, that varroa is present in all regions where recent colony losses have occurred, and the mite is known to interact with other pests and diseases, principally viruses. Varroa is, however, not new, but remains a problem because conventional approaches to control have failed, with the mite becoming resistant to many of the chemicals used.
  In this new book, a team of international scientists addresses all aspects of the varroa problem, with chapters on: mite biology; varroa and viruses; chemical control; Integrated Pest Management; biological control and breeding bees for varroa tolerance. The final chapter looks forward at prospects for improved control and innovative ways to tackle the problem.
  IBRA Scientific Director Norman Carreck says: "We are delighted at this recognition that our book brings together in one place the state of our current knowledge of how the global varroa crisis can be tackled."

Idaho Corn Maze Is "Sweet As Can Bee"

Courtesy of Benjamin Kelly
Idaho Honey Industry Association

  This corn maze in Boise, Idaho is "Sweet as can Bee" and was created by owner and manager Jim Lowe specifically to highlight the importance of pollinators in our food supply. The maze is cut in approximately 18 acres of corn and most people enjoy 45 minutes to one hour of getting lost as they wander the pathways and rows of corn.
  The process of creating the maze begins with a concept, planned out path-by-path on a computer. The field of corn is planted as usual and then with a lot of head-scratching and elbow-grease, the pathways are cut out-preferably when the corn is still fairly short. The particular process is somewhat more complicated, but uses simple geometry, measurements and intuition which are all important tools to create the maze design.
  Along with the thousands of people who attend the maze from the last full week of September through Halloween, the maze includes a mini-maze for children, a Field of Screams for the teens and an obstacle course that is set up for the annual Saturday morning 5k race. Of course, there are the traditional hayrides and a 12-acre pumpkin patch with 38 different varieties to choose from.
  The origins of The Farmstead first hit the Treasure Valley in 1997. In the early years a number of different farmers tried their hand at the operations of mazes. In 2006, Kuna residents Jim and Hillary Lowe assumed the owner/operator role for what has become a Treasure Valley tradition. Jim had been involved in corn mazes since 2000, designing mazes for The MAiZE, Inc. and traveling the country to carve them into cornfields in nearly every state. A life-long involvement in agriculture and a BS degree in Agri-Business made The MAiZE a perfect fit for Jim's interests.
  2009 marked the re-branding of the event to The Farmstead-Corn Maze and Pumpkin Festival. Of course, you can still count on the world-class maze designs and creative fun you have come to expect from The MAiZE. We hope the new name will more fully represent all of the traditions we share from our family to yours.
  For the Lowes, The Farmstead is a passion. It is a whole year of work and planning for the exhilaration of a six-week whirlwind of fun. On any given day, you can find Hillary, Jim's wife running the ticket booth or supplying the concession stands and Jim fixing the antique tractors or calling the pig races. The Lowe kids, although still young, are not to be left out of the action. Brooklyn, age 7 helps in the shaved ice and concession and even runs her own little candy stand from time-to-time. Max, age 4 is eager to keep an eye on the tractors and help with the hayride any chance he gets.
  According to Rick Waitley, executive director of the Idaho Honey Industry Association, we are very honored as an industry to have The Farmstead select a theme from our industry. On Saturday, October 15 the theme at the maze was "Honey I'll see you at the Farmstead". There were coloring sheets for kids, honey stickers, playdough made with honey (using the recipe supplied by the National Honey Board) and honey recipe cards made available through the Idaho Preferred Program at the State Department of Agriculture.
  Since a little over one-third of our food supply is directly tied to pollination, Director Waitley applauded the educational efforts that Jim and Hillary go to during the corn maze season to involve schools, day cares and families in helping them learn and have an appreciation for Idaho agriculture.

Canadian Student Merit Award Offered

  The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists student merit award was established to recognize outstanding achievement by a student in the field of apiculture. This is an annual award valued at $500.00. All Canadian students attending Canadian or foreign universities and all foreign students attending Canadian universities, graduate or undergraduate, are eligible to apply. Eligible students will have demonstrated excellence in research, extension, or any other area contributing to the development of apiculture. An application consists of a cover letter, curriculum vita and two letters of recommendation. Letters of recommendation should include commentary on the student's achievements as a researcher and/or excellence in extension, citing specific examples and their contributions to the industry. Interested students should forward applications to Alison Van Alten (alison_bee@yahoo.com) by Dec. 15, 2011. Applications may also be mailed to Alison Van Alten, 300 Carlisle Road, Carlisle, ON L0R 1H2.

Excerpt from Tammy Horn's new book

Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Can Teach
Us About Local Trade and the Global Market

Counting for Nothing

Kairos: a passing instant when an opening appears which must
be driven through with force if success is to be achieved.
-E. C. White

The Greeks once worshipped two gods of time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos came to be associated with linear, measurable time; the word "chronology" is our best-known, most widely used etymological reference to this god. For most of us, chronological time is all we have ever known. It was the only form of time taught in my school. As I negotiated a career, I followed its "forced march" toward academic success: college, a graduate program, a doctorate. Its rhythm was a regulated walk away from my farming background, unpredictable weather patterns, and uninsulated farmhouses.

This march came to a screeching halt in 1997 when I offered to help my grandfather with his bees. I would be available one day only, I dictated. Memories of being hot, dusty, and sunburned while adults discussed things they could not control, such as weather, market prices, and loan rates, still lingered. I was done with those days.

My self-righteousness faded as every single thing became a struggle for my grandfather that morning: putting on gloves, fooling with zippers, lighting the smoker. I remember the overwhelming sadness of watching my grandfather's once adept hands tremble constantly. The control I had asserted began to ebb away incrementally. As we lifted a beehive cover and I peered into the frames below me, the steady drumbeat of Chronos stopped, permanently replaced by the softer and steadier hum of honey bees.

Kairos we hear less about. I was in my thirties, with a couple of failed attempts at tenure tracks and conventional relationships behind me, before I learned about Kairos. Kairos can be either gender, although the Greeks fi rst created an icon that was male. The signature feature for the icon in both genders has been that the forehead is covered with hair and the back of the head completely bald. The point: one must grasp the opportunity in front of oneself; otherwise, it will be gone forever, depicted by baldness. Sometimes Kairos is depicted as running by, emphasizing that opportunities are fleeting and will not wait. Not surprisingly, Christian theologians appropriated Kairos to mean a time of divine revelation, and some of the finest writing about it has come from twentieth-century Christian philosophers.

Ten years after that moment in the beehive, I was invited to participate in an environmental tour of surface-mine sites. Acres and acres of nonnative fescues and invasive trees covered land that once had been dense, diverse forests. For me, it was a moment of Kairos, of looking at the acres of fescues on compacted land and deciding, "We can do better than this."

There was just one problem: the classic conflict between Chronos and Kairos. How to balance my new interest in pollinator reclamation with my career as an English professor? Many people would give anything to teach at a private, liberal arts college with small class enrollments. But I had been on one-year contracts for ten years. The teaching schedule given to me at the last minute each summer was an entirely new set of classes.

Seeing an opportunity in front of me, I tucked my hair into a baseball cap and arranged for a flight to Mackay, Australia. A sugar industry town in the nineteenth century, Mackay is now a port city for Peabody Coal. Looking down from my window seat in the plane, I could see Chinese ships floating like an armada in a harbor, waiting to be loaded with coal as far as I could see.

When I returned from Australia, several forces aligned to create Coal Country Beeworks, a cooperative extension project that works with coal companies to plant pollinator-friendly vegetation and trees. One coal company decided to reclaim surface-mine sites with pollinator-friendly plants for ten years, and two beekeepers decided to sponsor the project. A beekeeping couple in Tennessee, Elaine and Edwin Holcombe, provided the project with trachea mite-resistant bees. By January 2008 a new form of time had started for me: bee time.

I want to create a honey corridor between Kentucky and West Virginia in which landscapes are reclaimed with pollinator-friendly plants. Opportunities for a new economy are in front of us just as they were for the women profiled in this book. Contemporary economies tend to devalue women and the services they provide-whether it be childcare, retail, education, or agriculture. But women's services were not always held in low esteem, nor have women always gone along with the larger market economies. They have found resolutions; they have created new systems or sometimes resurrected ancient ones. So we can change current and fl awed economies with new rules, ones that women can construct if we seize the opportunities in front of us.

Former prime minister Marilyn Waring is the inspiration for this transition. In 1975 Waring was elected to parliament in New Zealand at the age of twenty-two. She was reelected three times and was instrumental to making New Zealand a nuclear-free zone. This service was her education in capitalism and economics. She demystifies the language of economics. In the 1995 documentary Who's Counting: Marilyn Waring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics, she explains it used to be that "‘value' meant to be strong, worthy," but her time in office taught her that the word had been co-opted to mean numbers and accounts. Those who have the most value, Waring discovered, were often invisible in the account books. Women, children, the environment-economics just did not have a value for them.

Economic systems include everything with a cash-generating capacity but recognize "no value other than money. No value to peace, no value to the preservation of natural resources, no value of unpaid work including the value of reproduction and day care." Waring says, quite simply, "As long as activity is going on in [the] market, it is fine. . . . Fantastic growth is aligned with Exxon tragedy . . . insurance, compensations, etc."

More pointedly for this book, Waring learned the economic rules were not specific to New Zealand: "These are the rules everywhere. . . . An African woman walks five miles to get water and tends goats and cattle and children. The men, they worry."

Economics, Waring concludes, "is a tool of people in power . . . a justification."

Currently, industrial agriculture and even industrial apiculture do not "count" women beekeepers in the market economy, which measures profits and bottom lines. But it does not have to be this way.

After three years of the Coal Country Beeworks project, more coal companies are voluntarily planting pollinator-friendly trees and wildflowers. The beeyard sites are open to local communities for workshops. Women teach at and attend the local bee schools as much as men. More acres, more flowers, and more bees than I can possibly count are the beneficiaries of this new economy.

Creating a new economy is not easy. Cultural challenges such as religion and politics have to be negotiated. Even when women attain higher education, their degrees do not level the pay threshold. Similar approaches will not be possible in the short term for every continent. However, the time is right for a new economy-and perhaps a new form of time-in which women and environment count. Counting for nothing gets old after a while.

Newsnotes - November 2011

New Apiguard Varroa Control Sachets Coming Soon

  Vita (Europe) Ltd has produced Apiguard, the varroa treatment, in new handy 25g sachets suitable for use with nucleii and very small colonies. Regulatory approval has already been granted in the USA and approvals in EU countries are expected to follow soon.
The new sachets come with small cards - the gel is simply squeezed onto the cards which can then be inserted above the brood frames.

  For more information on Apiguard, see http://www.vita-europe.com/products/
Apiguard

Web http://www.vita-europe.com/
Facebook “Vita (Europe) Ltd”
Twitter @vitaeuropeltd

National Honey Board Accepting Bee Research Proposals

  Firestone, Colo., Sep. 12, 2011 – The National Honey Board will accept proposals for new bee research projects this fall. The goal of the research is to help producers maintain colony health while assuring the maintenance of honey quality.
Researchers interested in submitting a proposal should check the Board’s website for details at www.honey.com, or call the office at 1-800-553-7162. All proposals are due by Dec. 15, 2011.
  The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey.

Announcement of AAPA Student Awards

  The American Association of Professional Apiculturists announces the following awards for the year 2012.

AAPA Student Research Scholarship
This scholarship is given to recognize and promote outstanding research by students in the field of apiculture. The scholarship will consist of a $1000 stipend for research.
Undergraduates or graduate students working in North America with Apis are eligible. Nominees must be students of active AAPA members to be eligible for this scholarship. Recipients of this scholarship will be ineligible for future AAPA Student Research Scholarships.

  Proposals: Each research scholarship proposal must include a curriculum vitae of the nominee, one letter of recommendation, and a summary of the research problem not to exceed three pages double-spaced. The summary must include objectives, significance and methods. Nominees may also include up to three publication reprints, submitted manuscripts or abstracts of theses or dissertations. The submissions should be electronically sent in PDF files.

  Submitting Proposals: Please send your proposal electronically as PDF to:
Ann W. Harman
1214 North Poes Road
Flint Hill, VA 22627
540-364-4660
e-mail: ahworkerb@aol.com

Submission Deadline: Deadline December 1, 2011

Student Paper Award
    This award is offered for the best student paper presented at the American Bee Research Conference (ABRC). The recipient will receive $100 and a plaque to commemorate the occasion.
    Both graduate students and undergraduates are eligible for this award. The paper must involve the genus Apis. Students do not have to be members of AAPA, nor do their advisors need to be members.
The presenter should specify that he/she is a student participating in the competition when the title is submitted. Only one paper may be designated as participating in the competition.
Papers will be evaluated by a 3-judge panel for:
• presentation (not including responses to questions) (70 points)
• quality of research (30 points)
Comments from the judges will be returned to competitors to help strengthen their presentation skills.
Details of evaluation criteria may be obtained from Ann Harman at the above address.

Study of Bee Links Gene Regulatory Networks in the Brain to Behavior

  CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new study reveals that distinct networks of genes in the honey bee brain contribute to specific behaviors, such as foraging or aggression, researchers report.
The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show that common, naturally occurring behaviors are under the influence of discrete regulatory networks in the brain. It confirms, scientists say, what years of research into the brain and behavior seemed to indicate: There is a close relationship between changes in gene expression – which genes are actively transcribed into other molecules to perform specific tasks in the cell – and behavior.
  "We found that there is a high degree of modularity in the regulation of genes and behavior, with distinct behavioral states represented by distinct gene network configurations," said University of Illinois entomology and neuroscience professor Gene Robinson, who led the study. Robinson is the director of the Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.
  The study made use of data from the BeeSpace Project. Curated by Illinois medical information science professor Bruce Schatz, BeeSpace is a catalog of genes that turn on or off in the bee brain in response to social cues, environmental changes or as a result of hereditary factors. By analyzing gene expression and behavioral data from dozens of studies (which were performed under the auspices of the BeeSpace Project), the researchers were able to get a broad view of the molecular changes in the bee brain that contribute to behavior.
  The team focused their analysis on lists of genes implicated in at least one of three categories of behavior: foraging, such as scouting for flowers or navigating to and from the hive; maturation, the process by which an adult honey bee graduates from being a nanny to working as a forager as it grows older; and aggression, or hive defense.
  The researchers then used a systems approach, led by Illinois chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Nathan Price (now at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle), to create a computer model of a gene regulatory network that could predict the differences in gene expression seen in the experimental studies.
  The model found a "mosaic" pattern of behavior-related gene expression in the brain. It also predicted that a few transcription factors – genes that regulate other genes – play a role in all three behavioral categories. Only four of these "global regulators" were identified, while sets of about 15-25 transcription factors were behavior-specific.
  Researchers have long worried that the regulation of brain gene expression is too complex to fathom, because so many factors can act together to regulate behavior.
  "But now we see that direct, linear relationships between transcription factors and downstream genes can predict a surprisingly large amount of gene expression," Price said. "This gives scientists hope that it will be possible to completely understand the regulation of brain gene expression in the future."
  Funding for this study was provided by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

Newsnotes - October 2011

Florida Inmates Learn Beekeeping

Lake Butler Inmates at Reception and Medical Center are learning about beekeeping thanks to a new inmate re-entry program in conjunction with the Florida Department of Agriculture. As part of the program, inmates are learning how to maintain a colony of honey bees and collect honey. After an inmate completes the program and is released from prison, he has an immediate job prospect with commercial beekeeper Dave Mendes.

The program began in July with 10 bee hives donated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and 20 inmates. Upon completion, inmates earn a training certificate and the possibility of a rewarding career.
“Inmates who have a skill and a job are less likely to return to prison, so programs like this advance public safety,” said Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Ed Buss.

Beekeeper and business owner Dave Mendes has guaranteed each inmate who successfully completes the program a job interview upon release from prison.

“I am very pleased to be a part of this program,” said Dave Mendes. “The need for new beekeepers has grown in recent years, and FDACS has done a tremendous job putting this together. The beekeeping industry needs more programs like this.”

Developed in partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, this is the first and only beekeeping program in the Florida Prison system. 

“Florida’s honey bee industry has a tremendous impact on the economy and contributes significantly to the production of food and the viability of our natural ecosystems,” said Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. “Jobs in agriculture are diverse and can be very rewarding.  We look forward to working with the Department of Corrections to pursue every opportunity that promotes the health of the honey bee industry and creates long-term job opportunities in the industry.”

Currently one of every three inmates released from the Florida prison system returns to prison within three years. Through programs like this one, the Department of Corrections is focusing on teaching inmates viable job skills that will lead them to productive jobs and law-abiding lives upon release.

For additional information contact the Department of Corrections, Office of Public Affairs (850) 488-0420 or Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 888-397-1517.

National Honey Board and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners Partner to Promote Honey Education

Recent Research Reveals Confusion About Honey Use With Young Children 
 
Firestone, Colo.–  July 28, 2011– The National Honey Board (NHB) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP). Together, the organizations will develop a honey education program, based on recent research findings that uncovered widespread confusion surrounding the age when honey can be introduced to young children. Focused on health professionals who deal directly with parents of young children, education efforts will dispel honey misconceptions, explain the benefits of honey and remind parents that honey can be given to children older than one year of age. 

“It’s widely known that honey shouldn’t be fed to infants, but most people don’t know why or at what age it can be introduced,” said Cheri Barber, DNP, RN, CRNP, President of NAPNAP. “The truth is that honey can be introduced to a child at one year of age. It’s important that health care professionals and families with young children understand the facts about honey.”

Barber added that honey has been used for centuries to help soothe coughs, and with the recommended removal of over-the-counter cough medicines containing dextromethorphan (DM), parents are turning to effective natural remedies like honey.

The National Honey Board confirmed earlier this year through focus groups and a nationally fielded online survey that there is a need for honey education. Research* revealed that moms are confused about when to feed honey to their children, citing reasons for avoidance like allergens, bacteria and the like. But the educational program of NHB and NAPNAP would set the record straight:

Because infants’ gastrointestinal systems are immature and thus susceptible to contracting infant botulism if spores are present, the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the California Department of Public Health and other health associations recommend that certain foods not be fed to infants under one year of age, including honey. After 12 months of age, honey may be introduced to a child’s diet. Botulinum spores occur in nature, but honey is one of the potential dietary sources for infant botulism.

The research showed that moms are nearly as likely to think honey is a potential food allergen as they are to identify its association with bacterial illness (36% avoid feeding infants honey because they think  it’s an allergen, 39% avoid honey due to its association with bacterial illness). Only one percent of moms chose “risk of botulism” as a reason to avoid feeding honey to infants. However, when provided the specific risk of “baby may get infant botulism,” this number jumped to 43%.

According to the research, more than half of moms (57%) erroneously think children should be 2 years or older before feeding them honey. The consumer research also showed that 82% of moms would be more likely to feed honey to their children close to their first birthday if they learned they could introduce it from one of their top trusted sources, especially if they receive an educational handout from their pediatric healthcare provider’s office. 

Overall, moms expressed excitement about rediscovering honey and its uses as a culinary ingredient and as a natural cough remedy, and want to learn more about honey.
“Our study showed that moms trust pediatricians and nurse practitioners the most to provide correct information about the age at which children can eat honey,” said Catherine Barry, director of marketing for the National Honey Board. “This finding confirms that we have the ideal partnership with NAPNAP for this public information campaign. Our efforts will begin this August.”

Research Methodology
*The National Honey Board research was conducted by the Ketchum Global Research Network and consisted of three focus groups among moms (two in Denver and one in Chicago in January 2011), three focus groups among health care professionals (one in Chicago and two at the annual NAPNAP conference in Baltimore, March 25, 2011). Directional findings from the focus groups helped form questions that were given in an online nationwide survey of 500 moms with children ages 5 and younger. The survey sample has a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey. The National Honey Board is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is the professional organization for pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) and other advanced practice nurses who care for children and is committed to improving the health care of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. An association of nearly 7,500 health care providers throughout the United States, NAPNAP has 48 Chapters nationwide. For more information, call 856/857-9700 or visit NAPNAP's Website at www.napnap.org.

The Flight of the Bumble Bee: Why Are They Disappearing?

By Dennis O'Brien

A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist is trying to learn what is causing the decline in bumble bee populations and also is searching for a species that can serve as the next generation of greenhouse pollinators.

Bumble bees, like honey bees, are important pollinators of native plants and are used to pollinate greenhouse crops like peppers and tomatoes. But colonies of Bombus occidentalis used for greenhouse pollination began to suffer from disease problems in the late 1990s and companies stopped rearing them. Populations of other bumble bee species are also believed to be in decline.

Entomologist James Strange is searching for solutions at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Pollinating Insects—Biology, Management and Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this research supports the USDA priority of improving agricultural sustainability.

Many greenhouse growers now use commercially produced Bombus impatiens, a generalist pollinator native to the Midwest and Eastern United States and Canada. But scientists are concerned about using a bee outside its native range, and some western states restrict the import and use of non-native bees. If B. impatiens were to escape and form wild colonies in the western United States, they could compete with native bees for food and resources and expose native bumble bees to pathogens they are ill equipped to combat.

Strange has been studying a pretty, orange-striped generalist named Bombus huntii, native to the western half of the country, that could be used in greenhouses in the western United States. He is determining how to best rear B. huntii in a laboratory setting, a vital step in commercializing it.

To understand the decline of B. occidentalis, Strange and his colleagues also have been tracking its habitat range and population trends. Evidence gathered so far shows that the range and populations of B. occidentalis have declined, that it is not as genetically diverse as it used to be, and that it has higher pathogen prevalence than other bee species with stable populations. The results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers also have assembled a large database with information on more than 80,000 Bombus specimens representing 10 species throughout the country, including B. occidentalis. With Geographic Information System (GIS) modeling technology, they were able to construct historic and current range maps of several bumble bee species. The mapping process is described in the Uludag Bee Journal.

Making a Bee-line for the Best Rewards

Bumblebees use complex problem solving skills to minimize the energy they use when flying to collect food, according to new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

For the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), as with many other animals, the simplest approach to finding more nectar would be to fly to the nearest neighboring flower, particularly considering their tiny brain size. But a team from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences has found that this isn't the case.

The research team arranged six artificial flowers in a flight arena so that the bees would have to follow an unnecessarily long route when flying between nearest neighbor flowers to collect nectar. They watched the bees as they carried out 80 foraging bouts, and recorded which flowers they visited and in which order.

Writing in the journal Biology Letters, Dr Mathieu Lihoreau and colleagues report how, over 640 flower visits, the bees significantly reduced their flight distances as they learned the position of each flower within the array. Surprisingly, the bees almost never followed a nearest-neighbor strategy (in which the bee would fly to the nearest unvisited flower until all flowers are visited). Instead they prioritized following the shortest possible route by learning and memorizing individual flower locations.

The team's findings suggest that bees are able to solve complex routing problems by learning, without needing a sophisticated cognitive representation of space. Dr Lihoreau explained: "Despite having tiny brains, bees effectively used gradual optimization (comparing several different routes), to solve this famously complex routing problem which still baffles mathematicians 80 years after it was first posed."

Luck Bee a Lady

Beekeeping Industry to Gather in Las Vegas in January

Plans are well underway for the “Luck BEE a Lady” 2012 North American Beekeeping Conference & Tradeshow, Jan. 10-14, in Las Vegas, Nev. The annual meeting of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) is sure to be the conference you won’t want to miss. And with an anticipated attendance of more than 600, beekeepers from all over North America and beyond will gather to share ideas and develop new contacts.

The conference promises to offer something for everyone, including many great opportunities for learning, networking and socializing. From the new small-scale beekeeper to the seasoned professional, conference organizers have planned a schedule to incorporate educational sessions at all levels. The tradeshow, as always, will feature the latest and greatest deals and new product ideas.

The conference will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. The ABF has negotiated a discounted group rate for all conference attendees of $109 per night single/double occupancy plus tax. The ABF is excited to be in Las Vegas, the city that attracts more than 36 million visitors a year by offering the grandest hotels, the biggest stars in entertainment, the highest caliber of award-winning chefs, the brightest lights – and, now, the best beekeepers!

The conference will begin on Tuesday evening with a complimentary welcome reception for all registered attendees. Wednesday morning will kick-off with the Opening General Session followed by Shared Interest Group meetings, and then finish in the evening with the traditional Honey Queen Reception. The 2012 American Honey Show will also take place on Wednesday.

The tradeshow will open on Wednesday afternoon and remain open during conference hours until 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Thursday and Friday will be dedicated to general sessions, as well as the always-popular and well-attended Serious Sideliner Symposium. Interactive workshops will take place on Saturday morning. In addition, the ABF will host its annual banquet during the conference.

Registration rates, online registration and hotel reservation information is now available on the conference Web site at www.nabeekeepingconference.com. Be sure to check the Web site often as additional conference details will be posted as soon as they are made available.

National Honey Bee Day Celebrated in High Springs, Florida

It was a very warm and humid August day as folks gathered in High Springs for the 3rd National Honey Bee Awareness Day held at Dadant & Sons in High Springs. Next year it will be named National Honey Bee Day.

The visitors came from as far as the Florida Keys, Orlando, Tampa, Tallahassee, and many local surrounding counties here in North Florida. This event, sponsored by the Alachua County Beekeepers Club, draws the crowd and its membership from many surrounding counties. Attendees came to learn how they may help save our honey bees and other pollinators that are needed to help produce the foods we eat. Many were curious as to why anyone would want to keep thousands of insects in a box and why we spend so much of our time with honey bees. Others were new beekeepers and wanted to learn all the ins and outs on how to be a successful beekeeper.

The day allowed the public to learn from Christine McCoy how to make candles from beeswax or how to make soaps and body lotions from products from the hive taught by Joanne and Laura Latner. The crowd walked around outside in the bee yard with Dr. Jamie Ellis, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Florida (UF) and founder of the Bee College at UF, as he gave his presentation. The crowd watched as Apiary Inspector David Westervelt opened hives and passed around frames covered with live bees to the audience to handle and understand that bees are very docile creatures if we allow them to be. One of the purposes of this event is to show the public they don’t need to fear honey bees that are so beneficial to us all.

Inside the buildings the visitors were amazed at the beautiful German Copper-Embossed Artwork displayed by Ursula Westervelt alongside the booth where Laura Latner offered her home made soaps and other items made with products from the hive. The always entertaining Dr. Malcolm Sanford kept the crowd enthralled with his presentation and the offering of his latest book, "Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees". Jerry Hayes kept the audience amazed with his knowledge and wisdom on bees and how they need our help.
Everyone had the opportunity to learn from the best scientists, teachers, long-time beekeepers, authors of beekeeping books, and even look at bees and other insects under microscopes provided by the UF Bee Lab under the guidance of Jeanette Klopchin. Many couldn't wait for the fundraising auction conducted by Laurence Cutts, the inventor of the now famous Better Beetle Blaster.

Our special guests this year were the Florida Honey Queen Jayla Gillaspie from Ft. Myers, Florida and American Honey Princess Allison Adams from Plano, Texas. Along with the event at Dadant's all day on Saturday, the Queen and Princess did a "Cooking With Honey" demonstration at Hitchcock's Supermarket in Alachua, made a 30-minute on-air appearance with Jake and Ed on the "Talk of the Town" radio program on "The Star 99.5" in Gainesville, where they took phone calls from the public and explained some aspects of beekeeping and the many uses of honey. Handling a call from a person who spoke the usual fear tactics that help pest control companies to make money in exterminating bees, our dynamic duo calmly and professionally explained there is no need to fear AHB and explained proper management is the answer to dealing with the bees. Queen Jayla and Princess Allison also spoke to the Alachua County Beekeepers Club explaining their respective Queen Programs and answered many questions the membership asked them.

Early the next morning they made a brief presentation to the Honey Technical Council in Gainesville. Then they were off to  host two screenings of the movie "Queen of the Sun" at the Hippodrome Theatre where they did a question and answer program after each viewing for the public to answer all the questions about the movie or beekeeping. They also visited with Jerry Hayes at the Bureau of Plant & Apiary Inspection for a brief tour to see the operations and learn how the State Apiary Inspectors apply their skills to help the beekeepers in the state. They even had time to visit the Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville during their four-day visit. For more information on the Florida Honey Queen Program, visit http://floridabeekeepers.org/ and for the American Honey Queen Program, visit http://abfnet.org/displaycommon.cfm?
an=1&subarticlenbr=10
We are trying to save all honey bees and other pollinators and want to educate the public that calling the exterminator is not always the right thing to do. (Courtesy of Wayne McChesney)

New Product—Vita Swarm Attractant Wipe

Swarming poses beekeepers all sorts of challenges and this new product is designed to help attract swarms in search of a new home.

Packaged in a small sachet, the swarm attractant resembles a cleansing wipe and is impregnated with essential oils extracted from plants. To activate, the sachet can be pierced and hung in an empty hive, skep or other suitable container, or it can be wiped over the inner surface of the container.

The swarm attractant will keep for about two years in a fridge and will be effective for up to 10 days once opened, depending upon the ambient temperature).

According to Dr. Max Watkins, director of Vita (Europe) Limited: “This new swarm attractant will provide a very useful tool for beekeepers. It will help to attract passing swarms, and to lure swarms temporarily hanging in trees and other awkward places into a skep or box containing the swarm attractant. It will even reduce the risks of swarms leaving the apiary if a bait hive contains the attractant. Beekeepers tend to be very resourceful and innovative, so I also expect to hear about novel uses.”

Newsnotes - September 2011

Team Shows How the Honey Bee Tolerates Some Synthetic Pesticides

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new study reveals how enzymes in the honey bee gut detoxify pesticides commonly used to kill mites in the honey bee hive. This is the first study to tease out the precise molecular mechanisms that allow a pollinating insect to tolerate exposure to these potentially deadly compounds.

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Previous studies have shown that honey bee hives are contaminated with an array of agricultural chemicals, many of which the bees themselves bring back to the hive in the form of contaminated pollen and nectar, said University of Illinois entomology professor and department head May Berenbaum, who led the new research.

"There are agricultural pesticides everywhere," she said. "They accumulate in the wax of bee hives, so bees in particular are exposed. And their habit of foraging very broadly across a staggering diversity of plant species also tends to expose them to many different types of habitats, which may also have different types of chemical residues."

Other chemicals are applied directly to the hives, she said. For the past 20 years, beekeepers have used acaricides - chemicals designed to kill mites but not bees - in the hive.

While evidence so far does not support the idea that exposure to synthetic pesticides is a cause or significant contributor to colony collapse disorder, the massive die-off of honey bees first reported in late 2006, "it's abundantly clear that pesticides aren't really very good for any insect," Berenbaum said. "So we figured it was about time somebody knew something about how pollinators process toxins."

The researchers focused on cytochrome P450s, enzymes that are well-known agents of detoxification "in most air-breathing organisms," Berenbaum said. Other studies had shown that cytochrome P450s in honey bees play a key role in their tolerance of pyrethroid pesticides, such as tau-fluvalinate, which is used to kill mites in the hive. But no previous study had identified specific cytochrome P450s in bees or in other pollinating insects that contribute to pyrethroid tolerance, Berenbaum said.

In a series of experiments, the team identified three cytochrome P450s in the honey bee midgut that metabolize tau-fluvalinate. They discovered that these enzymes also detoxify coumaphos, a structurally different organophosphate pesticide that also is used to kill mites in bee hives.

"This suggests that these honey bee cytochrome P450s are not particularly specialized," Berenbaum said. "That raises the possibility that a nontoxic dose of tau-fluvalinate may become toxic if an enzyme that is principally involved in its detoxification is otherwise occupied with a different chemical."

The evidence also suggests that honey bees were "pre-adapted" to detoxify pyrethroid pesticides, Berenbaum said. Pyrethroids are similar in structure to naturally occurring defensive compounds, called pyrethrins, produced by some flowering plants. Honey bees have likely had a long history of contact with pyrethrins, which are found even in some flowers in the daisy family. It appears that the same enzymes that helped the honey bees detoxify the pyrethrins in nature may also help them tolerate this relatively new pesticide exposure.

The new findings should enhance efforts to develop mite control methods that are even less toxic to bees, Berenbaum said.

New Apiculturist at UC Davis; Brian Johnson, UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley

DAVIS, CA--Honey bee researcher and apiculturist Brian R. Johnson, a University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley, has joined the faculty of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. He is based at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road and at 396 Briggs Hall. Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, welcomed the new assistant professor.

'The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility has been the site of very innovative bee research over the years that have contributed to the facility's national and international reputation," Parrella said. "We are excited about hiring Brian Johnson as the new apiculturist at UC Davis as Brian is committed to moving the science of apiculture forward, as well as to conducting problem-solving research to help beekeepers, bee breeders and those stakeholders who rely on pollination services provided by honey bees."

As a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Johnson worked with Neil Tsutsui of the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management (ESPM) from 2009 until this spring. Earlier, from 2006 to 2009, he served as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at UC San Diego and the University of Bristol, UK.

 Johnson received his doctorate in 2004 from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. in behavioral biology (thesis: "Organization of Work in the Honey Bee"). He obtained his bachelor's degree in 1998 from the UC San Diego, where he majored in ecology, behavior and evolution.

As a candidate for the UC Davis apicultural position, Johnson presented a lecture at a Department of Entomology seminar in February 2011 on "Organization and Evolution of Honey Bee Societies: Experimental, Theoretical, and Computational Approaches."

"Although I've been studying bees for over 12 years, I still learn something unexpected and important with every new study," Johnson said. "The colony is like a hugely complex puzzle, with many pieces fitting together in functionally cohesive ways. This brain-teaser aspect of figuring out how a honey bee colony works is I think what first attracted me to bee research."

A native of Hartford, Conn., Johnson grew up primarily in San Jose but also lived in Omaha, Neb. He has broad interests in evolution, ecology, behavior, genetics, and theoretical biology.

"Basically, I'm interested in integrative biology, which is biological research on a trait at all levels from genes to ecology and behavior," Johnson said.

"In the past (prior to the 1980s) bees were more or less healthy, so little effort went into understanding their basic epidemiology," Johnson said. "When tracheal mites, and then Varroa moved in, great effort went into controlling these pests, but still little effort went into basic bee epidemiology. Now with colony collapse disorder (CCD), the emphasis is finally transitioning from trying to put out fires--by which I mean control nasty pests of current concern--to both trying to put out fires and understand what causes them in the first place."

"My hope is that Davis can be at the forefront of this endeavor to both control CCD,"
Johnson said, "and to understand what factors underlie a healthy or unhealthy population of honey bees."

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
372 Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616

The Beekeeper's Handbook, Fourth Edition

Diana Sammataro, Alphonse Avitabile
Foreward by Dewey Caron

Since 1973, tens of thousands of first-time and experienced beekeepers alike have relied on The Beekeeper's Handbook as the best single-volume guide to the hobby and profession of beekeeping. Featuring clear descriptions and authoritative content, this handbook provides step-by-step directions accompanied by more than 100 illustrations for setting up an apiary, handling bees, and working throughout the season to maintain a healthy colony of bees and a generous supply of honey. This book explains the various colony care options and techniques, noting advantages and disadvantages, so that beekeepers can make the best choices for their own hives.

This fourth edition has been thoroughly redesigned, expanded, updated, and revised to incorporate the latest information on Colony Collapse Disorder, green IPM methods, regional overwintering protocols, and procedures for handling bees and managing diseases and pests such as African honey bees and bee mites. The book explains not only how but also why each step is part of the transformative process that results in the magnificent creation of honey. This essential guide is a beekeeper's most valuable resource.

Colony Collapse Disorder has renewed our recognition of the importance of small-scale beekeeping and the critical role of bees in the production of our food supply. For the growing number of beekeepers looking to set up hives for either a rewarding hobby or a profitable commercial enterprise, this updated and revised essential how-to guide includes:

• step-by-step directions for all stages from setting up an apiary to harvesting honey;
• approximately 100 illustrations featuring techniques, equipment, and bee biology;
• information about how to manage new pests and diseases including Colony Collapse Disorder;
• coverage of new trends and changes in beekeeping including green IPM techniques and new laws for urban beekeeping;
• the most up-to-date bibliography and list of resources on the topic; and
• a new user-friendly book design that clearly highlights instructions and other important features.

To order this book, contact the Cornell University Press, 512 East State St., Ithaca, NY 14850. Web: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu

The book is available either paperbound ($29.95) or clothbound ($65.00). It has 320 pages and the ISBN is 978-0-8014-4981-9.

Honey, Nature's Golden Healer

by gloria havenhand

With increasing numbers of people ditching drugs for natural healing, Honey: Nature's Golden Healer is a timely look at how the beehive can help us look and feel better. Highlighted with hundreds of vivid color photographs, the book explains how honey is made and describes the complex lives of honeybees, beehive architecture and the sophisticated social structure of beehives. Novice beekeepers will find enough reliable information to get started on a small scale.

Honey examines the beneficial properties of honey and other bee products, such as propolis, pollen, royal jelly and beeswax, and explains how to collect and use them. The book includes recipes for homemade remedies, luxurious beauty formulas and delicious treats.

• The critical role of honey bees in agriculture
• The many types and colors of honey
• Raw honey
• How honey compares to sugar
• Preserving with honey
• Honey's antibacterial properties and how they work
• Honey as a neutraceutical (a foodstuff with medicinal properties)
• Bee sting therapy
• Super-honeys
• The benefits of propolis, bee pollen and royal jelly
• Honey in cooking and baking.

This informative and illuminating book shows the links between honey and good health and why protecting the threatened populations of honeybees is important not only for their own survival, but for human longevity.

Gloria Havenhand is a beekeeper with hive populations in the millions. Her company, Medibee, produces bee products. She lives in Derbyshire, England.

This book sells for $19.95 plus shipping. For ordering information contact Firefly Books Ltd., (416) 499-8412. Web: www.fireflybooks.com. ISBN 13:978-1-55407-915-5. 16 pages, paperback.

Newsnotes - August 2011

Pollinators Make Critical Cotribution to Healthy Diets

Fruits and vegetables that provide the highest levels of vitamins and minerals to the human diet globally depend heavily on bees and other pollinating animals, according to a new study published in the international online journal PLoS ONE.

The new study was carried out by an interdisciplinary research team, comprised of pollination ecologists and a nutrition expert, based at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, the University of Berlin in Germany, and the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco. The research team showed that globally "animal-pollinated crops contain the majority of the available dietary lipid, vitamin A, C and E, and a large portion of the minerals calcium, fluoride, and iron worldwide. The yield increase attributable to animal-dependent pollination of these crops is significant and could have a potentially drastic effect on human nutrition if jeopardized."

More specifically, the team showed that in the global crop supply, several key vitamins and other nutrients related to lower risk for cancer and heart disease are present predominantly in crops propagated by pollinators. These include the carotenoids lycopene and ß-cryptoxanthin, which are found in brightly colored red, orange and yellow fruits and vegetables. Other important antioxidants, including several forms of vitamin E and more than 90% of the available vitamin C, are provided by crops that are pollinated by bees and other animals.

Key minerals for the development of bones and teeth, including more than 50% of calcium and fluoride available in the global food supply, are present in crops produced with pollinators. Plant sources of calcium, such as sesame seed, almond or spinach, are particularly important in regions of the world where dairy production is often not culturally, environmentally or financially feasible.

The animal-pollinated crops included in this study vary in the extent of their dependence on animal pollinators, with many able to propagate via alternative mechanisms, such as wind or self pollination. Despite this, the researchers estimate that up to 40% of some essential nutrients provided by fruits and vegetables could be lost without pollinators.

Bees and other animal pollinators are experiencing declines in many parts of the globe. Many farmers around the world depend on the European honey bee, importing them seasonally to pollinate their fields. However, the European honey bee has suffered massive overwintering losses, proposed causes of which include disease, pesticides and lack of nutritional (floral) resources. Wild pollinators that provide pollination services "for free" are also declining rapidly as habitat is destroyed by intensive farming practices such as agrochemical-based monoculture. The results of this study demonstrate the potential impact of this pollinator decline on human health.

UCSF Finds New Bee Viruses, Offers Baseline to Study Clony Collapse

A 10-month study of healthy honey bees by University of California, San Francisco scientists has identified four new viruses that infect bees, while revealing that each of the viruses or bacteria previously linked to colony collapse is present in healthy hives as well.

The study followed 20 colonies in a commercial beekeeping operation of more than 70,000 hives as they were transported across the country pollinating crops, to answer one basic question: what viruses and bacteria exist in a normal colony throughout the year?

The results depict a distinct pattern of infections through the seasons and provide a normal baseline for researchers studying a colony - the bee population within a hive - that has collapsed. Findings are reported in the June 7 issue of the Public Library of Science ONE (PLoS ONE) at www.PLoSone.org.

The study tracked 27 unique viruses that afflict honey bees, including four that previously were unknown and others proposed as causes of the Colony Collapse Disorder that has been wiping out colonies for the past five years, according to senior author Joe DeRisi, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of biochemistry and biophysics at UCSF.

"We brought a quantitative view of what real migrating populations look like in terms of disease," DeRisi said. "You can't begin to understand colony die-off without understanding what normal is."

Because the colonies in this study remained healthy despite these pathogens, the research supports the theory that colony collapse may be caused by factors working alone or in combination, said Michelle Flenniken, PhD, who jointly led the research.

"Clearly, there is more than just exposure involved," said Flenniken, a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of UCSF microbiologist Raul Andino, PhD. "We noticed that specific viruses dominated in some seasons, but also found that not all of the colonies tested positively for a virus at the same time, even after long-distance transport in close proximity."

Honey bees are critical to U.S. agriculture, which depends upon them to pollinate 130 different crops, representing more than $15 billion in crop value each year and roughly one-third of the human diet, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For the California almond crop to be successfully pollinated, DeRisi said, roughly half of the honeybees in the country - about 1.3 million honeybee colonies - must be in the Central Valley by the first week in February, when the trees begin to bloom. That need is echoed throughout the country, as different crops come due for pollination, resulting in semis traversing the nation for most of the year, each bearing hundreds of hives.

Since 2006, however, the bee industry has reported a mysterious phenomenon involving the sudden disappearance of most of a hive's worker bees, which leaves the queen and young bees without enough workers to support them. The disorder is one factor in the growing decline of U.S. honey bees - an estimated 30 percent of the population is lost each year and some beekeeping operations cite 90 percent losses, the USDA reports.

Researchers nationwide have identified various possible causes of that collapse, mainly based on pathogens found in the affected hives. While this study did not identify the cause of colony collapse, it did offer a measurement of the normal levels of pathogens.

In addition to viruses, the research revealed six species each of bacteria and fungi, four types of mites and a parasitic fly called a phorid, which had not been seen in honey bees outside California. One of the new viruses, a strain of the Lake Sinai virus, turned out to be the primary element of the honey bee biome, or community of bacteria and viruses.

"Here's a virus that's the single most abundant component of the bee biome and no one knew it was there," DeRisi said, noting that hundreds of millions of these viral cells were found in each bee in otherwise healthy colonies at certain times of the year.

Flenniken jointly led the work with doctoral student Charles Runckel, in DeRisi's lab. The team used a broad range of molecular detection tools for the study, including gene sequencing and a custom-designed microarray to detect insect pathogens. The microarray was designed using the same principles used for detecting human viruses, which DeRisi pioneered with UCSF professor Donald Ganem, MD. It was built in the Center for Advanced Technology on the UCSF Mission Bay campus.

The research was primarily funded by Project Apis m., which includes members of the American Honey Producers Association, the American Beekeeping Federation, the National Honey Board, California State Beekeepers Association and California almond farmers. DeRisi is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Flenniken's research was supported by the Häagen Dazs post-doctoral fellowship in honey bee biology, through University of California, Davis. Other funding sources and data can be found in the full paper.

Co-authors include Andino, in the UCSF Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Juan C. Engel, in the UCSF Sandler Center for Drug Discovery and UCSF Department of Pathology; and J. Graham Ruby and Donald Ganem, in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UCSF departments of Biochemistry & Biophysics, and Microbiology.

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. For more information, visit www.ucsf.edu.

Wild Pollinators Worth Up to $2.4 Billion to California Farmers, Study Finds

By Ann Brody Guy,
College of Natural Resources

BERKELEY -California agriculture reaps $937 million to $2.4 billion per year in economic value from wild, free-living bee species that serve the critical function of pollinating crops, according to a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, published this week in the June issue of the journal Rangelands.

About one-third of the value of California agriculture comes from pollinator-dependent crops, representing a net value of $11.7 billion per year, according to the study. Currently, many farmers rent European honeybees to ensure crop pollination, and it has been widely assumed that wild pollinators were not a significant source of crop pollination. However, the new study estimated that wild pollinators residing in California's natural habitats, chiefly rangelands, provide 35-39 percent, or more than one-third, of all pollination "services" to the state's crops.
"This means that preserving rangelands has significant economic value, not only to the ranchers who graze their cattle there, but also to farmers who need the pollinators," said Claire Kremen, UC Berkeley associate professor of environmental science, policy and management, and senior author of the study.

The study is the first to calculate the percentage of crop pollinators that are wild, free-living species based on their proximity to natural habitats, and thus to identify the economic value of the pollination service due to wild pollinators.

Researchers said both rented European honeybees and wild pollinator bee species are currently experiencing supply problems. More than 1 million honeybee colonies are imported to California each year, chiefly for almond pollination. Recently, beekeepers have suffered high rates of colony losses due to diseases, pesticides and management factors, increasing the uncertainty of both supply and rental prices.

Wild pollinator species also show declines in abundance and diversity on farmlands, most likely due to habitat loss from the intensive monoculture, or single crop, production system that typifies much of California's agricultural lands.

"Currently, wild pollinators are least abundant in intensive monoculture production areas such as sunflowers, almonds and melons, where demand for pollination services is largest," said Kremen, who was named a 2007 MacArthur Fellow for her work in ecology, biodiversity and agriculture.

Wild Pollinators Key to Sustainability

Kremen said the findings suggest that if farmers paid ranchers to stay on the land and maintain the habitat, the farmers would be increasing their sources of pollination and developing critical diversification to support their agricultural practices.

"We would never invest all of our retirement savings in just one stock, but this is essentially what farmers do when they rely solely on the European honeybee for pollination," said Kremen. She said this is exactly what is occurring in California agriculture right now.

"Diversifying their monetary investment in pollinators to include wild, rangeland-dwelling species is the same idea as diversifying a stock portfolio," she said, adding that the unpredictability associated with climate change amplifies the importance of diversification.

"Some insect species will thrive in changed climate conditions, and others won't. Maintaining a biodiverse stock of pollinators is like the insurance that a diversified stock portfolio brings: some will be up, some will be down, but having a portfolio of many different species ensures viability into the future," Kremen said.

Placing a value on ecosystem services is an established part of conservation science and helps scientists understand the contributions of various elements of an ecosystem and how they influence each other.

The UC Berkeley researchers estimated the current contribution of wild pollinators to California agriculture by integrating their knowledge of the relationship between natural habitat and wild pollination services with the added dimension of location-specific data.

"Essentially, we identified where wild pollinators were living in relation to crops. When we put it all on a map, we got a highly informative picture of how the pollinators could be impacting crop production," Kremen said. She said they used data from the National Agriculture Statistics Service on crop production and value to help calculate the monetary value.

Changing Perspective on Role of Rangeland
Lynn Huntsinger, a professor of rangeland management at UC Berkeley who is not affiliated with the study, said that the findings are significant because the study is the first to discover that conserving rangelands enhances crop production.

"This evidence of economic symbiosis makes it clear that rangeland conservation cannot be separated from the needs of agriculture, whether it is farming or ranching," Huntsinger said.
She said that precisely because rangelands have been used for ranching - livestock grazing - ranchers have kept the land conserved and stewarded it in ways that result in habitat that sustains wild bee species as well as other wildlife.

"Studies in some ecosystems have shown that well-managed grazing can keep invasive grasses from shading out the flowering herbs that native pollinators rely on," Huntsinger said.

The state's rangelands have been decreasing steadily, as the foothills and oak-dotted grasslands can be highly desirable for residential development, Huntsinger said. California lost 105,000 acres of grazing lands to urbanization between 1990 and 2004, according to the state Department of Conservation. The California Oak Foundation projects that the state could lose another 750,000 acres by 2040.

She said the vast majority of rangelands are privately owned, and income from ranching is usually small compared to the price the land can command in the real estate market, so when cash is needed for college, retirement or other major expenses, ranchers face strong pressure to sell.

"This new finding about pollinators is important because not only does it tell us something we need to know to maintain our ability to grow food, it also provides a statewide value for the service of providing pollinator habitat. Ranchers need to get that value and other rangeland values recognized in order to sustain their ranches," Huntsinger said.

The finding comes at a time when there is growing interest within the ranching community in providing ecosystem services, Huntsinger said. For example, as part of conservation efforts, California ranchers have been asked to maintain flowers for endangered butterflies and to keep small spring wetlands known as vernal pools healthy - using grazing as a tool to manipulate the grassland.

Darrel Sweet, a fifth generation cattle rancher from Livermore and a former president of the California Cattlemen's Association, said that placing a dollar value on rangelands pollination services lends powerful support to these efforts."The value of grazing and other land stewardship practices of California's ranchers is being increasingly acknowledged as not only a preferred land use, but also as an essential resource management tool," said Sweet. "I hope this study is just the beginning of comparable findings that show how ranching is a critical - and multifaceted - element of California agriculture."

Calling to mind the classic "Oklahoma!" song "The Farmer and Cowman Should Be Friends," the study's findings suggest a host of ways farmers might work with ranchers to their mutual benefit, Kremen said.

While the study issues the caveat that the exact value of pollination services from natural habitats is difficult to pin down using currently available data, Kremen said the findings highlight from a biophysical perspective how important this value is.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

High-mountain wildflower season
reduced, affecting pollinators like bees, hummingbirds

It's summer wildflower season in the Rocky Mountains, a time when high-peaks meadows are dotted with riotous color.

But for how long?

Once, wildflower season in montane meadow ecosystems extended throughout the summer months. But now scientists have found a fall-off in wildflowers at mid-season.

They published their results, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), in the current issue of the Journal of Ecology.

"Shifts in flowering in mountain meadows could in turn affect the resources available to pollinators like bees," says David Inouye of the University of Maryland, currently on leave in NSF's Division of Environmental Biology.

Inouye and colleagues George Aldridge and William Barr of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Jessica Forrest of the University of California at Davis, and Abraham Miller-Rushing of the USA National Phenology Network in Tucson, Ariz., found that such changes could become more common as climate change progresses.

"Some pollinators with short periods of activity may require only a single flower species," write the ecologists in their paper, "but pollinators active all season must have flowers available in sufficient numbers through the season."

For example, bumblebees, important pollinators in many regions, need a pollen and nectar supply throughout the growing season to allow the queen bee to produce a colony.

As mid-summer temperatures have warmed in places like the Elk Mountains of Colorado, the researchers have found that the mid-season decline in flowering totals is ecosystem-wide.
"These meadows are heavily affected by snowmelt and temperature," says Inouye. "Wildflowers use information from these natural cues to 'know' when it's time to unfurl their petals."
The early-season climate is becoming warmer and drier in the high altitudes of the southern Rocky Mountains.

These changing conditions are altering moisture availability and hence flowering timing in sub-alpine meadows, says Inouye. The result is a mid-season decline in number of wildflowers in bloom.

Such changes in seasonal flower availability across large areas, or in individual habitats, could have serious consequences for entire pollinator populations, says Inouye, which include not only bees, but hummingbirds and others that feed on pollen and nectar.

Over the long term, he and colleagues believe, the changes could affect animal-pollinated plants.
If bees and hummingbirds need flowers, flowers need hummingbirds and bees.

And they all need a high-meadow ecosystem that changes at its own pace, say the scientists, not one moving in fast-forward in tandem with warmer temperatures.

Otherwise those sultry days and nights, especially in high summer, may leave Colorado mountain meadows empty, along with their wildflowers, and the pollinators that depend on them, vanished in the shimmering heat.

Entomologists Launch the 5,000 Insect Genome Pproject (i5k)

Researchers aim to sequence the genomes of 5,000 insects and other arthropods over the next five years

It's been called "the Manhattan Project of Entomology," an undertaking that has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about insects.
The i5k Initiative, also known as the 5,000 Insect Genome Project, was recently launched with a letter to Science (http://www.science
mag.org/content/331/6023/1386.citation) from ten signers known as the i5K Ad Hoc Launch Group. Now the latest issue of American Entomologist features an interview (http://entsoc.org/PDF/2011/AE-15k.pdf) with four of the signers about the project's origins, purpose, and goals.
The Initiative aims to sequence the genomes of 5,000 insects and other arthropods over the next five years in order to "improve our lives by contributing to a better understanding of insect biology and transforming our ability to manage arthropods that threaten our health, food supply, and economic security."
"We hope that generating this data will lead to better models for insecticide resistance, better models for developing new pesticides, better models for understanding transmission of disease, or for control of agricultural pests," said Daniel Lawson, a coordinator at the European Bioinformatics Institute. "Moving into the genetics era revolutionizes what you can do, what you can try to assay in your species, what you can infer from your experiments."
According to Gene E. Robinson, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "This will provide information that breeders would need to look for ways of dealing with insect resistance to pesticides. It would also provide geneticists with information on what might be vulnerable points in an insect's makeup, which could be used for novel control strategies."
As the costs of genomic sequencing continue to fall due to technological improvements, it will soon become feasible to cheaply sequence the genomes of 5,000 insects of medical and agricultural importance, and then to mine the genomes for data which could lead to better insect control and management products and techniques.
"For example, we could mine data for cytochrome p450 detox genes. Those genes are involved with detoxifying chemicals that are inside insects, so if we know about those genes from one insect to another, we can use that information to actually kill the insects," said Kevin J. Hackett, a national program leader at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. "Or if you take beneficial insects like honey bees, which do not have as many detoxifying genes and are more susceptible to chemicals, that kind of information could be used to help protect bees."
The leaders of the i5K Initiative invite entomologists around the world to sign up and to create wiki pages at http://arthropod
genomes.org/wiki/i5K in order to recommend which insect genomes should be sequenced in the future, report which insect genomes are already being sequenced, and to start conversations with other scientists who are working on similar projects.
"We're trying to find out who's working on what insects, and if they feel that having genomic information about their insects would help," said Susan J. Brown, a professor at Kansas State University. "Quite a few researchers are probably working on transcriptomics, looking at the genes that are transcribed under certain contexts, environmental conditions or life stages. Looking at the whole genome will help us understand these comparatively and not just in one organism."

"We want this to be a broad-based, inclusive effort," said Dr. Robinson. "We want all people to be involved, we want all insects of agricultural importance, all insects of medical importance, and so forth. Workshops will be organized and held, and there will be opportunities for further input, interactions, and the ability to shape the project."
To find out more, read the interview in American Entomologist at http://entsoc.
org/PDF/2011/AE-15k.pdf, and to participate, visit the i5k wiki website at http://
arthropodgenomes.org/wiki/i5K.
American Entomologist (http://entsoc.

org/Pubs/Periodicals/AE) is a quarterly magazine published by the Entomological Society of America (ESA). Founded in 1889, ESA is a non-profit organization committed to serving the scientific and professional needs of more than 6,000 entomologists and individuals in related disciplines.

Honey Stinger Announces Pink Lemonade and Lime-ade Organic Chew Flavors

Honey Stinger, the leading manufacturer of honey-based nutritional products, is pleased to announce the addition of Pink Lemonade and caffeinated Lime-Ade flavors to its product line. The new offerings add to Honey Stinger's popular USDA-certified organic line, bringing the total number of flavor varieties to six.

"Our chews have found a loyal following among runners, cyclists, triathletes and health conscious consumers. The new flavors will only build upon that," states Bill Gamber, Honey Stinger president and co-founder. "The combination of size, taste and consistency of our chews makes them an ideal energy snack. It doesn't hurt that they're also delicious."

All Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews feature the following:

• A great tasting enjoyable snack or source for energy during any athletic activity
• Made with USDA certified Organic ingredients
• 100% Organic tapioca syrup and honey - Pink Lemonade flavor
• 95% Organic ingredients- Lime-Ade flavor
• 160 calories per 50g (1.8 oz) package
• 100% RDA Vitamin C
• 1g protein per packet
• 1g fiber per packet
• Lime-Ade flavor offers 32mg of caffeine from white tea extract
• Gluten-free, dairy-free and non-GMO ingredients
• 0g Trans Fats and no partially hydrogenated oils
• Multiple carbohydrate source: glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose
• Pure natural energy, truly great taste
• Available May 24, 2011
• MSRP $1.99 per packet

Available from specialty retail and nutrition outlets nationwide and retailing for $1.99 per package, the new chew flavors are in stock and offered in single serving, box or case quantities.

About Honey Stinger
Located in Steamboat Springs, Colo., Honey Stinger makes convenient, nutritious and great tasting honey-based foods including energy bars, organic chews and Stinger Waffles. Fueling some of the country's  top cyclists, runners, triathletes and teams, Honey Stinger welcomed Lance Armstrong to its ownership team in early 2010. Honey Stinger products are available at specialty sporting goods retailers, natural food grocers and www.honeystinger.com.

Newsnotes - July 2011

USDA/AIA Survey Reports 2010/2011 Winter Honey Bee Losses

By Kim Kaplan
USDA, ARS News Service

WASHINGTON - Total losses from managed honey bee colonies nationwide were 30 percent from all causes for the 2010/2011 winter, according to the annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA).

This is roughly similar to total losses reported in similar surveys done in the
four previous years: 34 percent for the 2009/2010 winter, 29 percent for 2008/2009; 36 percent for 2007/2008, and 32 percent for 2006/2007.

"The lack of increase in losses is marginally encouraging in the sense that the problem does not appear to be getting worse for honey bees and beekeepers," said Jeff Pettis, an entomologist with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) who helped conduct the study. "But continued losses of this size put tremendous pressure on the economic sustainability of commercial beekeeping." Pettis is the leader of the Bee Research Laboratory operated in Beltsville, Md., by ARS, the chief scientific research agency of USDA.

The survey, which covered the period from October 2010 to April 2011, was led by Pettis and by AIA past presidents Dennis vanEngelsdorp and Jerry Hayes.

Beekeepers reported that, on average, they felt losses of 13 percent would be economically acceptable. Sixty-one percent of responding beekeepers reported having losses greater than this.

Average colony loss for an individual beekeeper's operation was 38.4 percent. This compares to an average loss of 42.2 percent for individual beekeepers' operations in 2009/2010.

Average loss by operation represents the percentage of loss in each operation added together and divided by the number of beekeeping operations that responded to the survey. This number is affected more by small beekeeping operations, which may only have 10 or fewer colonies, so a loss of just five colonies in a 10-colony operation would represent a 50 percent loss. Total losses were calculated as all colonies reported lost in the survey divided by the total number of bee colonies reported in the survey. This number is affected more by larger operations, which might have 10,000 or more colonies, so a loss of five colonies in a 10,000-colony operation would equal only a 0.05 percent loss.

Among surveyed beekeepers who lost any colonies, 31 percent reported losing at least some of their colonies without finding dead bee bodies-one of the symptoms that defines Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). As this was an interview-based survey, it was not possible to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the "absence of dead bees" as a symptom. The cause of CCD is still unknown.

The beekeepers who reported colony losses with no dead bee bodies present also reported higher average colony losses (61 percent), compared to beekeepers who lost colonies but did not report the absence of dead bees (34 percent in losses).

A total of 5,572 beekeepers, who manage more than 15 percent of the country's estimated 2.68 million colonies, responded to the survey.

A complete analysis of the survey data will be published later this year. The abstract can be found at http://www.extension.org/pages/58013/honey-bee-winter-loss-survey

More information about CCD can be found at  http://www.ars.usda.gov/ccd.

Penn State Leads in Honey Bee Health Initiative

University Park, Pa. -- A nationwide network to monitor and maintain honeybee health is the aim of the Bee Informed Partnership, a five-year, $5 million program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and led by Penn State.

The Bee Informed Partnership will use an epidemiological approach to identify bee common management practices and use them to develop best practices on a regional and operationally appropriate level. The Partnership will include many institutions already involved in pollinator work, but will also strive to include citizens involved in beekeeping or other aspects of the problem for data collection and integration.

"We would like to reduce honey bee mortality, increase beekeeper profitability and enhance adoption of sustainable management systems in beekeeping," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, senior extension associate, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, who will lead the project. "At the same time we want to increase the reliability of production in pollinator dependent crops and increase the profitability of pollinator-dependent producers."

Project partners will create and maintain a dynamic Honey Bee Health database with an interactive web-based interface. Penn State and partners will also survey colony mortality, pathogens and parasites, as well as beekeeping management strategies, costs and outputs. They will create a pollinator quality and availability reporting system and an emerging-issues alert system.

Some of the surveys planned by the Partnership include the continuation of the colony winter loss survey, an annual survey of management practices and a survey of pollinator availability. Other surveys will focus on determining colony mortality, parasite loads and socioeconomic factors.

"By surveying beekeepers about their management practices, as well as their colonies' overwintering success, we can use epidemiological methods to tell beekeepers which practices work and which do not."

The multistate team hopes that their work and especially their educational efforts to introduce the best management practices will reduce national losses in honeybee populations by 50 percent in the next five years, according to vanEngelsdorp.

Co-investigators on the project are the University of California -- California Cooperative Extension, University of Illinois, University of Georgia, University of Tennessee, University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University, Appalachian State University, Lincoln University, USDA-ARS and the Florida Department of Agriculture. Other collaborators include NASA and USDA-Animal and Plant Health Service.

For more information visit www.beeinformed.org.

Former UC Davis Department Chair Named Dean of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

Honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and former chair of the Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, is the newly appointed vice provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University.

ASU Provost and Executive Vice President Elizabeth D. Capaldi announced the appointment May 11. The appointment is effective July 1.

Page's responsibilities will encompass student academic affairs, faculty development, promotion of research, and the planning and implementation of degree programs for a college that has nearly 18,000 undergraduate and more than 2,500 graduate students, according to an ASU news release. He also will be responsible for budgeting, planning, fundraising and personnel decisions.

Page, who received his doctorate in entomology at UC Davis in 1980, served as an assistant professor at  Ohio State University before joining the UC Davis Department of Entomology in 1989. He chaired the department for five years, from 1999 to 2004.

Page's specialized genetic stock of honey bees is based at UC Davis. Bee breeder-geneticist Michael "Kim" Fondrk, who worked with Page at Ohio State University, UC Davis and ASU, manages the stock.

In 2004--the year Page retired from UC Davis--ASU recruited him as the founding director and dean of the School of Life Sciences, an academic unit within CLAS. At the time, his duties included organizing three departments-biology, microbiology and botany, totaling more than 600 faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff--into one unified school. 

As its founding director, Page established the school as a platform for discovery in the biomedical, genomic and evolutionary and environmental sciences. He also established ASU's Honey Bee Research Facility.

In a news release written by ASU's Carol Hughes, ASU president Michael M. Crow praised him as  "ideally suited to head the university's core academic unit."

"Rob Page has a track record of academic, scientific and administrative excellence and has exhibited strategic vision in organizing faculties into a school without disciplinary boundaries," said ASU President Michael M. Crow. "That is the type of experience and achievement that makes him ideally suited to head the university's core academic unit."

"Rob has been a strong leader of one of the largest units in CLAS," said Provost Capaldi, "and has shown he can bridge many disciplines, bring faculty together, innovate in curriculum and instruction, and build excellence." (Kathy Keatley Garvey, Dept. of Entomology, University of California)

Vita Research Prize 2011

Vita (Europe) Ltd is calling for applications for its 2011 Vita Research award for honeybee health research. Application information for the prize, valued at up to Euros 10,000, is available on the Vita website www.vita-europe.com. The closing date is 1 July 2011.

The biannual Vita research award was  launched in 2005 with well-known beekeeper Pres. Viktor Yuschenko of the Ukraine as patron. Awards have been made for research into chalkbrood control, molecular (DNA) techniques to detect honeybee viruses, and the optimum way to introduce varroa-controlling fungi into a hive. Award winners have been based in Greece, Jordan and Italy.

Jeremy Owen, sales director of Vita (Europe) Ltd said: "The international Vita Research award series has been a great success and we would like to encourage even more entries. As the largest dedicated honeybee health company in the world, we are eager to foster much-needed new research to combat threats to honeybees. The winner of the 2011 Award will be announced at Apimondia in Buenos Aires in September this year.

Website: www.vita-europe.com
Facebook: "Vita (Europe) Ltd"
Twitter@vitaeuropeltd

Honey Recipes From a Welsh Kitchen

Jones, J. IBRA. 2011. Spiral bound. 112pp. ISBN:978-0-86098-268-5. Price £9.50 Contact IBRA at www.ibrastore.org.uk

Inspired by the versatility and potential of honey as a cooking ingredient, Jane has produced over 100 delicious recipes in this attractive book. With step-by-step instructions and color photographs throughout, cooking with honey is easy!

For convenience the recipes are grouped into the following chapters: Meat / Fish / Vegetarian and Salads / Desserts / Cakes / Biscuits / Christmas. The dishes range from spicy beef medallions to mouth-watering Glamorgan sausages, and from traditional Welsh cakes to fabulous honey walnut biscuits.

This book is aimed at those who want to use one of the oldest ingredients in the world! A product that is so versatile it should not be ignored in the kitchen! It is a book for expert and novice alike with a page of ‘Useful tips for cooking with honey' to help you on your way.

Obituary

Bennie Lou Franks Weaver

Bennie Lou Franks Weaver was born Jan. 9, 1923, to Dovey Lucille Barnett Franks and Robert Ingram Franks in Del Rio, Texas.  Bennie Lou passed away May 16, 2011 at home in Lynn Grove, with Binford Weaver, her husband of 52 years and 9 months, by her side.

Bennie Lou spent her early years ranching in West Texas, losing her father, Bob, to an auto accident in 1930. Bennie Lou and Dovey persevered, ranching a 26 section place between Fort Stockton and Iraan until moving to another large ranch outside McCamey, where Bennie Lou graduated as Salutatorian of the 1941 class. Bennie Lou entered Baylor University on a scholarship in the fall of 1941, taking a leave of absence during the first years of World War II to help her mother on the ranch. Bennie Lou returned to Baylor and graduated in 1946, majoring in English with a minor in Music. After graduation, she married Phillip Renstrom, moved to California and taught High School in the San Francisco Bay area, and later at Kearney, Nebraska. Her first marriage ended in divorce, and she returned to Waco, Texas, teaching English while earning her Master's degree in Guidance and Counseling at Baylor.
Bennie Lou remained close to her former roommate at Baylor, Reba Lou Weaver Campbell, and Reba's family, especially Reba's brother, Binford. Bennie Lou and Binford were married on Aug. 9, 1958, and afterward she made a loving home in Lynn Grove.

Bennie Lou served as a guidance counselor and teacher at Navasota High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where she joyfully influenced the development and success of many young people.  Bennie was also a certified Red Cross swimming and lifeguard instructor, and for many years shared responsibilities for the summer swimming program at the Navasota pool with her good friends, Jackie Baker, Carol Coleman, Anne Largent, Diane Moore and others.  She supported her husband as an active member and leader of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF), attending every meeting of the ABF from 1969 until 2009. She was active in the Navasota Music Study club and the Navasota Garden club, serving as president of each, and an avid bridge player. Bennie Lou was a founding member of the Grimes County Republican Party and an early supporter of George H. W. Bush in his campaigns for Congress and the Senate in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bennie Lou grew up in the Baptist Church, became a member of the Lynn Grove Methodist Church after marriage, and subsequently, the First Presbyterian Church in Navasota, where she remained a faithful attendee until failing health intervened.

Bennie Lou was preceded in death by her father, Robert (August 30, 1930); her mother, Dovey (March 28, 1972); her adopted sister, Barbara Robinson, and Bennie Lou's beloved son, Robert Roy Weaver (January 15, 1995).  She is survived by her husband, Binford, of Lynn Grove, a son, Daniel Binford Weaver and daughter-in-law, Laura Gregory Weaver, and three grandsons, Travis Binford Weaver, Dylan Gregory Weaver and Stone Barnett Weaver, all of Austin, Texas.

Bennie Lou never met a stranger, regardless of origin; could find a fellow Texan in the dark on a new moon anywhere she roamed, but folks from west of the Nueces were her favorites; she was always quick with a smile but ready to speak her mind. Bennie Lou was a master of Southwestern cooking and a lover of Classical, Big Band and Jazz music; a fierce protector of right over might, and compassionate to those in need. Mostly, she was one of a kind.

Newsnotes - June 2011

Mite-Away Quick Strip Questions & Answers

(From David VanderDussen
NOD Apiary Products)

MAQS has been in the marketplace in Hawaii for 18 month, and now parts of the US for 2 months. There has been a lot of interest and many phone calls. Here is a Top-10 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list for MAQS:

1) Subject: The paper wrap on the gel strip.
Q) I removed the outer plastic wrap, should I peel the inner paper wrap off of the of the gel?
A) The paper wrap stays on. It works as a wick to help control the vapor release.

2) Subject: Examining the colony and then treating.
Q) The label says to disturb the colony as little as possible at time of application. Can I do a full colony exam and then treat immediately, or should I wait and come back and treat?
A) The bees need to have their affairs in order when treated. When running trials it was found out that the colony assessments were best done 3 days in advance of the application. If the colonies were taken apart, assessed, reassembled and then treated shortly after we saw some absconding. It also increased the risk of queen loss. After an exam it would be best to wait at least until the next day to apply MAQS.
 
3) Subject: Treating with honey supers on.
Q) Can I really treat with honey supers on? Why does it not flavor the honey?
A) Formic acid naturally occurs in honey at levels ranging up to over 2,000 parts per million (ppm). The formic acid concentration in hive air during MAQS treatment remains well below 100 ppm, so the levels in the honey do not go outside of naturally occurring levels.
 
4) Subject: Screen Bottom Boards
Q) Should I leave the Screen Bottom open or close it off?
A) There was only one trial run so far with screen bottom boards open, by Randy Oliver (www.scientificbeekeeping.com). He published the results in the February 2011 issue of American Bee Journal. There was a 4 to 5 % reduction in efficacy over a solid bottom board, however, both open screen and solid bottom boards saw over 90% drop in mite loads, so it is basically up to the beekeeper.
 
5)  Subject: Additional entrances, cracks in the equipment.
Q) Should I close off all entrances except the fully open bottom board entrance?
A) The fully open bottom entrance should be seen as meeting the minimum ventilation need. Having additional entrances does not seem to affect the efficacy of the treatment. Adequate ventilation is critical with this product. For 2 brood chamber colonies some beekeepers slide back the second story to create a temporary full width entrance, and then slide the boxes back square sometime after the first 3 days.
 
6) Subject: Colony response - bees bearding on the hive.
Q) It looks like most of the bees in the hive are bearding out on hive. Is this normal?
A) It is normal for the bees to beard out for the first day, especially under warmer conditions. See the University of Hawaii photos in their report from 2009, found at: http://www.miteaway.com/V1-wright -varroa.pdf. There may be an increase in adult bee mortality in the first three days after application. Remember natural loss of bees occurs at about the same rate as egg-laying; with the formic treatment the bees may not be able to clean away the bees as quickly as usual.
 
7) Subject: Field bee activity.
Q) Will the bees continue to forage during the treatment?
A) Yes, the bees continue to forage.
 
8) Subject: Impact on brood - reducing dose?
Q) What is impact on the brood? Can I reduce the dose?
A) Studies have shown that reducing the dose reduces the effectiveness, and may still cause some brood damage. What we know from trials conducted so far is that MAQS works best by the 2-strip dose. Any brood damage that occurs is quickly made up, the queen is laying throughout the cluster area by Day +7. There are often lots of eggs by Day+4 although they may be as far away from the strips as possible. Any damage is cleaned up by Day +7. The field bees can continue to get pollen through the whole treatment, so there are good protein reserves when all the larva need feeding. The next time that MAQS is used, even if it is months later, the bees somehow know how to cope better.
 
9) Subject: Moving bee hives during treatment.
Q) Can I move the bees during the 7-day treatment period?
A) The bees should not be disturbed during the treatment period.
 
10) Subject: Removing the strip residue after treatment.
Q) The bees chewed up some of the strips, but did not remove it all. How do I dispose of the residue?
A) The residue from MAQS will simply compost over time. It can be handled the same way as any other organic yard-waste material.

USDA PROVIDES EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE TO PRODUCERS OF HONEYBEES, LIVESTOCK AND FARM-RAISED FISH FOR 2010

WASHINGTON - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that more than $8 million in disaster assistance will be issued starting immediately to livestock, honeybee and farm-raised fish producers that suffered losses in 2010 because of disease, adverse weather or other conditions. The aid will come from the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP).

"ELAP is an important tool to help producers of America's livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish stay in business after they experience significant losses because of natural disasters," Vilsack said. "A healthy livestock, honeybee and fish industry is vital to America's food supply and economy."

Included in the $8 million is more than $5 million to compensate beekeepers for 2010 losses. Under ELAP, producers are compensated for losses that are not covered through other disaster assistance programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill, specifically the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program.

ELAP sign-up for 2011 losses is under way. Producers with 2011 losses must file an ELAP application no later than Jan. 30, 2012. They also must file a notice of loss within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent to the producer or Oct. 31, 2011, whichever date is earlier. ELAP benefits related to 2011 losses are expected to be issued in early 2012.
For more information about USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) disaster assistance programs, please visit a nearby FSA service center or online at http://www.fsa.usda.
gov/elap.

HONEY CAN REVERSE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Manuka honey could be an efficient way to clear chronically infected wounds and could even help reverse bacterial resistance to antibiotics, according to research presented at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate.
Prof. Rose Cooper from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff is looking at how manuka honey interacts with three types of bacteria that commonly infest wounds: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Group A Streptococci and Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Her group has found that honey can interfere with the growth of these bacteria in a variety of ways and suggests that honey is an attractive option for the treatment of drug-resistant wound infections.

Honey has long been acknowledged for its antimicrobial properties. Traditional remedies containing honey were used in the topical treatment of wounds by diverse ancient civilizations. Manuka honey is derived from nectar collected by honey bees foraging on the manuka tree in New Zealand and is included in modern licensed wound-care products around the world. However, the antimicrobial properties of honey have not been fully exploited by modern medicine as its mechanisms of action are not yet known.

Prof. Cooper's group is helping to solve this problem by investigating at a molecular level the ways in which manuka honey inhibits wound-infecting bacteria. "Our findings with streptococci and pseudomonads suggest that manuka honey can hamper the attachment of bacteria to tissues which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections. Inhibiting attachment also blocks the formation of biofilms, which can protect bacteria from antibiotics and allow them to cause persistent infections," explained Prof. Cooper. "Other work in our lab has shown that honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin - effectively reversing antibiotic resistance. This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey."
This research may increase the clinical use of manuka honey as doctors are faced with the threat of diminishingly effective antimicrobial options. "We need innovative and effective ways of controlling wound infections that are unlikely to contribute to increased antimicrobial resistance. We have already demonstrated that manuka honey is not likely to select for honey-resistant bacteria," said Professor Cooper. At present, most antimicrobial interventions for patients are with systemic antibiotics. "The use of a topical agent to eradicate bacteria from wounds is potentially cheaper and may well improve antibiotic therapy in the future. This will help reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from colonized wounds to susceptible patients."

National Honey Board Works on Honey Purity Test

Firestone, Colo. - The National Honey Board (NHB) has contracted with two different laboratories to develop a test that could help to differentiate pure honey from honey pretenders.

"The National Honey Board believes honey pretenders have a negative impact on the honey industry," said Buddy Ashurst, NHB Chairman. "The industry can't compete with low-priced products misrepresented as honey. We need to improve on current tests or develop new tests."

After conducting an extensive survey of food testing laboratories in 2010, the Board recently committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to this effort by contracting with the two laboratories. The goal is to have a simple, cost effective test that can widely be used by the honey industry, honey users and consumers to advance the image and marketability of honey.

The projects are intended to develop new procedures or improve upon current established testing procedures that could better the sensitivity, simplify, or lower the cost of currently accepted tests.

The Board is hopeful that these projects will be successful and provide the honey industry and honey users with additional, lower cost methods to ensure honey purity.

The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey. The National Honey Board is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Genetic Study Offers Insight into the Social Lives of Bees

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Most people have trouble telling them apart, but bumble bees, honey bees, stingless bees and solitary bees have home lives that are as different from one another as a monarch's palace is from a hippie commune or a hermit's cabin in the woods. A new study of these bees offers a first look at the genetic underpinnings of their differences in lifestyle.
The study focuses on the evolution of "eusociality," a system of collective living in which most members of a female-centric colony forego their reproductive rights and instead devote themselves to specialized tasks - such as hunting for food, defending the nest or caring for the young - that enhance the survival of the group. The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Eusociality is a rarity in the animal world, said Gene Robinson, a University of Illinois entomology professor and the director of the Institute for Genomic Biology, who led the study. Ants, termites, some bees and wasps, a few other arthropods and a couple of mole rat species are the only animals known to be eusocial.

Among bees, there are the "highly eusocial" honey bees and stingless bees, with a caste of sterile workers and a queen that functions primarily as a "giant, egg-laying machine," Robinson said. And there are other, so-called "primitively eusocial" insects, usually involving a single mom who starts a nest from scratch and then, once she has raised enough workers, "kicks back and becomes a queen," he said.

Illinois entomology professor Sydney Cameron, a collaborator on the study and a social insect evolution expert, dislikes the term "primitively eusocial" because it suggests that these bees are on their way to becoming more like stingless bees or honey bees. Eusociality is not a progressive evolution from the "primitive" to the "advanced" stage, she said.
"They're not striving to become highly eusocial," Cameron said. "They don't say to themselves, 'If only I could become a honey bee!' "
"People talk about the evolution of eusociality," Robinson said. "But we want to emphasize that these were independent evolutionary events. And we wanted to trace the independent stories of each."

To accomplish this, the researchers worked with Roche Diagnostic Corp. to sequence active genes (those transcribed for translation into proteins) in nine species of bees representing every lifestyle from the solitary leaf-cutter bee, Megachile rotundata, to the highly eusocial dwarf honey bee, Apis florea. Then Illinois crop sciences professor and co-author Matt Hudson used the only available bee genome, that of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, as a guide to help assemble and identify the sequenced genes in the other species, and the team looked for patterns of genetic change that coincided with the evolution of the differing social systems.

"Are there genes that are unique to the primitively eusocial bees that aren't found in the highly eusocial bees?" Cameron said. "Or if you lump all the eusocial bees together, are there unique genes that unite those groups compared to the solitaries?"

The analysis did find significant differences in gene sequence between the eusocial and solitary bees. The researchers also saw patterns of genetic change unique to either the highly eusocial or primitively eusocial bees. The frequency and pattern of these changes in gene sequence suggest "signatures of accelerated evolution" specific to each type of eusociality, and to eusociality in general, the researchers reported.

"What we find is that there are some genes that show signatures of selection across the different independent evolutions (of eusocial bees)," Robinson said. "They might be representatives of the 'gotta have it' genes if you're going to evolve eusociality. But others are more lineage-specific."

This study was made possible with a one-gigabyte sequencing grant from 454 Life Sciences (Roche Diagnostics Corp.) by way of the Roche 1GB contest. The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health also supported the research.
The study team also included researchers from Cornell University and from the Program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology and the Institute for Genomic Biology at Illinois.

Varroa - Still a Problem In the 21st Century?

On April 16, 2011 the International Bee Research Association launched an important new book on the major problem affecting bees worldwide, the parasitic mite Varroa destructor at the British Beekeepers Association Spring Convention.

One of the book's authors, Prof. Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia, USA, was a key speaker at the convention. He said: "it is simply non controversial among the world's practicing bee scientists that Varroa destructor is problem #1."

In recent years, the world's headlines have been full of stories of mass deaths of honey bee colonies, but scientific consensus suggests that there is no single cause, and that different interacting factors may be occurring in different regions. It is inescapable, however, that varroa is present in all regions where recent colony losses have occurred, and the mite is known to interact with other pests and diseases, principally viruses. Varroa is, however, not a new problem. It was first identified as a serious pest more than half a century ago, and chemical and other control methods have been available for decades. It remains a problem because conventional approaches to control have failed, with the mite becoming resistant to many of the chemicals used. Other problems affecting bees have diverted attention away from the search for more effective methods for control of varroa.

In this new book, a team of international scientists addresses all aspects of the varroa problem, with chapters on: mite biology; varroa and viruses; chemical control; Integrated Pest Management; biological control and breeding bees for varroa tolerance. The final chapter looks forward at prospects for improved control and innovative ways to tackle the problem.

IBRA Scientific Director Norman Carreck says: "This book brings together current knowledge of how the global varroa crisis can be tackled".

Beekeepers Enter the Cloud

Web-based Online Record Keeping Empowers Beekeepers with
Information for More Efficient and Effective Hive Management

Boone, North Carolina, January 19, 2011. Maintaining useful beekeeping records is a never ending struggle for beekeepers, including the founders of Hive Tracks. Immersed in the world of high technology and beekeeping, Hive Tracks founders Mark Henson and James Wilkes have created a powerful tool to assist the beekeeping community in the challenging area of record keeping. Designed according to real beekeeping experience, utilizing cloud computing technology, and adopting Google's business model for free tools, www.hivetracks.com offers an intuitive, accessible, secure, useful, and free record keeping system to beekeepers of all stripes. Internet access is all that is required to begin using the service.

Recordkeeping is an important aspect of effectively managing honeybee colonies, but most beekeepers agree there is always room for improvement. Many recordkeeping methods have been employed historically: beekeeper memory, physical objects such as rocks on top of hives, writing directly on hives, notebooks, and more recently software. All of these are useful to some degree, but also have their own drawbacks including preservation of data, recall of data, organization of data, and ease of use. Hivetracks.com is designed to mitigate each of these challenges by storing data on a reliable, secure server, making data accessible through a desktop, wireless, or cell phone internet connection, organizing data according to how beekeepers think, and providing an intuitive, visual interface.

Hive Tracks co-founder Mark Henson is a professional software engineer with over 25 years experience in the software industry and is a hobby beekeeper. Co-founder James Wilkes is a University Professor with a PhD in Computer Science and is a sideline beekeeper. Living in the same community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, these two men came to the same conclusion that there had to be a better way of keeping up with hive data and thus began the development of Hive Tracks. After several years of thinking about the idea and another year of development and testing, the first version of hivetracks.com was released at the Eastern Apiculture Society Annual Meeting in early August 2010. The web-based nature of Hive Tracks allows new features to be added seamlessly on an ongoing basis in response to user feedback. In addition, version two introduced major changes and was just released at the 2011 North American Beekeeping Conference in Galveston.

The founders of hivetracks.com are committed to keeping the service free and protecting your data. James Wilkes said, "We guarantee that any functionality you currently use will always be free!" Many people question the sincerity of this statement, but there are other successful ways to generate revenue, and Hive Tracks is pursuing those models, much like Google with revenue from advertising. In addition, hivetracks.com will not abuse, sell, or disclose member location or contact information. Data entered by members of Hive Tracks may be used for internal research purposes to discover trends, best practices, and other meaningful information. Results of the research may be published to help the beekeeping community or be combined with other honeybee research projects. In any case, users will be given an option to allow their information to be used for these purposes.

Hivetracks.com was founded to satisfy the record keeping needs of the beekeeping community, from hobby to sideline to commercial to research. More than just a web site, Hive Tracks is a powerful application making beekeeping records accessible and secure and is unmatched in ease of use and value.

Royal Hawaiian Honey Brand Wins Sustainability Leadership Award

Oakland, CA-Tropical Traders Specialty Foods, LLC- the company behind the Royal Hawaiian Honey brand- is a 2011 recipient of a CoolCalifornia Small Business Award, administered by the California Air Resources Board. The program recognizes small California businesses (under 100 employees) that have demonstrated exceptional leadership and taken action to reduce their energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions and made notable, voluntary achievements towards reducing their climate impact.

In 2007, in partnership with Carbonfund.org, Tropical Traders performed a product life-cycle CO2 analysis on its Royal Hawaiian Honey line to determine its carbon footprint. This calculates how much energy is consumed in the production, shipping and distribution of all of the components that go into each container of Royal Hawaiian Honey; including glass jars and plastic tubs, the production and printing of its label, the amount of energy used in bottling the honey, and shipping from the Big Island to markets on the U.S. mainland. Once this figure was determined, the energy used is off-set by investing in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.

By taking responsibility for its carbon footprint and neutralizing its emissions, the Royal Hawaiian Honey label is working within its industry to make a difference.

About Royal Hawaiian Honeys
The Royal Hawaiian Honey brand is comprised of three single-origin varietals, all harvested on the Big Island of Hawaii: Organic Christmas Berry Honey, Organic Lehua Honey, and Macadamia Nut Blossom Honey. The honeys are available is 12oz. glass jars and 44oz. PP containers. Royal Hawaiian Honeys are:  

• 100% raw  
• Certified organic (two SKUs)  
• Certified Carbonfree^TM  
• From a family-owned and operated apiary, 100% Hawaii-made
• Single-origin varietals- honeys are from particular blooms and distinctive in color, flavor and aroma.

About Royal Hawaiian Honeys
Tropical Traders Specialty Foods, LLC is a second-generation, family-owned business. In 2005 they launched the Royal Hawaiian Honey brand, produced by beekeeper Michael Krones. His daughter, Rebeca Krones, and her husband, Luis Zevallos, distribute and market the honeys out of Captain Cook, HI and Oakland, California. The honeys are available nation-wide at www.shop.royalhawaiianhoney.com.

Newsnotes May 2011

Federal Seizure of 10,560 Gallons of Counterfeit Honey
from Warehouse in NE Salem, Oregon

United States Attourney's Office
District of Oregon News Release

192 Fifty-Five Gallon Drums of Counterfeit Honey Seized in NE Salem Allegedly Falsely and Fraudulently Identified as "Thai Honey"

PORTLAND, Ore. - On March 11, 2011 the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, Dwight C. Holton, announced the seizure of approximately 192 fifty-five gallon drums (10,560 gallons) of counterfeit honey from a warehouse in N.E. Salem, Oregon. This seizure is part of an ongoing joint investigation conducted by the United States Attorney's Office in Oregon, the United States Attorney's Office in Chicago, Illinois, and United States Homeland Security Investigations.
A company called Eastern Commodity Company allegedly imported the counterfeit honey, namely compound malt sweetener, from Hong Kong in October 2009, then shipped the merchandise to a warehouse in Wisconsin. According to the affidavit, (attached) the warehouse received a series of emails directing it to remove Chinese inspection stickers from the drums, apparently to conceal their Chinese origin. The affidavit alleges that the drums were eventually shipped to two different honey packers in the Midwest, along with paperwork falsely describing the compound malt sweetener as honey from Thailand. The honey packers rejected the drums, which were then eventually shipped to a warehouse in Salem, Oregon.

Newsnotes - April 2011

Chinese Honey Importer Arrested for Allegedly Evading U.S. Import Duties

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement News Release

CHICAGO - A Chinese business agent for several honey import companies was arrested in Los Angeles Feb. 15, 2011 on federal charges filed in Chicago for allegedly conspiring to illegally import Chinese-origin honey that was falsely identified to avoid U.S. anti-dumping duties. The charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Shu Bei Yuan, 44, was arrested in Los Angeles Feb. 15 for allegedly conspiring between 2004 and 2006 to illegally import Chinese-origin honey that was falsely identified as originating in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand to avoid U.S. antidumping duties. Yuan appeared late Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Yuan, aka "Kathy Yuan," of the Republic of China, was an employee of Blue Action Enterprise Inc., a California-based honey import company. She was also employed at other related companies - including 7 Tiger Enterprises Inc. and Honey World Enterprise Inc., which are now defunct - which she allegedly used to fraudulently import Chinese-origin honey into the United States.

According to the indictment, Yuan worked with Hung Ta Fan, aka Michael Fan, who owned and operated Blue Action, 7 Tiger, and Honey World, to fraudulently import Chinese honey into the United States. Fan was arrested on April 1, 2010. He pleaded guilty in federal district court in Chicago in August 2010 to conspiring to illegally import Chinese honey to avoid more than $5 million in U.S. anti-dumping duties. Fan was sentenced to 30 months in prison in November 2010.

Between March 2005 and June 2006, the indictment alleges that Yuan and others allegedly caused Blue Action and 7 Tiger to fraudulently import about six shipments of Chinese honey falsely declared as originating in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The six honey shipments had a total declared value of about $290,464, and avoided anti-dumping duties applicable to Chinese honey totaling about $533,872. In total, the indictment charges Yuan with five criminal counts.

"Ms. Yuan allegedly mislabeled Chinese honey shipments to avoid paying import tariffs, in essence defrauding the U.S. government of hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Gary Hartwig. "The stability of our domestic honey industry is potentially threatened when importers illegally dump low-cost Chinese honey into the U.S. marketplace. ICE HSI will continue to aggressively investigate importing schemes that circumvent government regulations and put law-abiding businesses at a disadvantage."

According to the indictment, the charges against Yuan relate to an ongoing investigation of the honey importing practices of Alfred L. Wolff Inc. (ALW), and other corporate affiliates of Wolff & Olsen, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, including ALW Germany, ALW Honey, ALW Beijing, and ALW Hong Kong. In September 2010, a federal grand jury sitting in Chicago indicted 10 ALW executives and five ALW companies in an $80 million honey fraud importation ring. In total, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago has charged 20 individuals and companies following the honey-related investigations.

In December 2001, the U.S. Commerce Department determined that Chinese honey was being sold in the United States at artificially low prices and imposed anti-dumping duties. Between June 2004 and October 2005 anti-dumping duties on Chinese-origin honey was about 183 percent. In June 2006, the rate changed to about 212 percent. However, honey originating in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand was not subject to any anti-dumping duties.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew S. Boutros and William R. Hogan Jr., Northern District of Illinois, are prosecuting this case.

If convicted, the most serious charge in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, determines a reasonable sentence to be imposed under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Australian Group Seeks Funding to Continue Asian Honey Bee Eradication Program

FOOD SECURITY NEEDS BEE SECURITY

Why do we need the campaign?
The Department of Agricultural Forestry and Fisheries announced at the end of January 2011 that it is giving up on the eradication program for the Asian honey bee. The Asian honey bee presents a range of threats to European honey bees which will result in fewer plants being pollinated, which means potentially less food and fewer food varieties. In addition, the findings of the 2008 Parliamentary Inquiry into the honey industry stated that $50million should be spent annually to address the urgent issues of the industry - this has not materialized. This report is known as the "More than Honey Report".

What's to be achieved?
We are seeking commitments from the Australian government to:
1. Immediately allocate $10million over two years to eradicate the Asian honey bee in Australia.
2. Implement the recommendations of the 2008 More than Honey report by allocating an additional $50m annually to maintain healthy bee populations to secure pollination services.
3. Provide funding for the establishment and operation of the Co-operative Research Centre for Bee Research and Food Security.

www.securefoodsavebees.com

Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS) Receive Federal Registration in United States

The US beekeeping industry will welcome a versatile new product to the varroa mite control tool box. Mite Away Quick Strips^TM (MAQS^TM) was officially federally registered by EPA in the United States as of February 4, 2011, obtaining the Section 3 registration.

The product will be gradually available over the next few months as production ramps up and pesticide registrations are obtained in each state.

MAQS^TM is a formic acid gel strip product. Two strips are placed on the top bars in the brood area of the hive. The treatment period is seven days and can be used during the honey flow at temperatures up to 93 degrees F. No extra equipment is required. MAQS^TM achieves up to 95% mite kill and penetrates the capping to destroy the male mite and immature female mites, as well as the phoretic female mites on the adult bees.
For more information, visit the website at www.miteaway.com

New Mite Zapper Offers Chemical-Free Mite Control

Mite Zapper, LLC is pleased to announce its product, the MiteZapper® is ready for sale April 2011. The MiteZapper is an extremely effective CHEMICAL FREE treatment for the varroa mites. In laboratory and field testing, over five years, the MiteZapper® killed 85-95% of Varroa Mites.

The MiteZapper® offers tremendous advantages over chemicals:
 Treatment is Quick and Cost Effective. Simply connect and let the MiteZapper® do the work, 4-6 minutes per colony; treatment is done every 23-25 days during the drone rearing season (approximately 4 times per year).
 Does not contaminate bee products with harmful chemical residues.
 Can be used under any temperature conditions.
 Ideal for Organic bee farms.
 As chemicals become less useful due to mite resistance, the MiteZapper® will remain effective year after year - through its patented heat technology.
 Can be used when the honey supers are in place.
 No special equipment is needed; NO gloves, NO safety glasses, NO MESS!
 The MiteZapper® does not interfere with beekeeping practices as the beekeeper does not have to disturb the colony.
 The MiteZapper® can be left in the colony year round.

The MiteZapper® is a device that combines mite biology with simple physics in order to treat one of the most serious threats to honey bees and agriculture; Varroa mite infestation. Unlike competing chemical treatments available today, the MiteZapper® can be used any time during the drone rearing season. Resembling a heating element, the MiteZapper® is a frame that is built as a drone foundation (industry wide research has proven that varroa mites prefer drone cells) and is installed into the super as easily as a regular frame. The beekeeper connects the frame wire harness to the control box, which is then connected to a 12 volt battery for 4-6 minutes. The electricity produces enough heat to kill both the pupae and the mites. The bees then remove the dead mites within 24-36 hours. The MiteZapper® is then ready for the queen to lay eggs again. The zapping process should be done every 23-25 days during the drone rearing season.

Beekeepers are faced with many challenges with regards to controlling varroa mites. Today beekeepers do have a choice for the treatment of varroa mites - WITHOUT CHEMICALS. The MiteZapper® is extremely effective and cost competitive. The MiteZapper® is already patented and patents are pending.

Visit us at www.mitezapper.com

Pheromone Increases Foraging Honey Bees, Leads to Healthier Hives

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The application of a naturally occurring pheromone to honey bee test colonies increases colony growth resulting in stronger hives overall, according to a new study conducted by scientists at Oregon State University and Texas A&M University.
The study, which appeared this week in the journal, PLoS ONE, comes amid national concern over the existence of honey bee Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) - a combination of events that result in the death of a bee colony. The causes behind CCD remain unknown, but researchers are focusing on four possible contributing factors: disease, pests, environmental conditions and nutrition.

According to Ramesh Sagili, coauthor on the study, "Division of labor associated with brood rearing in the honey bee: how does it translate to colony fitness?" resiliency to CCD may be increased through better hive management and the use of optimal dose of brood pheromone -- a chemical released by honey bee larvae that communicates the presence of larvae in the colony to adult bees. The optimal dose of brood pheromone that can stimulate colony growth may vary depending on the colony size, time of application and several other factors.

The number of larvae present in the hive affects the ratio of adult foraging bees to non-foragers in favor of foragers, said Sagili. In the study, when low levels of brood pheromone were introduced to experimental hives foragers collected more pollen, said Sagili.

Nectar is a carbohydrate source for both adults and larvae, while pollen is the primary source of protein. Nurse bees utilize pollen to produce brood food that is provisioned to the growing larvae in the colony. More pollen is equitable to better overall nutrition, one of the areas of concern in the appearance of CCD.

"The low brood pheromone treatment triggered higher pollen collection in the study," said Sagili, who holds an OSU Extension Service appointment and studies honey bee health, nutrition, pheromone biology and pollination in OSU's Department of Horticulture. "Colonies exposed to low levels of synthetic brood pheromone exhibited higher foraging populations, a decrease in the age of first foraging and greater foraging effort. The result is increased colony growth - an indicator of colony fitness."

The researchers also treated colonies with high levels of brood pheromone. They found the higher treatments were ineffective in increasing the number of foraging bees present in the colony, and in changing the amount of pollen an individual bee brought back to the hive.
"It's logical to assume that a higher dose of pheromone would result in higher pollen collection within the colonies as it would signify more larvae to rear," said Sagili. "Our results did not support that assumption."

An upper threshold for the pheromone may exist and when that threshold is reached a negative feedback might kick in, said Sagili. Colonies may try to balance the ratio of adults to larvae, and that in turn may lead to higher number of adults remaining in the nest for brood care and less bees foraging for resources.

Brood pheromone is not currently used in commercial beekeeping, however its application in research may result in the uncovering of mechanisms related to the division of labor, foraging strategies and colony fitness.

Newsnotes - March 2011

APHIS Aussie Bee Ban Officially Announced

FEDERAL IMPORT ORDER

Prohibit Importation of Adult Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) from Australia

December 21, 2010
The purpose of this Federal Order is to prevent the entry or introduction of harmful honey bee diseases and/or parasites from Australia into the United States including the territories. The Administrator of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has determined that it is necessary to prohibit the entry of adult honey bees Apis mellifera from Australia due to concerns with exotic honey bee pathogens or parasites associated with exotic bee species, particularly Apis cerana, an invasive species that has not been reported in the United States.
This Federal Order is issued pursuant to the authority provided by the Honey Bee Act (7 USC Chapter 11) which authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the importation or entry of honey bees into or through the United States in order to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases and parasites harmful to honey bees or the introduction and spread of undesirable species or subspecies of honey bees within the United States. This Federal Order is likewise issued pursuant to the regulations found at 7 CFR Part 322.
This Federal Order, effective December 21, 2010, removes Australia from the list of approved regions for the importation of adult honey bees. This action is necessary because the Administrator has determined that the introduction and establishment of exotic bee diseases and/or parasites that may be associated with Australian bee species including Apis cerana pose a serious threat to the United States agriculture including almonds, apples, blueberries, and other crops grown in the United States. This action is necessary and warranted to prevent the introduction and establishment of exotic bee diseases and parasites associated with exotic bee species including Apis cerana.

Following the May 2007 discovery of colonies of the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, near Cairns, Queensland in Australia, concerns were raised that exotic honey bee pathogens or parasites may have been introduced into Australia with the arrival of this foreign bee. An evaluation of pest risks associated with imported honey bees from Australia raised questions regarding viruses that are either not present in the United States or are rare and their introduction in commercial consignments of bees from Australia. Viruses once thought to be inconsequential are now being reevaluated in light of transmission by Varroa mite, interactions with Nosema ceranae, and further complications from Colony Collapse Disorder. We are concerned that these viruses and other diseases may be introduced into the United States in consignments of bees from Australia.

Approximately one half of the honey bees in the United States are present in California for almond pollination and are moved around the nation at the conclusion of almond pollination. If a pest or disease that is not widespread is brought in with these imported bees, it could rapidly spread throughout the United States.

True Source HoneyTM Launches Certified Honey Traceability Program To Protect Honey Consumers and Customers

(Galveston, Texas January 11, 2011)  The True Source Honey^TM Initiative enthusiastically announces the launch of a Certified Honey Traceability Program beginning in January 2011. The program officially known as True Source Certified^TM was unveiled at the 2011 North American Beekeeping Conference in Galveston this past week. Details were revealed regarding the program, which is designed to certify the origin of honey being distributed and consumed within North America, resulting in better food safety and product purity assurances for quality-minded customers and consumers. Further details of the program have been posted at www.TrueSourceHoney.com.

This new voluntary program is open to all interested honey companies (packers, beekeepers, importers and exporters) who desire True Source Certification. It was developed by a multi-disciplined group of industry participants who want to maximize industry participation in solving the problem of illegally sourced honey. Intertek, an internationally recognized third party audit firm, will begin conducting audits for any interested candidates starting this month. The program will help create transparency within the industry, going beyond current certification expectations and federal regulations while adding an additional layer of traceability beginning at the hive. For those applying for certification, Intertek will conduct unannounced inspections, review documents and collect samples for country-of-origin verification.

There are a number of honey companies in North America that have resolved to purchase only legal, properly sourced honey from legitimate sources.  These companies now have an opportunity to certify their purchasing practices through an independent third party auditor, enhancing customer and consumer confidence while clearly demonstrating the value which they have been providing.

Most imported and domestic honey is from high-quality, legal sources. However, some importers and honey packers have been illegally importing honey by misrepresenting the true country-of-origin, in order to circumvent dumping duties of $1.20 per pound that have been assessed against certain countries. This results in honey being sold to companies and consumers that is of questionable origin. In addition to creating food safety issues for consumers, this practice threatens the honey industry by undercutting fair market prices and damaging honey's reputation for quality and safety.

"Cheap illegal imports hurt all legitimate U.S. packers and beekeepers," said David Mendes, president of the American Beekeeping Federation. "I applaud the efforts of the True Source Honey Initiative to create a "bottom up" solution to illegal transshipment. I would encourage U.S. beekeepers to support this effort."

The new certification system is consistent with the latest food safety reforms, including the new FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010.  The new law is designed to change the mission of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so that the agency is focused on preventing food-borne illnesses and implementing new import requirements that provide for tighter controls. Since these new food safety-related traceability requirements are now statutory law, the True Source Certified system has been designed to accommodate these new mandates.

The True Source Honey Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. For more information, visit www.TrueSourceHoney.com and follow us on Twitter and at Facebook.

Pollinators and Pesticides 2011

Fundamental Flaws of Pesticide Policy in the United States-Opinion paper of the National Honey bee Advisory Board-January 2011, Galveston, Texas

It is the strongly held opinion of the NHBAB that pollinator injury from pesticide use in the United States is a serious problem in need of much greater attention by all concerned partes. Two years worth of NHBAB meetings with environmental groups, representatives of the chemical industry, EPA and USDA have helped shed light on some specific areas of concern. We share these concerns with you in this brief paper.

Pollinator protection is divided into two main areas of focus: Risk Assessment and Risk Management. Broadly speaking, Risk Assessment consists of testing done before registration to identify toxic effects. Risk Management is the process of monitoring, investigating and preventing injury from occurring related to product use. EPA is charged under FIFRA to "protect the environment, including pollinators, from potential effects of pesticides."
Risk Assessment in the United States relies heavily on industry funded and directed studies. Companies developing new active ingredients conduct toxicity testing and submit the results to EPA at the time of application for registration. EPA evaluates these tests, and makes a determination to either grant or deny conditional or full registration. Chemical company toxicity studies are then considered "proprietary" information associated with registration and not required to be made publicly available.

Fundamental shortcomings of the Risk Assessment process include:
Conflict of interests (toxicity studies paid for by companies with vested financial interest in getting the product registered).
Overreliance on acute LD 50 measure of toxicity has resulted in overlooking potential sub lethal and chronic exposure issues.
No appropriate risk assessment testing exists to evaluate the "systemic" mode of action, and determine "safe" exposure levels. Yet products with this mode of action have been approved for use for 18 years.
EPA only requires manufacturers to test "active" ingredients. Product formulations contain many other ingredients. "Inerts" are not tested, and tank mixing of multiple products is currently permitted without additional testing of these mixtures.
Conditional Registrations are granted to new pesticides over 67% of the time. Such "Conditional" Registrations permit known data gaps allowing additional safety testing to be conducted after the product is labeled and approved. In many cases this allows for the marketing and use of products that are efficacious, but may not be safe for bees or the environment in general.

Risk management in the United States relies on "state primacy partners" to oversee enforcement of laws related to FIFRA on a state-by-state basis. US EPA promulgates the rules and approves legal directives for use, and issues environmental cautions which are written by pesticide manufacturers for pesticide products. These label directives define legal and illegal uses and procedures for the product. The label is the law. States perform risk management, usually through their department of agriculture, who conduct investigations of pesticide injury complaints. The states decide if incidents are to be reported to the EIIS National Incident Data Base.

Fundamental short comings of the risk management process include:
Many states claim that the label directives are vague and unenforceable, and therefore take no enforcement action.
No mechanism short of court action exists for beekeepers to be reimbursed for losses related to pesticide injury. Pursuing legal actions can be lengthy and costly.
Currently, many exceptions is labels are being allowed. For example, the current Sevin EXR Plus label reads, "Do not apply to blooming crops or weeds, except corn or soybeans." We feel this trend of exemptions must be changed.
Many beekeepers have reported uncooperative-even "hostile"-attitudes from state pesticide officers when they attempt to report honey bee poisoning from pesticides. Currently, most pesticide poisonings of honey bees go unreported and add to the unrecognized burden on beekeepers from pesticide misuse.
 Lab sampling to detect pesticide residues is often discouraged by state pesticide officers, citing the limited labs offering testing services and the high costs associated with testing.
 Pesticide poisoning incidents investigated by individual states are not required to be reported to the National Incident Data Base. Obviously, this critical piece of the feedback loop as information does not reach EPA regulators.

The National Honey Bee Advisory Board believes these fundamental shortcomings of our national pesticide policy need immediate attention. We need beekeepers to be an active part of the solution by:
 Reporting all suspected pesticide poisonings. This is very important. Insist on chemical lab analysis. Insist that the report is entered into the National EIIS data base. If you encounter problems with the system in your state please contact us with the details.
 Supporting additional funding of independent toxicity research.
 Contacting your Representatives in Washington and explain that pollinators require greater protections from pesticides injury.

Harmful levels of pesticides must be kept "off of" and "out of" bloom. Pollinators must be allowed safe pastures. If "economic poisons" are permitted into or onto pollen and nectar, pollinator poisoning should be expected.

2011 wisconsin honey queen

The Wisconsin Honey Producers Association is proud to announce that Danielle Dale was selected as the 2011 Wisconsin Honey Queen at their convention in November. Danielle is the 18-year-old daughter of Rich and Lorie Dale of Sparta, Wisconsin. She is the granddaughter of Harold and Nancy Dale of Stoddard, Wisconsin and Emily Livangood of Cataract, Wisconsin. A 2010 graduate of Sparta High School in Sparta, Wisconsin, Danielle is currently a freshman at Western Technical College, where she is pursuing an Associate's Degree. Danielle is a hobbyist beekeeper in Monroe County.

Prior to being selected as the Wisconsin Honey Queen Danielle served as the 2010 LaCrosse Area Honey Queen. In this role, she promoted the honey industry at local fairs and in schools.

Danielle will spend the next year promoting the beekeeping industry in Wisconsin. She is available to speak and appear at fairs, festivals, and farmers markets. She will also give presentations in elementary schools about honeybees and the beekeeping industry. In January 2012, Danielle will represent Wisconsin at the American Honey Queen competition at the American Beekeeping Federation Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
To schedule an appearance with Wisconsin Honey Queen Danielle Dale, contact Becky Behringer at 920-220-1026 or wihoneyqueen
program@gmail.com. All appearances are free of charge.

Apimondia 2011

ARGENTINA hosts APIMONDIA 2011: a meeting point for beekeepers
from all over the world.

From September 21st to 25th 2011 the biggest event in the apicultural world will take place in La Rural, Predio Ferial de Buenos Aires, Argentina: the 42nd International Apicultural Congress APIMONDIA 2011.

APIMONDIA is an event that takes place every two years in different countries around the world. This event gathers all the members of the apicultural sector: producers, apicultural companies, scientists, suppliers, exporters and the general public. This Congress is an outstanding opportunity to exchange products, knowledge and scientific information of each apicultural region worldwide.

In Argentina, APIMONDIA 2011 will present an important ApiExpo where national and international companies from the apicultural sector will present their products, supplies and services so the beekeepers get to know the best and latest for their practice. The space of 2,700 square meters, where the exposition will take place, is one of the biggest Congress sites ever of all its 41 previous conventions, and is now being taken by different companies with numerous stands. This will be the best opportunity to experience all the apicultural diversity in only one country. Within this Congress we will be able to experience the convergence of an advanced system of scientific investigation, the development of groundbreaking techniques and the beekeepers' practices. A large and innovative Scientific Program will be exhibit in three rooms arranged for this occasion.

Bee Biology: Nutrition, Biodiversity, Behavior, Physiology
Bee Health: Latest news in diagnostics and control of the bee diseases. Monitoring and veterinary services
Pollination and Bee Flora: Pollination of crops. Conservation of the environment, Stingless bees
Beekeeping Technology and Quality: Residues, Queen rearing, Quality of living material, Quality of products, Alternative Productions
Apitherapy: Production protocols. Products use protocols.
Beekeeping for Rural Development: Quality Management, Cooperatives and producer organizations, Organic Honey
Beekeeping Economy: Markets trends. Products diversification

In addition, APIMONDIA 2011 Buenos Aires, will have a fourth room, a debate and communication room, with round tables to discuss many problems affecting worldwide apiculture, to explain each country's apiculture characteristics and current situation, and to present relevant Scientific Research.

For the first time in an APIMONDIA Congress you will be able to attend any symposium organized by more than one Scientific Commission. This certainly becomes an innovative proposal with a comprehensive approach.

On September 26th and 27th, as closure of this great experience, the organizational team of APIMONDIA 2011 have organized several itineraries that mix apiculture and tourism, so everyone can appreciate the different areas of our country and our apicultural practices. There will be different options for all the participants: One day Technical tours. Two days Technical and Touristic tours and Touristic tours with apicultural visits in each region.
This great meeting between beekeepers, technicians, scientists and traders is the key to achieve an apiculture that is sustainable and that generates development.

The Beekeeper's Bible

By Richard A. Jones and
Sharon Sweeney-Lynch

Part almanac, part guide-book, part cookbook, The Beekeeper's Bible (April 2011) is the ultimate beekeeping resource for seasoned professionals and home gardeners alike.
With backyard enthusiasts and urban gardeners taking on everything from canning to growing heirloom tomatoes, beekeeping is experiencing a renaissance. In the spirit of the new DIY movement, The Beekeeper's Bible is the perfect how-to book for bee-enthusiasts everywhere.

With The Beekeeper's Bible readers can find a recipe for a honeyed ham or learn how to make their own moisturizing hand cream. The book also includes a fascinating historical account of beekeeping, and encourages a new generation of gardeners to secure a future for the honey bee - an insect whose numbers have dropped to record lows in recent years.
The Beekeeper's Bible is fully illustrated and includes beautiful photographs that will make it a treasured household object as well as the perfect gift for nature and craft enthusiasts.
To order, contact www.abramsbooks.com. Phone (212) 229-7188.

Bees Know More Than Beekeepers: Getting the Best from Your Bees

Published by Outskirts Press

Outskirts Press announces the latest highly anticipated crafts and hobbies
reference book from Lexington, SC,
authors David MacFawn and Chris Slade.

January 14, 2011. Denver, CO, and Lexington, SC - Outskirts Press, Inc. has published Getting The Best From Your Bees by David MacFawn and Chris Slade.  The authors' most recent book to date is a 6 x 9 paperback in the crafts and hobbies reference category and is available worldwide on book retailer websites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The webpage at www.outskirtspress.com/gettingthebestfromyourbees was launched simultaneously with the book's publication.

Beekeeping programs in the United States have historically focused on theoretical test questions and answers, but have not included extensive practical hive manipulation techniques. This book explores practical in-hive techniques that should be learned by at least an advanced beginner level, beekeeping year 2, and should be fully utilized by the Master Beekeeping level. Other techniques exist, but the authors listed what they thought were the most important techniques.

This advanced beginner book is international in scope. The authors are from the South Eastern United States and the United Kingdom. They hope they bring both diversity and beekeeping commonality to this text.

The concept for this book was born at the Virginia Tech, Winchester, Virginia Research Center, USA, while looking for ways to improve the management of the research colonies. One of the overall themes is that one needs to go with the natural tendency of the bees to be successful. One has to learn what "normal" is for a beehive.

"All beekeeping is local," the authors point out. What might work in Alaska may not apply in Australia. Beekeepers are therefore advised to join their local Beekeepers' Association and apply the techniques described in this book after discussion with more experienced members. The association will also be able to advise on the current state of the local law.
One of the authors learned years ago from Dr. John Ambrose, apiarist at North Carolina State University, that to be successful with bees, "You need to understand enough about their nature that you do things supportive of their nature and not against their nature. The bees know better what they are doing than the beekeeper. Watch and listen to the bees."
153 pages, Getting The Best From Your Bees is being aggressively promoted to appropriate markets with a focus on the crafts and hobbies reference category. With U.S. wholesale distribution through Ingram and Baker & Taylor, and pervasive online availability through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and elsewhere, Getting The Best From Your Bees meets consumer demand through both retail and library markets with a suggested retail price of $18.95.
Additionally, Getting The Best From Your Bees can be ordered by retailers or wholesalers for the maximum trade discount price set by the author in quantities of ten or more from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at www.outskirtspress.com/bookstore.

ISBN: 9781432766467
Format: 6 x 9 paperback cream
SRP: $18.95

For more information or to contact the author, visit www.outskirtspress.com/gettingthebestfromyourbees.

Obituary - Jacob A. "Jake" Hall

Jacob Hall was born June 18, 1933 by midwife, in the hills of Carter County, Kentucky, the son of Benjamin and Nora (Davis) Hall. The midwife, who was paid for her help with the delivery with two chickens, didn't get to the courthouse of the rural southern Carter county until August 1st 1933 and thus Jake's birth certificate officially listed his birthday as such. He spent his younger years working for his father's saw mill deep up a Kentucky "Holler" before moving on to his lifelong love and family tradition of beekeeping.

His work as a beekeeper defined him and this labor of love drove him to operate his bee busines across the breadbasket of this country from Ohio to California in six differnt states. He was a professional beekeeper, who never missed a weather report, for 47 years before retiring in 2008 at the age of 75.

Along the way he enjoyed bowling, playing cards, and throwing horseshoes with friends and family. Snowmobiling anywhere in the woods of Wisconsin was a favorite winter pastime when the beekeeping work was done. He belonged to the Moose lodge where he often volunteered and liked to dance and play cards with friends and family. He enjoyed spending spare time as a trained volunteer firefighter for the Wasta Fire Dept. where he was the assistant chief for several years.

Jake is survived by his wife Wanda of Wasta; five children Donald Hall of Ohio, Curtis Hall and his wife Patty of Florida, Leah Foley of Wisconsin, Mike Hall and his wife Nicole of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Margie Pascual and her husband Pete of California; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren; two sisters Susie Weisenberg of Wisconsin, and Diane Myers of California; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Jake is preceded in death by his parents; a daughter Judy; a son Mike; and siblings Aaron, Harold, Georgia, Thelma, Olive, Alberta, Bill and Thomas.

Newsnotes - February 2011

Sleepless Honey Bees Miscommunicate, Too, Research at the University of Texas at Austin Shows
AUSTIN, Texas-In the busy world of a honey bee hive, worker bees need their rest in order to best communicate the location of food to their hive mates, research from The University of Texas at Austin shows.

"When deprived of sleep, humans typically experience a diminished ability to perform a variety of tasks, including communicating as clearly or as precisely," said Dr. Barrett Klein, a former ecology, evolution and behavior graduate student at the university. "We found that sleep-deprived honey bees also experienced communication problems. They advertised the direction to a food site less precisely to their fellow bees."

For humans, imprecise communication can reduce efficiency, cost money, and in some cases, cost lives. For honey bees, Klein says it could affect their success in locating food, which could lead to a less competitive colony.

"While the importance of sleep has been studied in Drosophila flies for several years," said Dr. Ulrich Mueller, professor of biology and study coauthor, "Barrett's study is the first to address the function of sleep in a social insect in the context of its society, and the first to show that sleep deprivation impairs precision of communication in an insect."

The research was published in PNAS Early Edition this week.

There are various ways to poke and prod humans to force them to stay awake prior to measuring the effects of sleep deprivation. But how to make bees in a hive lose sleep?
Klein invented a magnetic machine aptly named the "insominator," a contraption he passed over quietly resting bees during the night to deprive them of sleep. The bees, outfitted with small metallic backpacks, were jostled into activity by magnets in the insominator, and this was repeated over the course of normal sleep time.

Barrett then recorded the behaviors of the sleepless bees and discovered they weren't able to communicate as well the direction of nectar-filled flower patches to their sisters through their usual waggle dance.

"The dance was not necessarily wrong, but it was less precise than dances performed by bees that were not sleep-deprived," says Klein. "We expect that a less precise dance would lead to fewer followers making it to the food source, and we hope to test this in the future."
Klein is a researcher at Universität Würzburg in Germany. His coauthors include Arno Klein from Columbia University, Margaret Wray and Thomas Seeley from Cornell University and Ulrich Mueller at The University of Texas at Austin.

New Product to Detect Honey Adulteration
Polarmetrics' vIRtuous Analyzer Utilized for Rapid Determination of Adulteration
Percentages in Honey and Maple Syrup

SUMMARY: The practice of "adulterating" honey or maple syrup for economic reasons has long been known and is a severe problem in the industry. Unscrupulous dealers will add a low cost syrup (cane, corn, beet, rice, tapioca or others) and resell this mixture as pure honey or maple syrup. This has a devastating economic effect on those that are distributing pure products as they will be at a price disadvantage compared to those that are distributing low cost mixtures and mislabeling the product as pure. Purchasers of these products can inadvertently believe they have received a good price on what they thought to be pure a product. Food manufacturers who purchase these ingredients can mistakenly label their product(s) as containing pure honey or maple syrup when in fact it may contain various other ingredients the consumer is not aware of nor desires to ingest.

An analytical technique that has proven to detect these adulterants is infrared spectroscopy. Unfortunately, the calibration and mathematical techniques are quite complex to employ and have typically been beyond the scope of people in the industry to readily apply. Polarmetrics Corporation has developed a complete analyzer which has proven to detect adulterants accurately and timely. Advantages of this technique are:

• Requires less then 5 minutes to produce a result from any sample
• Requires no sample preparation
• Does not require expensive consumables (chemicals, gases, columns, and energy to operate the analyzer)
• The unit is pre-calibrated so users are not tasked with this complex process
  
•  Software interface can be learned in a matter of minutes

Experimental
1. Numerous honey samples were adulterated with a variety of known adulterants at different percent levels to build a calibration database. This process was repeated for maple syrup with the exception that cane and corn syrups were modeled as the adulterants.
2. A drop of sample was placed on the temperature controlled sampling interface of the Polarmetrics vIRtuous infrared analyzer. All samples were evaluated in duplicate
3. Sophisticated mathematical treatments were applied to the data sets for calibration and verification.

Conclusion
The Polarmetrics vIRtuous adulteration analyzer accurately, rapidly and easily measures the purity of honey along with the concentration of the adulterant syrup.

The user is not required to calibrate the unit nor burdened with the task of learning sophisticated algorithms or spectroscopy techniques. The unit is complete and can be used by anyone with only minutes of training. Distributors, blenders, food manufactures, testing labs and governmental bodies can now easily test for adulterations in honey and maple syrup deterring the illegal act of mislabeling and adulteration of these products.

Polarmetrics Corporation, 3510 Parmenter St., Middleton, WI 53562, Tel.: 608.831.2360 www.polarmetricscorp.com

FReD Can Help Explain How a Bee Sees!
Bees can see colors, but they perceive the world differently to us, including variations in hue that we cannot ourselves distinguish.

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and Imperial College London have developed FReD - the Floral Reflectance Database - which holds data on what colors flowers appear to be, to bees. The development of the catalog, which has involved a collaborative effort between researchers at two Schools at Queen Mary is reported in the journal PLoS ONE.

The work addresses the existing issue that records of flower colors do not take the visual systems of pollinator insects into account. Bees - for example - have evolved completely different color detection mechanisms to humans, and can see colors outside our own capabilities in the ultra-violet range. Professor Lars Chittka from Queen Mary's School of Biological and Chemical Sciences said: "This research highlights that the world we see is not the physical or the 'real' world - different animals have very different senses, depending on the environment the animals operate in."

Professor Chittka and his team have measured the spectral reflectance of a number of flowers in different locations and analyzed what bumblebees perceive, including different shades of ultra-violet. The image below shows a photograph of a creeping Zinnia (Sanvitalia procumbens) using a UV filter, giving just one example of the colors that are 'hidden' to us. Queen Mary PhD student Sarah Arnold, who is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), was also involved with the project, she said: "We have created a database in which the colors of flowers are indexed from this vitally important pollinator's point of view. For the first time, this database will allow us to analyze global trends in flower color, for example how flower colors might change in areas with high UV radiation. There are many possible applications for scientists from different fields."
Co-author Professor Vincent Savolainen, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London, who holds a joint post at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, adds: "We hope this work can help biologists understand how plants have evolved in different habitats - from biodiversity hotspots in South Africa to the cold habitats of northern Europe. FReD's global records may show how flower color could have changed over time, and how this relates to the different insects that pollinate them, and other factors in their local environment."
Samia Faruq from the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science is assisting Professor Chittka on an EPSRC funded PhD studentship, and is an expert in the computer modelling side of the project: "FReD provides over 2,000 records with the colors that the bee sees presented in a very simple way. A successful flower has to be 'noticed' by the bee, and FReD provides a better understanding of the strategy flowers attain.

"Color patterns emerging from the location or altitude in which flowers are found may in turn increase our understanding of the plant-pollinator relationship. We will also be able to determine if flower colors in a given location are converging or diverging in order to give themselves the best chance of reproducing."

Professor Peter McOwan, a computer scientist who helped in developing the technical side of the project, commented: "This combination of biology and computer science, allowing scientists to collaboratively access important data in new ways, shows the power of combining these two scientific disciplines. This interdisciplinary approach can produce significant new applications that will help make a real impact in better understanding the natural world."

The database is freely searchable and open for international contribution, and will inform future ecological studies. "The records can be used to link flowers together by color, although they appear different to us. On a global scale we will be able to identify the colors preferred by pollinators and see how this varies. This is very significant in terms of the global food supply, which relies on these insects and bees in particular" added Professor Chittka.  

Where Have all the Flowers Gone? Pollination Ecologist Working to Find Out
DAVIS--Katharina Ullmann is on a mission. "Where have all the flowers gone?" she asks.
Ullmann, a pollination ecologist seeking a master's degree in entomology at the University of California, Davis, wants to enhance floral resources for honey bees and native bees in agricultural landscapes.

"Pollinators play an important role in crop production and in maintaining wildflower populations," said Ullmann, who studies with major professor and native pollinator specialist Neal Williams. "However, habitat destruction and agricultural intensification has modified the floral resources available in agricultural landscapes. Ensuring that pollen and nectar resources are available throughout the year is important for both honey bees and wild native bees."

As part of her research, she and her colleagues from the Williams' lab are seasonally monitoring floral visitors and floral resources at three experimental sites in Yolo County and developing wildflower mixes that attract pollinators. She wants to know what native flowers are most visited by honey bees, pests and natural enemies; when they bloom, and what resources the flowers are providing.

The results will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals and made accessible to California beekeepers and land managers.

"An estimated 30 percent of our global crop production is at least partially dependent on animal pollinators," said Ullmann. "The European honey bee (also called the Western honey bee) remains the most relied upon crop pollinator. However, managed honey bees have declined by more than 50 percent since the 1950s."

"Supplemental plantings with native pollen and nectar-rich plants in agricultural areas may benefit honey bees by relieving floral resource scarcity and thus reducing bee nutritional stress at critical times of the season," she said. "However, floral resources may also attract pests."

Ullmann said that intensive agriculture "transforms complex, heterogeneous landscapes with nature mixtures of natural habitat and diverse cropping systems into simple, homogenous landscapes consisting of large monocultures and little natural habitat."
Floral resources used by bees do not persist throughout the flight season of most bees, particularly the honey bee, she said. "As a result, there are times in the year where few flowering plant species provide pollen and nectar. During these times, bees experience nutritional stress which beekeepers combat by supplementing colonies with artificial diets."
Ullmann and her colleagues are monitoring 18 native annual and perennial forb species. Forbs, herbaceous flowering plants, include clover, lupine and California poppies.
The pollination ecologist recently received three scholarships to fund her research: the George H. Vansell Scholarship for $4,435, the John S. Harbison Scholarship for $1000; and the Teledyne Entomology Fellowship for $1000.

A 2002 graduate of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Ullmann received her bachelor of science degree in environmental biology, with honors, and a minor in French, with honors. In 2001, she was involved in a six-month study program on the ecology and conservation of Madagascar.

Ullmann coordinated the California Pollinator Conservation Program for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation from January 2007 to October 2008. Her work involved research in restoring native bee habitat with conservation biologist Claire Kremen at UC Berkeley; presenting native bee workshops throughout northern California to growers, agricultural professionals and resource management specialist; and teaching citizen scientists how to identify native bees.

She also did pollinator research at Princeton University under the guidance of pollination ecologists/conservation biologists Rachael Winfree and Neal Williams.

Ullmann is a 2007 graduate of The Bee Course, a bee identification field course affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History and held in the Southwestern Research Station, Portal, Ariz., an area considered the richest bee fauna in North America. One of the instructors is native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis.

Two of the three scholarships Ullmann received memorialize influential agriculturists. Vansell, who died in 1954, taught entomology and apiculture at UC Davis from 1922 to 1931 and later served with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His research led to a better understanding of the role of bees in crop pollination and to improvements in the nation's supply of alfalfa and other legume seeds.

John Stewart Harbison (1826-1912), was considered California's first modern beekeeper. He brought 67 colonies of bees to San Francisco aboard the steamer Sonora on Nov. 30, 1857 and then transferred them to his home in the Sacramento area. Harbison later settled in San Diego and by 1875 was recognized as the world's largest beekeeper and producer of honey, according to former UC Davis apiarist Lee Watkins in "John S. Harbison: California's First Modern Beekeeper," published in the April 1969 edition of Agricultural History.
The Teledyne Scholarship, from the Teledyne corporation, also supports apiculture research for UC Davis students.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616

Honey Bee Expert Norman Gary Sets the Records Straight
DAVIS--Honey bee expert Norman Gary, emeritus professor of apiculture at the University of California, Davis, is the author of a newly published book on beginning beekeeping titled "Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees."

"Keeping bees is far more challenging than caring for common pets," said Gary, who retired in 1994 from UC Davis after a 32-year academic career. "Beginning beekeepers become confused by conflicted information they find in books written by amateurs or inaccurate advice on the internet."

"The book," he said, "will ensure the success of beekeepers who take their hobby seriously."
The 174-page paperback, published by BowTie Press, is intended to be "entertaining, authoritative and easy-to-understand," said Gary, who shares his extensive beekeeping knowledge spanning more than six decades. "It dispels many beekeeping myths and provides new insights based more on science than on tradition."

For example, "most people have an exaggerated sense of dread concerning bee stings due to a wealth of misleading negative information in the media," Gary writes. "With more knowledge and firsthand experience, these fears rapidly vanish."

"An occasional bee sting comes with the territory, comparable to the small risks associated with most pets," Gary writes. "Cats scratch, dogs bite, horses kick, and birds peck-just to name a few."

The book is available online on Amazon, eBay and other websites, and at a number of bee supply companies and bookstores.

The chapters include "To Beekeep or Not to Beekeep," "The World of Honey Bees," "The Bees' Home," "Getting Started," "Honey Bee Reproduction," "Activity Inside the Hive," "Activity Outside the Hive," "Colony Defense and Sting Prevention," "How to Manage Colonies," "Honey and Other Hive Products" and "Fun Things to Do with Bees."

Gary trains bees to perform action scenes in movies, television shows and commercials. His credits over the last 35 years include 18 films, including "Fried Green Tomatoes"; more than 70 television shows, including the Johnny Carson and Jay Leno shows; six commercials, and hundreds of live Thriller Bee Shows in the Western states.

He once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with his patented artificial nectar. He holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt.

Gary dedicated the book "to everyone who supported my career with bees: beekeepers, professors, scientists, students, research assistants, movie directors, Hollywood stars, photographers and family-especially Mom, who never complained about stray bees or tracked honey inside the kitchen-and to my dog, who led me to the bee tree that started it all."

Among those contributing to the book were several "bee people" affiliated with the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. They include Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty; bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey; communications specialist Kathy Keatley Garvey; and graduate student-artist Emily Bzdyk. Garvey provided many of the photos, and Bzdyk drew the illustrations.

Gary, who received a doctorate in apiculture at age 26 from Cornell University in 1959, joined the UC Davis faculty in 1962. He developed and taught the first insect behavior course at UC Davis, and developed and taught a graduate course on the use of television for research and teaching.

A native of Florida, Gary turned a fascination for bugs at age 4 into hobby beekeeping at age 15 when his dog led him to a dead tree containing a wild honey bee nest. He transferred them to a modern hive where they became his "pets."
Gary, who now lives in the Sacramento area, maintains a website at
www.normangary.com/

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 9561

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Appoints New Members to National Honey Board
Firestone, CO., Dec. 13, 2010-U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack has made the following appointments to the National Honey Board. The appointments are to replace those Board members and alternates whose term ends on Dec. 31, 2010. The newly appointed Board members will be seated during the Feb. 24-25, 2011, Board meeting in Denver, Colorado. The appointments were made from a list of nominations provided by the qualified national organizations in accordance with the Honey Packers and Importers Research, Promotion, Consumer Education and Industry Information Order.

First Handler Member
Brent Barkman, Hillsboro, Kansas
First Handler Alternate
Brian Nipper, Phoenix, Arizona

Importer Member
Candace Trussler, Winnipeg, MB Canada
Importer Alternate
Ron Phipps, Bayville, New York

Marketing Cooperative Member
Mark Mammen, Sioux City, Iowa
Marketing Cooperative Alternate
Bob Brandi, Los Banos, California

Producer Member
Zac Browning, Jamestown, North Dakota
Producer Alternate
David W. Ellingson, Ortonville, Minnesota

The National Honey Board is a federal research and promotion board under USDA oversight that conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey.

USDA Releases 2010 Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Progress Report
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) Progress Report highlighting current research on this still mysterious disease affecting the nation's honey bees.

The report, which was mandated by Congress in 2008, summarizes research by federal agencies, state departments of agriculture, universities and private organizations to find the cause of CCD and how to stop or mitigate its impact. The report was produced by USDA's Agricultural Research Service(ARS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

"Honey bees are critical to U.S. agriculture, with about 130 crops depending on pollination to add more than $15 billion in crop value annually. It is vital that we find a way to deal with CCD," said ARS Administrator Edward B. Knipling. "This report is an important measure of what we are learning about this serious problem."

CCD, a syndrome characterized by the sudden disappearance of all adult honey bees in a colony, was first recognized in 2006. Since then, surveys of beekeepers indicate that the industry is suffering losses of more than 30 percent annually. Before the appearance of CCD, losses averaged 15-20 percent annually from a variety of factors such as varroa mites and other pests and pathogens.
During the past three years, numerous causes for CCD have been proposed and investigated. Although the cause or causes of CCD are still unknown, research summarized in the report supports the hypothesis that CCD may be a syndrome caused by many different factors, that work individually or in combination. The sequence and combination may not even be the same in every case, explained Kevin Hackett, ARS national program leader for pollination and co-chair of the USDA CCD Steering Committee.

 The 2010 CCD Progress Report is available online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br
/ccd/ccdprogressreport2010.pdf
More information about CCD can be found at http://www.ars.usda.gov/CCD.
(Courtesy of Kim Kaplan, USDA)

Seattle Businessman Who Imported Tainted Chinese Honey Sentenced

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement News Release

SEATTLE - The former president of a Seattle-area import company was sentenced to one year plus one day in prison and ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution after an investigation by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) revealed he imported contaminated honey from China.

Chung Po Liu, 70, of Bellevue, Wash., pleaded guilty in August guilty to federal charges of entry of goods by means of false statements, and introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce. At the conclusion of his prison sentence, Liu will also be required to serve six months of home detention as part of a one-year term of supervised release.

Liu was a corporate officer and former president of Rainier Cascade, an import company registered with the U.S. government, as well as the president of Evergreen Produce Inc., a business that sells and transports honey imported by Rainier Cascade. Over a three-year period starting in late 2005, Liu admitted to importing 22 shipments of honey from Changge Jixiang Bee Products Company Limited, a honey factory in Henan, China.
The ICE HSI investigation revealed that Liu purchased honey from Changge Jixiang and had it shipped to the Philippines or Thailand. The honey was re-labeled there to make it appear it was a product from these countries.

When the honey arrived in the United States, Liu submitted documents to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) falsely claiming that the imported honey was produced in Thailand or the Philippines, when in fact it originated in China. In April 2008, federal authorities seized several of Liu's honey shipments at three locations, including the Port of Seattle, a Seattle warehouse and a honey processing plant in Sultan, Wash.

Subsequent tests by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined much of the honey was adulterated with the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin. This antibiotic, often found in Chinese honey, is an unsafe additive and is banned from the U.S. food supply.

According to the plea agreement, Liu admits that he avoided paying in excess of $2.9 million in anti-dumping duties over three years. The duty on Chinese honey was 183 percent in 2001 and was raised to 221 percent in 2007.

"In an attempt to avoid paying millions of dollars in anti-dumping import duties, the defendant not only misled the federal government, he knowingly deceived the American public by allowing shipments of tainted Chinese honey, which contained banned substances, to enter our nation's food supply," said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Seattle. "Today's prison sentence is a fitting end to an investigation that required dedicated investigative work in Seattle and the collaboration of several countries half-way around the world. HSI will continue its efforts to deter this type of illegal activity in the future."

Liu is named, but not charged, in a parallel investigation in the Northern District of Illinois. An indictment in that case alleges that the German-based food conglomerate Alfred L. Wolff GmbH was among five other German and Chinese companies whose employees conspired to avoid paying more than $80 million in Chinese honey customs duties.

During the course of these HSI investigations, federal authorities have seized more than 3,200 drums of honey in Seattle, Tacoma, Wash., Minneapolis and the Chicago area.
ICE HSI was assisted in this investigation by the Port of Seattle Police Department, the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, CBP Office of Field Operations, and the ICE attache offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Manila.

Newsnotes - January 2011

Chinese Honey Manufacturer Sentenced to 18 Months for Iillegal Import Scheme

Nov. 9, 2010 - CHICAGO - The former president of a Chinese honey manufacturer was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to smuggle Chinese-origin honey into the U.S. - some of which was tainted with antibiotics - to avoid nearly $4 million in anti-dumping duties. This sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Yong Xiang Yan, 61, was sentenced Nov. 9 in the Northern District of Illinois to 18 months in prison and was ordered to pay $3,953,515 in restitution. After serving his sentence, Yan will be turned over to ICE and placed into deportation proceedings.
Yan pleaded guilty in October 2009 to conspiring to smuggle 15 full container loads of Chinese honey into the United States that was falsely identified as originating in the Philippines, thereby avoiding anti-dumping duties of $635,515. Between 2005 and February 2008 Yan conspired with others - including nine individuals in the U.S., Germany and Asia, and a German trading company and its subsidiaries in the United States, Beijing and Hong Kong - to illegally import Chinese honey, including adulterated honey, into the United States.
Yan acknowledged that he authorized an additional 21 shipments of Chinese honey through the Philippines and Thailand, which entered the United States in the state of Washington. An additional $3.3 million in anti-dumping duties were avoided on these shipments, bringing the total figure avoided to about $3,953,515.
"Mr. Yan defrauded the U.S. government and the American people by illegally importing mislabeled honey into this country," said ICE Director John Morton. "Some of these products were tainted with antibiotics - all in an effort to make illegal profits. ICE will continue to aggressively investigate these criminals who try to circumvent the U.S. customs laws that were designed to protect the American public and U.S. businesses."
Yan was the president of Changge City Jixiang Bee Product Co. Ltd., a honey manufacturing company located in Henan, China. He was arrested May 6, 2009 in Los Angeles on federal charges filed in Chicago. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest.
According to court documents, some of the Chinese honey Yan shipped to the U.S. was adulterated with antibiotics, specifically Norfloxacin and Ciprofloxacin, which are banned from domestic foods.
Neither the charges nor the plea agreement indicate any instances of illness or other public health consequences attributed to consuming the honey. Also, no specific store brands or domestic supply chains of honey that was illegally imported or adulterated were identified in any court documents.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew S. Boutros and William R. Hogan, Northern District of Illinois, prosecuted this case.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) News Release

Taiwanese Honey Importer Sentenced to 30 Months for Conspiring to Evade U.S. Import Duties

Nov. 5, 2010 - CHICAGO - A Taiwanese executive of several honey import companies was sentenced to 30 months in prison Friday for conspiring to avoid more than $5 million in U.S. anti-dumping duties by illegally importing Chinese-origin honey that was falsely identified as coming from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and India. This sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Hung Ta Fan, aka Michael Fan, 40, was sentenced Nov. 5 in the Northern District of Illinois to 30 months in prison and was ordered to pay $5,378,370 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August, pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the government.
Fan, a Taiwanese national, owned and operated multiple California-based honey import companies, including Blue Action Enterprise, 7 Tiger Enterprises, Kashaka USA, and Honey World Enterprise. He used these companies to fraudulently import Chinese honey into the United States. Fan admitted that between 2005 and 2006 he conspired with others to illegally bring into the United States 98 shipments of Chinese honey to avoid paying anti-dumping duties of about $5,378,370 due to the U.S. government.
"Mr. Fan and others deliberately mislabeled 98 shipments of honey in an effort to rob the U.S. government of more than $5 million in tariffs," said ICE Director John Morton. "Our domestic honey industry is economically threatened when importers illegally dump low-cost Chinese honey into the U.S. marketplace. This prison sentence sends a strong message domestically and internationally that ICE's Homeland Security Investigations aggressively investigates criminals who conceal the true origins of their products in the name of greed."
In his plea, Fan further admitted that in 2009 he conspired with others to fraudulently import about $8 million of honey that was diluted and blended with 20 to 30 percent artificial sugar. He admitted to adding artificial sugar to the honey in an effort to obtain a higher price and profit margin than if the shipments contained pure honey. Fan used his company Kashaka USA to bring in the diluted, blended honey.
Fan was arrested April 1 in Los Angeles as he arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest. After serving his sentence, Fan will be turned over to ICE and placed into deportation proceedings.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew S. Boutros and William R. Hogan, Northern District of Illinois, prosecuted this case.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) News Release

True Source HoneyTM Will Launch Certification Program to Help Stem the Tide of Illegal Honey

The True Source Honey^TM Initiative is pleased to announce that it is launching a Certified True Source Honey^TM Traceability Program starting in 2011. The program, which will be formally launched at the 2011 North American Beekeeping Conference in January, is designed to certify the origin, food safety and purity of the honey being distributed and consumed within North America.
The new voluntary standard is open to interested honey companies (packers, producers, importers and exporters) under the True Source Honey program. It was developed by a multi-disciplined group of industry participants, including honey companies (packers, producers, importers and exporters), that want to ramp up industry participation in solving the problem of illegally sourced honey. An internationally recognized third party audit firm will begin conducting audits for honey companies, producers, exporters and importers starting in 2011. For those applying for certification, the firm will conduct unannounced inspections, review documents and collect samples for country of origin verification.
Every honey company is invited to become a member of the True Source Honey program. This will help create transparency within the industry and go beyond the current expectations of certifications and federal regulations with an additional layer of traceability that starts at the hive. Those who want to help eliminate illegally sourced honey and maintain honey's natural reputation of quality and safety are encouraged to participate.
Most imported and domestic honey is from high-quality, legal sources. However, some importers, brokers and honey companies are illegally circumventing tariffs and quality controls, selling honey to companies and consumers that is of questionable origin. In addition to creating food safety issues for consumers, this threatens the honey industry by undercutting fair market prices and damaging honey's reputation for quality and safety.
For example, in September of this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice indicted 11 German and Chinese individuals and six corporations for allegedly participating in an international conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey. Federal officials said the defendants allegedly imported more than $40 million of Chinese honey, including honey that was adulterated with unapproved antibiotics. This indictment is the largest in a string of federal actions in the past two years directed at stopping illegal honey trade.
While these federal actions are critical, further action is needed by the industry itself. The Certified True Source Honey Traceability Program will allow all interested parties along the honey chain to join together in stopping these illegal practices. Additional details of this exciting new program will be announced at the 2011 North American Beekeeping Conference, a joint convention of the American Honey Producers Association, the American Beekeeping Federation and the Canadian Honey Council in Galveston, Texas, at the San Luis Resort, January 3-9, 2011.
Watch for further information at http://www.TrueSourceHoney.com.
The True Source Honey Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. Learn more at www.TrueSourceHoney.com.

Bayer Cropscience Acquires Varroa Mite Product from Exosect ltd

from Georgina Donovan
Exosect Ltd

Bayer CropScience AG acquires innovative product for the control of varroa mites in honey bees from Exosect Ltd. (Editor's note: This product is not currently registered for use in the United States.)
Exosect- leading provider of Intelligent Pest Management solutions -has announced the recent acquisition of its unique product for the control of varroa mites in honey bees by Bayer CropScience.
The acquisition was made for an undisclosed figure and gives Bayer CropScience worldwide rights to sell the product* and to further develop a portfolio of bee health products for the control of mites (including varroa mites and tracheal mites) using Exosect's platform technology, Entostat^TM*.
Martin Brown, Exosect's Managing Director, comments, "After 5 years we are delighted to have finalized the research and trials required for a regulatory data package." Brown continues, "Our platform technology, Entostat powder, has such huge potential in all sectors of pest control that despite our interest in the bee health sector we are unable to give the launch of this product the resources that it deserves. This is an incredibly important sector and we believe that Bayer is very well placed to bring the product to market".
"Bayer is aware of its responsibility as a producer both of crop protection products and of bee health products," said Dr. Franz-Josef Placke, head of development at Bayer CropScience. "Therefore, we are investing in research and development to provide beekeepers with sustainable solutions to improve the health of their bees and beehives."

Background information
*The product, developed by Exosect Ltd., is for the efficient and cost effective control of varroa mites in honey bees. It is based on Entostat powder, Exosects' patented platform technology and the active ingredient thymol. The Entostat^TM powder, which is derived from a natural ‘food grade' wax, develops an electrostatic charge, even through very slight movement. When placed in contact with bees, the powder adheres to them and can be passed from one bee to another through direct contact. The technology means that only minute quantities of thymol are required, which reduces the potential for thymol residues in honey crops and has the potential to provide beekeepers with an invaluable tool during honey flow when varroa mites are reproducing and when there are limited options for varroa control.
 *Entostat powder is the platform technology for Exosect's entire range of products. Derived from a natural ‘food grade' wax which is sustainably harvested from palm trees, Entostat powder acts as a delivery system for a wide range of chemistry.
As the name suggests "Entostat" powder exhibits electrostatic properties. Even through very slight movement, it develops an electrostatic charge. Insects similarly develop an electrostatic charge as they fly through air or walk across physical surfaces. When placed in contact with insects, the powder adheres to them and can be passed from one insect to another through direct contact. This platform enables the use of very low doses of natural or synthetic active ingredients (ai) which helps reduce the use of ai's in wide range of sectors.

Bees Reveal Nature-Nurture Secrets
The nature-nurture debate is a "giant step" closer to being resolved after scientists studying bees documented how environmental inputs can modify our genetic hardware. The researchers uncovered extensive molecular differences in the brains of worker bees and queen bees which develop along very different paths when put on different diets The research was led by Professor Ryszard Maleszka of The Australian National University's College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, working with colleagues from the German Cancer Institute in Heidelberg, Germany and will be published in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology
Their work reveals for the first time the intricacies of the environmentally-influenced chemical 'marking of DNA' called DNA methylation, which has the capacity to alter gene expression without affecting the genetic code - a process referred to as 'epigenetic', or above the genome.
"This marking determines which genes are to be fine-tuned in the brains of workers and queens to produce their extraordinarily different behaviours. This finding is not only crucial, but far reaching, because the enzymes that mark DNA in the bee are also the enzymes that mark DNA in human brains," said Professor Maleszka.
"In the bees, more than 550 genes are differentially marked between the brain of the queen and the brain of the worker, which contributes to their profound divergence in behaviour. This study provides the first documentation of extensive molecular differences that may allow honey bees to generate different reproductive and behavioural outcomes as a result of differential feeding with royal jelly."
Professor Maleszka said that the work goes a long way to answering one of life's biggest questions.
"This study represents a giant step towards answering one of the big questions in the nature-nurture debate, because it shows how the outside world is linked to DNA via diet, and how environmental inputs can transiently modify our genetic hardware," he said.
"Similar studies are impossible to do on human brains, so the humble honey bees are the pioneers in this fascinating area."
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-ocument&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000506

Newsnotes - January 2011

Beekeeping Scholarship Announced

The Lorain County Beekeeper's Association is announcing its 2011 Educational Scholarship Competition.  Students ages 9-13 and 14-18 can compete to win a scholarship package in each age category which includes a beginner's beekeeping kit, four beekeeping classes, membership to the Lorain County Beekeeper's Association, and one year of mentoring.  The scholarship package is worth $235.

Entry requirements include a 500 word essay entitled Why I Want To Be A Beekeeper and completion of the entry form, which can be downloaded from http://www.loraincountybeekeepers.org/.  Two references and parent or guardian signature are required for scholarship applicants.

Scholarship winners must attend all four beginner beekeeping class sessions in March, complete an educational booth at the 2011 Lorain County Fair, and enter honey from their apiary for judging in the 2011 Lorain County Fair.

All entry materials must be submitted to LCBA Essay Contest, OSU Extension-Lorain County, 42110 Russia Road, Elyria, OH 44035 by Friday, February 18, 2011.  For entry form and complete details, visit http://www.loraincountybeekeepers.org/.

LCBA is a 501c-3 nonprofit organization committed to educating the public about the value of honeybees and the impact honeybees have on our world.  LCBA members provide educational appearances for schools, boy scouts and girl scouts, 4H clubs, metro parks programs, nature centers, and more. 

Newsnotes - December 2010 

Africanized Honey Bees Found in Georgia

Courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Tommy Irvin, Commissioner

Entomological tests have confirmed that Africanized honey bees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County in September. News reports say the man accidentally disturbed a feral colony of bees with his bulldozer and that he received more than 100 stings.
"This is the first record of Africanized honey bees in Georgia," said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.
Africanized honey bees are a hybrid of African and European honey bees. Because of their extremely defensive nature regarding their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive), they are sometimes called "killer bees." Large numbers of them sometimes sting people or livestock with little provocation.
The Africanized honey bee and the familiar European honey bee (Georgia's state insect) look the same and their behavior is similar in some respects. Each bee can sting only once, and there is no difference between Africanized honey bee venom and that of a European honey bee. However, Africanized honey bees are less predictable and more defensive than European honey bees. They are more likely to defend a wider area around their nest and respond faster and in greater numbers than European honeybees.
Africanized honey bees first appeared in the U.S. in Texas in 1990. Since then they have spread to New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and now Georgia.  Entomologists and beekeepers have been expecting the arrival of these bees in Georgia for several years.  There has been an established breeding population in Florida since 2005.
Because Africanized honey bees look almost identical to European honey bees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Department of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees' identity.
"Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity," said Commissioner Irvin.
"The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honey bees are," said Commissioner Irvin.  "We also want to educate people about what to do in case they encounter a colony of Africanized honey bees.  Georgians can visit our website for more information.  The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service has a publication on Africanized honey bees that is available online (http://pubsadmin.
caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/B%201290_2.PDF) or at Extension offices."

Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists Statement on Honey Bee Losses in Canada (2010)

Over the winter of 2009-10, losses in Canadian beekeeping were 21 percent of the number of colonies that were wintered. Though this represents 1.4x the long-term winter loss rate for Canada, this is a substantial improvement over the previous three-year period during which losses averaged 32.6%.

General Trends
In the years subsequent to the introduction of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor into Canada, normal long-term overwintering mortality has been considered to be 15%. During the winter of 2009-10, mortality due to wintering losses and spring dwindling was 21.0%, or 1.4x the normal rate. This loss is substantially less than the 2008-09 mortality figure of 33.9% and is also less than rates of 35.0% and 29.0% recorded, respectively, for the winters of 2007-08 and 2006-07. Though encouraging, it is too early to determine whether this decline in mortality constitutes a sustained improvement in colony health.
Compared with the previous three years, mortality across regions has been less variable and generally lower. Extension professionals in Canada attribute the improvement in colony losses, in part, to the availability of a new Varroa mite control product, Apivar®, which contains the active ingredient Amitraz. This product was made available to beekeepers under emergency use registration (EUR) for the fall of 2010. Effective use of existing mite control products, such as those containing formic or oxalic acid, also contributed to improved mite control in 2009-10.
Additional factors that contributed to increases in colony survival in 2010 were enhanced sampling and control for the honey bee internal parasite Nosema ceranae as well as greater intensity of monitoring for other pests and diseases in major beekeeping areas.

Losses on Vancouver Island
Though overall losses in Canada improved in 2009-10, one notable exception was Vancouver Island, BC where exceptional mortality was recorded. Based on responses to provincial surveys, 69% of all colonies were lost by 15 April 2010, while the loss rate for commercially viable colonies by 1 May was 76%. Some producers sustained total loss.
Beekeepers on Vancouver Island observed that population declines occurred early, starting in the fall after colonies were prepared for winter with much of the mortality taking place by mid-December.
Based on reports from extension professionals in British Columbia, the majority of producers relied on Apistan (fluvalinate) for their Varroa mite control in the fall. Very few had ever used CheckMite+® (coumaphos) and none used Apivar® (Amitraz). Most also used formic acid treatments (as an alternative treatment in the spring) while others also applied oxalic acid. Generally, follow-up checks for mite levels after treatments were not performed and resistance to fluvalinate, widespread in mainland regions of the province, is suspected.
Nosema spp. are not thought to have played a significant role in Vancouver Island losses as most producers treated with the drug fumagillin. In addition, adult bee samples submitted to BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands laboratories had low or negligible levels of Nosema spores. For those honey bee viruses monitored in BC (IAPV, KBV), detections have occurred in previous years from Vancouver Island beekeeping operations.
Though no clear answers appear to exist for losses in this region, the efficacy of Varroa mite treatments, the susceptibility of locally-selected stock to mites and the lack of rotational replacement (or disinfection) of beekeeping equipment are all factors being examined as possible causes of high losses in this region.

Is CCD in Canada?
The symptoms by which CCD is being characterized in the U.S. have not been routinely diagnosed by professional apiculturists in Canada. Though Canadian bees do not seem to be experiencing classic CCD-like symptoms, it is important to emphasize that higher levels of wintering and spring mortality in Canada may be related to the same casual factors as CCD losses in the U.S. Because longer winter conditions preclude the active brooding and flying of colonies found in early-season pollination areas of the U.S., colonies in Canada may not exhibit similar colony-level symptoms. Instead, it is conceivable that Canadian producers may simply see these effects as higher numbers of dead colonies following winter or those described as dwindling during early spring.
Most scientists in the U.S. and Canada would agree that what is being described as CCD in the U.S. and the high winter losses seen in Canada are likely being caused by several common interacting stress factors acting on honey bee colonies. Researchers in both countries are examining similar root causes of these stresses and their effects on bees.

What is being done in Canada?
Researchers in Canada remain in close contact with principal scientists participating in U.S. Working Groups on CCD. Members of CAPA have also been actively monitoring the status of bee health across the country and are sharing scientific information.
In 2009, the Canadian Pollination Initiative (CANPOLIN) was launched to address the growing problem of pollinator decline in agricultural and natural ecosystems in Canada. This initiative, funded as a five-year NSERC Strategic Network, includes researchers at 26 universities across the country that are working with government agencies, NGO's and industry to deliver critical insights and sustainable solutions to the pollination problem. The Scientific Director of CANPOLIN is CAPA member, Dr. Peter Kevan, of the University of Guelph. Other CAPA researchers comprise key working groups including those on managed pollinators. Refer to the CANPOLIN website for current information: http://www.uoguelph.ca/canpolin/
Work toward understanding the impact of N. ceranae in Canada also continues. Based on efforts in 2007 and 2008, it was initially determined that the parasite was present in all Canadian provinces, with N. ceranae and N. apis found in approximately similar proportions. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S. where N. apis is now seldom found in samples. Changes in the distribution and prevalence of these species will continue to be monitored.
The impact of N. ceranae on honey bees is not well understood and it is likely a factor in the survival of colonies already under multiple stresses. Currently, CAPA members employed by federal and provincial governments, as well those in Canadian universities, are undertaking research projects to better understand this parasite. Aims include determining the seasonal occurrence of N. ceranae in Canada, developing strategies for effectively managing this parasite, as well as evaluating the use of novel therapeutic agents. Current indications suggest that N. ceranae is susceptible to fumagillin, the only registered therapeutic agent against N. apis. Nevertheless, much work is needed to determine best management practices to control this organism.
Researchers within CAPA are also evaluating alternative control options for Varroa mites, methods of integrated pest management (IPM) for honey bee colonies and the breeding of honey bee queen stock more tolerant of diseases and mites. Members of CAPA, in cooperation with the Canadian Honey Council, are also pursuing the registration of alternative products for Varroa control in Canada. (CAPA News Release)
noted bee experts accepts dual appointment:
uc davis and wsu

DAVIS, CA---Noted bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, has collaborated for several years with scientists at Washington State University; now she is dividing her time between the two honey bee research facilities.
Cobey recently accepted a dual appointment-50 percent as a WSU honey bee research extension associate and 50 percent as a UC Davis staff research associate-to continue her work on enhancing domestic honey bee breeding stock and improving colony health. Her WSU appointment is based in western Washington at the Mt. Vernon Research Station.
"The overall goal is to improve colony health to supply the critical and demanding need for pollination of the nation's agricultural crops," she said.
Cobey, who joined UC Davis in May 2007, will continue teaching her spring classes at UC Davis on queen bee rearing and instrument insemination. (See http://
entomology.ucdavis.edu/courses/beeclasses/index.html) Her classes draw students from throughout the world.
"A major focus of my dual appointment is to expand the collaborative effort to enhance our domestic honey bee breeding stocks through the incorporation of germplasm collected from bees around the world," Cobey said. "Genetic diversity is critical to maintain healthy honey bee populations."
European colonists brought the honey bee (Apis mellifera) to what is now the United States in the 1600s. "Importation was banned in 1922 to avoid the tracheal mite," Cobey related. "To avoid the introduction of tracheal mites, a small founder bee population was established before the importation ban in 1922. This small subset of a few subspecies from limited importations represents a genetic bottleneck. This is an increasing concern with the continuing high losses of colonies due to parasitic mites, the plague of new pathogens and the phenomena of colony collapse disorder."
Cobey has collaborated since 2007 with apiculturist Steve Sheppard, professor and chair of the WSU Department of Entomology, in an ongoing honey bee stock improvement project between the two universities.
WSU holds the APHIS-USDA (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) quarantine in an ecological reserve isolated by a sea of wheat. "This is where we are introducing, observing and testing the colonies resulting from the semen importations," Cobey said. "We have brought in Apis mellifera carnica stock from Germany, Apis mellifera ligustica from Italy, and most recently Apis mellifera caucasica from the Republic of Georgia." Carniolans and Caucasians are dark races of bees. The Italian bee (Apis mellifera liguistica) is the most prevalent bee in the United States. This
effort also includes research into developing protocols for the safe importation of germ-plasm and the development of cryopreservation techniques for long term storage.
Dividing her time between the two
universities, Cobey said, will provide several advantages. "I can enjoy the early spring season in California and then head north to follow the season in Washington state.   Queen rearing in California usually can be started in late February. By June, the summer heat  and dearth make this more difficult, especially in maintaining a large pool of drones for mating. Spring in Washington kicks in by May, so this is prime queen-rearing season in the Pacific Northwest." Working in both California and the Pacific Northwest will allow the evaluation and selection of stocks in different climates. "This will also provide reservoirs of stock in different places to spread the risk of losing valuable lines."
The wet, cold winter in Washington, she said, is a more rigorous place to select for wintering ability, especially for the dark races of bees, Carniolans and Caucasians "We hope to reestablish Apis mellifera caucasica in the Pacific Northwest as the
climate is similar to its native home. Only traces of this race currently can be found in the United States."
California is home to the major queen producers responsible for re-stocking colonies nationwide. "Therefore, I will continue to work with this critical segment of the industry," Cobey said. "I'm also looking forward to working with the Pacific Northwest beekeepers, many of whom supply colonies for California almond pollination, which usually begins early February." In addition to teaching spring classes on queen rearing and instrumental insemination at the  Laidlaw honey bee lab, Cobey anticipates offering these classes in Washington in the near future. "There is a lot of interest, especially  in queen rearing in the north, despite the short season," she said. Cobey will be working closely with beekeepers in both areas:
-- In Washington and other states in the Pacific Northwest, she will provide information and conduct training sessions to assist beekeepers in maintaining healthy colonies for pollination.
-- In California, she will develop programs to enhance the ability of the California bee breeders to select and maintain breeding stock to supply industry demand. Her duties also include developing information and outreach programs to assist beekeepers in honey bee-breeding methods.
Her husband, Tim Lawrence, formerly of UC Davis, was selected the new director of WSU's Island County Extension in May. Earlier, he worked seven months as a research associate in WSU's Honey Bee Health Program. The couple lives in Island County.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616

Old Bees' Memory Fades; Mirrors Recall of Mammals

A study published Oct. 19 in the open access journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE, shows that not just human memories fade. Scientists from Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences examined how aging impacts the ability of honey bees to find their way home.
While bees are typically impressive navigators, able to wend their way home through complex landscapes after visits to flowers far removed from their nests, the study reveals that aging impairs the bees' ability to extinguish the memory of an unsuitable nest site, even after the colony has settled in a new home.
"From previous studies, we knew that old bees are characterized by poor learning when trained to floral odors in the laboratory," says Gro Amdam, an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "So, we wanted to test whether aging also affects learning behavior that is important for a bee's survival in the wild."
A bee is very well-trained as a forager after three to four days of flight time, Amdam says. Whereas mature bees have piloted their way to and from the hive for five to 11 days and old bees have had more than two weeks of flight time.
To test how old bees adapt to a changed home location, researchers trained bees to a new nest box while their former nest was closed off. Groups composed of mature and old bees were given several days in which to learn the new home location and to extinguish the bees' memory of their unusable former nest box.
The scientists then disassembled the bees' new home and forced groups of mixed-age bees to choose between three alternative nest locations, including the former nest box. Old bees with symptoms of senescence preferentially oriented toward the former nest site, despite the experience that should have told them that it was unusable.
"Although many old bees fail in learning tasks, we also discovered that a few still perform with excellence," explains Daniel Münch, lead author of the study and a senior life sciences researcher in Norway.
The scientists believe that their findings with bees offer a new means to model and understand the variability found in brain function between individuals; where some individuals' memories remain intact, while others' learning behavior becomes inflexible with age.

$1.4 Million Grant to Fund Research on Alternative Pollinators

University Park, Pa. -- Fruits and nuts are high-value crops in the Mid-Atlantic states and are being heavily impacted by honeybee shortages for pollination. A new $1.4 million grant from the USDA NIFA Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI) program to Penn State will look into future impacts on fruit pollination and the development of alternative pollinators to supplement honeybees.
According to David Biddinger, tree fruit entomologist and biocontrol specialist at Penn State's Fruit Research and Extension Center and project co-director, the situation is becoming critical. "We already know the supply of honey bees in the U.S. will not be able to meet the demand for pollination services in the near future," he explained. "We also know that the production costs for apiculturists will go up, and that the cost to fruit growers to rent honey bee hives for pollination has increased three-fold since 2006 and will continue to increase. Alternative pollinators such as native wild bees are greatly needed."
The new project will establish surveys and a monitoring program to identify the importance of wild pollinators to agricultural pollination, assess bee species collected during survey work to determine if any pathogen or other invasive species has infected the population, develop new pollinators and enhance pollinator awareness through education efforts.
According to Biddinger, native bees play an important role in the pollination of fruits and vegetable crops in the Mid-Atlantic region and have probably been underestimated. "In a recent study, almost 50 species of native bees were shown to be key crop pollinators of several vegetable crops and were fully able to pollinate some of these crops without aid of honey bees on the majority of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey farms evaluated." In addition, a two-year survey of 12 Pennsylvania apple orchards conducted by Biddinger found more than 120 species of bees. He found that while honey bee numbers had decreased by 10-fold since 1997, wild bee numbers had increased an average of three to five-fold.
"Native bee pollination hasn't really been studied in the Mid-Atlantic, so we don't know what bee species are here and what fauna we have to conserve. This will be one of the first steps in the project," Biddinger said. Project investigators also plan on examining threats to native pollinators, such as viruses that have affected honey bee populations and pesticides.
The project also will examine the management of key species of wild bees for use in agriculture. "We have fresh market apple growers who have relied upon native pollinators for fruit pollination for over ten years without noticeable loss in yield or quality, but we need to verify this through measurement of yield, fruit set, fruit size and fruit quality in comparison to orchards using recommended rates of honey bees for pollination," Biddinger explained. Native bee populations can vary widely from season to season, so these measurements need to be repeated over several seasons to determine reliability. Native bees, including bumble bees, greatly rely on adjacent woodlots and fencerows for nesting sites and supplemental food after apple bloom. Most native bees don't fly nearly as far as honey bees, so determining the foraging ranges of key bee species will be important in providing reliable pollination of crops. Guidelines for pollinator-friendly land practices also will be developed, including land management practices that avoid harming bees, how to provide habitat for native bees on and around the farm, and guidelines for pesticide use to preserve wild bee populations.
Another goal of the project is to increase the awareness of wild bee pollinators by the public and the agricultural community. "What we learn from pollinator restoration demonstrations, the information assembled from past research on native bee habitat and crop pollination, and our years of experience working on pollinator conservation in agricultural landscapes will be presented to farmers/land managers in a practical way they can use to conserve pollinators on their lands," Biddinger explained. "We will conduct workshops, farm walks, and seminars to farmers and staff from farm-related agencies and develop audience-specific educational materials."
Other collaborators on the project include researchers from Penn State, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Xerces Society, Long Island University, the US Department of Agriculture NRCS and the US Department of the Interior (USGS). For more information on bees and other pollinators, visit Penn State's Center for Pollinator Research at http://ento.psu.edu/pollinators.

UC Davis Native Pollinator Specialist Receives USDA Grant Aimed at Improving Pollinator Habitat Plantings Nationwide

DAVIS,CA--Native pollinator specialist Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, has received a three-year federally funded research grant aimed at improving pollinator habitat plantings in nationwide agricultural settings.
The $343,884 grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, target projects in three states where crops dependent on insect pollination are concentrated: California, Michigan and New Jersey. The fourth site component is inter-regional research coordinated by the Xerces Society for Insect
Conservation, based in Portland, OR.
"Recent declines in honey bee populations and the threat of losses in pollination service to economically important crops has raised awareness of the importance of restoring and conserving native bee diversity and abundance," Williams said. The economic value of insect-pollinated crops in the United States was estimated at $18.9 billion in 2000.
"We will be developing simplified assessment tools that will allow land stewards to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of future habitat restorations," Williams said.
The grant, "Development and Validation of Protocols for Assessing Functioning of Pollinator Habitat Plantings for Agricultural Settings," is closely linked with the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) commitment to enroll acreage in its pollinator restoration programs. A key priority of NRCS is to enhance pollinator habitat in agricultural landscapes to promote both managed and wild bees.
The success of NRCS investment in these programs "will depend on the effectiveness of pollinator habitat restorations in supporting native pollination populations and enhancing other beneficial insects, while avoiding the augmentation of pest insects," Williams said. The team directed by Williams will evaluate shifts in insect populations resulting from restoration practices and establish protocols for insect monitoring data that other practitioners can easily employ. This may encourage farmers to enroll in pollinator planting programs, especially if the sites don't attract insect pests.

The specific goals: 
1. To quantify the effects of pollinator habitat enhancements on populations of pollinators, other beneficial insects and pests
2. To identify the value of individual plant species and overall level of floral resources required to support pollinators and other desirable insects
3. To develop streamlined monitoring protocols that will enable practitioners to assess success in future pollinator habitat restorations
4. To provide technical notes, trainings and websites that foster implementation of these simplified technical guidelines.

The three-year grant, effective Oct. 1 through Sept. 30, 2013, follows the passage of the 2008 Farm Bill, which identifies pollinators as a priority resource of concern. Honey bees are beset by parasitic mites, diseases, the mysterious colony collapse disorder and other problems. Habitat loss, disease, parasites, pesticide use and agricultural intensification threaten native bees.
Williams said native bees can provide insurance in the face of honey bee declines. Already native bees provide significant pollination services to crops such as watermelon. Research by entomologist Rachael Winfree of Rutgers shows that native bees are capable of "fully pollinating 90 percent of watermelon on farms in central New Jersey and east-central Pennsylvania," Williams said. (Courtesy Kathy Keatley Garvey, Communications Specialist, Dept. of Entomology, UC-Davis)

Can You ‘Bee-lieve' These Pin-Up Girls?

Miss January, Miss May, Miss August and Miss December aren't like their counterparts gracing other calendars. First, they never gave their consent. Second, only a few have social skills because most are solitary. Third, they have three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen. And, fourth, none of these pin-ups will ever run for Miss America or promote world peace.
These pin-ups are North American bees and the calendar is appropriately titled the "North American Bee Calendar." Miss January is a honey bee; Miss May, a sweat bee; Miss August, a squash bee; and Miss December, a cuckoo bee.
"It's our second annual calendar, a project aimed at protecting pollinators, raising public awareness and generating funds to carry on the work of The Great Sunflower Project and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation," said native bee enthusiast and calendar project coordinator Celeste Ets-Hokin of the San Francisco Bay Area.  "Most of these bees are commonly found and important pollinators."
The calendar, measuring 9x12, features close-up photos by noted insect photographer Rollin Coville, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley. He has been photographing insects--and spiders--for more than 25 years.
The calendar spotlights a different bee genus each month, with notes on preferred plants, nesting needs, and guidance on how to identify the genus, said author Ets-Hokin, who holds a degree in zoology from UC Berkeley.

Bees appearing in the calendar and the scientific names are:
January: Honey Bee (Apis)
February: Bumble Bee (Bombus)
March: Digger Bee (Habropoda)
April: Mason Bee (Osmia)
May: Sweat Bee (Lasioglossum)
June: Utra Green Sweat Bee (Agapostemon)
July: Leafcutter Bee (Megachile)
August: Squash Bee (Peponapis)
September: Long-horn Bee (Melissodes)
October: Carder Bee (Anthidium)
November: Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa)
December: Cuckoo Bee (Epeolus)

Matthew Shepherd, senior conservation associate of the Xerces Society, and Ets-Hokin served as editors, and Miguel Barbosa as the graphic designer. Five scientists shared their research expertise: Neal Williams of UC Davis; Gordon Frankie and Claire Kremen of UC Berkeley; and Rachael Winfree of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J. In addition, Shepherd and Ets-Hokin, along with Kathy Keatley Garvey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, contributed photos.
Calendars are $15 each, which includes shipping anywhere in the United States. The international price is $18, shipping included.  The deadline to submit all orders is Tuesday, Nov. 30. Calendars will arrive by early December. Orders may be placed by accessing the Xerces website at http://www.xerces.org/calendar/ or The Great Sunflower Project website at http://www.greatsunflower.org/product/
2011calendar. The calendar can be
previewed at http://www.xerces.org/wp-
content/uploads/2010/09/reduced-calendar-preview.pdf.
For more information or discount rates for 25 calendars or more, contact Ets-Hokin at celeste.ets@comcast.net.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616

Honey Bee Hobbyist

A New Book About the Care and keeping of Bees

From time immemorial, honey has filled countless needs for mankind. Even the work honey tantalizes and titillates the senses. Great minds from Virgil to Martha Stewart have sung its praises. And now, Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees shows readers that they don't have to be a scholar or domestic goddess to start their own hives, produce their own honey and reap the benefits of honey's organic goodness
Virgil (and Martha for that matter) would be proud to know that nowadays, areas as urban as downtown Manhattan are becoming lands of honey-thanks to the increasing popularity of beekeeping as a hobby. This colorful book takes readers from the environmental impact (positive) of setting up a hive to the likelihood of stings (low when handled correctly) to the basics of setting up the first hive (easy). Author and esteemed apiarist Norman Gary even dedicates a few pages to "fun things to do wth bees" - quite the concept coming from the man who holds the Guinness World Record for Most Bees in Your Mouth (which, incidentally, does not show up in his list of suggested activities for beekeepers).
The book is a start-to-finish primer for aspiring and experienced beekeepers alike on how to start, maintain and expand your hives. It addresses each stage of the hive's lifecycle, troubleshoots common beekeeping problems and explains how to start your new hobby without bothering the neighbors. Engaging full-color photography invites even the most skeptical to look at bees as beautiful rather than frightening.

Book At a Glance
Title: Honey Bee Hobbyist
Author: Norman Gary, PhD
Price: $16.95
Publisher: BowTie Press, www.bowtieinc.com
Format: Paperback
Illustrations: 75+ full-color photographs
Pages: 144
ISBN-13: 978-1-933958-94-1
Pub Date: November 2010
Distributed: Baker & Taylor

Author Norman Gary, PhD, has over six decades of experience in beekeeping. He has a PhD in Apiculture from Cornell University and had authored more than 100 publications for beekeeping trade journals. Dr. Gary has served as a deputy apiary inspector, wrangled bees for Hollywood blockbusters and served as a honey bee research scientist and entomology professor at the University of California, Davis. His unique perspective and lifelong passion for bees infuses every page with both enthusiasm and common-sense advice.

Honey, I'm Homemade

Sweet Treats from the Beehive Across the Centuries and Around the World

Author: Edited by May Berenbaum

Editor/Other: Illustrated by Nils Cordes

Honey, I'm Homemade: Sweet Treats from the Beehive across the Centuries and around the World showcases a wealth of recipes for cookies, breads, pies, puddings, and cakes that feature honey as an essential ingredient. Noted entomologist May Berenbaum also details the fascinating history of honey harvesting and consumption around the world, explains the honey bee's extraordinary capacity to process nectar into concentrated sweetness, and marvels at honey's diverse flavors and health benefits.
Honey is a unique food because of its power to evoke a particular time and place. Every time it is collected from a hive, honey takes on the nuanced flavors of a particular set of flowers--clover, orange blossoms, buckwheat, or others--at a certain point in time processed and stored by a particular group of bees. Honey is not just a snapshot of a time and place--it's the taste of a time and place, and it lends its flavors to the delectable baked goods and other treats found here.
More than a cookbook, Honey, I'm Homemade is a tribute to the remarkable work of Apis mellifera, the humble honey bee whose pollination services allow three-quarters of all flowering plant species to reproduce and flourish. Sales of the book will benefit the University of Illinois Pollinatarium--the first freestanding science outreach center in the nation devoted to flowering plants and their pollinators.
Because so much depends on honey bees, and because people have benefited from their labors for millennia, Honey, I'm Homemade is the perfect way to share and celebrate honey's sweetness and delight.
May Berenbaum is Swanlund Professor of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Her other books include Ninety-Nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers; Ninety-Nine More Maggots, Mites, and Munchers; Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs; Buzzwords: A Scientist Muses on Sex, Bugs, and Rock 'n' Roll; and The
Earwig's Tail: A Modern Bestiary of Multi-legged Legends.

Price: $21.95
Paper: 978-0-252-07744-9
Pages: 184 pages
Dimensions: 6.5 x 8 in. 
Illustrations: 10 line drawings
www.press.uillinois.edu

honey bees gain an
unlikely ally:
hackers and geeks

Roswell, Georgia - September 12, 2010 - The honey bee has been fighting for its survival for the last 30 years. At risk is a third of the foods we eat that depend on bee pollination. "The honey bee's environment and pathogens have changed dramatically in the last 30 years but the practice of beekeeping has remained unchanged for more than 100 years," says Tom Rearick, a Roswell, Georgia beekeeper, engineer, and serial entrepreneur. "To save the honey bee, we need a better understanding of what is going on inside of the bee hive - and that requires the development of new technologies." So that is exactly what Tom Rearick - aka BeeHacker - has done and he has published his inventions on a new website at www.beehacker.com.
The site documents ongoing projects based on Arduino microcontrollers, acoustic analysis of bee sounds using open source software, biological control using beneficial nematodes, and a novel portable hive scale that anyone can build for $50 based on a hacked digital luggage scale. Using this hive scale, a beekeeper can track the weight of multiple hives to determine nectar flows, swarm events, and to predict winter starvation - one of the leading causes of hive death.
"There are a lot of creative and intelligent people out there that love to hack and build things. If they understood how fascinating the honey bee was and how fertile an area for innovation this is, then we might double or triple the creative talent currently focused on saving the honey bee, " says the site's creator, "the beneficiaries are everyone that enjoys apples, almonds, strawberries, melons, or hundreds of other foods that depend on pollination by bees."

Contact:
Tom Rearick
tom.rearick@gmail.com
620 Jones Road
Roswell, GA 30075, USA
(770) 715-6264
honey bees and beekeeping:
a year in the life of an apiary

The public television documentary, Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary is now online at http://www.extension.org/. Presented with permission of the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education, this classic TV series by Keith Delaplane and the University of Georgia walks the viewer through the establishment of 10 new hives and a year of management. This basic management information is invaluable for the new beekeeper and a real resource for experienced beekeepers to utilize and share with others. Topics covered range from installing packages and the health of colonies, to more advanced topics like queen rearing and migratory beekeeping. Roughly 4 hrs. of instruction is presented in an enjoyable format. Organized in chapters on the Bee Health website, the videos are embedded from the Bee Health YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/beehealth. To purchase the complete "Honey Bee and Beekeeping" television series on DVD or acompanying book please call the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education at 1-800-359-4040.

Newsnotes - November 2010 

Honey Bee Imports From Australia May Be Banned

 According to Wayne Wheeling and Colin Stewart at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), a recommendation has been made to ban further imports of Australian Honey Bees. The decision is being made in light of continuing and increasing discoveries of Apis cerana Asian honey bees in Australia. Those finds have steadily increased and now number 214 finds since 2007, according to Wheeling.
 Mr. Wheeling cautioned that at this point the border closing to Australian honey bees in only a recommendation, and that a final ruling has not been announced. When asked about continued imports from New Zealand and Canada, he said no change in their status would be made and that imports of honey bees would continue from those two countries.
 A formal announcement of the ban will be printed in a future issue of the Federal Register if a final ruling is made to go forward with the ban, according to Wheeling.

A More Concise Explanation of CCD- Iridescent Virus and Nosema ceranae

New technology finds pathogens that may reconcile contradictory claims
on Colony Collapse Disorder

by JAMES FISCHER

(james.fischer@gmail.com) for "The American Bee Journal" (http://www.american
beejournal.com) (Embargoed by the journal PLoS ONE until 10/06/2010 5pm EDT)

A multi-institutional team of researchers sifted through the ever-growing zoo of new invasive, exotic pathogens of bees, and consistently found the same two disease organisms in beehives suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in samples collected from 2006 to 2009.
They discovered a new virus never seen before in North America, and found a well-known invasive variant of the intestinal bee disease Nosema. The overlooked virus may explain why prior studies presented mutually contradictory findings. This new evidence could create a basis for consensus among research teams who to date, lacked common ground in their conclusions.
Their paper appeared Oct. 6, 2010 in the journal PLoS ONE (http://dx.plos.org
/10.1371/journal.pone.0013181)
The paper reports on a multi-year study of Colony Collapse Disorder. Researchers used new technology and techniques to detect and unambiguously identify every pathogen in collapsing bee hives, rather than the smaller subset of possible pathogens detectable via other means.
An Invertebrate Iridescent Virus ("IIV") , newly-found in North America, in combination with Nosema ceranae, which arrived from overseas less recently, was found in "Virtually all of the bees from CCD colonies" sampled from widely dispersed USA hives from 2006 through 2009.
IIV was not found in bees from packages imported from Australia nor in bees from an isolated non-migratory commercial bee operation in Montana, both sites confirmed free of CCD-like symptoms.
Additionally, the researchers "observed the progression of CCD in a collapsing colony... taking bee samples... over a three month period, ending when only a queen and four workers remained."
Further still, some bees were inoculated with Nosema ceranae, while other bees were inoculated with the "IIV-6" strain of the IIV virus. Their mortality was then compared to bees inoculated with both pathogens, and a control group given a placebo. The results "strongly suggest that the combination of N. ceranae and IIV is associated with increased bee mortality."
Yet even further, the effort discovered two additional invasive exotic bee viruses never before detected in North America, but determined that they were not involved in CCD.  The viruses found are "Varroa Destructor-1 Virus" and "Kakugo Virus", both native to Asia.
Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk of U Montana outlined the next steps, "We have a proposal pending to isolate, characterize, and then inoculate bees with the specific iridescent virus that occurs in USA bees. This is a critical step, since the virus does not appear to be any of the world's known iridescent viruses. Once we have the actual virus, we can complete the inoculation trials that are needed to test whether we've truly found the cause of CCD."

Proteomics - A Brief Summary
The technology used in this study seems ideal for addressing the ever-growing list of pathogens carried across oceans by the globalization of trade. It can detect disease pathogens that need not be identical to any known pathogen. This describes the needs of beekeepers clearly, given the number of invasives that came to plague honey bees in the USA since the early 1980s.
"Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics" (MSP) starts with about 60 bees tossed in a blender, and mixed until homogenous, then filtered. Cells are chemically burst, and proteins are isolated from the mix and "digested", breaking them down to peptides.  The resulting peptides are run through a device called a "Liquid Chromatograph" to separate them by density, which allows their structure and sequence to be determined by another set of devices, "Tandem Mass Spectrometers". 
Each peptide sequence is then compared to the NIH National Center for Biotechnology (NCBI) database of peptide sequences.  The database used is a collection of the peptides unique to specific organisms. This means that each match of a peptide sequence is a unique match to a single organism. Any peptide used in more than one organism would not be in the database. 
Dr. Charles Wick of the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center explained the level of certainty with which the virus was detected in colonies showing CCD symptoms: "IIV has 18,900 unique peptides... When we detect a few of these, say 50-100, we have enough evidence for an unambiguous identification."
But how did they make what Dr. Wick called an "unambiguous identification" of a virus that was said by Dr. Bromenshenk to not be "any of the world's known iridescent viruses"? How can anyone find what's never even been detected or identified before?  The answer is that the unknown organism will match the closest organism in the database, which narrows things down to at least the "family" or "genus" level, if not "species".  So, even without having sequenced the specific strain of IIV of interest, enough peptides matched the IIV strain in the database to confirm that what was found was a strain of IIV.
As an example of the wide net cast by this technique, Nosema was not well-represented in the NCBI database, so there was some ambiguity in the identification of the Nosema via proteomics alone, matching only the genus Nosema. The species and strain was confirmed as Nosema ceranae using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques.

The Claims In Spain Can Mainly Be Explained
Research led by Mariano Higes of the Bee Pathology Laboratory, Centro Apícola Regional in Marchamalo, Spain has repeatedly pointed to Nosema ceranae as the sole proximate cause of rapid colony collapse.  This seemed unlikely to researchers in the USA and elsewhere, as Nosema has not appeared to be as virulent outside of Spain.  But this new work provides an explanation that could support the Higes work with nothing more than the addition of the newly-detected IIV.
As in previous US studies, no one in Spain would have had reason to suspect that a DNA virus like IIV would be involved, as the bulk of bee viruses are RNA viruses. So they've yet to look for IIV in Spain, and they have not had the wider net of MSP to find what was not being sought. The good news is that Dr. Higes has historical samples frozen. Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk reports that the Higes team is willing to engage in a joint effort to screen the Spanish samples using MSP.

Does This Explain CCD In The USA?
The samples analyzed in this study showed a wide range of pathogens, including Nosema, Invertebrate Iridescent Virus ("IIV"), Black Queen Cell Virus, Acute Bee Paralysis Virus, Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus, Deformed Wing Virus, Sac Brood Virus, Kashmir Bee Virus, Varroa Destructor-1 Virus, and Kakugo Virus. None of the suspect pathogens named by other research efforts were missed, two new and novel pathogens were found, and the use of MSP implies that no pathogens were overlooked.  Even a new, unknown, and unnamed pathogen would have resulted in a partial peptide match to some other living thing.
So, while the counts or mix of pathogens might have been skewed by an insufficient number of samples, or collecting samples from an insufficient number of operations, it is difficult to imagine that there are additional pathogens yet to be found that could be implicated in CCD.  

Insecurity About Biosecurity
Since the 1980s, "Globalization" has increasingly consisted of shipments of goods from Asian ports to Western shores. This research connects the dots by consistently finding specific bee pathogens native to Asia, unknown to USA beekeepers in the early 1980s, but that have since become far too familiar:
"We know that in the Asian honey bee, Apis ceranae, a combination of parasites and pathogens co-exist, including: (1) Nosema ceranae, (2) an iridescent virus, (3) parasitic and predacious mites, and (4) two other RNA-type viruses, Kashmir bee virus and a Sacbrood virus.  We have had both Kashmir bee virus and Nosema ceranae in North America going back a decade or more. We need to see how similar the CCD strain of iridescent virus is to the IIV-24 strain from Apis ceranae.  It is possible that US bees acquired IIV from the Apis ceranae along with Nosema ceranae and Kashmir bee virus." 
While unsubstantiated "fringe" explanations for CCD abound, ranging from cell phones to pesticides to GMO crops, the common factor is that pathogens previously found only in Asia have spread to countries lacking effective biosecurity, such as the USA, but not to countries with more robust approaches to biosecurity, such as New Zealand.  The research team suggests "Standard quarantine practices such as testing of imported bees before they are added to colonies, and disinfection of equipment would likely help."

Practical Implications For Beekeepers
The team has two suggestions of interest to beekeepers:
1)"Most IIVs replicate at about 21 C (70 F) and do not replicate above 30-32 C (86 - 89 F). Higher temperatures may suppress the virus by halting replication, whereas cool weather and damp conditions may speed up replication of both IIV and Nosema. Many instances of CCD have occurred following extended periods of cool, damp weather.  Several beekeepers have reported to us that they have more problems with bees in areas with frequent fog or in hill areas where the weather is cooler. Placing bees in warm, sunny locations appears to help."
2)"Varroa may act as a vector for the dispersal of IIV among bee colonies. Varroa is known to increase damage caused by other viruses, and beekeepers who fail to control varroa levels are likely to sustain high colony losses."
This may not sound like much, but it is a vast improvement over the usual vague platitudes we've been handed over and over about "maintaining strong colonies" and "minimizing stress". It also ups the ante in the age-old debate among beekeepers over placing hives in sun versus placing hives in shade.

"Iridovirus and Microsporidian Linked to Honey Bee Colony Decline"
Jerry J. Bromenshenk, Colin B. Henderson, Charles H. Wick, Michael F. Stanford, Alan W. Zulich, Rabih E. Jabbour, Samir V. Deshpande, Patrick E. McCubbin, Robert A. Seccomb, Phillip M. Welch, Trevor Williams, David R. Firth, Evan Skowronski, Margaret M. Lehmann, Shan L. Bilimoria, Joanna Gress, Kevin W. Wanner, Robert A. Cramer Jr.

(2010) PLoS ONE 5(10): e13181. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013181

Jim Fischer keeps bees in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, and hopes to raise queens in Queens. He teaches the free 16-week full-semester urban beekeeping class in New York's Central Park for the 846-member non-profit NYC Beekeeping Group (http://meetup.com/nyc-beekeeping  and helps run the Gotham City Honey Co-Op (http://GothamCityBees.com).

Honey Launderer Sentenced
September 13, 2010

Chinese National Sentenced for Scheme to Defraud United States Over Honey Imports False Paperwork Used to Hide Chinese Origin of Honey; One Shipment Tainted with Banned Chemical

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Western District of Washington

 BOA ZHONG ZHANG, a citizen of China, was sentenced Sept. 13, 2010 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to time served, about 17 months in prison, for Conspiracy to Enter Goods in the United States through False Statements and to Smuggle Goods into the United States, and Introduction of Adulterated Food Into Interstate Commerce. ZHANG is a 20-year employee of Bee Products Company in China, who was arrested May 6, 2009, in Los Angeles while traveling in the United States. U.S. District Judge James L. Robart noted that ZHANG will likely be deported, and so will face additional time in immigration detention.
 "Knowingly misrepresenting the contents of an imported product can have significant repercussions and potentially put unsuspecting members of the public at risk," said Leigh Winchell, Special Agent in Charge of ICE's Homeland Security Investigations. "ICE will continue to investigate this type of import violation to help protect the health and safety of Americans."
 According to the statement of facts in the August 2009, plea agreement, in 2005, the President of Changge Jixiang Bee Products Limited asked ZHANG to set up a transhipment scheme in the Philippines so that Chinese honey could be shipped through the Philippines to the United States to avoid the tariffs placed on Chinese honey. On behalf of Changge, ZHANG hired a company in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, to tranship the Chinese honey to the United States. Chinese honey was unloaded at the warehouse, and re-labeled as a "Product of the Philippines." In April 2005, ZHANG oversaw the first shipment to the United States of falsely labeled honey. Later that summer, ZHANG met with co-defendant Chung Po Liu, of Bellevue, Washington. Liu owned two companies involved in honey imports and sales. At Liu's request, ZHANG arranged for twenty-one shipments of the falsely labeled honey valued at $1.6 million, through both the Philippines, and a similar scheme established in Thailand. Since the honey was labeled as Philippine or Thai honey, Liu avoided paying an anti-dumping tariff imposed on Chinese honey of approximately $2.9 million. One of the shipments which arrived in January 2008, was contaminated with ciprofloxacin, which is an antibiotic that is not permitted to be in the food supply.
 ZHANG and Liu were indicted by the grand jury on June 4, 2009. Liu pleaded guilty last month and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 29, 2010.
 Since 2001, anti-dumping duties have been applied to all honey imports from China. Antidumping duties are additional duties used to offset the effects of unfair trade practices that give imports an unfair advantage over competing U.S. goods. The duty on Chinese honey was 183% from 2001 to 2007, and has been 221% since 2007.
 The case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Norman Barbosa, and Special Assistant United States Attorney John Odell. Mr. Odell is an attorney with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, specially designated to handle customs cases in federal court.

True Source Honey
applauds recent efforts to shut down illegal honey practices

 WASHINGTON, DC  September 2, 2010 - The True Source Honey Initiative applauds actions taken yesterday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  (ICE) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pursue leads in stemming the tide of illegally imported honey.
 Yesterday's indictment is the largest in a string of federal actions in the past two years directed at stopping illegal trade in honey.  The 44-count indictment means the defendants are facing up to 20 years in prison, $250,000 fines on each count, and multi-million dollar reimbursements for the unpaid antidumping duties.
 "This is the kind of pressure we need to correct the serious problem of illegally traded honey, which is threatening the continued viability of the U.S. honey sector," said True Source Honey spokeswoman Jill Clark of Dutch Gold Honey, Lancaster, Penn.
 The DOJ indicted 11 German and Chinese individuals and six corporations on federal charges for allegedly participating in an international conspiracy to illegally import Chinese honey. Federal law officials said the defendants allegedly imported more than $40 million of Chinese honey that was mislabeled to avoid nearly $80 million in antidumping duties, and included honey that was adulterated with antibiotics not approved for use in honey production.
 In addition, an importer who was charged in May 2009 of illegally importing honey to the United States - including a shipment tainted with antibiotics - has pleaded guilty to related charges in U.S. District Court at Seattle.  Chung Po Liu submitted false paperwork claiming that the honey had been produced in Thailand or the Philippines and thereby avoided high import fees on Chinese honey. One of the shipments included honey tainted with an antibiotic banned in U.S. food.
 In addition to applauding the actions of the DOJ and ICE, the True Source Honey Initiative recognizes Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for their recent efforts calling for strengthened enforcement laws to combat Chinese "honey laundering" and to ensure the purity of honey sold in the United States.  Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) are also to be commended for their work in leading a group of 15 senators in an August 19 letter urging the Food and Drug Administration to finally move forward and establish a national standard of identity for honey within three months.  Beginning last summer, Florida, California and Wisconsin adopted state honey standards, while a federal standard of identity proposal has languished at FDA with no action for 4-1/2 years. 
 Quality U.S. honey operations are also essential for the honey bees needed to pollinate dozens of fruit, vegetable and seed crops across the United States, said Clark.  "One out of every three bites of food we take in this country relies on pollination from our honey bees."
 Illegally sourced honey hurts the beekeeping and honey industry and puts an added strain on honey bee producers, already struggling with colony collapse disorder. In addition, illegally imported honey includes food safety and quality implications as honey is often adulterated, containing antibiotics, added syrups and sweetener extenders. With millions more pounds of circumvented honey entering the U.S. market in 2010, this illegal practice threatens a vital segment of U.S. agriculture.
 The True Source Honey Initiative estimates that the illegal sale of honey in circumvention of U.S. trade laws cost the United States up to $200 million in uncollected duties in 2008 and 2009 combined.
 "We thank the federal executive branch officials and Senators for their continued, important work for this critical sector of U.S. agriculture," said Clark.
 The True Source HoneyTM Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. For more information, visit www.TrueSourceHoney.com and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TrueSource
Honey and Facebook at http://www.face
book.com/pages/True-Source-Honey
/142598785755162?ref=search

Commercial Trap for Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets "Baited" with USDA Technology

Safe for Use Around Honey Bees

 Forget the ants marching one by one--yellowjackets are the real party-crashers when it comes to spoiling picnics, outdoor barbecues and other summer fun where cold beverages and meat are present.
 Fortunately, a new trap is available that lures these stinging, sugar-sipping pests to their doom, thanks to attractants developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and commercialized by Sterling International, Inc., of Spokane, Wash. The scientists work for USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
 Sold commercially as the RESCUE! W-H-Y Trap (Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets), the technology is the successful outcome of a cooperative research and development agreement involving Sterling and the ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Wapato, Wash.
 In studies there, research leader Peter Landolt isolated two key compounds from fermented molasses to produce an attractant blend that lures not only yellowjackets, but also paper wasps and hornets. ARS holds patents on the attractant and has licensed it to Sterling.
 The blend Landolt developed and tested in collaboration with Sterling President Rod Schneidmiller and R&D Director Qing-He Zhang attracts 12 yellowjacket species, multiple paper wasp species (including Polistes dominulus from Europe) and two kinds of hornets, making it the most comprehensive lure yet.
 Sterling's W-H-Y trap is unique in its design, with two compartments. The bottom is baited with an attractant that primarily lures western and southern yellowjackets. The top uses a different attractant blend to lure other yellowjacket species, bald-faced hornets, European hornets and paper wasps.
 Once inside, the pests die by drowning or dehydration, depending on the compartment. Beneficial insects including honey bees are not attracted to the traps. W-H-Y traps are available to consumers at retail chains nationwide. (Courtesy ARS News Service)

EPA Considers Emergency Exemption for Amitraz Varroa Strip Use in South Dakota

From Federal Register/Vol. 75, No. 178/Wednesday, September 15, 2010

 EPA has received a specific exemption request from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture to use the pesticide amitraz (CAS No. 330089- 61-1) to treat up to 250,000 colonies of beehives to control varroa mites. The applicant proposes a use of a pesticide which was voluntarily canceled under section 6(f) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and which poses a risk similar to the risk which was voluntarily canceled under section 6(f) of FIFRA. EPA is soliciting public comment before making the decision whether or not to grant the exemption. Comments were accepted until Sept. 30, 2010.

Making Bees Less Busy: Social Environment Changes Internal Clock

Study suggests honey bees'
circadian rhythms depend on
contact with young

 Washington, DC - Honey bees removed from their usual roles in the hive quickly and drastically changed their biological rhythms, according to a study in the Sept. 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The changes were evident in both the bees' behavior and in their internal clocks. These findings indicate that social environment has a significant effect on the physiology and behavior of animals. In people, disturbances to the biological clock are known to cause problems for shift workers and new parents and for contributing to mood disorders.
 Circadian rhythm, the body's "internal clock," regulates daily functions. A few "clock genes" control many actions, including the time of sleeping, eating and drinking, temperature regulation, and hormone fluctuations. However, exactly how that clock is affected by - and affects - social interactions with other animals is unknown.
 Senior author Guy Bloch, PhD, and his colleagues from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, chose to study bees in part because of their complex social environment. One role in bee society is the "nurse": bees that are busy at all times caring for larvae. This continuous activity is different from other bees and animals, whose levels rise and fall throughout the day.
 Bloch and his team thought that changing the nurse bees' social environment might alter their activity levels, so they separated them from their larvae. The researchers found that the bees' cellular rhythms and behavior completely changed, matching a more typical circadian cycle.
 "Our findings show that circadian rhythms of honey bees are altered by signals from the brood that are transferred by close or direct contact," Bloch said. "This flexibility in the bees' clock is striking, given that humans and most other animals studied cannot sustain long periods of around-the-clock activity without deterioration in performance and an increase in disease."
 The results suggest that the bees' internal clocks were shaped by certain social cues. Jürgen Tautz, PhD, of the Julius-Maximilians Universität Würzburg in Germany, an expert in honey bee biology who was unaffiliated with the study, said it is a wonderful example of the tightly regulated interactions between genes and behavior in a bee colony. "The presence or absence of larvae switched the genes 'on' or 'off,' which guaranteed the adaptive behavior of the bees," Tautz said.
 Because bees and mammals' circadian clocks are similarly organized, the question is whether the clocks of other animals also strongly depend on their social environments. The next step is to find just how social exchanges influence gene expressions. Further research into this question may have implications for individuals who suffer from disturbances in their behavioral, sleeping, and waking cycles. Research into how these rhythms may be altered and even stabilized might identify new treatment options.
 The research was supported by the Israeli Science Foundation, the Israel-U.S. Binational Science Foundation, and the German Israel Foundation.

UC Davis Professor Norman Gary Appears on History Channel as "Human Bee Hive"

by Kathy Keatley Garvey
UC-Davis Dept. of Entomology
 
 DAVIS, CA.--When honey bee expert Norman Gary "suits up," don't expect a standard-issued bee suit.
 It's not an "ordinary" bee suit. And what he does is not "ordinary."
 Norman Gary, a retired University of California, Davis entomology professor, wears his bees-thousands of them.
 And that suits him just fine. To him, bees are not only a science (study of apiculture), but an adventure.
 Gary, 76, who retired in 1994 from UC Davis after a 32-year academic career, appeared Thursday, Sept. 16 on a History Channel show wearing 75,000 bees. The show was part of Stan Lee's "Super Humans."
 Host-presenter Daniel Browning Smith has billed him as "the human bee hive" and explored bee behavior and the science behind the bees.
 A crew from England filmed Gary in mid-May at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, at Rick Schubert's Bee Happy Apiaries in Vacaville-Winters and then in a UC Davis open field where the 75,000 bees clustered his entire body.
 "That's about 20 pounds, depending upon how much honey or sugar syrup they have consumed," Gary said.  "A hungry bee weighs approximately 90 mg and within a minute of active ingestion she can increase her weight to 150 mgs!"
 Norman Gary knows bees. And he knows their behavior. As a beekeeper, he's kept bees for 62 years and as a researcher, he's studied them for more than three decades. He's published more 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and four book chapters.
 But he is also a bee wrangler. He trains bees to perform action scenes in movies, television shows and commercials. His credits over the last 35 years include 18 films, including "Fried Green Tomatoes"; more than 70 television shows, including the Johnny Carson and Jay Leno shows; six commercials, and hundreds of live Thriller Bee Shows in the Western states.
 Gary estimates he has performed the bee cluster stunt at least 500 times over the past 35 years. He remembers 54 performances at the California State Fair alone.
 The History Channel episode may be his last professionally staged bee-cluster stunt, he said. However, he will continue to serve as a bee consultant to video producers and has just written a beginning beekeeping book, "The Honey Bee Hobbyist," to be published in early December by Bow Tie Press.
 "Bees are trainable, if you ask them to perform behaviors that are in their natural behavioral repertoire," Gary said.
 For the shoot, Gary borrowed New World Carniolan bees from Schubert, whose bee stock originated with bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the Laidlaw facility.  "Bees are not inclined to sting if they are well fed-happy and content-and are ‘under the influence' of powerful synthetic queen bee odors-pheromones-which tend to pacify them," Gary said.
 Bees are attracted to pheromones and they cluster on drops of pheromones he places on himself.  While at UC Davis, he formulated a pheromone solution that is very effective in controlling bee behavior.
 "Bees wrangled by this procedure have no inclination to sting," he said.  "Stinging behavior occurs naturally near the hive in defense of the entire colony not for the individual bee, because it dies within hours after stinging.  Using this approach I have had as many as a million bees clustered on six people simultaneously "
 Gary once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with his patented artificial nectar. He holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt.
"Most people fear bees," Gary acknowledged. "They think bees ‘want' to sting them. Wrong!  They sting only when the nest or colony is attacked or disturbed or when they are trapped in a physical situation where they are crushed."
 Sometimes, with the heavy weight of the bees on his body, he'll receive one or two stings per cluster stunt. Sometimes none.
 Gary, who began hobby beekeeping at age 15 in Florida, went on to earn a doctorate in apiculture at Cornell University in 1959. During his career, he has worn many hats, including hobby beekeeper, commercial beekeeper, deputy apiary inspector in New York, honey bee research scientist and entomology professor, and adult beekeeping education teacher, and author.
 Known internationally for his bee research, Gary was the first to document reproductive behavior of honey bees on film and the first to discover queen bee sex attractant pheromones. He invented a magnetic retrieval capture/recapture system for studying the foraging activities of bees, documenting the distribution and flight range in the field. His other studies revolved around honey bee pollination of agricultural crops, stinging and defensive behavior, and the effects of pesticides on foraging activities, among dozens of others.
 Today his life centers around music and bees. He has played music professionally for more than 50 years and for nine years has led a Dixieland band, appropriately known as the Beez Kneez Jazz Band, recording two CDs.  He has performed more than 30 years in the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, the world's largest jazz festival.
 His instruments include the "B-flat clarinet," which he plays when he's covered with bees.
 "I'm still very active in bees and music," Gary said. "It's a good life."

Genius Award to U of MN Bee Lab's Marla Spivak

Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota Bee Researcher
Is a Recipient Out of the blue-$500,000-No strings

 CHICAGO (September 28, 2010) Marla Spivak, who leads the University of Minnesota's Bee Lab, has been named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow - known as the Genius Awards.  Dr. Spivak is working to protect one of the world's most important pollinators-the honey bee-from decimation by disease.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2010. Working across a broad spectrum of endeavors, the Fellows include a stone carver, a quantum astrophysicist, a jazz pianist, a high school physics teacher, a marine biologist, a theater director, an American historian, a fiction writer, an economist, and a computer security scientist. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.
The recipients just learned, through a phone call out of the blue from the Foundation, that they will each receive $500,000 in "no strings attached" support over the next five years.  MacArthur Fellowships come without stipulations and reporting requirements and offer Fellows unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create, and explore. The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscore

Newsnotes -October 2010

Senate Trade Leaders
Propose Legislation to Combat Evasion of
U.S. Trade Laws

Gives the U.S. Department of Commerce New Tools to Enforce Trade Remedy Laws;
Provides More Accountability for U.S. Producers

 Washington, D.C. - In an effort to make it more difficult for foreign exporters to circumvent U.S. trade laws, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R- Maine) introduced a major legislative initiative Aug. 5, 2010 that will give the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) both a mandate and additional tools to enforce U.S. trade remedy laws, specifically those related to anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD).
 Exporters from developing countries like China have been known to mislabel shipments and reroute goods through third-party countries in an effort to fool customs officials and circumvent U.S. laws designed to promote free and fair trade. The surging number of imports from these countries is making it harder and harder for customs officials to identify cheaters and enforce laws. The Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention and Evasion (ENFORCE) Act will expand DoC's powers, and require a uniform, rapid-response to allegations of evasion of U.S. trade laws by the DoC and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
 "The ENFORCE Act would dramatically improve the enforcement of U.S. trade laws designed to create a level playing field for U.S. producers," said Wyden, who chairs the International Trade Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Finance. He added, "If the government is serious about helping American businesses grow and create jobs, it must ensure that U.S. trade laws are enforced and duties are paid. The ENFORCE Act is going to unleash the resources of the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate evasion of U.S. trade laws and ensure that the correct trade remedy duties are applied at the border."
 "Most companies play by the rules, but when certain unscrupulous foreign exporters invent schemes to avoid paying duties it puts American workers at a disadvantage and bilks our government out of millions of dollars in uncollected fees," said Snowe, a senior Member of the Senate Committee on Finance. "Our bill seeks to strengthen the process of investigation between Commerce and Customs to combat evasion and ensure we are enforcing the trade remedy statutes that are currently on the books."
 Currently, domestic producers may petition the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) to investigate imports that are believed to be sold at less than normal value (dumped) or unfairly benefit from government subsidies. If the U.S. government finds that these imports are dumped or subsidized to a degree that causes harm to U.S. producers, the DoC applies antidumping (AD) duties in the case of dumped imports, and countervailing duties (CVD) in the case of subsidized imports. AD/CVD "orders" are the primary means by which the U.S. combats unfair trade in merchandise. These trade "remedy" laws are only effective to the extent they are enforced, and importers are increasingly devising schemes to avoid paying AD/CV duties. Although the DoC initially imposes the AD/CV duties, it is currently unable to investigate whether importers are circumventing them.
 The Enforcing Orders and Reducing Circumvention and Evasion (ENFORCE) Act of 2010 is designed to combat the evasion of AD/CVD orders and enforce the trade remedy statutes that are currently on the books. The ENFORCE Act would do the following:

• Empower the DoC to investigate evasion of trade remedy laws. Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Customs) is empowered to investigate allegations of evasion and enforce AD/CVD orders. The broad scope of Customs' mission leads many to believe that is too slow in identifying and responding to AD/CVD evasion in a way that is helpful to domestic producers. Empowering the DoC to investigate the evasion of an AD/CVD order, which the DoC imposed in the first place, is a common-sense strategy to combat unfair trade practices. The ENFORCE Act would not diminish Customs' role; rather, it would bolster greater cooperation and information sharing between the two agencies to combat unfair trade practices that hurt U.S. manufacturing and employment.
• Establish a rapid-response timeline by which the DoC and Customs would respond to allegations of evasion. The ENFORCE Act would give the U.S. government 60 days, after an allegation of evasion is put forward, to determine whether there is a reasonable basis to believe an importer is evading an AD/CVD order. If an affirmative preliminary determination is made, the ENFORCE Act would require that AD/CV duties be collected in cash until the investigation is concluded.
• Improve the safety of imports. Many of the same schemes that importers employ to evade an AD/CVD order, like mislabeling, often shirk regimes the U.S. has in place to ensure that products are safe for consumption. The ENFORCE Act would authorize information sharing among the appropriate agencies when the government determines that an importer may be attempting to evade an AD/CVD order.

 The ENFORCE Act enjoys the support of various trade and industry groups including the American Honey Producers Association, the Coalition for Enforcement of Anti-dumping and Countervailing Duty Orders, and the Committee to Support U.S. Trade Law.

Accused Illegal Honey Launderer Pleads Guilty
in Lieu of Plea Agreement

 The United States District Court Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald announced Aug. 4, 2010 a plea agreement with defendant Huang Ta Fan and his attorney, James I. Marcus. "The information in this case charges defendant with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the United States, to wit: Entry of Goods into the United States by Means of False Statements, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 545, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 2."

Charge to Which Defendant is Pleading Guilty
 "By the Plea Agreement, defendant agrees to enter a voluntary plea of guilty to the information, which charges defendant with conspiring to enter and cause to be entered by means of false and fraudulent statements and documents, goods into the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 542 and 545, that is, 48 entries compromised of Chinese-origin honey falsely declared as Korean, Taiwanese, and Thai-origin honey having a total declared value upon entry into the United States of at least $1,681,163, thereby avoiding antidumping duties otherwise applicable to Chinese-origin honey of approximately $3,089,977; and 50 containers of Chinese-origin honey falsely declared as Indian-origin honey having a total declared value upon entry into the United States of at least $1,155,200, thereby avoiding antidumping duties otherwise applicable to Chinese-origin honey of approximately $2,288,393; together resulting in a total loss to the United States of approximately $5,378,370, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 2."
 As this was written, the court had not set a sentencing date for the defendant, Huang Ta Fan.

Artificial Bee Eye Gives Insight into Insects' Visual World

 Despite their tiny brains, bees have remarkable navigation capabilities based on their vision. Now scientists have recreated a light-weight imaging system mimicking a honey bee's field of view, which could change the way we build mobile robots and small flying vehicles.
 New research published in August, in IOP Publishing's Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, describes how the researchers from the Center of Excellence ‘Cognitive Interaction Technology' at Bielefeld University, Germany, have built an artificial bee eye, complete with fully functional camera, to shed light on the insects' complex sensing, processing and navigational skills.
 Consisting of a light-weight mirror-lens combination attached to a USB video camera, the artificial eye manages to achieve a field of vision comparable to that of a bee. In combining a curved reflective surface that is built into acrylic glass with lenses covering the frontal field, the bee eye camera has allowed the researchers to take unique images showing the world from an insect's viewpoint.
 In the future, the researchers hope to include UV to fully reflect a bee's color vision, which is important to honey bees for flower recognition and discrimination and also polarization vision, which bees use for orientation. They also hope to incorporate models of the subsequent neural processing stages.
 As the researchers write, "Despite the discussed limitations of our model of the spatial resolution of the honey bees compound eyes, we are confident that it is useful for many purposes, e.g. for the simulation of bee-like agents in virtual environments and, in combination with presented imaging system, for testing bee-inspired visual navigation strategies on mobile robots." (Courtesy Bioinspiration & Biomimetrics)

Beltsville Bee Lab Building To Be Renovated

 A construction contract for $12.4 million, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, has been signed to provide critical deferred maintenance to equip an historic laboratory building to do cutting-edge research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Beltsville, Md.
 BARC is operated by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and is one of the largest agricultural science centers in the world.
 The repairs will be done at BARC's Building 306, which was built in the 1930s to house research projects formerly conducted at USDA's Arlington Farm and subsequently moved to Beltsville to make way for the Pentagon. The building is a historic example of Georgian Revival architecture.
About 55 people, including 12 scientists, will move into Building 306 when the repairs are compete. This will include most of ARS' Environmental Management and Byproducts Utilization Laboratory as well as the Bee Research Laboratory, which is leading USDA's efforts to find the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, the condition causing the mysterious disappearance of honey bees.
 "With these repairs, Building 306 will be more environmentally efficient, and our research programs will be more effective in their renewed facilities," said BARC Director Joseph Spence.

Commercial Trap for Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets "Baited" with USDA Technology

Safe for Use Around Honey Bees

 Forget the ants marching one by one--yellowjackets are the real party-crashers when it comes to spoiling picnics, outdoor barbeques and other summer fun where cold beverages and meat are present.
 Fortunately, a new trap is available that lures these stinging, sugar-sipping pests to their doom, thanks to attractants developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and commercialized by Sterling International, Inc., of Spokane, Wash. The scientists work for USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
 Sold commercially as the RESCUE! W-H-Y Trap (Wasps, Hornets and Yellowjackets), the technology is the successful outcome of a cooperative research and development agreement involving Sterling and the ARS Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Wapato, Wash.
 In studies there, research leader Peter Landolt isolated two key compounds from fermented molasses to produce an attractant blend that lures not only yellowjackets, but also paper wasps and hornets. ARS holds patents on the attractant and has licensed it to Sterling.
 Yellowjackets and paper wasps become especially irksome during the spring and summer, when their foraging intersects with the outdoor activities of winter-weary humans. However, the insects are also considered agricultural pests. In orchards and vineyards, for example, their feeding damages cherries and grapes. They're also a danger to field workers, especially around harvest time.
 The blend Landolt developed and tested in collaboration with Sterling President Rod Schneidmiller and R&D Director Qing-He Zhang attracts 12 yellowjacket species, multiple paper wasp species (including Polistes dominulus from Europe) and two kinds of hornets, making it the most comprehensive lure yet.
 Sterling's W-H-Y trap is unique in its design, with two compartments. The bottom is baited with an attractant that primarily lures western and southern yellowjackets. The top uses a different attractant blend to lure other yellowjacket species, bald-faced hornets, European hornets and paper wasps.
 Once inside, the pests die by drowning or dehydration, depending on the compartment. Beneficial insects including honey bees are not attracted to the traps. W-H-Y traps are available to consumers at retail chains nationwide. (Courtesy ARS News Service)

Newsnotes - September 2010

MITE AWAY QUICK STRIPS

Sen. Schumer Urges Action on Transshipped Chinese Honey

‘HONEST HONEY’ CHANGES NAME TO ‘TRUE SOURCE HONEY TM’ TO CLARIFY GOAL OF PROTECTING U.S. HONEY CONSUMERS AND CUSTOMERS

Duty Circumvention a Threat to U.S. Honey Iindustry, Honey Supply Quality

Insulin Signaling Key to Caste Development in Bees

Honey as an Antibiotic: Scientists identify a Secret Ingredient in Honey that Kills Bacteria

Bees Help to Beat MRSA Bugs

New Pollen Trap Announced

Blending Art with Science at UC Davis Honey Bee Garden

Newsnotes - August 2010

Date Set for Grand Opening of Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis

DAVIS--The grand opening celebration of the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis, is set for Saturday, Sept. 11.
The event, initially slated for June 19, was rescheduled to allow the bee friendly garden to grow, said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology.
The public opening, expected to draw a large crowd, will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the site on Bee Biology Road, and will include speakers, honey tasting, hand-outs, children’s activities, and tours of the apiary, haven, and nearby Campus Buzzway, a field of wildflowers.
“We've delayed the Häagen-Dazs bee garden opening until Sept. 11 to give the plants more time to grow and fill out,” Kimsey said. The half-acre bee friendly garden, planted last fall next to the Laidlaw facility, 1 Bee Biology Road, is designed to be a year-around food source for bees and other pollinators, to raise public awareness about the plight of the honey bees and their importance, and to show what area residents can plant in their own gardens.
Kimsey expects it to be a “campus destination.”
Art created by students and the community in the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, founded and directed by UC Davis entomologist-artist Diane Ullman and artist Donna Billick, will be permanently displayed at the garden.  The entrance will feature two towering bee-hive sculptures, one sculpture painted to depict the work that bees do inside the hive and the other, the work outside the hive.
Another highlight is a large bee sculpture, being created by Billick for a pedestal beneath an almond tree.
A Sausalito-based team created a series of interconnected gardens with such names as “Honeycomb Hideout,” “Nectar Nook,” “Pollinator Patch” and “My Backyard” to win the international bee-friendly garden design competition, a gift to UC Davis from the Häagen-Dazs. The design is the work of landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki.
Among the other features: a “Learning Center” “Save the Bees Sanctuary,” “Round Dance Circle” and “Waggle Dance Way.”
The bee haven design can be downloaded at http://beebiology.ucdavis.edu/
HAVEN/honeybeehaven.html. 
More details on the opening will be forthcoming, Kimsey said.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
kegarvey@ucdavis.edu
http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/home.cfm


Langstroth Graduate Fellowship in Entomology Endowed with $250,000 Gift

University Park, Pa. -- Penn State has received a $250,000 gift to endow a graduate fellowship in entomology in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
At the request of the donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, the endowment will be named the Lorenzo L. Langstroth Graduate Fellowship in Entomology, in honor of the 19th century apiarist widely considered to be the "father of American beekeeping."
Income from the endowment will be used to recruit and retain outstanding graduate students pursuing an entomology degree, with first preference given to students conducting research related to honey bees.
One of the most pressing problems facing researchers is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon in which the majority of adult honey bees of a hive disappear, often spelling death for the colony. Still not fully understood, CCD in the last four years has affected honey bee colonies all across the nation, with losses ranging from 30 percent to near 100 percent in apiaries with CCD symptoms.
Penn State researchers, including Diana Cox-Foster, professor of entomology and a member of the University's Center for Pollinator Research, have been investigating why CCD happens while at the same time working on ways to strengthen the pollinator population.
"We are really grateful for this new graduate fellowship in entomology," she said, "which will make a huge difference in our ability to train future researchers to help improve the health of honey bees and other essential pollinators."
The Rev. Lorenzo L. Langstroth was a Philadelphia-born apiarist, clergyman and teacher who in 1851 revolutionized the beekeeping industry in the United States with the invention of a new beehive. His top-opened, movable-frame structure effectively used what he called "bee space" and allowed the beekeeper to easily inspect and manage the hive in a way that previously had not been possible without disturbing the bees and their home. The "Langstroth Hive" continues to be the standard used by beekeepers all over the United States.
He also published several books on practical hive management, beginning with "Langstroth's Hive and The Honey-bee, The Classic Beekeeper's Manual" in 1853, which is still in print.
Langstroth's lifelong observations, numerous discoveries and further inventions helped to turn beekeeping into a large-scale, cost-effective and sustainable industry. The fellowship is being created to honor his 200th birthday.

A'ndrea Elyse Messer, Ph.D.
Sr. Science & Research Information Officer
Research Communications
University Relations
Penn State
814-865-9481 (office)
814-883-8807 (cell)
aem1@psu.edu


USDA Begins National Survey of Honey Bee Pests and Diseases

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2010 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the beginning of a 13-state survey of honey bee pests and diseases conducted cooperatively by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Pennsylvania State University (PSU). The survey will help USDA scientists to determine the prevalence of parasites and disease-causing microorganisms that may be contributing to the decline of honey bee colonies nationwide.
"Bee health is critical for the success of pollination-based agriculture, which produces about a third of our diet in the United States," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "There has been a disturbing drop in the number of U.S. bee colonies over the last few years while the demand for commercial bee pollination services continues to grow, and this survey will help us to better understand the factors threatening our honey bees so we can take effective action to protect them and the crops that they pollinate."
The voluntary survey includes 350 apiaries across 13 states and will last through the end of the year. APHIS developed the survey protocol jointly with ARS and PSU and allocated $550,000, provided by Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill, for the survey. Survey kits have been mailed to state apiary specialists, who will collect samples of bees and debris from the apiaries in their states. ARS and PSU scientists will test the samples for specific pests and pathogens. APHIS is particularly interested to know whether foreign mites of the genus Tropilaelaps have entered the United States.
The survey will take place in Alabama, California, Georgia, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. Once all the samples have been analyzed, APHIS will summarize the results and post the summary on its Web site.
Beekeeping is an essential component of modern U.S. agriculture, providing pollination services for more than 90 commercial crops and adding $15 billion in value. Since the 1980s, however, a number of factors have contributed to the declining health of U.S. honey bee colonies. These include the introduction of several honey bee pests into the United States, such as the small hive beetle, which can damage honey comb, stored honey and pollen, as well as deadly bee parasites such as the Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi) and single-celled gut parasite Nosema ceranae. Honey bees also face a number of newly introduced diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi.
In addition, beekeepers began to report in 2006 a new threat to honey bee health that scientists have named colony collapse disorder (CCD). In colonies exhibiting CCD, adult bees leave the hive and never return, abandoning the queen and eggs. APHIS, ARS, USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture and a number of other organizations have formed a CCD working group, which is researching the possible causal agent(s) of CCD. The survey results will provide valuable information in this effort.
For more information about the survey, please visit the APHIS Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/honey_bees/survey.shtml


Bee Photo Competition

Become part of a Global Bee Education Resource

With the continuing success of the Vita Gallery, a free photo gallery for beekeepers, honeybee health company Vita (Europe) Ltd is launching a photography competition. Anyone can submit up to three photos relating to bees or beekeeping to try to win a cash prize, while at the same time contributing to the enormously popular Gallery (www.vita-europe.com) which is benefitting beekeepers across the globe.
Since its launch last September, the Vita Gallery - which contains more than 300 images of bees and beekeeping - has received huge interest from beekeepers across the globe.
“The Gallery has users from more than 600 beekeepers in 40 countries and we’ve been delighted by the spontaneous feedback from may of them,” said Jeremy Owen, sales director of Vita (Europe) Ltd. “We knew that many beekeepers needed images to accompany their talks on bees and beekeeping – but we never quite realized just how many people give such talks. The Vita Gallery is turning into an important educational tool and we therefore want to expand it by inviting anyone to contribute their best bee-related photos.”
The winner of the competition will receive a 50 euro cash prize, plus Vita anti-varroa products for 10 colonies. There is also a special prize for the winner of the under 16 category.
The deadline for entries to the competition is 1 December 2010, allowing plenty of time for people to take some photos this season, or select ones from their collection.

How To Enter
To enter the competition, just email up to three digital photographs (no larger than 1mb each) relating to bees or beekeeping to vitagallery@vita-europe.com. The theme is broad, with current photographs in the gallery ranging from vintage beekeeping equipment to shots of active colonies and foraging bees.
Please include your name, postcode (or equivalent) and country in your email. You may also include captions for your photographs if you wish. Please state if you are under 16 and eligible for the Young Person’s Prize.

Terms and Conditions
The deadline for entries to the competition is 1 December 2010.
Entrants must certify that the image/s they are submitting is their own work and that they own the copyright for it. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that any images they submit have been taken with the permission of the subject and do not infringe the copyright of any third party or any laws. In providing images for the competition, each entrant agrees that Vita can put it in the online Vita Gallery for others to use.


Saving the Bees Through Art

Saving the Bees—
One Art Piece At A Time

DAVIS--They are artists with a honey of a heart—a honey of a heart for the plight of honey bees.
Artists showing their work at the recent “Bees at The Bee” art show in Sacramento donated a total of $900 from gross sales of $1560 to honey bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis.
“The art work was peered at, pored over, perused, examined, appreciated, loved and admired by hundreds of eyes on Saturday,” said Sacramento artist and art show coordinator Laurelin Gilmore who thought of the bee-themed show as a way to help honey bee research and boost awareness of the declining bee population ravaged by colony collapse disorder (CCD).
“We were applauded and congratulated on every aspect of this little event, and I for one am bursting with pride for having been any part of it.” The event, sponsored by the Sacramento Bee, drew hundreds of visitors to The Bee’s open courtyard.
“This was a marvelous event, altogether educational and entertaining, greatly benefiting honey bees and our bee research program at UC Davis,” said Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Laurelin did a terrific job planning the event, with the support the Sacramento Bee, to support the bees.”
Gilmore invited artists from within a 12-county area to submit their work. Some 60 artists submitted a variety of work, including acrylic paintings, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, metal and paper sculptures, photographs, fused glass plates, pendants, a fleece blanket, crocheted multimedia, collages, monoprint-woodcut, neckpiece, individually painted CDs, and a scrimshaw engraving on a mammoth ivory.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale went to UC Davis honey bee research. Artists grossed $1560, of which $900 “is going directly to the UC Davis bee research,” Gilmore said. Gilmore praised the artists for their “willingness and eagerness to participate in making my little idea grow so tall.”
“The plight of the honey bees is filtered through each artist in a different way, and the results run the gamut from funny to beautiful to profound,” she said. The “Bees at The Bee” also included live music, refreshments, and educational information about bees. Scoopy, The Bee’s mascot, handed out chocolate bees.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, displayed a bee observation hive and answered questions about bees, including CCD, the mysterious malady in which adult bees abandon the hive, leaving behind the queen bee, brood and food stores. Honey bees pollinate a third of the food we eat, he said.
Mussen also handed out free samples of Honey Lovers, a new line of candy (fruit chews) by Gimbal’s Fine Candies, San Francisco. Gimbal’s is donating 5 percent of the proceeds from the sale of its Honey Lovers for UC Davis research. Other handouts were from Burt’s Bees, Häagen-Dazs and the Partners for Sustainable Pollination.
The Bohart Museum of Entomology displayed “Save the Bees” T-shirts and other gift items. The Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association offered honey and other items. Artists from the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, founded and directed by entomologist-artist Diane Ullman and artist Donna Billick, showed art work that will be permanently installed at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis.
Plans are under way for the grand opening on Sept. 11 of the garden, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Bee Biology Road. The garden, a year-around food source for honey bees and other pollinators and an educational experience for visitors, was planted last fall. Featuring a series of interconnected gardens with such names as “Honeycomb Hideout,” “Nectar Nook” and “Pollinator Patch,” it is the design of a Sausalito team: landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki.
At the haven, visitors can glean information about the plight of the honey bee, what plants attract pollinators, and what to plant in their own gardens. The haven is a "bee friendly farm" as designated by the Partners for Sustainable Pollination, directed by Kathy Kellison and headquarted in Santa Rosa. Penny Stockdale of UC Davis is organizing the grand opening of the garden, which will include speakers, apiary and garden tours, children’s activities, and educational information.

Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications Specialist
Department of Entomology
396A Briggs Hall
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
kegarvey@ucdavis.edu


North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue Harvests the First “Executive Honey”

RALEIGH, NC — June 22, 2010, Gov. Bev Perdue suited up in beekeeper attire and approached a job perhaps no other North Carolina governor has tackled – pulling honeycombs from beehives with thousands of honey bees buzzing nearby.
“That’s a lot of honey!” Gov. Perdue exclaimed, as she removed a narrow honeycomb literally dripping gold.
The two beehives sitting on the north lawn of the executive mansion in Raleigh were installed late last year, after grounds supervisor Gerald Adams decided to explore the benefits of having bees to pollinate the gardens on the grounds. Adams, who oversees production of a number of crops used by the first family and donated to local area food banks, has already seen a dramatic difference.
“Apple trees that have never had more than a handful of apples on them now show 50 or 60 or more,” he said. “The pollination benefits of the bees have been clear already within the first six months of having the hives.”
The honey bees, which may fly up to a 2-mile radius around the hive every day, were sprayed with non-harmful smoke to subdue them; then the governor assisted Danny and Mary Jaynes as they removed the frames of honeycombs from the hives. Danny Jaynes is the president of the Wake County Beekeepers Association and has mentored Adams during his introduction to beekeeping.
“The honey bee is not only North Carolina’s state insect, but also a crucial player in North Carolina agriculture. Their role in pollinating our crops is essential, and often overlooked by people who don’t know the important part they play,” said Gov. Perdue. “Having the bees here on the mansion grounds not only gives us a chance to boost our own fruit and vegetable production, but also serves as an education tool for the school groups and tours who visit the mansion regularly.”
So just how much honey did the group harvest? According to the Jaynes, nearly 12 gallons, or some 150 pounds. The honey, which was inspected and deemed “Grade A,” will be bottled and used at the mansion, given as gifts from the governor and first gentleman, and donated to local food banks. (Press release courtesy of Alana Allen, Press Office, Office of the Governor)


George Washington Mount Vernon Campus is Home Sweet Home for Four Hives

Donated by Local Cooperative, Beehives Promote Urban
Agriculture and Importance of
Pollinators During 4th Annual National Pollinator Week,
June 21-27, 2010

WASHINGTON – The George Washington (GW) University’s Mount Vernon Campus has 120,000 new residents – four hives of Italian honey bees, just in time to celebrate National Pollinator Week. According to the Pollinator Partnership’s (P2) North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC), bees are vital to the ecosystem of urban areas and provide important habitats for many bee species.
 Donated by local beekeeping cooperative Sweet Virginia, the bees’ journey to GW began this spring when junior Melissa Eddison, inspired in part by the installation of beehives at the White House, drafted a proposal to establish hives on campus. The initiative is part of an effort to promote sustainable food and gardening spearheaded by GW student organization Food Justice Alliance.
“It’s a great educational opportunity for GW,” said Ms. Eddison, who plans a career in international sustainable agriculture.
GW alumna Amanda Jo Formica, B.A. ’10, is former founder and past president of Food Justice Alliance and will serve as one of two beekeepers for the hives this summer. “The bees—and their ability to pollinate thousands of plants every day—will result in bigger and brighter plants and flowers on campus and in the surrounding neighborhood. We are extremely fortunate to be able to work with Sweet Virginia and have their volunteers serve as mentors for our new beekeepers.”
Sweet Virginia is a nonprofit organization located in Manassas, Va., composed of volunteer beekeepers that harvest, process (drain the beeswax bits), bottle, package and donate Northern Virginia wildflower honey. Sweet Virginia co-founder Dan Price’s desire to bring beehives into urban areas and to expose students to the practice of keeping bees prompted him to donate the hives to the university. GW plans to offer beekeeping workshops for the University community in the future.
Taking care of the bees on campus will typically require 10 to 15 minutes each day. Duties will include monitoring the bees, catching and hiving swarms, and looking for diseases or other problems. Each beehive measures about 2.5 feet wide, 3 feet high and houses approximately 30,000 bees.
“The hives are a wonderful way to honor the University’s namesake,” said Paula Lawley, GW assistant vice president for online strategy and experience, amateur beekeeper, and Sweet Virginia board member. ”George Washington kept bees at his Mount Vernon Estate and noted that his favorite breakfast, even when traveling, was cornmeal cakes with honey.” (Courtesy The George Washington University)


Harry Fulton Retires

Mr. Harry Fulton, “Harry” as he was known in his almost 40 years of service to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry has retired. Most significantly for the Apiculture Industry, Harry has been actively and progressively involved in State, National and International issues to the beekeeping industry all of this time. Harry is a beekeeper so he knows beekeeping and all levels of the industry from backyard beekeepers to commercial beekeepers with thousands of colonies.
He has served on the National Honey Board as a member and on the National Honey Board nomination committee. He has been the Secretary/Treasurer of the Mississippi Beekeepers Association since 1975 and written and published a newletter “Bee News and Views” that has a readership well beyond Mississippi.
Harry served as president of the Apiary Inspectors of America twice, in 1978 and 2005. He developed a State Action Plan for dealing with future introductions of African Honey bees into Mississippi. This is only in his helping keep the beekeeping industry healthy, vital and active. His many other duties as state entomologist included plant pest programs, cooperative Agricultural Pest Surveys, pesticide usage and permitting, president of The Mississippi Entomological Society (1994), establishing the Mississippi Mosquito and Vector Control Association (1990), Southern Plant Board Positions and National Plant Board positions. Additional work included activities that helped farmers, commodity groups, advisory committees, various governing boards and stakholders throughout his years of service.
As you can see, Mr. Harry Fulton is going to be missed because he did so much. Replacing 40 years of experience, expertise and trust takes time. We will miss Harry as a leader, mentor and friend. (Courtesy of Jerry Hayes)

Obituary - Willy Baumgartner

The beekeeping industry has lost one of its greatest supporters. Willy Baumgartner, founder of Medivet Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and developer of the improved Fumagilin-B medicine for honey bees, died May 18 after a lengthy illness. Willy was 82 years old. Willy Baumgartner was a Swiss-educated chemist who immigrated into Canada when he was in his twenties. After a successful career in Ontario with a pharmaceutical company, Willy moved west to Calgary in 1980.  He established Medivet - an enterprise making a variety of veterinary medicines mostly for cattle and horses. Soon his High River, Alberta, company began to specialize in pharmaceuticals for honey bees.
Until age 50, Willy didn't know about bees or beekeepers. But his veterinary supply business was getting requests for better medicines for honey bees. Like most people, back in 1980, Willy had no idea that honey bees could get sick and would need pharmaceuticals. While he was supplying medicine for horses, beekeepers started to ask for the same medicines for their bees. As a careful pharmacist, he knew that beekeepers shouldn't be dumping horse medicine into their bee hives. But, at that time, Willy didn't know the habits of beekeepers. As he found out, we can be pretty sloppy. So, Willy tested the materials, figured out the right dosage for a colony of bees and found a way to keep the medicines active at different temperatures and in different qualities of water. And Willy taught and encouraged beekeepers to treat bee medicines... like medicines. Willy said, “A small mistake with any drug can harm bees and the entire beekeeping industry. Too little or too much medicine can cause disease resistance, kill bees, or worse, contaminate honey.  A lot of our work has involved getting dosage and delivery systems right for the beekeeper."
One of his first achievements was improving oxytetracyclines so they would maintain their efficacy in the rather alkali water common on the western prairies. He worked out dosages, reminding beekeepers that "a hivetool is not a measuring device."   Willy Baumgartner's greatest pharmaceutical accomplishment was improving the delivery of fumagillin products for honey bees. Developed by Abbott Laboratories researchers in the early 1950s as a medicine for people, it was found to be more effective as a honey bee treatment against nosema.  But the material clumped in water, wasn't stable for long, and was difficult to deliver to honey bees in the right dosage. Willy solved these issues, creating Fumagilin-B and making it available at an affordable price to beekeepers. The medicine is the only effective treatment against nosema, which has been widely implicated as a leading cause of colony collapse disorder. It can be said that Willy's work has saved the lives of hundreds of millions of honey bees around the world.
He and Ursula - his wife and business partner - enjoyed  traveling to dozens of beekeeping gatherings: the local Calgary Beekeepers' Club, provincial meetings across Canada, international meetings in the USA and farther afield. They were regulars at Apimondia meetings and were major supporters of Vancouver's Apimondia 99. In 2007 he received an achievement award from the Alberta Beekeepers Association; and,  in 2009 he became an honorary member of the Alberta Honey Producers Co-op.
Adony Melathopoulos, of the Beaverlodge Research Farm, says, "There was no better supporter of beekeeping research in Canada than Willy Baumgartner's Medivet Company." His business donated tens of thousands of dollars to research - all without any expectations or restrictions.
A tireless innovator, he developed machines and methods to safely distribute oxalic acid into hives to fight mites, regimes for safe tetracycline and fumagillin treatments, and procedures for proper pharmaceutical use in beehives. But he also strongly believed that beekeepers need more than antibiotics, acaricides, and fumagillin products to be successful. At every opportunity, he promoted integrated management approaches to beekeeping. Willy especially advised beekeepers to reduce stress in their beehives by keeping strong, well-provisioned colonies with young queens in well-situated apiaries. Willy said he would be happiest if his business could close because that would mean all bee diseases were cured.
Willy Baumgartner was a warm and generous person; a friend to all who knew him.  He was a keen traveler, champion Jass player, skier, shooter, amateur actor, and great supporter of the Swiss cultural Society.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. (Courtesy of Ron Miksa, Calgary)


Obituary - Charles Parker

Charles “Charlie-Bee” died May 26, 2010. He was 64.
Charlie was founder, owner and operator of Charlie-Bee Honey, Parker Bee Apiaries Ltd. for 40 years. His dedication to his work began at the early age of 13, with one bee hive. This hobby later flourished with the help of his wife Ruth, family and devoted staff to what now is the largest beekeeping operation in Ontario.


Florida Beekeeper Charged in Thefts

By Kristin Chambers
Reprinted courtesy of the Palatka Daily News
CRESCENT CITY, FL- The owner of a Crescent City honey farm was arrested in June after authorities say he stole bee hives, honey and honey-making equipment from businesses in St. Johns County.
Ruben Josey, owner of Josey's Honey Farm and vice president of the Beekeepers of Putnam County, was charged with two counts of dealing in stolen property after 48 beehives and related goods were located.
According to a report from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, the hives were reported stolen in December and January.
Other hives and stolen property from Putnam and neighboring counties may also be involved, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, a spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The state Department of Agriculture is heading the investigation.
Nancy Gentry, a Putnam County beekeeper, honey producer and member of the Beekeepers of Putnam County, said she and other local beekeepers, have been trying to gather information due to rising suspicions.
"We are pleased to see Mr. Josey has been arrested," she said. "The number of beekeepers that have been affected ... increase every day. There was a considerable amount of honey discovered still in the honey boxes and it looks as though those were stolen from beekeepers in Georgia, so this just keeps getting bigger and bigger."
Each hive contains registration numbers that are listed with the state.
Gentry said she and others had searched the back roads of the Crescent City area on Tuesday looking for evidence after they became suspicious of Josey.
"Beekeepers are tenacious when they find out there is a corrupt beekeeper," she said. "It is a hard business and you have to help each other."
Josey, 45, was elected the vice president of the Beekeepers of Putnam County when Gentry formed the organization in January 2008.
"He purported himself to be a beekeeper of longtime standing and he was elected," Gentry said.
"We came to find out most of it was lies," she said. "But as evidence began mounting against him I think he was beginning to find out people were on his trail."
Josey has been removed from the Putnam organization and a sister beekeeping organization he joined in Flagler County, Gentry said.
Josey is being held at the Putnam County Jail on a bond of $50,000.
Sgt. Chuck Mulligan, spokesman for the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said Josey could be transferred to St. Johns County for charges he faces there, but a decision will be made by the State Attorney's Office once an arraignment location is set.


Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees

Storey’s Guide to Raising Series, with over 1.7 million copies in print, is recognized as the most trusted source of animal husbandry information. Now we are applying that same thorough approach to the world of the honey bee. And the timing couldn’t be better. Bees are vital to our existence, as they pollinate the plants that provide our food. Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees releases in August.
Because of the plight of bees, many cities are starting to allow beekeeping. A beehive is visible for the first time ever on the South Lawn at the White House, as well as in two parks, in the National Arboretum, and on the roof of the Fairmont Hotel, all in Washington D.C. There are honey co-ops and rooftop hives in Chicago, including on the green of City Hall! Urban blogs and websites abound, from Kirk’s Urban Bees (kirksurbanbees.com) in Los Angeles to the Urban Apiary (urbanbees.blogspot.com) in Atlanta to City Bees (citybees.blogspot.
com) in Washington, DC.
Storey’s Guide to Keeping Honey Bees is an invaluable resource for beginners, detailing practices to ensure success of their first hives. The book outlines time, financial, and legal restrictions to consider before getting into beekeeping, and everything from safety and housing equipment, to honey collection techniques. The guide delves into specifics for the advanced beekeeper who needs to know all they can about diseases, optimizing crop pollination, requeening the colony, and more.
Author Dr. Malcolm Sanford is one of the most recognized writers on beekeeping in the United States. He has been published in Bee Culture and American Bee Journal and is Coordinator of the Apis Information Resource Center, author of The Apis Newsletter, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida. He has been a beekeeping management consultant in Egypt, Italy, France, Chile, Ecuador, Iraq, and Mexico, and he lives in

Newsnotes - July 2010

Microbial Team May be Culprit in Colony  Collapse Disorder

SAN DIEGO, CA - May 25, 2010 -- New research from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified a new potential cause for "Colony Collapse Disorder" in honey bees. A group of pathogens including a fungus and family of viruses may be working together to cause the decline. Scientists reported their results in May at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.
"There might be a synergism between two very different pathogens," says Jay Evans of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, a researcher on the study. "When they show up together there is a significant correlation with colony decline."
Beginning in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. Although colony losses are not unexpected during winter weather, the magnitude of loss suffered by some beekeepers was highly unusual.
"Domesticated honey bees face numerous pests and pathogens, tempting hypotheses that colony collapses arise from exposure to new or resurgent pathogens," says Evans.
To better understand the cause of these collapses, in early 2007 Evans and his colleagues collected bees from both healthy and declining colonies across the country, but primarily from California and Florida where most of the commercial pollination activity takes place. They have screened these samples and similar samples from each year since then for both known and novel pathogens.
They found a slightly higher incidence of a fungal pathogen known as Nosema ceranae in sick colonies, but it was not statistically significant until they began pairing it with other pathogens.
"Levels of the fungus were slightly higher in sick colonies, but the presence of that fungus and 2 or 3 RNA viruses from the family Dicistroviridae is a pretty strong predictor of collapse," says Evans.
Nosema is transferred between bees via the fecal-oral route. When a bee initially ingests the microbes and they get to the mid-gut, they harpoon themselves into the gut wall and live inside the epithelial cells there. Evans believes that the slightly higher numbers of the fungus somehow compromise the gut wall and allow the viruses to overwhelm the bees. In colonies with higher Nosema numbers they found virus levels to be 2-3 times greater than healthy colonies.
While this is a working theory and they are still in the discovery phase looking for new pathogens, Evans and his colleagues are also actively looking for a way to boost bee defenses against Nosema.
"A way to protect against Nosema might be the key for now," says Evans.
A live interview with Jay Evans was web
cast May 25, 2010, over the ASM Live uStream channel (http://www.ustream.tv/
channel/asm-live).

Small Hive Beetle Found In Hawaii

(Hawaii Dept. of AgricultureNews Release)

HONOLULU - The Hawai`i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has confirmed the presence of another serious bee pest, the Small Hive Beetle (SHB), in hives located near Hilo. The discovery of this new pest, in addition to the already established varroa mite, imperils the queen bee export and honey industry in Hawai`i.   In response to this detection, the department has invoked the Incident Command System to coordinate and manage rapid response efforts.  It is not known how the SHB arrived in Hawai`i.
On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, a beekeeper on a Pana`ewa farm contacted HDOA's entomologist in Hilo about beetles he found in the hives on the farm.   The entomologist collected four beetles and together with HDOA entomologists in Honolulu made a preliminary identification.  Samples of the beetles were confirmed as SHB on Friday, April 30, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Identification Service in Riverdale, MD.
Staff from HDOA's Plant Pest Control and Plant Quarantine branches has already begun conducting surveys in the Hilo area.  So far, adult and larval stages of SHB have been found at two sites.  Surveys in West Hawai`i, where the majority of the queen bee operations are located will begin today.  Staff from O`ahu and Kaua`i has been dispatched to assist Hawai`i Island staff in this labor-intensive activity to determine the extent of the infestation. Two teams will be working in the Hilo area and one team in West Hawai`i.  HDOA is utilizing the Incident Command System, which is widely used for other emergency responses, to manage this pest emergency. 
"The Small Hive Beetle will be difficult to eradicate and control because it also feeds on various decaying fruits which are abundant in the wild," said Neil Reimer, manager of the Plant Pest Control Branch.   "We are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a queen bee certification procedure that would allow for the continued export of clean queen bees to foreign and domestic areas."
HDOA staff is working with counterparts on the mainland to develop most effective treatment strategies that may control SHB.
SHB (Aethina tumida) adults are about four to five millimeters in length and are yellowish-brown in color, turning brownish, then to black as it matures. They feed on honey, pollen, wax, honey bee eggs and larvae and tunnel through the honeycomb, damaging or destroying the honeycomb and contaminating the honey. Symptoms of SHB infestation include discolored honey, an odor of decaying oranges, and fermentation and frothiness in the honey. Heavy infestations may cause honey bee colonies to abandon hives.
SHB is native to South Africa and was first detected in the U.S in 1996 in South Carolina.  It was subsequently detected in Florida in 1998 and is currently found in many states in the South and Central areas of the U.S. and California.  Although found in the U.S., SHB is under international regulation for export of queen bees and it is a concern that some foreign countries may impose restrictions on the importation of queen bees from Hawai`i.
Varroa mites were first found on O`ahu in April 2007, and later in Hilo in August 2008 and Kona in October 2009.  To date, varroa mites have not been detected on Kaua`i or in Maui County.
HDOA is asking residents to report any backyard or feral bee hives to the State's toll-free Pest Hotline, 643-PEST (7378).

'Honest Honey' Launched to Protect U.S. Honey Consumers and Customers

Duty circumvention a threat to U.S. honey industry, honey supply quality

WASHINGTON, May 6, 2010 - Four North American honey marketing companies and importers - Golden Heritage Foods, LLC, Burleson's Inc., Odem International, and Dutch Gold Honey - today launched the Honest Honey Initiative and pledged to help protect the quality and reputation of the U.S. honey supply, as well as the sustainability of U.S. beekeepers and honey businesses. The initiative seeks to call attention to illegal sales of honey in circumvention of U.S. trade laws, a practice that the organizers estimate cost the United States up to $200 million in uncollected duties in 2008 and 2009 combined and threatens a vital segment of U.S. agriculture.
The group unveiled a website, HonestHoney.com, an educational resource providing information about where honey comes from and ways consumers, honey companies, food manufacturers and retailers can take action to eliminate illegally imported honey. 
"When honey is imported illegally, no-one can be confident of its true source and quality. Some products are not 100% honey and have other quality issues," said Jill Clark of Dutch Gold Honey, Lancaster, Penn. "We're asking people who buy and love honey to find out more about how the honey they enjoy is sourced. By raising awareness of unfair trade practices and taking the Honest Honey pledge, we hope to protect consumers and manufacturers who use honey, and to preserve the fair honey trade."
While many Americans purchase packaged honey, an even broader population enjoys honey in such products as cereals, breads, cookies, crackers, breakfast bars, meats, salad dressings, barbeque sauces, mustards, beverages, ice creams, yogurts and candies.
"Pick an aisle at the grocery store and you'll probably find at least one honey product there," said Clark. "It's a product that is added because of its wholesome, pure quality and taste, which is all the more reason why this issue is important."
"I'm glad that efforts like Honest Honey are educating people, because the quality of honey does matter - it matters to consumers and it matters to our nation's bee industry," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a honey bee researcher at Pennsylvania State University. "Illegally imported adulterated honey simply adds yet another problem to an already hurting bee industry."
"We estimate that millions of pounds of Chinese honey continue to enter the U.S. from countries that do not have commercial honey businesses," said Clark. "For example, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Mongolia raise few bees and have no history of producing honey in commercial quantities, yet have recently exported large amounts of honey to the United States.
"Honey has earned a special place in people's hearts and minds as a wholesome, natural food.  We want to protect that reputation and quality," said Clark.
The Honest Honey Initiative is an effort by a number of honey companies and importers to call attention to the problem of illegally sourced honey; to encourage action to protect consumers and customers from these practices; and to highlight and support legal, transparent and ethical sourcing. The initiative seeks to help maintain the reputation of honey as a high-quality, highly valued food and further sustain the U.S. honey sector. Learn more at www.Honest
Honey.com.

National Honey Board Funds New Research Focusing on Honey Bee Health

Firestone, Colo. - The National Honey Board (NHB) will fund several new projects in 2010 related to a variety of bee colony health issues. Funding for the projects totals $95,137. The goal of the research is to help producers maintain colony health while assuring the maintenance of honey quality, with areas of interest being control of Varroa destructor, Acarapis woodi, Nosema ceranae, and small hive beetle; the investigation into the causes and controls of Colony Collapse Disorder; and honey bee nutrition, immunology, and longevity.

New projects approved for funding in 2010 include:
● "The costs of following the bloom - nutrient processing, microbial dynamics, and colony health in a migratory beekeeping operation (Jan. 2010- Dec. 2010)," Drs. Mark J. Carroll, Diana Sammataro, and Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffmann, USDA-ARS, Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ.
● "Dealing with Nosema ceranae - infection cycles and treatment needs and approaches," Richard Fell, Brenna Traver, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 
● "A long-term plan to improve honey bee genetics: formation of a tech transfer team," Marla Spivak, University of Minnesota.
● "Is it possible to obtain accurate nosema and mite counts from a single sample of bees from the entrance?" Randy Oliver.

The NHB also approved a contribution to Penn State University's Center for Pollinator Research to support the July, 2010 International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy.
The National Honey Board conducts research, advertising and promotion programs to help maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets for honey and honey products. These programs are funded by an assessment of one cent per pound on domestic and imported honey. The National Honey Board is an equal opportunity provider and employer. (National Honey Board News Release)

National Honey Board Provides Revamped Educational Tools for Children

Firestone, Colo., - The National Honey Board has revamped its educational materials for children, creating a fresh look and feel to excite children about using honey. The two brochures, one educational and one recipe-based, are available for free (in limited quantities) to interested members or associations in the honey industry.
The educational brochure, A Sweet Story: The Making of Honey, describes how honey is made and includes a game and a quick and simple recipe. This fun and light-hearted brochure is primarily geared toward children 9 to 12 years old, but is suitable for younger children as well.
The children's recipe brochure, From Honey Bees to Brain Freeze, is a kid's ultimate guide to cooking with honey. From snacks to dinner to dessert, this brochure provides plenty of easy-to-follow recipes that are delicious and fun to make.
If any honey industry member or association is interested in obtaining copies of these brochures, please email Andrea Brening at andrea@nhb.org, or call (303) 776-2337. For more information on the National Honey Board, please visit www.honey.com, follow us on Twitter (Twitter) or become a fan on Facebook (Facebook). (National Honey Board News Release)

Bee Art

Olga Barmina, a staff research associate at U.C. Davis, shows her glass-fused plate that was featured at the bee-themed art show on Saturday, May 8 in the Sacramento Bee's open courtyard. A portion of the proceeds will benefit honey bee research at U.C. Davis (Photo courtesy of Kathy Keatley Garvey, U.C. Davis, Dept. of Entomology)

Newsnotes - June 2010

West Virginia Passes Beekeeper Immunity Law

West Virginia has become the first state in the nation to pass a law giving beekeepers immunity from liability for ordinary negligence. This law came about as a result of strong support by the leadership of both the House and Senate. We are fortunate to have a State Senate President, Earl Ray Tomblin, whose father is a beekeeper. Additionally, House Speaker Richard Thompson was raised by a grandfather who was a beekeeper. Finally, it helped that the honey bee is the state insect!

The law requires that beekeepers register their hives. It also mandates the WV Department of Agriculture to promulgate Best Management Practices for beekeepers. All beekeepers who abide by these two provisions will have absolute civil immunity from ordinary negligence. The Department is working on a set of emergency rules they hope will be in effect soon. Governor Joe Manchin signed the bill into law the first of April, making this the first state to protect its beekeeping industry. (Dan O'Hanlon, President - West Virginia Queen Producers
danohanlon@mountainstatequeens.com)

Huge Source of Commercial Beekeeper's Income Threatened?

Self-Pollinating Almonds Key to Bountiful Harvests

by ALFREDO FLORES
Reprinted From April 2010 Agricultural Research Magazine

California has more than 600,000 acres of almond orchards. At the beginning of each new year, these almond trees burst into bloom. That's when growers will need many millions of robust bees to ferry pollen from one cream-white blossom to the next.
Hive-rental costs to almond growers are high, ranging from $125 to $180 per hive. But in the future, these costs may be avoidable because bees may no longer be needed for almond pollinating.

This possibility could prove true as a result of the work of Agricultural Research Service geneticist Craig Ledbetter, in the Crop Diseases, Pests, and Genetics Research Unit in Parlier, California. He has developed new and improved self-pollinating almond trees-ones that can produce a bountiful harvest without being pollinated by insects.
Self-pollinating almonds are not new. The Tuono variety, originally from Spain, has been around for centuries. But it has few of the characteristics that have made California almonds beloved domestically and internationally. Almond breeders will tell you that Tuono is simply not as attractive as California's most popular almond, Nonpareil, because Tuono has a hairy texture to the seed coat.

"You can feel that hairiness with your tongue," says Ledbetter. "That can turn off U.S. almond consumers, who are used to the smooth texture of Nonpareils."
Another strike against Tuono-it has a very thick, hard shell, so only 32 percent of the nut is edible kernel. Nonpareil, however, is 60 to 65 percent kernel.
One good thing about Tuono's thick shell is that it gives the nut more resistance to the dreaded navel orangeworm, the primary pest of almonds in California. At Parlier, an areawide integrated pest management program is under way to reduce navel orangeworm damage and broad-spectrum insecticide use throughout the San Joaquin Valley. The program is being led by Joel Siegel, assisted by fellow entomologists Bas Kuenen and Chuck Burks.

Eight Great Almond Selections
Though both Tuono and Nonpareil almonds have their strong points, the ideal almond would have the best traits of each. In 1993, Ledbetter started his work to breed a desirable self-pollinating almond. Seedlings were first planted in 1996 and every year thereafter.
Tuono was used as the male (pollen) parent in conventional hybridizations with California-adapted almond cultivars and selections. Ledbetter and his team made the crosses at bloom time and came back at harvest time to collect the nuts. The scientists grew out those nuts into seedlings and then surrounded the branches with insect-proof nylon bags to exclude insects that could serve as pollinators. The seedlings bloomed, and some produced fruits inside the bags. The scientists knew that these seedlings were the self-pollinators, because no foreign pollen had been introduced into the bags.

At first, harvests from the seedlings were small, but by 2006 the trees began producing excellent harvests. In November 2008, after a very good fall almond harvest, Ledbetter and his Parlier team brought eight very promising self-pollinating selections to the California Almond Board for evaluation of taste and appearance. The testers were pleased with the skin color, oil content, and-most importantly-the flavor. The new almonds have many of the same characteristics of Nonpareil, which has been grown in California since the 1880s and accounts for 37 percent of all almonds grown in the state.

"What separates the Parlier-developed selections and Nonpareil, of course, is that these ARS almond trees need no external pollination," said Ledbetter. "Ours is a very good-looking kernel that's very comparable to that seen in Nonpareil."

Honey Importer Arrested for Allegedly Conspiring to Evade U.S. Iimport Duties for Chicago Office of German Food Distributor

CHICAGO - A Taiwanese executive of several honey import companies was arrested in Los Angeles in March on federal charges filed in Chicago for allegedly conspiring to illegally import honey that was falsely identified to avoid U.S. anti-dumping duties.

Hung Ta Fan, 41, was arrested without incident when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Taiwan, announced Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Gary J. Hartwig, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Chicago.

Fan, also known as "Michael Fan," of Taiwan, is president of Blue Action Enterprise Inc., a California-based honey import company. He was also an executive of other similar companies, including 7 Tiger Enterprises Inc., Honey World Enterprise Inc., both of which are now defunct, and Kashaka USA Inc., all of which he allegedly used to import Chinese honey into the United States. Fan was charged with conspiracy to illegally import honey in a criminal complaint and was expected to appear on April 1 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Between July 2004 and June 2006, Fan and others allegedly used Blue Action and 7 Tiger to fraudulently import about 96 shipments of Chinese honey falsely declared as originating in South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand on behalf of and for the benefit of a German company and its worldwide affiliates, including an American subsidiary that operated in Chicago. The 96 shipments of honey had a total declared value of more than $4.5 million. By falsely identifying the honey as coming from South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, they avoided anti-dumping duties applicable to Chinese honey totaling nearly $9.9 million.

On May 10 and 11, 2006, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 384 drums of Chinese honey that were falsely declared as Korean by 7 Tiger, according to the complaint. After Fan and 7 Tiger sought permission to export the honey from the United States, it was ultimately forfeited without contest.

"Anyone who breaks our nation's customs laws seeks an unfair financial advantage over law-abiding competitors," said John Morton, Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary for ICE. "ICE will not tolerate products being illegally imported into the U.S. marketplace. We aggressively investigate those who thwart the laws and regulations that are put in place to protect U.S. businesses and the American public."

According to the ICE affidavit filed in Chicago, the charges against Fan stem from an ongoing investigation of the honey importing practices of Alfred L. Wolff Inc. (ALW), and other corporate affiliates of Wolff & Olsen, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. Two Chicago-based executives of ALW, Stefanie Giesselbach and Magnus Von Buddenbrock, were arrested in Chicago on federal conspiracy charges in May 2008. They are cooperating with the investigation while the charges against them remain pending, the affidavit states. ALW's Chicago office imported millions of dollars of honey into the United States, it adds.
In May 2009, Yong Xiang Yan, the president of a honey manufacturer in China was arrested and he pleaded guilty last October to conspiring to illegally import Chinese honey that was falsely identified as coming from the Philippines to avoid a total of nearly $4 million in domestic anti-dumping duties. Yan is also cooperating in the ongoing investigation while awaiting sentencing, according to the affidavit against Fan.

In December 2001, the U.S. Commerce Department determined that Chinese honey was being sold in the United States at artificially low prices and imposed anti-dumping duties. The duties on Chinese honey ranged between about 212 and 221 percent between June 2004 and October 2005, and then were imposed in the amount of $2.06 per net kilogram through at least June 2006. Honey originating in South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand was not subject to any anti-dumping duties.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Boutros and William Hogan, Northern District of Illinois. If convicted, the conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine a reasonable sentence to be imposed under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
(US Immigration and Customs Enforcement News Release)

Groeb Farms Buys Miller's American Honey

Groeb Farms Inc., a portfolio company of Horizon Partners, has acquired Miller's American Honey Inc., a Colton, Calif.-based honey producer. No financial terms were disclosed. Houlihan Smith & Co. advised Miller's American Honey on the deal.   Houlihan Smith & Company, Inc. (Houlihan Smith) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Miller's American Honey, Inc. in their sale to Groeb Farms, Inc., a portfolio company of Horizon Partners Ltd. The announcement was made by Charles Botchway, group managing director and vice chairman of Houlihan Smith. The transaction was led by Houlihan Smith Managing Director Lester (Jay) Rodgers. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

George Murdock, Miller's American Honey's Board Chairman, issued the following statement: "The deal team at Houlihan Smith made extraordinary efforts to work towards "win-win" solutions in effecting our sale to Groeb Farms. Their approach cautiously avoided hyperbole, relying instead on honest, straightforward presentation of facts, supported by their ability to communicate complex financial data into evidence of true value."

In announcing the acquisition, Ernie Groeb, Groeb Farms president and chief executive officer said, "Merging these two businesses who share a common family legacy of commitment to the production of high-quality products will benefit our customers and their consumers." He continued: "We are honored that the Murdock family has entrusted the Miller legacy to us."
Houlihan Smith Vice President Matthew Thomason stated: "We are pleased to have had the opportunity to assist the Murdock family achieve their goals and realize an outcome fitting of the rich, 116-year heritage of Miller's American Honey."

About Groeb Farms, Inc.
Groeb Farms, Inc. (http://www.groebfarms.com/) began as a family-owned business in 1973. In 2007, the company joined forces with private equity company, Horizon Partners. Groeb Farms is the world's largest Industrial and Foodservice processor of honey, selling approximately 70M pounds of honey in 2009. In addition to honey, Groeb Farms also distributes peanut butter, molasses, mustard and vinegar. These Groeb Farms products are used for direct consumption or as ingredients in products such as salad dressings, sauces, snacks, bread, cookies, crackers, beverages, and meat. Groeb Farms, Inc. is headquartered in Onsted, MI, with locations in Belleview, FL and Baytown, TX.

About Miller's American Honey Company
Miller's American Honey Company is a family owned business which began in 1894. From humble beginnings as a Beekeeping enterprise, Miller's has grown into a $30M operation, with domestic as well as international customers. The Company's primary product line is honey; however, customers are also serviced with products, such as peanut butter, molasses and agave syrup. Products range from retail packages for grocery store shelves to tanker loads of honey for bakeries. Miller's American Honey Company is headquartered in Colton, CA with a second location in Oakland, CA. (Company Press Release)

Golden Heritage Announces Company Change

HILLSBORO, Kansas, April 9, 2010 - Golden Heritage Foods today announced plans to divest ownership of its Ohio plant and equipment assets to a private investment group headed by Dwight Stoller, current owner and Vice Chairman of Golden Heritage Foods' board of directors. As part of the transaction, the parties will enter into a long-term contract packaging agreement. The transaction is scheduled to close by June 30, 2010.
This divestiture will allow Golden Heritage Foods to increase its emphasis in their core competencies of marketing and packaging honey, molasses, and complimentary liquid sweeteners.

"This change will be seamless to our customers and suppliers," commented Brent Barkman, majority owner and chairman of the board, Golden Heritage Foods. "Under the strategic contract packaging agreement we will continue to have two plants from which to competitively operate across the United States and retain the ability to immediately transfer production to either facility should that become necessary. Golden Heritage Foods will be able to further optimize its efficiencies in fixed cost plant and equipment, and ensure that our customers continue to receive the highest quality, competitively priced products."
Dwight Stoller added, "In addition to our continued strategic relationship with Golden Heritage Foods, this will allow our Ohio investment group to aggressively pursue contract packaging opportunities within the food industry that do not compete with Golden Heritage Foods' product offerings."

Golden Heritage Foods is a leading food packaging and marketing organization that has served national food service distributors and major grocery chains throughout North America for nearly 50 years. Its product lines include pure honey, molasses and other complimentary liquid sweeteners.

Lance Armstrong Joins Honey Stinger Ownership Team

Seven-time Tour de France Champion Partners with Natural Foods Company

April 28, 2010 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) - Honey Stinger, the manufacturer of honey-based nutritional foods, announces a partnership with professional cyclist Lance Armstrong. In addition to future product development and endorsement of Honey Stinger energy gels, bars and organic chews, Armstrong becomes part of the ownership team in the Steamboat Springs-based company.

"I first tried Honey Stinger products during a mountain bike race in Colorado," says Armstrong. "I was impressed with the great taste and energy they provided. Honey Stinger works for me in training and racing because you want to eat them and they work. I like the whole team - they understand what athletes need and they're great to work with. I'm excited to be part of the Stinger team and work with them on expanding the products and business."

Armstrong first met Len Zanni, Honey Stinger's Marketing Director, when they teamed up to race the 12 Hours of Snowmass mountain bike race outside Aspen in 2008. The foundation for a new business partnership was hatched over the course of long bike rides and get-togethers with company leaders.

Bill Gamber, an athlete/ entrepreneur, teamed up with his father William, a honey industry veteran, Bob Stahl, a food product developer, and John Miller, a professional beekeeper, to found Honey Stinger in 2002. Today, the company produces over 20 honey-based energy products that are distributed internationally at specialty sporting goods retailers and natural food grocers.

"We're thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to work with an athlete of Lance's stature. Beyond his athletic achievements, Lance is an inspiration and a leader in the fight against cancer," states Bill Gamber. "Our relationship with Lance comes at a time when Honey Stinger is riding a wave of momentum and this partnership is a major step for our brand."

UC Davis Honey Bee Research Receives Big Boost

DAVIS, CA-The Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, has received a $10,000 donation from Gimbal's Fine Candies, San Francisco, in support of its outreach and research activities.

The family-run, fourth-generation company founded in 1898, is donating 5 percent of all future proceeds to UC Davis honey bee research from its newly launched line of Honey Lovers' candies, heart-shaped fruit chews made with natural honey.

The first check, issued March 8, will be used in support of outreach and research activities at the facility. Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, recently accepted the check from Lance Gimbal, president and chief executive officer.

"The UC Davis bee biology program is extremely appreciative of the generosity of Gimbal's Fine Candies," Mussen said. "Their contribution will enable us to reach more people with factual information about bees and beekeeping. It also is possible that their support of our research efforts may help uncover better methods of dealing with pests, parasites, and diseases of honey bees and honey bee colonies."

The line of Honey Lovers, featuring 16 different flavor combinations, includes pomegranate honey, honey-dipped strawberry, honey vanilla and huckleberry honey. Seeking to help save the bees, company officials expressed concern about the declining bee population. "Approximately one-third of our food supply depends on honey bees," said CEO Lance Gimbal. "Honey bees are in the middle of a crisis."

Much of the concern for the declining bee population is linked to colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious malady characterized by adult bees abandoning the hive. The bees fly off and leave behind the queen bee, immature brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) and stored food. "CCD is still very much with us and is continuing to take a significant toll on honey bee colonies, both in California and across the country," Mussen said. "Hopefully, researchers will determine the cause and suggest solutions before too long."

The honey bee research program at UC Davis, one of the oldest in the country, dates back more than 76 years. The 8,200-square-foot facility on Bee Biology Road, located west of the UC Davis campus, is named for Harry Hyde Laidlaw Jr. (1907-2003), considered the father of honey bee genetics.

Among those working in honey bee research at UC Davis are Mussen; bee-breeder geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Laidlaw facility; bee breeder-geneticist Kim Fondrk; and insect virus researcher Michelle Flenniken, the Häagen-Dazs Postdoctoral Scholar. Native bee specialists are Neal Williams, assistant professor of entomology, and Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor, who both maintain offices and research quarters at the Laidlaw facility. Also at the facility are beekeepers Elizabeth Frost, research assistant, and undergraduate student Tylan Selby, majoring in entomology. (Courtesy UC Davis Dept. of Entomology News Release)

BASF and Nod Apiary Products Partner for Bee Health

Breakthrough in fight against Varroa destructor mite
Companies pledge to bring product to European Beekeepers

LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany and ONTARIO, Canada March 29, 2010 - BASF and NOD Apiary Products have announced a partnership to bring to European beekeepers a new product that controls the Varroa destructor, a parasitic mite that has been identified by independent institutions as a major contributor to the declining number of bee hives on a global scale. BASF and NOD are investing in "Mite AwayTM Quick Strips" (MAQS), which target Varroa mites while they feed on developing baby bees. The backbone of this easy-to-use strip is a film made of BASF's biodegradable plastic Ecoflex®, which is filled with the miticide formic acid in a saccharide (plant sugar) formulation. The strip's secret: Designed to penetrate the brood cap, it stops the mite where it reproduces.

"Through our work with scientists, farmers and beekeepers in the Bee Biodiversity Network in France, we have gained a broad understanding of the factors impacting bee health," says Sandrine Leblond, France-based BASF bee expert. The Network has delivered practical, tested solutions to improve bee nutrition, but to date there is no easy way to control the Varroa mite. Bringing MAQS to the market will help fill this gap, supporting beekeepers and BASF's farmer customers.

The strips reproduce a defense mechanism observed in nature. Formic acid occurs in the venom of bees and the sting of many insects, such as ants. Nonetheless, it is the convenience and effectiveness of MAQS that gives beekeepers peace of mind. The strip can be applied right through the season and beekeepers also enjoy the benefit of a single application product with a short treatment period (7 days versus 42). In product trials in the US, Canada and France, MAQS have controlled up to 97 percent of Varroa mites.
Paying tribute to NOD's entrepreneurial spirit, Markus Heldt, president of BASF's Crop Protection division said, "We are pleased to be part of a positive solution that addresses the important issue of bee health, which is of central importance to beekeepers and farmers. This is a great example of partnership on many levels. The solution was co-designed not just by BASF and NOD, but importantly by the people who experience the problem first hand - beekeepers. Within BASF, we also used expertise and products from across a number of different divisions."

David VanderDussen, CEO of NOD Apiary Products said, "I am excited about this relationship and I am very pleased with BASF's great support. While our companies are very different in terms of size and focus, we share common values and are both passionate about the importance of biodiversity and the protection of the honey bee." The strips are already on the market in Canada, and authorities in Hawaii requested and received a "Special Local Needs" registration to ensure that beekeepers obtain access to the solution as quickly as possible. BASF and NOD plan to work with registration authorities in Europe to make MAQS available to the European beekeeping community within 2 years.
According to the terms of the agreement, BASF will provide substantial support to facilitate a global product launch, including on-going technical and regulatory assistance over a five year period. Both companies currently co-own the patent, with BASF committed to providing support for product registration and distribution within the EU.

Social Bees Have Bigger Brain Area for Learning, Memory:
Smithsonian Reports

Who's in charge? Who's got food? The brain region responsible for learning and memory is bigger in social bee queens who may have to address these questions than in solitary queens, report scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute who study the tropical sweat bee species, Megalopta genalis in Panama. Their study is the first comparison of the brain sizes of social and non-social individuals of the same species.

"The idea is that to maintain power and control in groups you need more information, so the bigger the group, the bigger individuals' brains need to be." says William Wcislo, Smithsonian staff scientist. "This is called the 'social brain hypothesis' also known as the 'Machiavelli hypothesis'."

Previous studies compared brain sizes among social and non-social animals. However, different animal species may be different in so many ways that it's hard to make a direct connection between brain size and sociality. This study focuses on a single species in which some individuals are social and others are not.

Megalopta bees exhibit a very primitive form of social behavior. Either a bee lives as a solitary queen, going out from her nest to forage for her own food or she can be a social queen--a stay-at-home mom. In that case, one of her daughters goes out to forage for her, so she rarely leaves the nest. Her daughters' ovaries don't develop, and she never leaves her mother to become a queen.

"It was surprising to us that even though the social queens don't have bigger brains overall, the fact that the area associated with learning and memory--the mushroom body-- was more developed in the social queens than in the solitary bees suggesting that social interactions are cognitively challenging, as predicted by the social brain hypothesis," said Adam Smith, postdoctoral fellow at STRI. "It's interesting to see that a characteristic like brain development changes so immediately, even with this simple mother-daughter division of labor."

This study was done in STRI's new insect neurobiology laboratory, built to take advantage of diverse tropical insect groups with a variety of brain sizes to understand how brain size and behavior are related.

Research Note

New Record for Reproductive Tropilaelaps Mites from Colonies of Apis cerana in Northern Thailand

by PRAPUN TRAIYASUTa,
MICHAEL BURGETTb and PANUWAN CHANTAWANNAKULa*

Summary
 The first record of Tropilaelaps mites reproducing in coloines if Apis cerana in Northern Thailand.

Thailand, as a part of Southeast Asia, is a biologically rich country which displays a diversity of honey bees species and associated parasitic mites. Four indigenous species of Apis are known from Thailand: the two dwarf honey bees (Apis florea and A. andreniformis), the giant honey bee (A. dorsata) and the cavity-nesting honey bee (A. cerana) (Oldroyd and Wongsiri, 2006). Additionally, in the latter part of the 20th century, the introduced European honey bee (A. mellifera) gained popularity as a commercial bee species throughout SE Asia and most especially in Thailand. 

Asian honey bee species are associated with host-specific parasitic brood mites that infest the immature stadia of the host honey bee. All of the parasitic brood mites of indigenous SE Asia honey bee species are normally host-specific. The introduction of the European honey bee (A. mellifera) to SE Asia saw several of the Asian brood mites utilize this non-native species as an alternative (non-adapted) host. The parasitic brood mite genus Tropilaelaps was previously thought to parasitize A. dorsata and/or A. laboriosa brood only, but has been shown to readily parasitize A. mellifera following the bee's introduction to SE Asia.

A report by Anderson and Morgan (2007) has shown that an additional species of Tropilaelaps is extant in SE Asia and neighboring regions (T. mercedesae), which means three species of Tropilaelaps are now recognized as brood parasites of the giant honey bees A. dorsata and A. laboriosa.

In a study concerned with brood parasitism, fifteen Apis cerana colonies were collected in Northern Thailand in 2009. In examining the brood combs from 14 of the 15 sampled colonies, ca. 250 brood cells/colony, no Tropilaelaps brood parasitism was noted. In one colony, however, where a total 660 sealed brood cells were opened, 2 pupal cells revealed 2 Tropilaelaps protonymphs. This very low prevalence rate shows that it is obviously rare for Tropilaelaps to parasitize Apis cerana brood. However, this is the first report from Thailand of Tropilaelaps reproduction in colonies of Apis cerana. This reaffirms the earlier finding in 1982 that T. clareae was capable of reproducing in brood cells of A. cerana in India (Delfinado-Baker, 1982).

Since the adapted host of T. clareae and T. mercedesae is A. dorsata, (Burgett et al. 1983, Anderson and Morgan 2007), our observation of Tropilaelaps reproducing on A. cerana brood confirms the earlier finding that the mite can utilize additional Apis species, but we postulate this host switch to A. cerana on the part of Tropilaelaps is a rare occurrence in situ while another cavity nesting honey bee, Apis mellifera, is much more vulnerable to Tropilaelaps infestations in Thailand. The natural control mechanisms used against Varroa by Apis cerana may also provide, as well, resistance to Tropilaelaps.

REFERENCES
Anderson, D.L. and Morgan, M.J. 2007. Genetic and morphological variation of bee-parasitic Tropilaelaps mites (Acari: Laelapidae): new and re-defined species. Experimental and Applied Acarology, 43:1-24.
Burgett, D.M., P. Akratanakul, and R.A. Morse. 1983. Tropilaelaps clareae Delfinado and Baker: a parasite of honey bees in Southeast Asia. Bee World. 64: 25-28
Delfinado-Baker, M. 1982. New records for Tropilaelaps clareae from colonies of Apis cerana indica. American Bee Journal, 112(5):382.
Oldroyd, P.B. and Wongsiri, S. 2006. Asian Honey Bees: Biology, Conservation, and Human Interactions, Harvard University press. London, pp. 13-35.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by The Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program (PHD/ 0113/2550). We thank Dr. Natapot Warrit for reviewing this manuscript and Dr. G.W. Krantz (Oregon State University) for identification of the immature mite specimens. We also thank The Thailand Research Fund (RSA 5280010) and the Commission of Higher Education (CHE), Chiang Mai University.

a Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, THAILAND
b Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331, USA
* Corresponding author: panuwan@gmail.
com

Japanese Ministry Aids Iraqi Province with Beekeeping

COS KALSU, Iraq - The minister of the Japanese Embassy in Iraq signed a contract at Contingency Operating Site Kalsu March 24, 2010, to provide funding for two grassroots projects, which will benefit widows in Babil Province in Iraq.

The Seddah Women's Center and Jurf As-Sakhr Humanitarian Society both received grants that will help Iraqi widows learn to maintain and run honey-producing farms.

"The two projects we signed today will provide equipment and training for 100 women, but 40-times that number will ultimately benefit in the long run," Katsuhiko Takahashi, minister of the Japanese Embassy in Iraq, said through an interpreter. "Japan and the United States jointly contributed to these projects and they will aid in the development of Babil Province."

According to Takahashi, the Japanese government has funded 85 similar projects since 2003 and will continue to do so.

"The Japanese Embassy has been very active in supporting the reconstruction of Iraq," said Capt. Bryce Wunder, a member of the 1411 Civil Affairs Company. "They have offered a great source of funding for non-governmental organizations, called ‘grassroots' human security project grants."

The funded projects tap into an abundant natural resource in the province:  honey bees.
"The honey industry in Iraq is a lucrative one," Wunder said. "The excellent taste and quality is due to its high level of cedar and eucalyptus. This makes for a solid opportunity for the local people.

"Honey offers beekeepers a solid income each year," Wunder said. "We have established programs which offer war widows the ability to become beekeepers."
The commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Col. Pete Jones, thanked Takahashi and the Japanese government for their support to the people of Iraq.

"I truly believe these grants will make a great impact on the economy and further advance women's initiatives in this area," he said.
Established in 2008, the Seddah Women's Center provides sewing jobs, training and humanitarian aid. It benefits the lives of 89,000 people, including 3,000 widows and 4,000 orphans.

The Jurf As-Sakhr Humanitarian Society was established in 2003 and helps approximately 750 widows and 317 orphans. The Society teaches literacy, sewing, and human rights courses to over 50,000 people.

"Japan intends to continue to provide assistance as it pertains to the life of the people in Iraq," said Takahashi.

by Sgt. Ben Hutto
3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf Div PAO
United States Division - South
U.S. Army

Newsnotes - May 2010

WISCONSIN HONEY BILL PASSES SENATE BILL 419

March 15, 2010-Wisconsin's Governor Jim Doyl signed into law The Wisconsin Honey Standard, Wisconsin Senate Bill 419. The bill provides legal recourse for honey producers harmed by the sale of adulterated honey. It also provides for a "Certified Wisconsin Honey" label on a voluntary basis.
December 3, 2009 - Introduced by Senators Vinehout, Lehman, Miller and Schultz, cosponsored by Representatives Garthwaite, Vruwink, Barca, Ballweg, Brooks, Clark, Hilgenberg, Kerkman, Knodl, Molepske Jr., A. Ott, Pasch, Pope-Roberts, Ripp, Roys, Schneider, Steinbrink, Tauchen, Turner, A.Williams, Young and Zigmunt Referred to Committee on Agriculture and Higher Education.
An Act to create 100.187 of the statutes; relating to: requiring the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to establish standards for products sold as honey, prohibiting the labeling as Wisconsin certified honey of a product that has not been determined to meet the standards, prohibiting the labeling as honey of a product that does not meet the standards, and requiring the exercise of rule-making authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to promulgate rules that establish standards for products sold as honey and standards for the testing by private laboratories of samples submitted by persons who wish to sell honey produced in this state as Wisconsin certified honey. The standards for honey must be consistent with the standard for honey under the Codex Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
The bill prohibits labeling a product as Wisconsin certified honey or implying that a product is Wisconsin certified honey, unless the product has been determined by testing to meet the standards established by DATCP, DATCP has approved a summary of the testing, and the product was produced in this state. Under the bill, DATCP investigates violations of this prohibition and may bring an action to enjoin violations.
The bill also prohibits labeling a product as honey or implying that a product is honey, unless the product meets the standards established by DATCP. Any person who suffers damages as a result of a violation of this prohibition may bring an action against the violator to recover the amount of the person's damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 100.187 of the statutes is created to read:
100.187 Sale of honey and Wisconsin certified honey; rules, prohibitions. (1) The department shall promulgate rules that do all the following:
(a) Establish standards for products sold as honey that are consistent with the standard for honey under the Codex Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization, number 12-1981, as revised in 2001.
(b) Establish standards for testing by private laboratories of samples submitted by persons who intend to sell honey produced in this state as Wisconsin certified honey to determine whether the samples meet the standards established under part. (a).
(2) (a) No person may label a product as Wisconsin certified honey or imply that a product is Wisconsin certified honey unless all of the following apply:
1. The product has been determined to meet the standards established under sub. (1) (a) by a laboratory whose testing procedures meet standards established under sub. (1) (b).
2. A summary of the results of the testing performed under sub. 1 have been submitted to the department and approved by the department.
3. The product was produced in this state.
(b) The department shall investigate violations of this subsection and may bring an action for permanent or temporary injunctive or other relief in any circuit court against a person who violates this subsection.
(3) (a) No person may label a product as honey or imply that a product is honey unless the product meets the standards established under sub. (1) (a).
(b) Any person who suffers damages as a result of a violation of this subsection may bring an action for damages against the violator for the amount of the person's damages or $1,000, whichever is greater. Notwithstanding s. 814.04 (1), a court shall award to a prevailing plaintiff in an action under this paragraph reasonable attorney fees.

USDA SEEKS COMMENT ON DRAFT PEST RISK ASSESSMENT ON HONEY BEES IMPORTED FROM AUSTRALIA INTO THE UNITED STATES

United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is announcing to the public that it has prepared an evaluation of the pest risks associated with the importation of honey bees from Australia. The draft pest risk assessment considers potential pest risks involved in the importation of honey bees into the United States from Australia after concerns that exotic honey bee pathogens or parasites may have been introduced into Australia. APHIS is making the draft pest risk assessment available to the public for review and comment.
This action was published in the March 15, 2010 Federal Register.
Consideration will be given to comments received on or before May 14. You may submit comments by either of the following methods:
·Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS- 2010-0001 to submit or view comments and to view supporting and related materials available electronically.
·Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: Please send two copies of your comment to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0001, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A- 03.8, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Please state that your comment refers to Docket No. APHIS-2010-0001.

Comments are posted on the Regulations.gov Web site and also can be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817.
-------------
Federal Register
Vol. 75, No. 49
Monday, March 15, 2010

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
[Docket No. APHIS-2010-0001]

Notice of Availability of a Draft Pest Risk Assessment on Honey Bees Imported from Australia
Other Information: Additional information about APHIS and its programs is available on the Internet at (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Colin D. Stewart, Senior Entomologist, PPQ, APHIS, 4700 River Road Unit 133, Riverdale, MD 20737-1237; (301) 734-0774.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The regulations in 7 CFR part 322 restrict the importation, interstate movement, and transit through the United States of bees, beekeeping byproducts, and beekeeping equipment to prevent the introduction of pests into the United States through the importation of honey bees from approved regions. Australia is currently on the list of approved regions from which adult honeybees maybe imported into the United States under certain conditions.
In March 2002, APHIS issued a report assessing the risks of pest introduction into the United States in imports of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) from Australia. The evaluation identified 15 pathogens and pests of bees in that country, all of which occur in the United States. The evaluation concluded that there were no quarantine-significant honey bee pathogens or pests occurring in Australia.
In the 7 years since the completion of the evaluation for Australian bees, new threats to the U.S. honey bee population have emerged. The most prominent threat is Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious syndrome characterized by the abrupt disappearance of a colony's adult worker bee population, leaving a substantial population of healthy brood, an absence of dead bees, and the delayed invasion of hive pests and robbing of hive stores by neighboring colonies. A link between the disorder, first reported in the United States in 2006, and honey bee imports from Australia has been suggested. The May 2007 discovery of colonies of the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) near Cairns, Victoria, also has raised concerns that exotic honey bee pathogens or parasites may have been introduced into Australia with the arrival of this foreign bee. These developments suggest a need to reevaluate the risks involved in importation of bees from Australia.
APHIS' review and analysis of the risks associated with the importation of honey bees from Australia are documented in detail in a draft pest risk assessment (PRA) titled, ‘‘Evaluation of Pest Risks Associated with Importation of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.) from Australia'' (November 2009). Findings presented in the draft PRA state that there are honey bee viruses present in Australia that are not known to occur in the United States. The draft PRA concludes that zoosanitary measures may be necessary to reduce the possibility of the introduction of these viruses to the United States via the importation of honey bees from Australia.
We are making the draft PRA available to the public for review and comment. We will consider all comments that we receive on or before the date listed under the heading DATES at the beginning of this notice. The draft PRA and the comments received may be the basis for a future change in the regulations.
The draft PRA may be viewed on the Regulations.gov Web site or in our reading room (see ADDRESSES above for instructions for accessing Regulations.gov and information on the location and hours of the reading room). You may request paper copies of the draft PRA by calling or writing to the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Please refer to the title of the draft PRA when requesting copies.
Done in Washington, DC, this 8th day of March 2010. Kevin Shea, Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. 2010-5573 Filed 3-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-34-S

UPDATE ON MITE-AWAY QUICK STRIP TM REGISTRATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Press release from NOD Apiary Products

Mite-Away Quick StripTM (MAQS ) is currently registered in the State of Hawaii, under a Special Local Needs registration, granted to protect Hawaii's queen rearing and organic honey industry. Varroa was first discovered in Hawaii in June, 2007.
In January, California State Beekeepers Association applied for a Section 18 emergency registration for California. In response, the EPA stated that there "has to be a lack of viable alternatives", and there has to be the occurrence of a "non-routine event", in order to allow a Section 18 registration. As well, there is already a Section 18 in place, for Hivastan®, for States to draw upon. The current varroa toolbox includes Apiguard®, Apilife Var®, Apistan®, Hivastan®, Check-Mite+®, Mite-AwayIITM, and the EPA even talked about the illegal use of Amitraz. The EPA did not see the need for another emergency registration.
Immediately, NOD will be pursuing a Section 3 (full federal) registration for MAQS, hoping that this will be expedited.  EPA has indicated Section 3 applications for biopesticides, such as MAQS, are to be fast tracked.
Beekeepers under stress are continuing to call. Due to the lowest honey crop on record in the US last year, and the need to protect the industry from the varroa mites in the critical summer honey flow time, some state beekeeping associations are looking into pesticide registration options for MAQS at the state level. Whether or not the EPA will consider the record low crop in 2009 to be a "non-routine" event is unknown.
NOD Apiary Products will continue to support beekeeping industry initiatives as it strives to obtain the legal use of Mite-Away Quick StripsTM prior to the Section 3 registration being granted, likely in 2011.
Please note that only limited quantities of Mite-AwayIITM are available. Production of Mite-AwayIITM was discontinued in order to gear up for MAQS production.   NOD is not planning on resuming Mite-AwayIITM production as we transition our registration into the MAQS product.

INDIANA BEE SCHOOL WAS A BIG SUCCESS

All participants in the Indiana Beekeepers' Association's Indiana Bee School VIII held on February 27, received a passing grade. The principal speakers were David Tarpy and Kirk Webster. We had a packed house; this being the first time ever that we had to enforce our registration deadline.  The buzz of the new beekeepers continues to get louder each year.  We only wish that the buzz of our honey bees would get louder. The B.I.G. (Bee Inspection Group) team of Ron Myers, Eldon Morehouse and Steve Doty reported their findings from the first year of their USDA North Central SARE's (Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education) grant. They received a grant: "Evaluation of the declining honey bee health and education of participating beekeepers". In 2009, they visited 54 different apiaries of beekeepers who volunteered to be a part of the study. Each one received a hive tool and a bee book "First Lessons in Beekeeping" for participating. These beekeepers had experienced a loss of 127 of their 282 hives (45.0 %) during the 2008/2009 winter. However, on a positive note, by summer of 2009, they had replaced those losses and added another 75 hives (26.6 %).
As for three of the biggest commercial beekeepers in the State, they lost 1810 (35.2 %) of their 5142 hives. By summer, they had replaced all but 9% of those losses. Part of that 9% was the selling of nucs to small beekeepers, which has become a big business for them.
 The second part of the grant involved the purchase of a microscope so that the B.I.G. team could inspect for nosema. A sample of 30+ bees was taken from each of 225 different hives at the 54 locations. Nosema was detected in 57 (25.3 %) of those samples. We were hoping to be able to differentiate between Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae, but haven't been able to do that so far. We are working with Purdue University on that issue. They have done DNA studies on some of the samples for us. We have one more year to complete the study. Some beekeepers are reporting 60-70% losses already for this recent 2009/2010 winter. A poor nectar flow in the late summer and fall plus having a long sustained cold winter are likely to be the major contributors to those losses. Even though times continue to be very challenging, the beekeepers of Indiana continue to be positive. Article by Steve Doty (jsdoty@indy.net)

PENNSYLVANIA HONEY QUEEN CROWNED

The Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association is proud to announce that Teresa Bryson was selected as the 2010 Pennsylvania Honey Queen during its annual winter meeting in Lewisburg, PA.
Teresa, 18, lives with her family on Walnut Grove Apiaries, a small sheep, goat and honey farm in Chambersburg, PA. In addition to caring for a hive of bees and the other farm animals, Teresa is a sophomore at Hagerstown Community College, double majoring in Forensic Science and English.
Teresa is an active 4-H member, having been involved in the Franklin County 4-H program for the past ten years. Through the various clubs she attends, Teresa has received numerous Best of Show awards, the Junior Achievement Award, I Dare You Award and has been chosen for state level competition for several of her projects. Moreover, Teresa is an agricultural educator at the 4-H Agricultural Center, instructing local students about the importance of Agriculture in Franklin County.
In her free time, Teresa enjoys reading, sewing, working in the family apiary and caring for the many animals on her families small farm. As the 2010 Pennsylvania Honey Queen, Teresa will travel throughout the state promoting the beekeeping and honey industries by attending schools, fairs, festivals and participating in media interviews. In addition, Teresa will represent Pennsylvania in 2011 as she competes for the American Honey Queen title in Galveston, Texas.

Newsnotes - April 2010

Biologist Discovers 'Stop' Signal in Honey Bee Communication

A biologist at UC San Diego has discovered that honey bees warn their nest mates about dangers they encounter while feeding with a special signal that's akin to a "stop" sign for bees.
The discovery, detailed in a paper in the February 23 issue of the journal Current Biology, which appears online today, resulted from a series of experiments on honey bees foraging for food that were attacked by competitors from nearby colonies fighting for food at an experimental feeder. The bees that were attacked then produced a specific signal to stop nest mates who were recruiting others for this dangerous location. Honey bees use a waggle dance to communicate the location of food and other resources. Attacked bees directed "stop" signals at nest mates waggle dancing for the dangerous location.
James Nieh, an associate professor of biology at UCSD who conducted the experiments, said this peculiar signal in bee communication was known previously by scientists to reduce waggle dancing and recruitment to food, but until now no one had firmly established a "clear natural trigger" for that behavior.
The stop sign is a brief vibrating signal made by the bee that lasts for about a tenth of a second with the bee vibrating at about 380 times a second. "It is frequently delivered by a sender butting her head into a recipient, although the sender may also climb on top of the receiver," Nieh said.
Bee researchers originally called it a "begging call," because they believed the signaling bee made it to obtain a food sample from the receiver.
But Nieh discovered in his experiments that one trigger for this signal-which caused the waggle dancers to stop and leave the nest-was attacks from bee competitors and simulated predators. The more dangerous the predator or competitor, he found, the more the stop signals bees produced to stop other bees from recruiting to that location.
"This signal is directed at bees who are recruiting for the dangerous food location and decreases their recruitment," explained Nieh. "Thus, fewer nest mates go to the dangerous food site. This is important because an individual experiences danger and stops recruiting, but the stop signal enables her to 'warn' nest mates who have not yet experienced danger and are still recruiting. The end result is that the colony will reduce or cease recruitment to the dangerous food patch in proportion to the danger experienced."
Nieh found in his experiments that during aggressive food competition, attack victims significantly increased their production of stop signals to nest mates, some by more than 40 times. Bees foraging for food that attacked other bees or experienced no aggression did not produce stop signals. But bees exposed to a "bee alarm pheromone" increased their stop signaling by an average of 14 times. Those whose legs were mechanically pinched in a simulated bite increased their stop signals by an average of 88 times.
Nieh said that cooperation within and between cells in an organism relies upon positive and negative feedback. "Super-
organisms," such as honey bees, are like a multi-cellular organism because each individual bee, just like a body cell, acts for the good of the whole, the colony. Superorganisms use many types of positive feedback signals, but there are few known examples of negative feedback signals.
What's interesting to biologists about the discovery of the stop sign, Nieh said, is that it's an example of a negative feedback, in which the colony's actions are stopped for the good of the colony.
"This is only the second example of a negative feedback signal ever found in a superorganism and is perhaps the most sophisticated example known to date," he said. (Kim McDonald, scinews@ucsd.edu)

Entomologist May R. Berenbaum Wins Public Understanding of Science Award

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named May R. Berenbaum, professor and head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as winner of the 2009 AAAS Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award.
Berenbaum was honored for "her extraordinary ability to integrate her original research on the world of insects with her inspirational efforts to communicate the wonders and complexity of nature." She will receive the award during a 20 February ceremony at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego.
Specifically, the AAAS award committee said: "One of the most respected entomologists in the world, Dr. Berenbaum is distinguished by a career that uniquely combines high-impact scientific discovery and effective public engagement. She transformed chemical ecology, a field that seeks to understand nature in chemical terms, by pioneering its integration with genetics."
In addition to research that has transformed the field of chemical ecology and has had a major impact on agriculture and the environment, Berenbaum was described in a 1997 New York Times article as "the most relentless creative insect advocate in the world." She is the legendary creator of the "Insect Fear Film Festival," which melds entomology and film into a new, successful form of public engagement with science. Now more than 25 years old, the annual event draws thousands of viewers and international media coverage.
Throughout her career, Berenbaum has emerged as an authoritative public source of information on insect problems. The prize selection committee commended her extensive service to the National Research Council (NRC), where she is a National Associate, an honor reserved for National Academy of Sciences members who make extraordinary contributions to the NRC. Her work as a National Associate has included chairing the committee on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), which issued its report on the status of pollinators in October 2006 - months before the massive disappearances of honey bees across the country. She emerged as the CCD spokesperson for the scientific community, and she has written op-ed articles and testified before Congress on the issue.
AAAS Chief Executive Officer Alan I. Leshner, executive publisher of the journal Science said: "In recognition of her paradigm-changing scientific discoveries as well as her passionate dedication to public understanding of science, Dr. Berenbaum is highly deserving of the 2009 AAAS Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award."
A prominent entomologist interested in the chemical interactions between herbivorous insects and their host-plants, Berenbaum has studied the implications of these interactions on the organization of natural communities and the evolution of species.
She graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. degree and honors in biology from Yale University in 1975. She attended graduate school at Cornell University and received a Ph.D. degree in ecology and evolutionary biology in 1980.
Since that time, she has been a member of the faculty of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has served as head of the department since 1992. In addition to her research, she is devoted to teaching and to fostering scientific literacy. She is the recipient of the 1996 Entomological Society of America North Central Branch Distinguished Teaching Award. She has authored numerous magazine articles, as well as three books about insects for the general public.
Established in 1987, the AAAS Award for Public Understanding of Science & Technology recognizes scientists or engineers who, while working in their fields, have also contributed substantially to public understanding of science and technology. Contributions include books, articles in magazines and newspaper, broadcasting, lecturing, museum presentation and exhibit design. (American Association for the Advancement of Science)

High Award for Honey Bee Expert Eric mussen of UC Davis

DAVIS--Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, an Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976, is the winner of the statewide 2010 Pedro Ilic Outstanding Agricultural Educator Award for his work in educating the agricultural community, the beekeeping industry and the general public about honey bees.
Mussen, considered by his peers as one of the most respected and influential professional apiculturists in the nation, will receive the award March 1 at the California Small Farm Conference in San Diego. It is one of two annual awards memorializing Ilic, a Fresno County small-scale farm advisor who died in 1994.  The other award, for outstanding grower, goes to Jay Ruskey of Calimoya Exotic Fruits of Goleta, Santa Barbara County. The company, which Ruskey founded in 1991, grows and markets California cherimoyas and other exotic fruits.
Mussen and Ilic worked together as members of the Small Farm Work Group in serving the statewide, broad-based agricultural community, said nominators Larry Godfrey, Extension specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the department.
"They were alike in many ways: their dedication, enthusiasm, high energy, friendliness, their commitment to small-scale and family farming, and the easy-going way they imparted information on a diversity of projects, solving a multitude of problems-and sometimes at a moment's notice," Godfrey said.
Mussen educates the beekeeping industry and general public with his bimonthly newsletter, "from the UC Apiaries," which he launched in 1976. Since 1976, he has also written "Bee Briefs," addressing such issues as diseases, pesticides and swarms. Both publications are on the UC Davis Department of Entomology Web site.
"Eric is a worldwide authority on honey bees, but no problem is too small and no question too involved for him to answer," Godfrey said. "He devotes his research and extension activities to the improvement of honey bee health and honey bee colony management practices. Eric helps growers, consumers, UC Farm Advisors, agricultural commissioners, scientists, beekeepers, researchers, pesticide regulators, 4-H'ers, and state and national agricultural and apicultural organizations. He ignites their interest in maintaining the health of bees, cultivates their friendship, and generously gives of his time and intellect."
"With the decline of the honey bee population and the increase of the mysterious colony collapse disorder, his expertise is now more highly sought than ever," Godfrey pointed out. "Any threat to honey bees is a threat to agriculture and a cause for his concern and a desire to assist. He is the only Extension Apiculturist in the UC system and in many regards, functions as the Extension entomologist for apiculture in the western U.S. and indeed, much of the country."
Last year Mussen served as president of the Western Apicultural Society, an organization he helped found in 1977. He delivered the keynote addresses at the 2009 California State Beekeepers' Association (CSBA) and the 2009 American Honey Producers' Association conventions. In addition, he provides leadership roles in the CSBA, the Californi