 |
A
large swarm of honeybees so heavy the conifer tree bent over
60°
Photograph taken by Gregory Boon 74 Birkhall Road London. UK |
EDITORIAL
This edition of the newsletter continues the previous
format which gradually appears to be taking shape. I am pleased
to see that more letters are being received as readers make use
of this very interactive medium, and I hope that should any reader
want to see in Apis UK any aspect of beekeeping that we are currently
not covering well enough, they will write and let us know. A good
deal of interest is being taken in the apitherapy articles and more
organisations are writing in to tell us of their conferences and
meetings on this subject.
I would like to thank Jeremy Quinlan for the two interesting articles
featured in this months Apis-UK.
The China issue
continues to affect us causing much Chinese displeasure but of course
has the advantage of keeping prices high in the UK at least (see
'in the news'), and another line on the war against varroa is being
researched ('in the news').
I read with
interest that bee eaters have now been seen in the UK. True, only
two of them so I understand, but they breed, and if they do indeed
stay and breed, beekeepers will soon be seeing the wonderful aerial
ballets that that these beautiful birds perform in the vicinity
of apiaries - whilst bee eating! Apart from their colourful plumage,
these birds are readily identified by their whistles. They sound
exactly like those short burst whistles blown by referees at football
matches. The ones with peas in them. I had one years ago called
an Acme Thunderer. Here in Spain, the traffic cops use them to confuse
traffic, and I still look over my shoulder with a sense of alarm
when I hear a bee eater. I had occasion to do some in depth research
into these birds recently and in fact they are not the demons they
are often made out to be. A Russian report actually advocated giving
them protected species status because of their effect on bee predators.
They often do take many bee predators such as wasps, and prefer
drones to workers probably because they are bigger. They are a pest
though when you are trying to take a siesta by continually waking
you up with their penetrating whistles. More wine at lunch is probably
the answer.
Beekeepers
with children can now show them something of interest on the web
by clicking on to http://cyberbee.net
and then going on to the Bees4kids section. Here they have bee games
(including naughts and crosses), a bee maze and some excellent introductions
to what bees do and a bee anatomy section where you click on to
say a bees head, and up comes a description of its anatomy. Actually
this part is very good for adults as well.
Further to
these lessons on anatomy, if you want to see how a bee sees, then
Andrew Giger, a US neuroscientist working on bee vision can show
you. Many of us will have built a Von Frisch artificial eye from
polaroid triangles, but this goes a lot further. See how a bee sees
on http://cvs.anu.edu.au/andy/beye/beyehome.html
I hope you
enjoy this months offering and do contact us if you have anything
to say.
David Cramp.
Editor.
NEWS
FROM THE WEB
BRAINY BEES
Continuing
with the anatomical/vision theme, a report in the magazine NATURE
indicates that honey bees possess 'higher cognitive functions'.
French researchers have found that honeybees excel at cognitive
tests normally performed by lab primates and human volunteers. Martin
Giurfa and four colleagues have demonstrated that these cognitive
functions are not a privilege of vertebrates with much more complex
nervous systems.
They have shown that bees are able to master abstract interrelationships
specifically the concept of sameness and difference. Using a simple
maze, the researchers marked sugar rich routes with a particular
colour and empty routes with another colour. The colour at the entrance
to the maze showed the bees which colour they would have to follow
within the maze to get the sugar. So if there was yellow at the
entrance, the branch in the maze marked with yellow was the route
to the sugar reward. In a further experiment, it was found that
the bees remembered this concept of 'sameness'. The entrance to
the maze was marked by a vertical line. The sugar rich branch in
the maze was also marked with a vertical line and the non sugar
branch by horizontal lines. 70% of the bees flew down the path marked
by the vertical line.
Abstract rules therefore can be mastered by the mini brain of the
honeybee and Giurfa and his team have shown that complex behaviours
may have a relatively simplistic nervous system architecture. For
the full report, go to http://www.upliftprogram.com/h_spirit.html
FUNGI. THE LATEST VARROA DESTROYER?
Fungi
could soon be helping beekeepers to combat varroa as recent research
has shown that certain fungi can kill varroa just as effectively
as chemicals currently used for this task. We all know that chemicals
are not a long term solution to varroa control and many beekeepers
especially on the continent (including me) have lost colonies because
of reliance on these chemicals which because of overuse have caused
the emergence of resistance to them. Research into the use of fungi
is being carried out by Dr David Chandler and Dr Gill davidson of
the Horticultural research International Association in Warwickshire.
Dr Chandler states that interest in fungal controls is increasing
as the public become more concerned about the environmental impact
of pesticide residues in food.
The team has found more than 40 fungi that are able to kill varroa
mites with 100 hours and although these fungi occur naturally, they
are rarely encountered within a hive because the bees keep the hives
so clean. The most promising types of fungi are now being tested
to ensure that they are effective in the high temperature and humidity
regimes of the brood nest.
The fungal spores kill the mites over a week long period by penetrating
their cuticle and poisoning the mite - drying it out and damaging
its cells and organs.
The research team is now is now embarking on a three year study
in conjunction with the IACR Bee Research Unit in Rothamstead, Hertfordshire
to identify the best strains of fungi and to find the best way of
distributing them around the hive.
Honeybees are already used to spread fungi on some commercial crops
so it may be easy to adapt these methods to spread it around the
hive, e.g. by providing a fungi footpath that bees have to walk
through on entering the hive.
STORMS ARE
STARVING BEES IN CUMBRIA
Bees in Cumbria are being hand fed because bad weather is stopping
them from eating enough. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2172950.stm
CHINA ON THE OFFENSIVE OVER EUROPEAN HONEY BAN
A leading Chinese agriculture official has launched a bitter
attack on the European Union for imposing a ban on Chinese food
imports. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2125192.stm
HONEY SHORTAGE
KEEPS PRICES HIGH
It should have been a sweet year for the UK's honey producers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2165835.stm
RIGGED DEFRA
CONFERENCE TO UNDERMINE GM-FREE HONEY STANDARDS
This news from John Salt the President of the Moray Beekeepers is
produced in full at http://www.beedata.com/membersnews.shtml
and rather than repeat what is readily available to readers on the
web, I have only produced the first paragraph. This is to introduce
overseas readers to the web site and to give them an idea of current
GM discussion in the UK. If you want to hear more click on above.
The BBKA have published a statement on their website about the GM
Conference on the 20th September 2002 http://www.bbka.org.uk
"Honey produced in the UK has remained GM free because beekeepers
who wish to sell their honey to the British Honey Importers and
Packers Association have been required to move their hives at least
6 miles from any GM crops. The normal flying distance of a honey
bee is 3 miles, doubling this distance should ensure that all honey
is GM free. 27 GM test sites thus prevent beekeepers from using
just under 8000 square miles of the UK! Many beekeeping associations
including numerous individual beekeepers have been highly critical
of GM crops, have asked many embarrassing questions of government
and have been major contributors to the anti-GM movement. The government
sees this as an obstacle to the commercialisation of GM crops and
wants the GM- free honey standards scrapped."
DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
Event organisers are welcome to forward dates and details
of their events to the editor (by e-mail) for incorporation on this
page.
4-6th September
2002 8th International Symposium on Hazards of Pesticides to Bees.
Bologna, Italy. Contact Dr Claudio Porrini. Email: eporrini@entom.agrsci.unibo.it
or Dr Gavin Lewis Email: gavin.lewis@jsci.co.uk
6th to 9th Sept 2002 - BIBBA Conference 2002
at Sheffield University Halifax Hall of Residence, UK.
The BIBBA conference at Sheffield University in September should
be well worth attending. Anyone interested should contact the conference
Secretary Tom Robinson Tel: 01904 626170 or Write to Tom at 71 Broadway,
York YO1 4JP
Programme: Friday 6th September 2002 From 16.00 arrivals
and registration. Evening meal from 18.00 hrs. 19.00 Informal talk
Saturday 7th September 2002 07.30- 8.45 Breakfast 09.00 Arrivals
& registration 09.30 Bernhard Krause - "Beekeeping and
Biodiversity in Europe project (BABE)." 10.30 Coffee 11.00
Janez Poklukar - "The search for Varroa resistance". 12.30
- 13.30 Lunch 14.00 Cecilia Costa - "Conservation and improvement
of bees in Italy". 15.00 Coffee Split into two groups for next
sessions 15.30 * Demo on the use of a computer to measure wing indices
for morphometry * Visit to Apiculture Lab. 18.00 Evening meal 19.00
* Demo on the use of a computer to measure wing indices for morphometry
* Visit to Apiculture Lab. * Half to half.
Sunday 8th September 2002 07.30 - 08.45 Breakfast 09.00 Arrivals
& registration 09.30 Nicholas Chaline - "Genetic Studies
of British Honeybees" (To be confimed) 10.30 Coffee 11.00 Janez
Pokular - "Queen rearing in Slovenia" 12 ,30 - 13.30 Lunch
1400 Dr. Ruth Spinks - "Hygienic Behaviour Studies". 15.30
Coffee 16.00 Dr. Francis Ratnieks "Work organisation in the
bee colony" 18.00 - 18.45 Evening meal for those staying overnight
Monday 9th September 2002 07.30 - 08.45 Breakfast 08.50 Sight-seeing
tour of Derbyshire for those wishing to stay over on the Monday.
Albert Knight BIBBA Groups Secretary
11-15th
September 2002 - INTERMIOD 2002. Moscow, Russia. 3rd International
Exhibition and Conference. For more information contact: AV Cherekaev.
Email: expostroy@expostroy.ru
23rd September
2002 Japan Apitherapy Society and the Nonprofit Organization Japan
Apitherapy Association invites you to our First Japanese
Conference and Workshop on Bee Venom Therapy with International
Participation About this Autumn's conference: Venue KINJYOKAN Hotel
10-33 Syowa Atami City, Shizuoka prefecture. Phone no: (+)81-557-81-6261.
Date: September 23-rd. 2002 (Monday) - September 25-th. (Wednesday).
Course fee JPY 33,000 (about 275 USD) (includes also hotel and meals).
14 to 18 October 2002 - The Apimondia Apitherapy Commission is organising
an international apitherapy course in Cuba at the Callixto Garcia
Faculty of Medicine in Havana. The programme includes the biochemical
composition of hive products, the techniques of producing medicines
from hive products, and clinical practice. This course will be given
from 14 to 18 October 2002 by the following professors:
Prof Théodore
Cherbuliez, MD, President of the Apitherapy Commission
Prof Roch Domerego, biologist, Vice-President of the Apitherapy
Commission
Prof Ramos, MD, Head of department at the Callixto Garcia hospital
Prof Cristina Mateescu, Doctor of biochemistry, Director of Research
Prof Franco Feraboli, Surgeon
Prof Amina Damiri, Chemical engineer
Prof Adolfo Perez Pineiro, biologist, Director of the Experimental
Bee-keeping Station
Dr Adolfo Gonzalez Salvador, doctor, Head of department at the Frank
Pais hospital
Dr Celia Alex Toro Aung, Head of department at the Callixto Garcia
hospital
Dr Guillermo Lázaro Prado González, MD, Head of clinic
at the Finlay Institute
(It is possible that other professors who are members of the Commission
may join us at the last moment).
A level 2 programme
will also be organised at that time for those who are already performing
in apitherapy. If you want to subscribe at that level, please contact
us.
For each level, the prices will be:
USD 500 for nationals of the following countries: Australia, Canada,
the European Union, the USA, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland.
USD 250 for all other countries.
This
price includes:
40 hours of training
the certificate of attendance
the apitherapy CD-ROM
the various documents handed out during the course
tea and coffee during the breaks.
We suggest
staying at the hotel Bello Caribe - three stars - for a price of
USD 60 per day. This price includes accommodation in a double room,
half board (breakfast and evening meal) and transport morning and
evening from the hotel to the faculty.
We will arrange
the allocation of double rooms in situ for people travelling alone
who prefer to share a room. Single rooms will be available for a
supplement of USD 25 per night. We kindly ask you to register before
15 September 2002. Reservations and payments by credit card
may be made by telephone to +32 23 46 22 60, or by fax to +32 23
45 19 95 (indicate on the fax: the number of the Visa, MasterCard
or American Express credit card and the expiry date). To register
after this date, an additional charge of USD 100 will be levied
on the price of the course. Download course programmes level 1 and
2
http://www.beedata.com/files/14-19oct2002level1.pdf
http://www.beedata.com/files/14-19oct2002level2.pdf
http://www.beedata.com/files/registration-symposium-apitherapy.PDF
Roch
Domerego Vice-President.
Email: roch.domerego@euronet.be
 |
14th,
15th, 16th November 2002 - The National
Honey Show the biggest honey show in the world at
Kensington Town Hall, Horton Street, London, England UK. The
show schedule files are now available for downloading in PDF
and Word97 formats. Visit the new look National Honey Show website
for all the latest news http://www.honeyshow.co.uk |
The
National Honey Show Lecture Convention and Programme 2002
Thursday 14 November
1.45 Doors open
2.00 Opening Ceremony
3.00 Propolis - Future Medicine? James Fearnley
4.30 Pollen for Beekeepers Norman Chapman
7.00 Show closes
Friday 15
November
9.30 Show opens
10.30 Bee Breeding as a Group Activity Albert Knight
11.45 Fighting American Foulbrood - How New Technologies Can Help
Dr. Elke Genersch
3.00 Sex in Honeybees, Humans and Flowers Prof. Robert Pickard
4.15 Household Poverty Reduction through Beekeeping amongst Uganda
Rural Women Margaret Ogaba
5.30 GM Crops, Risk Assessment and Honeybees Prof. Ingrid Williams
7.00 Show Closes
Saturday
16 November
9.30 Show opens
10.30 Still Living with Bees Graham Law
11.45 Beekeeping and Honey Production in Germany Dr. Elke Genersch
1.15 The Gender Issues in Beekeeping Margaret Ogaba
2.30 National Honey Show Annual General Meeting followed by the
Annual Meeting of the National Council
4.00 Presentation of Trophies and Awards followed by the Draw
5.00 Show closes
5.30 Collect Exhibits
2-7 December
2002 - Canada/United States 2002 Joint Apicultural meetings.
This series of meetings brings together The American Association
of Professional Apiculturists; The Apiary Inspectors of America;
The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists; The Canadian
Honey Council; The Empire State Honey Producers' Association and
the Ontario Beekeepers Association. For more information: http://www.honeycouncil.ca
or http://www.ontariobee.com
THE
BEE PRESS
BEECRAFT
The latest issue of Bee Craft offers a wealth of information, advice
and items of interest for all beekeepers in its monthly columns.
The following is its contents list:
|
Beecraft
August 2002 Volume 84 Number 8
http://www.bee-craft.com/
Editorial
Beginner's Bazaar Matthew Allan, NDB
In the Apiary - honey bee nest selection Karl Showler
Fungal control of Varroa destructor Gill Davidson and
David Chandler
Flying gametes Celia Davis, NDB
Bee kind to your back (part 6) Sarah Weaver
Beekeeping in Ireland Eddie O'Sullivan
In praise of large frames Robin Dartington
New beekeepers are out there! Paul Mann
III - matched bookends A Cynic
Ask Dr Drone
Letters to the Editor
Around the colony
Classified advertisements
Calendar |
BEEKEEPERS
QUARTERLY
August 2002 No 70
The latest edition of the Beekeepers Quarterly is out and apart
from the editor's illuminating editorial, it is as usual packed
with information, articles of interest and letters of controversy.
The contents list is as follows:
|
|
NEWSROUND:
Dr Francis Ratnieks promoted to Professor; obituary - T S K Johansson;
demonstration apiary opened at Ulster Wildlife Centre; pyrethroid
resistant mites found in Cornwall; varroa mites on export bees raise
alarm bells in NZ; results of 2nd International Apicultural Photographic
Competition; gallery opens in Czech Republic to commemorate the
life and work of Mendel; honeybees trained to detect TNT; clustering
beetle larvae impersonate female bees to infest their hosts; Beckett
announces a public debate on GM crops; crop pollen spreads further
than expected; GM potatoes deter one pest - but attract another;
worm turns for US cotton farmers; BBKA/DEFRA conference and correspondence.
ASSOCIATION
NEWS: National Honey Show - William Mundy retires, programme for
NHS November 2002; Bees for Development - new names for for Troy
Trust and journal; Bee Farmer's Association, Brian Stenhouse retires
as Secretary - workload shared by several officers;
LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
BACK
TO BASICS: R Raff finds that keeping an apiary tidy can be
quite challenging.
LONDON
ROOFTOP BEEKEEPERS: Steve Benbow and Jill Mead - beekeeping auctions,
Yemen and Crete have been part of the couple's itinery over the
last few months - as well as managing their London stocks.
FROM
OUR CORRESPONDENTS: America - Ann Harman, the honey queen and princess
program; Canada - David Dawson, pollination using leaf cutter bees;
England - Dr Nigel Payne, increasing stocks the Wilson way; Scotland
- Nigel Hurst, the Royal Highland Show; Wales, Graham Loveridge,
royal jelly and its efficacy; Ireland, Philip McCabe, Stoneleigh,
IBRA Conference; The Netherlands - Ko Zoet, looking back; Brittany
- Job Pichon, exotic bees; Italy - Alison Parnell, stolen bees;
Spain, David Cramp, catching swarms - the Spaish way; Ukraine -
Dr Alexander Komissar, maintaining baby nucs all the year round;
Cyprus - Roger White, using small cell foundation to control varroa;
Australia - Geoff Manning, quality assurance scheme/honey crops;
Poland, Maciej Winiarski, swarm control and utilising swarms.
CONFLICT
IN THE BEE HIVE: WORKER REPRODUCTION AND WORKER POLICING
Dr Francis Ratnieks reveals that life in the hive is far from harmonious.
ORGANIC
VARROA CONTROL USING APIGUARD: An effective, natural, safe and easy
way of controlling varroa.
SCIENCE
REVIEW: Janet Dowling FRES - finds out how drones behave in the
hive.
BREEDING
MATTERS: John Atkinson NDB
COLLECTORS CORNER: Beekeeping Treasures, Geoff Hopkinson NDB looks
at an early example of a masonic firing glass. The BKQ website URL:
http://www.beedata.com/bbq.htm
ARTICLES
ANAPHYLAXIS
Written by John Yates. It is only recently that the BBKA
have addressed, in their examination requirements, the question
of how to proceed when anaphylactic shock follows a bee sting. The
exact wording in the Husbandry Certificate syllabus is: Describe
precisely the action to take when a person who has been stung by
a bee, exhibits a severe reaction or anaphylactic shock.
Definition of anaphylaxis
A generalised reaction with signs and symptoms of difficulty
in breathing, skin rash, palpitations, confusion, vomiting, faintness
caused by a falling blood pressure. All or some of these signs and
symptoms occurring within minutes of a sting indicates a severe
reaction (anaphylaxis) requiring emergency medical attention. Do
not attempt to take the patient to hospital, you may get caught
in a traffic jam. Call an ambulance which is equipped with a siren
and flashing lights to speed through the traffic. The paramedics
should have the necessary drugs for emergency treatment. Time is
of the essence. A mobile phone is a great asset in these circumstances.
First aid treatment
while waiting for the arrival of the paramedics
1. Move
the patient well away from the bees.
2. Give an injection with an Epipen which contains epinephrine
(which used to be known as adrenaline) if this is carried by the patient.
Drug info from: http://www.healthanswers.com.au/drugdata/appco/00099321.asp
3. Remove any dentures that are loose or ill-fitting.
4. Keep the airway clear.
5. Release any tight clothing especially around the neck.
6. Lay the patient in the recovery position. Please see below.
7. Keep the patient warm.
8. Stay with the patient at all times. Death can occur due
to circulatory failure or airway obstruction.
The Recovery
Position
The recovery
position is the correct position in which to place a victim who
is breathing, while waiting for help to arrive. Do not put a person
in the recovery position if you suspect that he has any form of
spinal injury or other fractures.
To put the
patient in the recovery position
1. Lie
the patient on his back and kneel beside him. Tilt the head back
and lift the chin to open the airway.
2. If he is wearing glasses, remove them; loosen his shirt,
belt and pants.
3. Straighten both legs and place the arm nearest to you
at right angles to the patient's body, elbow bent, with the palm
of the hand uppermost.
4. Bring the far arm across his chest and hold the hand against
the victim's cheek, palm outwards. With the other hand, grasp the
furthermost thigh and pull the knee up, keeping the foot on the
ground.
5. Support the victim's head by keeping the hand pressed
against his cheek with one hand. Roll him towards you with the other
hand holding the bent knee of the farthermost leg.
6. Tilt the head back to open the airway, adjust the hand
to support the head.
7. Adjust the uppermost leg so that the hip and knee are
at right angles.
8. Check that the victim's breathing and pulse are regular.
It is my belief
that very few beekeepers are 'au fait' with the above requirements
and the place where such an emergency is most likely to happen is
at an association apiary. Therefore, it is suggested that all association
apiaries should have instructions, as outlined above, printed and
prominently displayed at all their meetings together with a list
of vital telephone numbers. You never know, it might just save someone's
life.
Speed
is the essence in such an emergency!
INSECT FLIGHT
Written by Jeremy Quinlan.
These are notes of a talk given by Dr Robin Wootton of Exeter
University where he is Reader in Insect Biomechanics; the talk was
the first at the Cambridge BKA's One Day Meeting on 16 Mar 02.
For flight,
it is necessary to accelerate a sufficient mass of air downwards.
To achieve this, an aerofoil is required; this speeds up the air
above and slows it below, so generating lift. An increased angle
of attack (increased inclination to the direction of the oncoming
air) increases lift but if the angle is too great the aerofoil stalls.
In powered
flight, we can move the aerofoil using a fixed wing and a separate
motor, or rotary wings (helicopters) but birds and insects have
to flap. They also have to twist their wings to minimise the downward
counteractive force generated by their wing upstroke. This is simple
for birds that have muscles in their wings, but insects do not.
Flapping brings
its own problems; the bee body is not particularly streamlined and
the wings are small so wing loading is high and rapid flapping is
necessary. Another problem is the inertia of the wing itself.
Muscles typically
require a nerve impulse to trigger contraction. Normal muscles cannot
contract more than 100 times a second, but bees beat their wings
about 200 times a second and some midges may beat up to 1000 times
a second. They can achieve this because of a special kind of flight
muscle that can contract many times for each nerve impulse, being
stimulated to do so by being stretched by the opposing muscle. This
type of muscle stores elastically some of the energy expended in
each stroke, which considerably reduces the cost of flight.
Even so, the
flight muscles appear to be surprisingly inefficient, and fuel costs
are very high.
Work done in a wind tunnel has shown that bees can be induced to
fly using the visual stimulus of rotating stripes. It was possible
to determine how much oxygen was used, and hence how much energy
was used in flight. Bees turned out to have an efficiency of only
5% while helicopters are 30% efficient! This rate of fuel consumption
equates to 18 gallons of beer an hour for a man!
High speed
movie photography and computer analysis has made it possible to
discover exactly how insects move their wings in flight, and what
aerodynamic mechanisms they use. It is now clear that they twist
the wings in order to generate lift from the upstroke as well as
the downstroke. In the 1990s, it was discovered that hawkmoths,
and probably many other kinds of insect, generate a leading edge
vortex which delays stall as the vortex moves out towards the tips.
Work on fruit flies shows that their wings twist before the bottom
of the downstroke; this generates extra lift by creating a kind
of back-spin, and then by catching up with and using the vortex
which they have created and left behind on the downstroke.
It is fascinating
to compare the way different insects have developed different solutions
for the best effect for them. Locusts have four wings, which only
create useful forces on the downstroke, so they can only fly fast.
The four wings of damsel flies twist dramatically and generate lift
on both upstroke and downstroke, which permits them to fly slowly
and hover. Bees have a bigger fore wing and a smaller rear one,
which hook together to operate as a single aerofoil. The solitary
bee Anthophora looks like a small bumble bee, but hovers much more
skilfully than bumbles do - it is not clear how, or why they need
to be such excellent fliers.
MICROBIAL CONTROL OF VARROA
Written by Jeremy Quinlan. These
are notes of a talk given by Brenda Ball of IACR Rothampstead at the
BBKA Spring Convention at Stonleigh in April 2002. This was a 4 year
collaborative project with other researchers from Harpenden and Horticulture
Research International, Wellesbourne, funded by DEFRA, now coming
to an end. The lecture reported progress on the search for and evaluation
of a biological control agent for Varroa as an alternative to chemical
treatments.
Brenda began
by giving us the background. Entomopathogens are agents that primarily
attack insects and these fall into 4 main groups; these are nematodes
(as used to control slugs and vine weevils), baculoviruses (used
in forestry), bacteria (eg Bacillus thuringensis - used to control
a variety of insects including Colorado beetle and wax moths) and
fungi. Their use avoids the accumulation of residues from chemical
inputs, they are effective against insecticide resistant pests and
can be used as a "classic" biological control agent (exotic
pest, exotic control). Their advantages are that they occur naturally
and are common, are generally host specific, environmentally benign,
can be applied using conventional methods and may be a component
of an integrated pest management (IPM) plan, perhaps allowing two
controls to be applied at once.
Their disadvantages
are that they are affected by environmental conditions (temperature
and humidity cannot always be just right) and interactions with
other organisms. Often, they are slower to act and they are generally
more expensive to produce than chemicals.
An initial
feasibility study showed that, of the possible agents for the biological
control of Varroa, entomopathogenic fungi had the most potential.
Fungi are very common in nature; it is estimated that there are
1.5M species, 750 of which are known to attack arthropods. They
have a wide intra specific diversity - the same species of fungus
in a different area can differ in its physiology or host specificity.
It is remarkable that the behaviour of flies infected by one such
fungus is affected so that they climb to the top of grass stems
in their death throes, allowing the wind to disperse the spores
more widely. A commercial fungal spore preparation, "Vertalec"
is used effectively against greenhouse aphids. Fungi are particularly
successful in such contained environments. Honeybee colonies also
provide a defined habitat where the environmental conditions are
maintained within certain limits and selected fungi may prove effective
against the mite.
The entomopathogenic
fungi are hyphomycetes and all have a similar life cycle. The spore
is the means of dispersion and infection; when it lands on a suitable
host, it begins to produce a germ tube that penetrates the host
cuticle. The specificity of a fungus lies in this key interaction
between the spore and the host body surface. The chemical signals
from the host cuticle can stimulate spore germination and, if other
conditions, such as temperature and moisture are suitable, the fungus
can penetrate into the host haemocoele where it can then grow throughout
the body. On the death of the host, the fungus erupts through the
body and produces specialised structures, which release more spores
to infect other individuals. The entomopathogenic fungi can kill
a wide range of different species of insects and mites, may be applied
in various ways and are generally easy to grow on artificial media.
Because no
fungal natural enemies of Varroa were known, the research project
began with a worldwide search for fungi active against other mites
and ticks. 40 isolates from all over the world were identified,
catalogued and preserved for use. A bioassay was then designed which
would allow us to test the ability of individual fungal isolates
to infect and kill Varroa. To be able to compare different isolates,
the experiments had to be undertaken in a standardised, reproducible
manner. The 40 isolates all killed some mites. The fastest killed
in 3 days. 18 killed all the mites in 7 days. The fungi found it
difficult to get a foothold on the mites' backs but easier on their
undersides where plates join. The fungi were most effective when
relatively high numbers of spores were used under conditions of
high humidity and at the low temperature of 25oC. The next stage
was to test the best 9 isolates against Varroa under more realistic
hive conditions. Again Varroa proved highly susceptible to fungal
infection at 30oC and 40% RH even when lower doses of spores were
used. Fortunately, they prefer drone brood on the periphery of the
brood nest and so cooler than 35oC.
Because we
want to use these fungi within bee colonies, it was important to
determine if they were harmful to bees. Some certainly were capable
of infecting and killing bees at high doses of spores but others
caused no infection. The isolates were also tested against ladybirds,
other beneficial insects and some lepidoptera with generally negligible
effect.
The ability
of fungal isolates to infect and kill Varroa, to survive and grow
at the relatively high temperatures within honey bee colonies and
to be harmless to bees are some of the criteria used to select the
most promising candidates. Some 5 isolates were identified as worthy
of further research. This is estimated to take a further 3 years.
We need to know more about the biology of these fungi, what formulation
will preserve their infectivity most effectively, how they can best
be applied and how the spores persist and spread in the colony.
A promising start has been made but much more work remains to be
done. If further research funding is secured, at the end of the
next phase of the project it is hoped that all the information will
have been obtained to form the basis for commercial development.
Only commercial interest and investment will allow the work to be
brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Is there anyone out there
who has the money and wants to take the project forward?
THE POLLEN
SHOW
Witten by Mathew Allen. I have lived in our present house
now for over ten years, and every summer I have not opened my eyes
enough to see a remarkable sight which takes place most summer evenings.
The previous owner was an elderly who had been unable to look after
what had once been the best garden in the street. That first summer
we were taken aback by some of the plants which emerged from the
jungle, among them being the very striking evening primrose, which
opens as you might suspect (well done Sherlock) in the evening.
I had assumed that this was to entice night flying moths, but I
was wrong (as usual mutters Peter the pedant, but read on.
Anyway, the
occasional rogue evening primrose still grows here, and one evening
at 8.30 pm while I was in the garden, I caught a glimpse of a movement
among the flowers. As I watched, the flowers were opening in front
of my eyes. The flower is rolled up in its bud like an umbrella.
First it twists and the petals unfurl a little. Then the sepals
peel right back - you can see the movement easily. After that, the
petals fold out, and as they do so, the stamens and stigma push
forward. The whole process takes only a few minutes. I called the
family and bored them with my discovery.
So night after
night I sat and watched them but I still wasn't looking properly.
It took my eight year old daughter to show me the next bit. 'Look
dad, the pollen is like a spider. Ugh! All sticky'. And sure enough,
it is. It has trails of threads. Time to do the best thing and consult
an expert. Mary Percival. Floral Biology (Publisher Robert Maxwell
MC!) is an old book but readable. She says that honeybees get into
a real mess trying to pack evening primrose pollen onto their legs,
and soon learn not to bother with it. In fact the real pollinator
is a solitary bee called Onagrandrena, which has hairs on its legs
that match exactly the length of these sticky threads. Some species
of these bees are so specialised that evening primrose is their
only source of food.
Another thing
about the evening primrose is the amount of pollen it releases.
Brush past it in the dark and you find yourself streaked with yellow.
This reminds me of a time when as a mere youth, I was importuned
by a Turk who wanted to sell me the finest smoke of all time. Pure
cannabis pollen. Wonderful smoke. Smarty pants (me) didn't believe
it. How do you collect the pollen Huh? The reply was that the men
of his village put on leather trousers and run up and down through
the fields until their trousers are caked. They take off their trousers
(I presume), scrape off the pollen with razor blades, then start
again. Rather a mind boggling picture! Always on the lookout for
new products to expand our catalogue, I toyed with the idea of a
new range of pollen collectors in suede, chamoise and nu-buck, small.
medium, large and huge. Response from head office was less than
enthusiastic.
LETTERS
Dear David,
Will you please remind your Apis-UK subscribers that NOW is the
time to think of entering some of their honey products for the National?
Anyone can enter, anyone can win! So give it a Go!
You may be interested to hear how the plans for the 2002 National
are going. For the past eight or nine months, the various committees
have been beavering away, and now their hard work is coming to fruition.
The 2002 Schedule has been printed, and should be in the hands of
members and past exhibitors by the time they read this. In any case,
they can find the schedule on our website www.honeyshow.co.uk
Look it up, and discover lots more about the National. If by any
chance they don't receive a schedule, get in touch with me, and
I will send them a copy.
Admission
to the Show this year is £10, BUT that one £10
admission ticket will cover admission for all the three days, and
on the Saturday it is valid for two people. To be really canny,
anyone can ask me for an Advance Admission Ticket, and this will
cost them only £8, and this will also be valid for all three
days. (Unfortunately, there is a misprint in the Schedule about
the cost of these Advance Tickets. The price really is £8.)
In addition
to this, I shall be very happy to hear from any Associations who
are considering a group visit to the Show, and I am sure that we
can come to a suitable arrangement.
We are
also offering Complimentary Admission Tickets for those who have
joined a beekeeping association during this year. Ask your association
secretary to get in touch with me, with the names of the new people,
and I will send he secretary the tickets.
The National
is a great Show. We look forward to seeing you there.
Hon General Secretary The Revd H F Capener
Registered Office. 1 Baldric Road, Folkestone, Kent CT2O 2NR
Fax/phone. 01303 254579
Registered Company No.266722
Registered Charity No.233656
Email: nathon@zbee.com
Website: www.honeyshow.co.uk
Dear Editor,
I have recently downloaded issue no 3 of the newsletter, and thoroughly
enjoyed reading it. Reading J Quinlan's letter, it never ceases
to amaze me that people will go to great lengths to make negative
comments and indeed whinge without making any useful contribution
to to new ideas. I particularly liked Ian Coleman's article and
look forward to hearing more. Keep up the good work. Noble effort
as my old mum would say.
Best wishes, Nigel Hurst. (Editorial note. Jeremy Quinlan
is back on board with contributions)
Dear Sir,
We would like to promote with your help, among your local beekeepers,
biologists and health related professionals a better knowledge of
the medicinal properties of bee products (Apitherapy).
We would also like to offer you the possibility to join our programme
and our Apitherapy Internet Course (AIC) given in over 39 countries
all over the world by Dr Stefan Stangaciu (MD), our Romanian bee
products and Apitherapy expert and also president of the German
Apitherapy Society. We think this could be a great opportunity to
learn more about a field that may provide you with natural products
that can be used to treat (and cure) over 250 different diseases
and amongst them some of the most "frightening" ones.
If interested to co-operate with them in any way, please let us
know.
Sincerely yours Nicoleta Radu. AIC registration department.
Email:AICregistration@imail.softnet.ro
Dear Editor,
At a recent Virginia USA state beekeepers' meeting Dr Wyatt Mangum
of Mary washington College presented a lecture on queen introduction.
He has a large number of observation hives, and witnessed much balling
of the queen, mostly due to the presence of the attendants in the
queen cage. He has a number of very good photos that he made of
the queens being balled. He strongly recommended that removal of
the attendants should be standard practice when introducing a new
queen to an existing hive. You can contact him at: wmangum@MWC.EDU
James Fischer.
Dear David,.
I'm a beekeeper from Germany and I have had bees since 1975 and
found the first Varroa in 1982, when I had 24 colonies. Most beekeepers
here use Formic Acid, Apistran or Perizin (cumaphos) to protect
the bees but the Varroa are almost resistant or the treatments are
very time consuming. I have no problems any more because I'm using
the Oxalic Acid crystals and a vaporizer. Oxalic Acid is a natural
acid and in rhubarb, beans and several other plants. There are
no residuals in the honey, beeswax and propolis.
I have
quite a lot of information regarding the control of the Varroa Mite
using Oxalic acid, but as I'm not a native English speaker, it's
difficult for me to translate so many pages.
If you are able to read German, you can go to the following website:
http://www.mellifera.de/oxneu.htm
where you will find the latest news and test results or go to: http://www.members.shaw.ca/orioleln
.
I was told by a Russian beekeeper who emigrated to Germany in 1991
and several others, that controlling the Varroa with Oxalic Acid
Aerosol is very popular in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan where funds
and options are very limited.
It has
been my experience, working with an vaporiser and oxalic acid since
the late 80s, that unlike Apistan and Cumaphos, there is no resistance
problem. Oxalic acid is not a chemical treatment. It works by destroying
the mite's suction ability, stopping it from feeding from the bee.
Effectively, the mite starves to death. It's so easy to use and
takes only 3 minutes for each colony and the price for each treatment
is $Euro/USD 0.01. Many of my colleagues in Germany were interested
in Amitraz from France only to discover that the mites developed
a resistance to that also. Likewise, Gabon Strips used in Czechoslovakia.
Formic Acid can be difficult to work with as temperatures both inside
and outside the hive as well as calculating the correct amount,
all contribute to its effectiveness.
An error in calculation can lead to a loss of up to 25% of the queens
or to many mites left for the next season. 210 mites in the Fall,
followed by a mild winter and an early breeding start in the spring,
can result in approx 210,000 mites at the end of the year.
Several international beekeeping journals make mention of the Russian
mite-resistant bees. They are in high demand and the Russian's know
it!
If this was true, it would be the end of the mite problem but the
fact is that there have been mites in Germany since 1982 and there
is no escape. Some bee races have stronger cleaning impulses than
others and that's the reason some can live with a certain amount
of mites in a colony.
All that is necessary is to take a swarm in an empty hive and treat
them twice with 3g of Oxalic Acid 7 days apart. 14 days later and
the only mites you'll find are dead ones.
My major problem is re-infection by bees from nearby hives and drones
from up to 40 km away.
We are very close to having the 'perfect' bee: not aggressive, swarm
lazy and a good breeder. We should be grateful, not impatient. Our
bees are working hard for us.
Bees have been around for 65 million years and evolution will take
care of the man made problem......one day. Greetings Manfred
Schreiber
OBITUARY
Alan Berkeley written by Gareth Howell.
At some risk of boring you with a story of my late friend Alan Berkeley
who sadly died just before the sun came out on 10th July. He did
not suffer fools gladly so when I asked him a twittish question
about mice, he invited me in to his house, which was a bit scruffy
and I hesitated to sit down on account of the accumulated dirt.
( It was perfectly clean dirt; don't misunderstand)
He sat me down in the lounge and gave me instructions to look at
a hole in the skirting board near the fire. I kinda wondered why,
but did as I was told while he went to get a cup of tea. I've got
a fertile imagination but I am sure that while he was out making
the tea I saw some whiskers and a snout looking out from the hole
but thought no more of it. When he brought the tea through he was
a bit abrupt and said "now look at my trouser leg" and
he lifted the hem of the leg with his pocket and suddenly the whiskers
and snout materialised into a fairly large mouse, scampered across
the room and disappeared up the trouser leg. Meanwhile of course
I realised that I was expected to show fear of the mouse and promptly
jumped on the table to (It may have been on the chair) ensure that
it, or one of its friends, did not dash in and chase up my trouser
leg. In normal circumstances a mouse would not have bothered me
but to see a house mouse go up somebody's trouser leg worried me,
as I did not want it up mine!!! I am a bit ticklish and I might
have dropped the tea cup. I think it eventually appeared in his
hand a few moments later and I shuddered to imagine by which route
across his admitted large corpus the animal had learnt to travel.
Seeing it in his hand I got down from the table but kept my eyes
on the hole in the skirting board until I left the room. I had to
drink the tea.
He looked at me as though I was personally responsible for the sinking
of the Titanic. "You'll never make a beekeeper" he roared
"unless you can understand mice!" Still with an honours
in Greats from Clare College Cambridge, Alan was ideally suited
to the task of Bee farming. He was there with Sylvia Plath who wrote
about bees. He had a very low opinion of Sylvia Plath who knew nothing
about bees, although her executors make large fortunes from selling
her poetry now, one or two of which were about hives at Clare. Alan
was recently interviewed by a group of A level students from Christ's
Hospital, his own Alma mater, a nearby school, about the poems and
their accuracy. They got top marks for their research.. For Alan
to die at such a young age and with so much still to offer, was
a tragedy for all of us. He will be greatly missed. He leaves two
younger brothers, Martin and Colin, both of whom are expert
on apis mellifera and the natural world.
I was lucky to be able to count him as a friend. Martin keeps a
dozen hives near the Golan heights in Israel. May they be endowed
with fine crops. Alan, we imagine, has gone to a drone meeting place
to meet Bill again, ( his childhood mentor in life sciences) and
await the finest queen of all. We think they are having the time
of their lives. Requiescat in pacem.
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HISTORICAL
NOTE
Concise
lesson on pollination from the 19th century
To make a prairie you need a clover and one bee. Mary Dickinson
American poet 1830-1886
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