Apis-UK December 2003

EDITORIAL

Apis-UK
Christmas and a new year are rapidly approaching as I write and for many beekeepers it is a time to reflect on their beekeeping year and take stock of things as they stand. For me, it has been a most interesting year both with my bees and with Apis-UK which is growing steadily and surely and gathering a worldwide readership. This success is of course due in no small measure to those who contribute and to all of you who have written in to ask questions or praise or complain or with articles, or poems, I offer you my sincere thanks. To those who have thought of writing about their experiences with bees, please don’t hesitate. We welcome your input.

Honey Shows
This year I was privileged to be asked to talk at the French Bee Breeders/Queen rearers Association meeting in Lomoges (a short report is written below) where I met with a group of dedicated, dynamic, knowledgeable bee people who I am sure impressed me more than I impressed them. From there I was able then to continue on to the London Honey Show, that show piece of British apiculture. Whenever I visit one of these top shows, I am always astounded at the excellence of the entries to the competitions. The colours and clarity of the various honeys and meads, the perfect translucence of the wax exhibits and the general overall standard of the entries. I know well the effort that goes into preparing for such an event, having entered my local beekeeping association show in my first year of beekeeping. In that particular show, another beekeeper had entered a jar of honey with bits of bee in it to see if anyone noticed. The judge did notice, became annoyed that someone was not treating the affair with the respect he felt it deserved and rechecked all the entries. He then noticed that my winning entry was a micro nanometre below the line and disqualified it. I then inadvertently drank most of a bottle of someone’s prize winning mead which I thought was part of the spread, and have to draw a veil over the rest of the proceedings lest I embarrass myself. I still go red at the thought of it all. Suffice to say, my show ‘career’ was nipped in the bud, but my respect for those who enter these competitions rose enormously. I mean it. But even the great and famous will resort to certain questionable tactics in order to win at honey shows. I read once that Lord Baden Powell of scouting fame heated his honey before a show and accidentally left it in the oven for several hours. When he retrieved it, the honey had turned a very dark brown/black colour. He entered it in the relevant class and won; re-entering it for several years in a row, again winning each year. Such are honey shows. Interesting, challenging, hard work for entrants and judges, and in the case of the London show, very well presented. The talks were relevant and interesting, but for the rest of the show, which consisted essentially of trade stands, I found it to be smaller than before, with many well known names on the absent list. Let us hope that the move in 2004 to the Royal Air Force Museum in more accessible Hendon will tempt them back. I will certainly be there, and no, not as one of the museum exhibits. I always learn a lot at these shows particularly by talking to manufacturers and scientists and of particular interest to me were the advances in research on combating varroa and other bee diseases. A small survey on this is discussed below in the article section. Different countries appear to be taking slightly different approaches, but all aimed at the same target.

Another Day in Paradise
Christmas time often brings to the minds of many, their favourite charities and our various endeavours to assist those less fortunate than ourselves. There are several beekeeping charities in the UK, mainly working abroad that do brilliant work often under difficult circumstances. Do think of them this year and next, and do try to assist in whatever way you can. In many of these underdeveloped countries, a little can make a huge difference to peoples’ lives and we as beekeepers can and should help as much as we can. In this issue of Apis-UK, we introduce you to ‘The Honeypot Charity' a charity working solely in the UK to assist severely disadvantaged kids, for whom Christmas is just yet another awful day. They attended the honey show in an effort to gain assistance and support from the beekeeping community, and are very worthy of our attention. ‘Another day in Paradise’ the hit song by Phil Collins effectively sums it all up and describes the position of most of us, so please think about it, and if you can help, please do.
Another better known charity, IBRA is also featured in this issue (in the news), with the launch of its new promotion, ‘Buzz Extra’ and its plan to attract ‘Friends of IBRA’. IBRA is a charity that directly and indirectly affects all of us as beekeepers and without it our beekeeping would be immeasurably poorer. It deserves our support.

GMOs
GMOs ‘crop’ up in this issue again, (in the news), and I think that like it or not they will be a constant source of news and comment for the foreseeable future. Your views on this science are always welcome whether in support or against. And if you do comment, please let me publish your comments. Don’t be afraid of criticism. I get it all the time and believe me, it grows on you.

Apimondia 2005
So ends one Apimondia and so begins the publicity for the next. It looks as though our Irish friends together with support from all of the Islands home countries are preparing for quite an extravaganza. I look forward to it being my first Apimondia despite having been a beekeeper for some years now, and hope to see many friends in Dublin in 2005. (And taste Guinness at source of course). Information on the 2005 Apimondia in Dublin is shown below. (See In the News).

This Issue
This December 2003 issue includes the usual mix of news items, articles and other items of interest including an extremely tasty recipe, some scintillating advice on what to do about constipation and we even introduce you to a link between plate tectonics and honey. As a former geologist and now a beekeeper, (with a few things happening in between) I found this especially interesting. I am also happy to declare that the long standing mystery of the hollow bumblebees may now (I think) have been solved. I never give up on these things and the information we present is at least a possible answer to this long standing question. It’s all to do with flies of course, and if anyone knows better, let us know. (See below).

The Year ahead
So Apis-UK will now forge ahead into the new year and I hope that with your support we can continue to grow, both as an online magazine of real interest to beekeepers, and as a forum for new ideas, - and your ideas. Beekeeping is a fast moving, dynamic and absorbing occupation for professionals and hobbyists alike and I would like this magazine to reflect that.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
David Cramp. Editor.

The well known Beekeepers News published by EH Thorne (Beehives) Ltd was published for the last time with production of the September issue. This publication issued free to subscribers for the cost of postage has been produced by Thornes for 25 years and over this time has provided an enormous amount of advice, humour, criticism and reasoned arguments on just about every topic associated with beekeeping. During this time, the editor, Paul Smith has advised, cajoled and blasted away at various government ministers left, right and centre and has pulled no punches when discussing the failings of officialdom in whatever country. (He even criticised Spanish beekeepers once, but everyone makes mistakes!). So with issue 100, we say goodbye to an excellent publication which I expect must have been required reading for aspiring leaders of the opposition and which I really know will be missed by thousands of beekeepers, including myself. Ed.

SPAIN BANS BEE IMPORTS FROM COUNTRIES WITH THE SMALL HIVE BEETLE
In concert with many European nations, the EUs biggest producer of honey, Spain has now banned imports of bees, queens, hives and biological apicultural materials from countries with the small hive beetle, and extends to those with Tropilaelaps clarae. Spain produces around 36,612 tons of honey (2002 figures) from 2.4 million hives worked by more than 27000 beekeepers. Representatives of one of the most productive regions of Spain (around Guadalajara) have welcomed the ban and have said that there is no danger of contamination (with the beetle). No danger? Sounds a bit like varroa. Ed.

CAN HONEY BEES TELL WHICH HONEY IS WHICH?
Learning and discrimination of honey odours by the honey bee
In an interesting piece of research by French scientists, (Isabelle Bonod, Jean-Christophe Sandoz, Yves Loublier and Minh-Hà Pham-delègue), the research team used classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response to test whether the natural discrimination ability of honey bees could be used to assess the origin of honeys. Five honeys were used as the conditioning stimuli in the procedure: linden (Tilia spp.), oilseed rape (Brassica napus), eucalyptus, sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). Bees exhibited high levels of conditioned responses to all honey odours. Responses to the conditioned honey were usually the highest, but high levels of generalisation; i.e. behavioural response to other honeys, were recorded. Using a differential conditioning procedure where one honey odour was rewarded and another odour was explicitly unrewarded, we showed that honey bees could not always differentiate between honey types. For the full report, in which the potential use of the honey bee as a biological detector to discriminate among honeys is discussed, see Apidologie 34 (2003) 147 - 159.

HONEY CAN SHOW US HOW THE WORLD WORKS
A French scientist has found a link between plate tectonics, honey, pancake batter and toothpaste and his theory could be useful for honey packers in determining how quickly they can fill containers of honey and indeed other viscous fluids. In a paper published in the Physical Review E, 68, 2003, Neil Ribe of the Institute of Global Physics found that poured cake mix forms a thin sheet and folds over when it hits the bowl because of its density to viscosity ration. Ribes found that light or highly viscous fluids such as toothpaste must be extruded through a slot in order to flow and their rate of extrusion controls their folding. Honey and syrup on the other hand, being denser and runnier, and gravity pulling the fluid down is the main factor. Calling these two affects ‘forced’ or ‘free’ folding, he finds he can predict what will happen under different conditions and how often in each case a sheet will double over. His theory also sheds light on the movement of molten rock deep within the earth. The tectonic plates buckle when they sink and encounter obstacles such as thicker or denser rock. (Although these plates seem rigid, they do flow over geological time i.e. over millions of years).

FRENCH HONEY BEE PROBLEMS
In an interesting report by the BBC, it seems that the heat wave that affected most of Europe this Summer has brought with it great problems to many of France’s 80000 beekeepers. One beekeeper taking his 400 hives to the lavender and other wild flowers of Provence said that due to the heat drying up the flowers, only 40 made any honey and he only just about covered the cost of transporting them there. Honey production in the country is down by over 50% nationally from the 1.3 million hives in France.
Evidently, winter losses have also increased from around 1 beehive in 10 to about 6 in 10, with opinions as to the cause much debated. The French National Bee Surveillance Unit believes that the massive use of pesticides is weakening colonies and because of this they are becoming more vulnerable to infections, but other beekeepers blame the use of imported bees and subsequent crosses upsetting the natural balance.
Flowers are what bees are all about, and this piece of news uncovers some interesting facts about pollination, fertilisation and scent.

SCENT PRODUCTION AND POLLINATION IN PLANTS
Scientists from Purdue University in the USA, have discovered the processes responsible for shutting down scent production in certain flowers once they have been pollinated. Studying petunias and snapdragons, they found that in petunias, the plant hormone ethylene, produced after pollination, suppresses activity of the gene that triggers the creation of BSMT (an enzyme that produces a reaction that produces the substance providing the scent). Without this, the flower cannot produce scent. What they also found was that it is often fertilisation, not just pollination that sends the signal to decrease and halt scent production. Production of scent is an expensive process for a plant from an energy point of view, yet plants such as snapdragons continue to produce scent after pollination. Here, they found that it takes some 48 hours from pollination to effective fertilisation and not until this achieved does the snapdragon stop producing scent. This process occurs with petunias as well but in a shorter time. This time matches the time taken for the pollen tubes to reach the ovaries. In other words, the time delay is an insurance policy for the plant. If fertilisation fails, the plant will have to continue to attract pollinators.
The full report can be found in the December issue of ‘The Plant Cell’, or in advance on line in ‘The Plant Cell Review’, Thursday 20 Nov.

SUGARY FOODS. CAN THEY CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS
In a report published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from the University of California, compared the diets of 454 mothers of children with neural tube defects like spina bifida, and 462 mothers who had healthy babies. They discovered that the risk of defects doubled in women who ate lots of food which gave a quick sugar hit and amongst obese women, this risk quadrupled. The scientists concentrated on foods that have a high glyacemic index (GI). These foods release a large amount of glucose into the blood quickly and foods which do this include honey, white bread, potatoes, cooked carrots, cooked rice, chocolate biscuits, and some soft drinks. Other scientists and experts play down the danger stating that the science is very new and that so many other things feed into the metabolic process that control development and closure of the spinal column that to isolate one factor would need a lot of corroboration and that the research should be treated with caution until further studies back up these findings.

IBRA STARTS PUBLICATION OF BUZZ EXTRA
IBRA the Cardiff based centre of information on everything ‘bees’ has launched its latest publication, Buzz Extra, a quarterly newsletter to be distributed in the first weeks of February, May, August and November. The purpose of the newsletter is two fold. Firstly to keep members and supporters of IBRA informed and updated with interesting snippets of news in between those times when they receive the Association’s journals, and secondly to allow non members to take a peep into international apiculture and get a peep at what IBRA does and can offer anyone interested in bees. The Director Richard Jones, asks that if you love your bees and wish more people understood their value to the environment and the economy, then help us in our task of spreading that educational information. He adds that for beekeeping in most areas of the world, for most if not all types of bees, IBRA has the data and information available to help, and he cites the typical example of a recent visit to Kenya, where lots of well intentioned people, full of enthusiasm and ideas were conducting projects on different types of hives and looking at different bee forage calendars. He found it hard to tell them that what they were doing had been done before - several times and that all the data was available at IBRA. By supporting this new initiative all beekeepers can contribute to the vital task of disseminating this information to those who need it. Any donation is welcome, but from 5 pounds sterling per annum, you will receive a quarterly copy of Buzz Extra with its glimpse into the wider world of beekeeping and you will help in the vital tasks of IBRA. See www.ibra.org.uk

I am delighted now to introduce readers of Apis-UK to The Honeypot Charity, members of whom I met at their stand the London Honey Show this year. They came seeking support from the beekeeping community especially in the Hampshire area where they run Honeypot House in the New Forest.

THE HONEY POT CHARITY
Honeypot is dedicated to improving the quality of life for severely disadvantaged children living in the UK. The Honeypot relationship with each child begins with a respite holiday at Honeypot house and continues with a comprehensive programme of long term support within their home environment. This latter service is achieved in a variety of ways such as visiting the children in the honeypot bus, sending photos of their holiday, sending birthday and Christmas cards, an invitation to one of the Christmas parties and so on. They have extended their philosophy to helping teenage mothers with holidays under their teen mum’s project.
The charity holds a number of fundraising events throughout the year including parachute jumps, singles nights, carol concerts, wine tasting and even a golf tournament here in Andalucia at the San Roque Golf course. So to have a good time, and have the chance of helping children, why not take a look at www.honeypot.co.uk and find out what you can do.

APIMONDIA 2005
Many of you will by now know that the next Apimondia will be held in 2005 in Eire in the city of Dublin. With its slogan of “Five millenia of Beekeeping on your doorstep”, the 39th Apimondia International Congress will take place between August 21-26th. This Apimondia is being hosted by The Federation of Irish Beekeepers’ Associations and is being organised in conjunction with the Ulster Beekeepers Association, with support from the British, Scottish and Welsh Beekeepers Associations. This means of course that beekeepers in the UK are involved in this as well and we hope that all support necessary will be given to our Irish Beekeeping friends. For more information on this event, see www.apimondia2005.com

ANERCEA
ASSOCIATION NATIONAL DES ELEVEURS DE REINES ET DES CENTRES D’ELEVAGES APICOLES
I recently had the pleasure of meeting with and talking to this French Association of Bee breeders and Queen Rearers in Limoges. Each year they hold two two day meetings to which are invited speakers of note who talk on relevant topics. This second meeting of the year included talks by Gudrun Koeniger the very well know international bee scientist from Germany who talked on Drone Congregation Area research (of especial interest to me). This brilliant update of knowledge on the subject will be of interest to all beekeepers interested in this very under researched aspect of honeybee mating. John Harbo from the US Baton Rouge ASDR Bee research establishment acquainted us with his remarkable on going research into producing a varroa tolerant bee. And his success is amazing so far using the heritable trait involved in the suppression of mite reproduction. Giles Fert, author of the excellent book on queen rearing followed up with information on the importance of drones. My contribution included the practical details of finding and studying DCAs and a resume of bee research in Spain. During this two day period I found myself talking to a very dedicated group of people who keep themselves fully up to date with advances in the world of bee keeping. There were no moans and groans about the state of affairs in the industry or the affliction of varroa etc, just a thirst for knowledge and a willingness to share their knowledge with others. The group included a remarkable number of young beekeepers too, i.e. people under 52. All in all this was a very enjoyable experience for me. A full report on the talks will be given in Apis-UK as soon as possible.

GMO DRAFT DECLARATION
The GMO debate continues and now, an MP is seeking support for a draft declaration on the science. Joan Ruddock MP has set up a web site on which she seeks support for the following declaration:
“ I recognise the contribution of genetic modification in the development of pharmaceuticals and the enormous value of modern drugs to human health.
I support continuing research but believe that GM development and production in the living environment is radically different from the pharmaceutical factory.
My concerns about growing genetically modified crops in the UK are:
a. inadequate research into possible human health effects.
b. proven environmental damage arising from gene transfer to non GM crops and “stacking” of herbicide resistant genes.
c. no guarantee of consumer choice between GM and non GM foods.
d. no liability on biotech companies for any damage done by GM food and crops.
e. no clear evidence of long term economic benefits.

Furthermore, I am not convinced that GM crops are the answer to world hunger.
In most developing countries inadequate food supplies are the result of distribution and storage problems. Environmental risks may be even more profound in the rich biodiversity of those countries and corporate control over the food chain and seeds could jeopardise local economies.
And so, based on the facts available to me at present, I cannot support the commercial growing of GM crops in the UK.” The website is at: www.gmno.org.uk
Take a look and see whether you as a beekeeper support the declaration. Let me know what you think. Ed.

Still on the subject of GMOs a recent paper in Apidologie suggests that bee larvae can be used to assess the effect of transgenic products on non target organisms. The full paper can be found in Apidologie 34 2003, pages 139 to 145.

ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT OF TRANSGENE PRODUCTS USING HONEY BEE (APIS MELLIFERA) LARVAE (ABSTRACT)

Henrik F. Brodsgaard, Camilla J. Brodsgaard, Henrik Hansen and Gábor L. Lövei Department of Crop Protection, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Research Centre Flakkebjerg.

An environmental concern regarding the cultivation of transgenic crop plants is their effect on non-target organisms. Honey bees are obvious non-target arthropods to be included in a risk assessment procedure but due to their complex social behaviour, testing transgene products on individual bees is not possible in bee colonies. We employed a laboratory larval rearing technique to test the impacts of such transgene products on honey bees. A serine proteinase inhibitor (Kunitz Soybean Trypsin Inhibitor, SBTI), that is a source of insect resistance in transgenic plants, was used as a model insecticidal protein on honey bee larvae reared individually in the laboratory. The addition of 1.0% SBTI (w:w of total protein) to the larval diet created significant additional larval mortality, slowed juvenile development and significantly decreased adult body mass. Our results suggest that the larval rearing technique can be used to monitor direct side-effects of transgene products on individual honey bee larvae.

POSTED ON THE BIBBA-L MAILING LIST
Subject: Breeding for Varroa resistance
With the likely loss of effectiveness of Bayvarol and Apistan as easily applied treatments for varroa in the near future, our attention should be drawn to looking for signs of natural resistance in our bees to the mites. As a bee breeding organisation, it is important and appropriate that we continue to take the lead in this country in these efforts. John Dews has reported in Bee Improvement magazine on progress made since 1997, and there is now one other substantial group in south west England working on similar lines.

I would appeal to you to play some part, either as an individual or as a part of a locally organised group, in furthering the quest for bees resistant to varroa.

If you are already doing this, or would like to begin these studies, please let me know since we are now well placed to give suitable advice and support. Albert Knight BIBBA Groups Secretary Tel: 01773 745287

BOOK REVIEW

THE BEEKEEPERS ANNUAL 2004
The new Beekeepers Annual follows the same format as its predecessors and for those who know it well it will hold no surprises, but of course will update their knowledge of who is who and what is what in beekeeping in the Islands. For those who have never met the annual, it is especially recommended as a source of information on just about every beekeeping organisation in the UK; who is doing what on the research front; which charities exist to help beekeepers; lists of beekeeping associations with addresses and contact details; and so on. This directory of Beekeeping Organisations and statistics contains a real wealth of information for the beekeeper and it is worth buying the annual just for this section alone. The annual also contains a diary section. A month covers two pages and the third page contains a record page covering forage, temperature, wind, cloud cover, rain fall and hive weights, all on a daily basis. Each month also offers advice on which tasks to complete during that month. Interesting articles complete this comprehensive book and include information on GM crops; the small hive beetle (reproduction a bit fuzzy here); the deaths head hawk moth; a quick guide to finding queens; a most interesting review of new books by John Kinross of Bee Books New and Old, and numerous other articles of interest. Of especial interest to me were the rules for producing organic honey in the EU. I am just changing over to this type of beekeeping and these rules added to the heavy weight of bureaucracy in Spain are slowly grinding me into the ground.

The annual is edited by John Phipps who also provides the forward and is published on an annual basis (of course) by Northern Bee Books. At only £9.75 post paid (add £2 extra for outside Europe), it is most certainly worth the expenditure. Order online from the URL: http://www.beedata.com/beebooks.htm

THE BEE PRESS

BEECRAFT
Beecraft December 2003 Volume 85 Number 12
The latest issue of Bee Craft offers a wealth of information, advice and items of interest for all beekeepers in its monthly columns. http://www.bee-craft.com/ The following is its contents list:

Editorial; Faberge for real Gillian Rose; A beekeeper's Christmas present Ann W. Harman; Getting started: a time for reflection Margaret Thomas NDB; Much the same, but some more red tape Mike Rowbottom; Building blocks Celia Davis NDB; The 'How to' of hive stand construction Alan Johnston; Gormanston 2003 Andrew Gibb and Tim Kidman; It's an ill wind .... Denis Anslow; The case of the golden queen's diamonds (1) Karl Showler; Midlands and South Western Counties Convention - Swansea 2003 Karl Showler.

BEES FOR DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL
One years subscription (four issues) UK£20 or download only subscription UK£18 which includes back issues. September 2003 No.69 issue has the following contents: Inside information; Zoom in to Nicaragua; Practical beekeeping; Letters; News around the World; Look and Learn Ahead; Notice Board; Project news from ICIMOD; Book Shelf. Cover picture © Bees for Development. Our cover picture shows Wellete Toby McMillan, Apiaries Officer for Tobago, working in her apiary of top-bar and frame hives in Tobago. Wellete is a member of Tobago Apicultural Society working on the project to compare top-bar and frame hives in Tobago. The Project has been planned by Gladstone Solomon, President of Tobago Apicultural Society and Bees for Development and has been supported by the Cariforum Agribusiness Research and Training Fund. Download previous Bees for Development Journal articles on top-bar hives and visit our top-bar hive message board. Website URL: http://www.beesfordevelopment.org and now in Spanish URL: http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/spanish

ARTICLES

AN INVESTIGATION INTO NATURAL COMB (Part 2)
Horizontal and Vertical Comb
Horizontal comb is said to occur when the apex of the hexagon cell is at the top.
Vertical comb has the apex of the hexagon at the side and is in fact horizontal comb rotated through 90 degrees.

The shape of the hexagon enables it to withstand externally applied tensions and pressures in contrasting degree, dependent upon the orientation of the apex.
From the diagram below it may be seen that tension applied vertically and pressure applied horizontally would flatten and elongate horizontal comb.

However a reversal of these tensions and pressures would permit the hexagon to more readily retain its shape.

This is due to the horizontal zig-zag component of the hexagon matrix being restricted regarding stretching and flattening as the vertical ties prevent the parallel zig-zag components moving apart in an opposite direction.
A state of equilibrium is obtained and the hexagon shape is maintained.

It is clear therefore that to avoid cell distortion in natural comb the hexagon cells must be orientated in such a way as to withstand the internal tension exerted within the brood nest area.
Ian Rumsey

Mathew Allen Continues with his ramblings, and this year ranges through the Antipodes, Tomatoes, sexless plants and poetry. All the ramblings of course having a point to them.

‘Ooooh, what a lovely present, a jar of your own honey. Thank you so much for bringing it all this way.’ My friend Peter visualised the smile on his auntie’s face as he arrived at her house in Australia, but it was not to be. He was frog-marched, like the criminal he nearly was, to a security grilling at Customs at Sydney Airport. Forget about taking honey with you to the Antipodes, or royal jelly, or pollen, or wax and definitely not live bees or honeycomb. It’s regarded as a very serious matter. Peter got off with a dressing-down, which he resented. He swallowed his pride, but not his prize-winning Buckinghamshire honey – that was confiscated and destroyed.

Why such a draconian response? The convicts’ descendants getting their own back? Well, both New Zealand and Australia take their agriculture very seriously, and are well aware that the value of pollination greatly exceeds the value of all other hive products combined. The point of import bans is to reduce the risk of diseases and parasites getting in. Imagine a serious pest taking its toll on New Zealand’s bees. We wouldn’t see much in the way of their apples, kiwi fruit, dairy products, mutton and so forth (to say nothing of the four tonnes of cranberries we import annually).

Here you are arriving by air in New Zealand. You have to sign a declaration on the plane disclosing any bee products. Last year 4050 people admitted having bee stuff with them, mostly honey. An astonishing 1634 denied having bee products, and were then found to have something. Some could be excused – who remembers things like cough medicine or beauty products? Others just tried smuggling the odd jar of honey through and got caught. The statistics make interesting reading. Unfortunately they don’t give any clues as to the punishments meted out.

Nearer to home. This year, I spent a happy couple of days at the Chelsea Flower Show (work, not leisure), and was heartened by the initiative from National Trust and English Nature to persuade gardeners to grow more bee-friendly flowers. For hundreds of years plant breeders have been selecting plants with more and more elaborate flowers. In many of these the sexual parts, ie the stamens and stigmas, have been transformed back into petals, making a more showy flower, but one incapable of providing food for bees. So go for simple flowers is the message, and we’ll get more bees around.

It’s a massive media event of course, with a tv star round every corner. Rachel de Thame, the latest Gardening Goddess, came to talk about some bee input to her next series. If that comes off it will be fun...

I have been doing some work with bees in glasshouses, pollinating tomatoes. I thought there could be an opening here, because we eat a lot of tomatoes. Just how many tomatoes, I hadn’t realised. I now have the figures for 2001. World production 100 million tonnes; European production 20 million tonnes; Spanish production almost 4 million tonnes; UK production just over 100,000 tonnes. And they all need bees!

This epic Mahabharata
Is a bright blue water lily.
Her Gita is the precious pollen;
Sipping as a humble bumble bee, relish her sweet nectar
And bathe yourself in the
Honey of wisdom.

A PERSONAL VIEW ON THE 2003 NATIONAL HONEY SHOW
The 2003 National Honey Show took place at Kensington Town Hall, Kensington, Horton Street where it has been an established event for some years.

At last we have got somewhere in the search for a solution to the hollow bumblebee business. Several months ago a reader wrote to Apis-UK with a query. He had found some bumblebee husks, hollow etc and asked how this could come about. Just recently, an acquaintance told me that he thought some fly or other ate their insides. With this line of thought I consulted more experts and discovered that one of the predators of the bumblebee (and other hymenoptera) is the conopid fly. This group of broadheaded flies, the conopidae have many members some of which mimic wasps, but one which uses the bumblebee is the Conops quadrifasciata. This fly which as you can see has wasp similarities waits near flowers used by bumblebees. When its prey arrives, it swiftly pierces the bee's body and lays an egg inside it. The egg hatches and the larva feed off the abdominal contents of the bumblebee for about 10 days effectively hollowing it out and filling almost the entire abdominal cavity. The larva pupates in side the bee becoming an adult fly the next summer. The fly then of course vacates the husk of the bumblebee, which remains as it is, i.e. a hollow bumblebee. The parasite appears to change the behaviour of the bee which tends to stay outside of the nest more than other workers often remaining outside even in very cold weather. Before it dies the bumblebee, attempts to bury itself under earth as though wanting to hibernate. The result is a hollow bumblebee (or several) lying around waiting to be discovered by some inquisitive person.

FACT FILE

A BRIEF RESUME OF RESEARCH INTO VARROA
This month’s fact file was to be a summary of our knowledge of Drone Congregation Areas, but this will now be a subject for a future fact file - probably in the February issue. Instead, we offer a resume of who is doing what on the varroa front. This is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of varroa research but simply information on some of the more interesting points. This fact file also illustrates the importance of science to the beekeeper in the street.
Most beekeepers now manage to keep varroa under control, and most are aware of the new products such as Apiguard (Vita Europe Ltd) and Apilife Var (Chemicals LAIF) which are thymol based preparations together with other natural substances in the latter case. These products, the result of much research on the part of the companies involved are a welcome advance in the fight against varroa but we all know that we aren’t in the end game phase of the fight and that in order to win, we need to develop cheaper thymol preparations, as well as effective new weapons; natural predators; semiochemicals and ultimately the varroa tolerant bee.

REDUCING THE PRICE OF THYMOL
Whilst other substances such as various acids, dusts and flours and oils of different types have been used against varroa, many scientists have found that thymol is one of the more useful substances and have concentrated on this for purposes of research and development in the varroa fight. But a thymol preparation comes with a price tag and because of this many beekeepers all over Europe refuse to pay this and use their own concoctions. A case in point is Spain where many beekeepers use varying amounts of pure thymol crystals, cheap sheep dip preparations based on fluvalinate, or worse. Spanish scientists at Cordoba University’s Andalucian Centre for Ecological Apiculture (CAAPE) have therefore spent several years researching thymol with the idea of producing a cheap and effective preparation that the beekeepers will actually use. Firstly they found that pure thymol (99%) that came into contact with bees could cause retardation of the development of the colony and in some cases caused a decline in the colony. Careful dosage was therefore essential. Having found an effective dose they then devised a way of treating the colony effectively. They finally came up with the following, and extensive and wide ranging field trials in the various different climates of Spain are now underway. They advise the following:
8 grams of thymol (99%) pure is added to 12 grams of olive oil. (This is cheap in Spain, but I’m sure that any food grade vegetable oil would do). This should be warmed and stirred until the crystals are fully dissolved. Then obtain one of those green florist sponges and make a piece 9 X 5 X 0.8cm and soak it in the oil until it is full. Break the sponge into two pieces and place the pieces over the brood frames, equally spaced. Leave for 2 weeks and repeat. This should be done in the Spring and can be repeated in the Autumn, although they stress that thymol is only one tool in the fight and that alternate treatments of other varroacides are advised. To this end they are now beginning research on a cheap, easy and effective way of delivering oxalic acid to hives.

THE USE OF NATURAL PATHOGENS
In the UK, Rothamsted Research which is the oldest laboratory in the world devoted to agricultural research, has engaged in active bee research since 1932. Their research recently has focussed on varroa and the losses caused by bee virus infections that the mite transmits. In the first phase of a collaborative project with Horticulture Research International, they are investigating potential biological control agents for V destructor. This phase which is now complete has identified and characterised fungal pathogens which are active against the mite but which are relatively safe for bees and other beneficial insects. There have been some encouraging results in this field of study, suggesting that biological control offers an environmentally acceptable approach to the problem, and could have considerable economic benefit. Research is continuing.

THE USE OF SEMIOCHEMICALS
The use of semiochemicals to control varroa has had a less promising start. (Semiochemicals are all compounds produced in glands that secrete to the exterior. Secretions of these exocrine glands include pheromones). Italian research has shown that these semiochemicals appear to be involved in nearly all stages of the life cycle of varroa, but from a practical point of view, they may have a greater or lesser importance, depending on which part of the mite’s anatomy they can interfere with. Models of varroa population dynamics can help to pinpoint the crucial of the mite’s life cycle and so enable investigations to be focussed on the semiochemicals that are more likely to guarantee results. This thorough and necessary Italian research has not resulted yet in much success. One product resulting from this research called Varoutest was used to treat parts of brood combs in order to trap the mites there, but field trials were not a success. The whole subject is immensely complicated. The varroa mite is of course well adapted to the complex biology of its host, and so many factors and variables may be present which are not yet fully understood.

VARROA TOLERANT BEES
Varroa tolerant bees are the ultimate in varroa control and the dream of all beekeepers. Many scientists in many countries are engaged in research to produce such a bee and Spanish scientists at Cordoba are confident of a certain measure of success. They have now reached the stage where they are not treating their bees in the research apiary, but fully recognise that environmental factors may play a large part in the equation. Will these bees be varroa tolerant in other areas? This remains to be seen but Dr Francisco Puerta who heads the research unit tells me that just as with the thymol preparation, extensive field trials are planned throughout Spain.
John Harbo, a scientist at the well known USDA bee lab at Baton Rouge is engaged in a lengthy piece of research aimed at using suppression of mite reproduction in order to reduce mite reproduction to an unsustainable level. His team have now reached this stage and are able to produce queens with this trait. Currently however the trade off appears to be a smaller brood frame and John has told me that work is now in progress to change this effect. A full report on this will appear in a future issue of Apis-UK.
So, in this short summary of interesting research into the problem of varroa, we can see that many investigations are in progress and the ultimate winner in all this will be the beekeeper. It is not just a case of boffins engaging in esoteric works. Their complex research today means solutions for beekeepers tomorrow.

Web sites
Rothamsted Research. http://www.iacr.bbsrc.ac.uk
CSL National Bee Unit. http://www.nationalbeeunit.co.uk
Vita Europe Ltd. http://www.vita-europe.com
ChemicalsLAIF. http://www.chemicalslaif.it
CAAPE (Cordoba University. Email: BA1PUPUF@uco.es

A HONEY RECIPE
This new section aims to provide a recipe each month which uses honey as an essential ingredient but which is fairly unusual. Help would be appreciated! We’ll see how it goes. Overseas recipes are welcome.

RECIPE
This recipe from the IBRA Newsletter Buzz Extra (See in the News), is a new recipe from Jane Jones, the author of the book Traditional Welsh Honey Recipes published by Bee Books new and Old (BBNO) and is one of those cakes that you don't need to cook. In fact it 'cooks' in the fridge. The ingredients are as follows:

5oz/150g of chopped dried apricots.
5oz chopped, ready to eat prunes.
3 large balls of stem ginger, chopped and drained.
3oz/75g of good quality honey.
4 fluid oz/125ml of Brandy.
1 tbsp* of the syrup from the ginger jar.
120z/350g of plain chocolate broken into pieces.
5oz Unsalted butter.
6oz/175g Digestive biscuits, crushed.

Lightly oil a 7X7" 18X18cm baking tin and line with cling film.
Leave enough hanging over the rim to wrap up the cake entirely.
Put the apricots, prunes, stem ginger and syrup, honey and brandy into a pan. Heat gently, do not boil. Leave for 30 minutes for the fruit to soak into the syrup.

Meanwhile, put the chocolate and butter into a large bowl over a pan of hot water, stirring together until melted. Add the crushed biscuits and fruit to the bowl and mix all the ingredients together. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the surface. Seal up in the cling film and chill for at least 6 hours or overnight in the fridge. This makes about 12 to 14
slices.

*(For overseas readers, a tbsp (tablespoon) is a large spoon which holds I would guess about 5 or 6 teaspoon fulls).

I've now tried this and it is delicious. Trying to put double the brandy in 'to make sure of things' by the way, doesn't work. It tastes good but you need a spoon. Ed.
Jane Jone's book is available now from the IBRA bookshop and BBNO.

HISTORICAL NOTE

APITHERAPY. CURING PAIN AND CONSTIPATION
In his Treatise on Bees written in 1792, Robert Sydserff includes a chapter on the profitability of keeping bees and gives advice on how to attain this profitability, but at the end of his chapter, he concludes that bees have other ways of paying back the beekeeper than just honey production and suggests the following cures which may apply to us all with the Christmas excesses. Something for hangovers and tummy problems.
‘ The use of bees is still greater. By what has been observed above, it is plain that we gain only food and raiment, and yet these are considerable advantages. But we may ask, “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? They are salutary and efficacious also as a medicine. How many lives have, to appearance, been prolonged by the Bees? If Bees, when dead, are dried to powder, and given to either man or beast, this medicine will often give immediate ease in the most excruciating pain, and remove a stoppage in the body, when all other means have failed.” R Sydserff. Leigh on Mendip. 1792. If anyone tries this, please let us know the results. Ed.

LETTERS

Dear David,
Could I enquire via your newsletter if anyone knows where I can get propolis which has collected from hive wood ware purified? As you know some propolis obtained in this way is in clean lumps, presumably as "pure" as the bees make it, whilst some scraped from surfaces is "dusty" and presumably not so pure. Any information would be gratefully received on how pure it needs to be for various applications, , how "purity" is measured, whether anyone offers a purification service or if there are ways of doing it oneself. Thank you, Steve Mahoney steve@mahoney.evesham.net. If anyone has any information on this, please let us know. Ed.

Dear David,
Thanks for Bunin's poem in the latest on line magazine. Was it your own translation from the Russian? If so, I was impressed! What text did you work from? Best regards John Owen jeowen@fish.co.uk. Thanks for the note. Unfortunately, although I can translate from Russian, it doesn't extend to poetry. I can't even do that in English! I'll ask Predrag which work he used for this and let you know. Ed.

Dear David,
Disappointed that we have had no suggestions re the hollow bumble bee question. Brian Hughes bdh@berrywood.fsnet.co.uk. Brian, we may have finally found an answer to your query. See above about the Conopid fly. Ed.

BEEKEEPING COURSES

Two courses to be run by Northamptonshire Beekeepers' Association
Beginners Course 2004
Getting started in beekeeping. Ten weeks of lectures with two practical sessions handling bees.
VENUE: Abbey Centre, Hunsbury Hill, Northampton
DATE: Start 24 January 2004 TIME: Saturday mornings 9.30 am - 11.30 am
FEE: £30.00 per person BOOKING & ENQUIRY: Margaret Holland Tel: 01327 857328 E-mail secretary@northantsbees.org.uk.
One Day Refresher Course 2004
Revision of the basics of beekeeping for those new to beekeeping with an opportunity to take the BBKA Basic Exam (optional). COURSE LEADER Adrian Waring NDB & Brian Dennis
VENUE: Knuston Hall, Knuston, Nr Irchester, Wellingborough
TIME: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm DATE: 26 June 2004
FEE: £26.00 per person, to include coffee, lunch, afternoon tea. BOOKING & ENQUIRY: Margaret Holland Tel: 01327 857328 E-mail: secretary@northantsbees.org.uk.

Introduction beekeeping course run by the London Beekeepers Association at Roots and Shoots on Wednesday evenings for ten weeks starting Wednesday 14th January 2004 Details from the website www.kentbee.com

A Beekeeping Course is being run by Community Education Lewisham at Mornington Centre from 20th April until 18th May 2004. The classes are on Tuesdays at 10.00 until 12.00 for five weeks. The tutor is Karl-Josef Kemper. Details from 020-8698-5819

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.

22-25 February 2004 - Apimondia Symposium on Tropical Beekeeping: Research and Development for Pollination and Conservation. Heredia Costa Rica More detail is available from: Isanchez@una.ac.cr

23-27 February 2004 - 7th Asian Apicultural Association Conference Los Banos College, Lagunas, Philippines. More information from: cleofas.cervancia@up.edu.ph

Saturday March 6th 2004 10.0am to 4.0pm - Bucks County Beekeepers Association Annual Seminar, Wendover Memorial Hall, Wharf Road, Bucks..
10.00 Meet for coffee and registration
10.30 Welcome
10.40 Integrated pest management Richard Ball, Regional bees Inspector for the South West
11.40 Short Break
11.50 Beekeeping in the future John Hamer of Blackhorse Apiary.
1.00 Ploughman’s lunch with time to chat and get your bargains from the ‘Bring and Buy’ stall, find out about Transrural Trust read the posters and more..........
2.15. “Have skep, will travel” Martin Buckle Chairman of Bucks County BKA.
3.15 Forum A time for questions and discussion with our experts
4.00. Closing remarks
We extend a welcome to all beekeepers and others interested in beekeeping
Cost:- £10 for BBKA members, £11 for non-members Ploughman’s lunch and coffee etc. included To book:- please telephone Sylvia Chamberlin on 01494522082 or Email sylvia.chamberlin@zen.co.uk.

Saturday 3rd April 2004 - West Sussex Beekeepers' 'Joy of Beekeeping' Convention - a Celebration of Bees, Beekeeping and Hive Products at Brinsbury College, on A29 north of Pulborough. Speakers include Dr Beulah Cullen, Clive de Bruyn and Margaret Johnson. Trade Stands. Lunch available in the College Restaurant. From 9.30am until 4pm, a superb day of beekeeping, with tickets £6 in advance (£8 on the day) from Andrew Shelley, Oakfield, Cox Green, Ridgwick, Horsham RH12 3DD (sae appreciated). Further information from John Hunt on 01903 815655 or email john_bateman_hunt@hotmail.com.

24th April 2004 BBKA Spring Convention and Exhibition

16th April 2005 BBKA Spring Convention and Exhibition

Harrogate and Ripon BKA Events Listing 2004
(All meetings unless otherwise notified are held in the Field Classroom at Harlow carr at 7.30pm.
13 Jan. Beekeeping Health and safety Issues.
19 Feb. Maintenance of Heather Moors.
March Date TBD. Beekeeping medicines.
23 Apr. Observation Colonies.
23 May. Visit to Chainbridge Honey Farm.

6-10 September 2004 - 8th IBRA Conference on tropical Bees: management and diversity. Ribeiro Preto, Brazil.

21st, 22nd and 23rd October 2004 - The National Honey Show, RAF Museum, Hendon, North London. More details soon from http://www.honeyshow.co.uk

HOLIDAYS 2004
June 2004 - Holiday to Denmark. Following an invitation from Danish Beekeepers, the BBKA is planning a visit to Denmark for British beekeepers to experience the way Danish beekeepers keep bees, how they breed them for gentleness, high honey production, reduced swarming, and good hygiene. We will also see much innovative modern beekeeping equipment and learn of the Danish beekeepers approach to honeybee disease and its treatment. The use of Apistan or Bayvarol is not permitted in Denmark. Each day there will also be parallel activities arranged for any who want to shop, or experience some of the local history, flora, and wild life reserves. For example, there is a nearby museum with salvaged artefacts from the stranding in 1811 of Nelson’s flag ship HMS St George at the Battle of Copenhagen, and from the Battle of, Jutland on 31st May 1916. The BBKA visit follows a successful tour by the Bee Farmers earlier this year and will cover a similar schedule of intensive lectures and visits to professional beekeepers. Beekeeper partners are welcome. You will need to take local currency (DKr.) Half-board hotel accommodation has been tentatively booked at the Best Western 4-star Hotel Fjordgaarden in Ringkøbing from Thursday 24th June to Monday 28th June 2004. The cost will depend to some extent on numbers but the following provisional breakdown gives an approximate idea per person. To indicate your interest, PLEASE ring Raymond or Sylvia Chamberlin on 01494 522082, or email w.winds@zen.co.uk.

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