ABJ 01-2017

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Volume 157 No. 1

In te rn at i Up ona da l H te on — ey 29 M ar ke t Email

January 2017

Contents

[email protected] Web www.americanbeejournal.com

Advertising Manager-Marta Menn Editor-Joe M. Graham Publishing Department- Dianne Behnke & Susan Nichols

Beyond Taktic—Beekeeper Funded Research — 43

● International Honey Market

Ron Phipps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

● The Varroa Problem—Part 4—Mite-resistant Bees—Pipedream or Plausible?

Sensory Analysis of Honey — 75

Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

● Community Treatment Day Michele Colopy, Wendy Mather and Peggy Garnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

● Is It Time to Breed for Propolis?

Departments

Articles

● Beyond Taktic—Beekeeper-funded Research Randy Oliver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

A. Lee Lang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

● Sensory Analysis of Honey Suzanne Ress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 ● Marine Veteran Picked for Delaware Planting Hope with Honey Bees Project Dewey M. Caron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 ● Farm Mom of the Year Honors Beekeepers with a Skep Beehive Corn Maze Cecil Hicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 ● Dealing with Fair Issues Howard Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Columns

The Classroom Jerry Hayes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Beekeeping Topics - Raising a Few Queens for Your Own Use Ray Nabors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

January Cover Picture Michael LaSpina, who lives in California, took this wonderful photo of a honey bee “enjoying the Chrysanthemum bloom”. He said, “Mums in the garden are both white and golden, as well as maroon colors, but the bees seem to prefer the golden shade.”

January 2017

Letters to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Newsnotes . . . . . . . . 13 U.S. Honey Crops and Markets . . . . . . . 25 Classified Advertising . . . . . . . 105 Advertising Index. . . . . . . . . . . . 110

For the Love of Bees and Beekeeping Keith Delaplane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Honey Bee Biology Wyatt A. Mangum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 The Other Side of Beekeeping George S. Ayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The American Bee Journal ISSN 0002-7626

THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL (ISSN 002-7626) is published monthly at American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341. Periodicals Postage Paid at Hamilton, IL and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341. In the United States, $28.00 a year; two years, $53.00 and three years, $75.00. Canada $45.00 a year; two years $88.00. Foreign $52.00 a year; two years $99.00. Subscriptions stop at expiration date printed on label. Available in microfilm form at moderate prices by writ-

ing to National Archive Publishing Co., 300 N. Zeeb Road, P.O. Box 998, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. ©Copyright Dadant & Sons, Inc., 2017. All rights reserved, printed in USA. The Publishers cannot guarantee advertisements in this magazine, but we ask that any advertising complaints be made known to us, so we can further check the company’s reliability. Opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341. (888) 922-1293. Fax (217) 847-3660.

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Letters to the Editor

Send your letters to the editor, Attn: Joe Graham, Dadant, 51 S. 2nd Street, Hamilton, IL 62341, Fax: 1-217-847-3660, or email: [email protected].

Due to size and content, we may be unable to publish all information received. Thank You!

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR BEEKEEPERS A very good friend is going through some serious health problems, and cannot lift very much. He has been beekeeping in his back yard for many years, but has had to stop, and misses the bees. I put together a modified hive, using one deep brood box, and seven, 4-1/2” shallow supers. I had the shallow boxes squirreled away, but could not order the shallow frames any more. I had to cut down some medium end bars, and assemble the frames. I was able to assemble a fixture for the table saw to do this without severing fingers. My wife frowns on this. I also cut down plastic foundation to install in the frames. With these, he should be able to put in bees next spring. This is one of the things I have been passing along for some of the older or more slight beekeepers, using all mediums for brood and honey, which are a lot easier to lift. If you start with a deep, it’s okay, because you rarely have to lift that first box, and can still lift each frame comfortably. All of the other hive appliances still fit, and you can extract shallow frames just as easily. I hope that readers can use this information, and maybe help out someone who is hesitant about getting into beekeeping. Andy the Bee Guy [email protected]

the house and to be inhaled by the people staying therein. Depending on the tasks set by a beekeeper for themselves, and the possibilities, the apiary house may vary in architecture. The only aim is to improve human health using all the possibilities of a bee colony. Speaking about the possibilities of a bee colony in terms of using it in the apiary house, it should be noted that: - A bee colony creates the “beehive air” unique for its composition. The beehive air is saturated with phytoncides and volatile aromatic substances of nectar, bee glue, pollen, wax, Nasonov bee gland pheromones, and royal jelly evaporations. Accumulating food, a bee colony brings into the beehive nectar, bee glue, and pollen which contain aromatic substances penetrating into the beehive where they evaporate. Thus, a bee colony becomes a valuable “machine” in aromatherapy. A human being cannot gather fragrances of more than a million flowers, while a bee visits this number to produce 100 grams of honey. - A bee colony creates acoustic vibrations. On average, a bee colony numbers more than 20,000 – 60,000 individuals. In order to maintain the proper microclimate inside the beehive, the bees ventilate it, move their pectoral muscles to generate heat, perform informing dances to communicate a message that food has been found — all

of that creates acoustic vibrations. Such vibrations have a positive as well as soothing effect on the human body and are some kind of hearing system stimulators. - A bee colony creates a biofield. Scientists have repeatedly proved that living organisms possess a biofield. Likewise, a bee colony as a living organism has its own biofield which is similar to the one of a healthy human being. The foregoing particularities of a bee colony are used in the existing apiary houses to ensure a therapeutic effect on the human being. Therefore, the apiary house itself has the stimulators influencing such human sense organs as hearing and smell. In this article I propose we take a broader look at a bee colony’s possibilities and begin to apply viewing beehives which will enable us to add an eyesight stimulator to the apiary house. Such a viewing beehive as shown in the photo is installed in my apiary house. (By the way, I have been engaged in beekeeping since 2010). My viewing beehive is a prototype of a log hive (wild hive) where a bee swarm is lodged. One of the beehive walls is made of glass which enables the visitors not only to lie down or sleep in the apiary house, but also to watch a bee colony working. The viewing beehive is made of wood with an inside volume 50x35 cm; the beehive is 110 cm tall, the walls and bottom thereof are 4 cm thick. This viewing beehive enables a

Adapted lighter weight supers ease lifting

UKRAINIAN THERAPEUTIC APIARy HOUSE — A NEW PERSPECTIVE The typical structure of an apiary house includes in its design lying benches under which beehives with meshed little windows are placed which allow the beehive air unique for its composition to penetrate into

January 2017

Outside view of therapeutic bee house. Regular hives are positioned around the bee house.

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Controlling Varroa Mites by Controlling Drone Cells

Inside view of therapeutic bee house. bee colony to develop enough strength, to rebuild a sufficient number of honeycombs and requires no special maintenance. Since the beehive volume is considerable and the honeycomb building direction is preset so that their plane would be turned to the viewing window for better bee colony observation, a wood grate is mounted in the middle of the beehive to avoid honeycomb breakage. The beehive top is made of 3x4 cm wood strips, which allow getting access to the bee nest when necessary, and, in addition, the glass can be removed. The beekeeper has the possibility to collect wild hive honey to which he can treat his regular clients. When there are no visitors in the house, I insulate the glass wall of the viewing beehive and cover it with reed mace mats to prevent sunlight penetration. This viewing beehive serves as a TV set and allows the visitors to distract from everyday routine by switching to observation of numerous bees living their life in the nest. It is also educational, because not everyone is able to see demonstrably how a bee colony is organized, how it develops and exists, and how its nest is arranged. Having added a component such as a viewing beehive to the apiary house, we actually turn it into some kind of “a sensory room”. A sensory room is a specifically organized environment filled with stimulators of eyesight, hearing, smell and touch organs. Sensory rooms have been successfully used by rehabilitation therapists in human rehabilitation since the 70s of the previous century. Hopefully, this proposal will find positive feedback from beekeepers and apitherapists, and, after a while, we will have practical results in the apiary houses with the viewing beehives used. Roman Dvykaliuk, graduate of Boyarka Practical School for Beekeeping of Boyarka College for Ecology and Natural Resources Separate Unit of National University for Biological Resources and Nature Management, Kiev, Ukraine Email: Roman.Dvykaliuk@delta-sport. kiev.ua.

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The September article on Varroa control by Meghan Milbrath was a good overview of keeping Varroa in check without using synthetic miticides. However, in my opinion, she missed out on one very important method. That is controlling the amount of drone cells on your brood combs. An excess of drone cells (5% or more) can have many causes. First is the bees often draw a patch of drone cells, as they draw a new foundation, then there is the results of the drone-laying queen or laying workers and damage by mice, mold, or wax moth can also ruin a good comb. To back up my contention that 5% or more is too much, let us look at some numbers. First, there are around 6,300 cells on a standard deep Langstoth comb, 5% is 315 drone cells per comb. Second, according to Nicholas W. Calderone, Cornell University, a female varroa will average 1.3 – 1.4 offspring using worker brood to reproduce, but will average 2.2 – 2.6 offspring using drone brood. I am going to proceed as if the brood is raised in batches rather than day by day as it is in reality only for the sake of making it easier to comprehend. Let us start with a colony of 20,000 with a varroa infestation of 1 % which gives a total varroa population of 200 adult mites. With the Varroa’s natural preferences for reproducing in drone brood, significantly more often than in worker brood and with 315 or more drone cells per comb and with a 20,000 bee colony, there will be several combs of brood. There will be no trouble for every reproducing mite to have a choice of drone cells. To go back to those numbers, 1.4 per worker cell versus 2.6 per drone cell and a varroa population of 200: 200 x 1.4 = 280 offspring versus 200 x 2.6 = 520 new mites. Going on to the next cycle it gets even worse. We have 480 (200 & 280 ) x 1.4 =670 mites from worker cells or 720 (200 &520 ) x 2.6 =1870 from drone cells. I admit these numbers are theoretical, but they illustrate the exponential growth there can be if there is ample drone brood for the varroa to reproduce.

Praise for DelaPlane artiCles I wanted to express my appreciation for and enjoyment of the extensive series of articles you continue to publish by Dr. Keith Delaplane titled For the Love of Bees and Beekeeping. Each essay is thought-provoking, comprehensive, with an ‘aha’ moment and a delightful balance between the specific and the big picture, between longterm evolutionary origins and a closer understanding of what we witness as colony behavior. They combine the on-going theme of kinship with the increased understanding of a colony as a superorganism. I have a limited scientific background yet Keith’s writings evoke in me a level of attention and reflection that are rewarded by a deeper comprehension of some significant and weighty concepts. My hope is that these articles will culminate in a book that will compliment those published by Jurgen Tautz, E.O.Wilson and Bert Holldobler. The density of these treatises is unusual in a beekeeping journal yet they effectively straddle the divide between academia and practical beekeeping. I commend your decision to publish them. Jeremy Barnes Seven Valleys, PA.

Gil Pedersen Commercial beekeeper Cut Knife, Saskatchewan, Canada

CorreCtion Author Correction Notice, November Issue: Kindly note the correct spelling in the photo caption of the name Krispn Given of the bee lab at Purdue. M.E.A. McNeil

American Bee Journal

News Notes BEES USE MULTIPLE CUES IN HUNT FOR POLLEN University of exeter Bees use a variety of senses and memory of previous experiences when deciding where to forage for pollen, research by the University of Exeter suggests. The researchers believe pollen-collecting bees do not base their foraging decisions on taste alone, but instead make an “overall sensory assessment” of their experience at a particular flower. Bees typically do not eat pollen when they collect it from flowers, but carry it back to the nest via special “sacs” on their legs or hairs on their body. This makes it difficult to understand how bees judge whether the pollen a flower produces is nutritious enough for their young. Indeed, researchers have been puzzled for a long time as to what exactly bees look for when they collect pollen from flowers. Co-author Dr Natalie Hempel de Ibarra, expert in insect neuroethology at Exeter’s Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, said: “It seems that bees don’t just respond to a single nutritional compound in pollen, such as crude protein content, but to a range of sensory cues in pollen and flowers. “They also form memories for locations and types of flowers that they have visited which affect their foraging decisions. “We need more research that considers the behaviour and neurobiology of bees to understand when and why they prefer some plants and some pollen over others. “A breakthrough in this area could advance our efforts in both biodiversity conservation and crop production.”

A honey bee foraging for pollen. Credit Dr. Elizabeth Nicholls

January 2017

The review, published in the journal Functional Ecology, examines existing evidence on how bees use their senses, previous experience and - in the case of social bees - feedback from the nest to decide where to gather pollen. First author Dr Elizabeth Nicholls, a former PhD student at the University of Exeter and now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sussex, said: “Our review is unique in considering pollen foraging from an individual bee’s perspective, asking which senses bees use to decide which flowers are worth visiting. “In our review we suggest that although bees may taste pollen during collection and use this nutritional information to guide their choices, they are also likely to pay attention to the strong odour and visual appearance of both pollen and the flower itself. “For bees that live together in colonies, information passed on from the other bees in the nest, either via chemical cues or even special ‘dances’, may also be important in influencing their pollen-collecting behaviour.” The University of Exeter is a major hub for bee and pollination research and is currently advertising several postgraduate research projects.

HAWAIIAN STUDy HIGHLIGHTS A NEW THREAT TO BEES WORLDWIDE earlham institUte, norwich, england Particularly under threat are honey bees, which are as vital to our food systems as the crops they pollinate, and which are prone to a range of emergent diseases including Moku and Deformed wing virus (DWV). The Moku virus was identified on Moku Island in Hawaii through a collaboration of institutes with complementary expertise. Purnima Pachori of the Platforms & Pipelines Group at the Earlham Institute (EI) carried out the bioinformatics work of separating out host and viral genetic material, which allowed for the analysis and identification of the novel Moku virus led by Gideon Mordecai (based at the time at the Marine Biological Association (MBA), Plymouth). “It’s brilliant that our computational biology expertise at EI could contribute to the characterization of a new virus which can be a threat to pollinator health worldwide” said Purnima. It was through work at the MBA that the true uniqueness of the Moku virus revealed itself. Gideon Mordecai said, “The use of next generation gene sequencing techniques has led to a rapid increase in virus discovery, and is a powerful tool for investigating the enormous diversity of viruses out there.” The study has highlighted the importance of monitoring invasive species for broad-range viruses as well as the potential for transmission of these pathogens.

This image shows researchers collecting samples on Moku Island in Hawaii. Credit: Marine Biological Association. Dr Declan Schroeder, Head of the Virus Ecology Group at the MBA explains: “The true significance of this discovery lies in the potential ramifications that a new biological invasion could cause. Could we be seeing history repeating itself? Similar to the Spanish invasion of the Inca and Aztec empires in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it was the smallpox and measles viruses that inflicted the most damage on the individuals of these populous nations. Here we are seeing an invasive wasp bringing in a new virus to honey bees.” The likelihood is that Moku has the ability to spread throughout the endemic population of honey bees in Hawaii. Gideon Mordecai concludes that “future challenges will be assessing the biological relevance of these novel pathogens and the role they play in the ecology of their hosts.”

NEW FINDINGS ABOUT THE HONEy BEE INFECTING DEFORMED WING VIRUS new findings aboUt the honey bee infecting deformed wing virUs The honey bee Apis mellifera plays an important role for the pollination of fruit and vegetable plants, besides its significance for the production of honey and wax. Losses of entire bee colonies during winter have economic and -- in particular -- ecological consequences as pollinators are missing in spring during blossom. Apiculture in North America and Europe is especially affected by partly massive losses. Only during the winter months of 2014/2015, up to fifty per cent of all bee colonies in some Austrian regions collapsed. The main trigger of this bee mortality does not seem to be the use of pesticides in modern agriculture. Many studies have shown that the survival of bee colonies strongly depends on the infestation with Varroa mites, widespread blood-sucking parasites, and the transmission of deformed wing virus by these mites. A research group from the Institute of Virology at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has

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Institute of Virology at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. This could explain why the virus also remains present in the hives if it is not transmitted by the Varroa mite. However, no viral proteins were detected in muscle and blood cells.

The Varroa mite and the deformed wing virus are main factors responsible for alarming bee mortality. Credit: Kerstin Seitz/Vetmeduni Vienna developed a new laboratory system, which enabled them to make an important step forward in the investigation of the virus. By using a molecular clone, they have simulated the course of disease in a targeted way under laboratory conditions. Artificial viral genomes of deformed wing virus Up to now, scientists have only used samples of the deformed wing virus, which they had taken from infected bees. “However, mixed and multiple infections can bias the results of such tests”, stated lead author Benjamin Lamp. For the new test system, the researchers used artificial genetic material instead of natural samples of the deformed wing virus, in order to clearly correlate the course of disease to the virus.”Initially, we amplify the genetic RNA material of a virus and save it as a DNA copy in a vector, a specific transport vehicle for genetic material. The resulting molecular clone enables us to produce artificial viruses, which are identical and genetically defined,” explained Lamp. Insects infected with the artificial virus showed the same symptoms such as discoloration, dwarfism, death or the eponymous deformation of the wing that also occur in natural infections. Thus, it could be unambiguously shown that these symptoms are caused by the deformed wing virus. Deformed wing virus detected in gland tissue Besides the infection with the viral RNA under controlled laboratory conditions, also an unbiased picture of the disease process could be shown. The scientists infected not only fully developed bees with the artificial genetic material of the virus, but also larvae and pupae. During the pupal stage, Lamp and his team analyzed the target tissues and the host cells -- the cells the virus preferably infects. The scientists found viral antigens -- the specific protein molecules of the deformed wing virus - in all body areas. However, neural, gland and connective tissue cells were particularly affected. “The high concentrations of viral proteins -- the antigens -- in the glands could also indicate an oral transmission of the virus from one bee to another in the hive,” explained Professor Till Rümenapf, last author and head of the

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Various applications of the new method By using the molecular clone, different aspects of the viral life-cycle could be simulated, manipulated and studied under laboratory conditions. This concerns the transmission of the virus by the Varroa mite, the course of the infection and the viral replication in different stages of development of honey bees. Controlled experimental conditions will enable the development of new strategies in order to effectively reduce the losses of bee colonies caused by the virus. The described experiments involved only one DWV strain, but the method can also be used for other strains. “In many cases, a bee is not only infected with one virus species. Our test system provides a tool to find out, which viruses are especially harmful and how viruses behave in multiple infections,” explained Lamp. “Thus, we can develop targeted strategies against diseasecausing viruses.” About the deformed wing virus The deformed wing virus (DWV) belongs to the family of Iflaviridae. These viruses are so-called RNA viruses. Their genetic material only consists of one ribonucleotide strand, unlike the prevailing double-stranded DNA in mammals. In most but not all cases, infections with the deformed wing virus are bound to an infestation of a hive with the Varroa mite. “The virus persists in the hives and can even be detected if there are no parasites in the hive,” explained Benjamin Lamp.

PEST CONTROL: WICKED WEEDS MAy BE AGRICULTURAL ANGELS cornell University Farmers looking to reduce reliance on pesticides, herbicides and other pest management tools may want to heed the advice of Cornell agricultural scientists: Let nature be nature - to a degree. “Managing crop pests without fully understanding the impacts of tactics - related to resistance and nontarget plants or insects - costs producers money,” said Antonio DiTommaso, professor of soil and crop science and lead author of a new study, “Integrating Insect, Resistance and Floral Resource Management in Weed Control Decision-Making,” in the journal Weed Science (October-December 2016). “We are taking a renewed look at a holistic, sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) approach,” DiTommaso said. In corn production, for example, maintaining a few villainous milkweed plants in

the middle of a cornfield may help minimize crop loss from the destructive European corn borer. The milkweed plants can harbor aphids (destructive sap-sucking flies) that produce a nectar food source for beneficial parasitic wasps Trichogramma. The wasps, in turn, lay eggs inside the eggs of the European corn borer, killing the corn borer eggs - reducing damage to the crop. “Production management rarely considers the benefits of weeds in agricultural ecosystems,” said DiTommaso. “Let’s look at the big picture. If we open our eyes - even if it’s a weed growing in the cornfield - we show it could be beneficial. Integrating weed benefits will become increasingly important, as pest management is likely to move from total reliance on herbicides and transgenic crop traits for control, because of increasing resistance of weeds to these products.” One additional side benefit for having a few milkweed plants in a field of corn is that it serves as a breeding place and food source for monarch butterflies. As of late, monarch numbers are down, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating a petition to have them protected under the Endangered Species Act. While some growers elect not to use engineered crops, producers may see a return to IPM methods from two decades ago, as resistance could easily occur when relying on a single tactic. With increasing no-till production, producers will inevitably see rebounds in perennial weeds - such as milkweed, the researchers said. Thus, some growers may be willing to tolerate a low milkweed population in favor of providing livable plant space for monarchs. “Every organism in an agricultural system plays multiple roles,” said John Losey, professor of entomology. “If management decisions are based solely on the negative aspects, yield and profit can be lost in the short term and broader problems can arise in the longer term.” Integration of the weed costs and advantages will become important. “The benefits of weeds have been neglected. They’re often seen as undesirable, unwanted. We’re now beginning to quantify their benefits,” said Kristine M. Averill, weed research associate. “It’s very important to recognize the benefits of all the species within the crop field - that includes both the crops and the weeds - not to mention cover crops. Weeds can offer ecosystem services, such as soil erosion protection and pollination services for the benefit of insects,” Averill said. “They can be part of a restorative cycle.” Joining DiTommaso, Averill and Losey on the study were Michael Hoffmann, professor of entomology; and Jeffrey R. Fuchsberg, director of intellectual property at the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation.

American Bee Journal

BACTERIAL IMBALANCES CAN MEAN BAD NEWS FOR HONEy BEES By Jan Suszkiw USDA - ARS News Service A team of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their collaborators have established a strong link between honey bee health and the effects of diet on bacteria that live in the guts of these important insect pollinators. In a study published in the November issue of Molecular Ecology, the team fed caged honey bees one of four diets: fresh pollen, aged pollen, fresh supplements, and aged supplements. After seven days, the team euthanized and dissected the bees and used next-generation sequencing methods to identify the bacteria communities that had colonized the bees’ digestive tract. The team also compared the thorax (flight muscle) weight and size of each group’s hypopharyngeal glands as measures of the diets’ effects on bee growth and development. The glands enable nurse bees to produce “royal jelly,” a substance that’s fed to developing larvae, ensuring the hive’s continued survival. The flight muscle weight represents the potential for work after the nurse bee transitions into the role of forager. In general, bees given fresh pollen or fresh supplements fared better than bees given pollen or supplements that had first been aged for 21 days, reports Kirk Anderson, senior author and a microbial ecologist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Tucson, Arizona. Bees fed fresh diets suffered fewer deaths, made better use of energy for growth, and had lower levels of gut pathogens such as Nosema ceranae, according to Anderson and co-authors University of Arizona graduate student Patrick Maes, ARS lab technician Brendon Mott, and Randy Oliver of Scientificbeekeeping.com. In the study, the nutritional value of pollen lasted longer than that of supplements. Bees consumed significantly more aged supplement than aged pollen, but this didn’t translate into long-term benefits. For example, bees consuming aged supplement had plump nurse glands but suffered significant losses in flight muscle, suggesting that nutrition diverted to feed developing larva came at a significant cost to the bees’ own adult development. Poor development, in turn, can translate to early mortality or inefficient food collection when these nurse bees transition to the role of foragers. Anderson says the effects of diet on gut bacteria populations (or “gut microbiome”) are poorly understood but warrant study because of the implications for honey bee health and the insect’s importance as a chief pollinator of 100-plus flowering crops. Put another way, consumers owe one in every

January 2017

three bites of food they eat to the work of honey bees and other pollinators. Other key findings include • Bees fed fresh pollen or fresh supplements had more beneficial gut bacteria, like Snodgrassella alvi, whose presence was correlated with increased health, and decreases in gut pathogens Nosema and F. perrara bacteria. • Five to eight types of gut bacteria were consistently found in bee gut. • Dysbiosis was systemic, occurring throughout the honey bee gut.

Anderson says that with continued research, new supplement formulations or usage practices could be created to improve not only the health of honey bees but also the bacteria that live within them. ARS is USDA’s principal in-house scientific research agency.

LIGHT THERAPy COULD SAVE BEES FROM DEADLy PESTICIDES Treating bees with light therapy can counteract the harmful effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and improve survival rates of poisoned bees, finds a new UCL study University College London

Scanning electron micrograph of fresh pollen removed from wax storage cells of honey bee colonies. In choice tests, bees strongly preferred freshly collected pollen over aged pollen.

Scanning electron micrograph of stored pollen grains (yellow) and fungal growth (purple) resulting from air exposure and loss of protective effects of honey and bee salivary enzymes.

Scanning electron micrograph revealing pollen grains (yellow) and bacteria (purple) extracted from the hindgut of the honey bee Apis mellifera. The presence of these symbiotic gut bacteria helps keep honey bee pathogens in check.

Treating bees with light therapy can counteract the harmful effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and improve survival rates of poisoned bees, finds a new UCL study. “Neonicotinoid pesticides are a persistent threat to global bee populations, which play a critical role in agriculture,” says Professor Glen Jeffery (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), the senior author of the PLOS ONE paper. “My team is working to develop a small device that can be fitted into a commercial hive, which could be an economic solution to a problem with very widespread implications.” The pesticides undermine mitochondrial function and compromise the production of ATP, the currency for energy that drives cellular function. This results in reduced mobility among bees exposed to neonicotinoids, leading them to die of starvation, unable to feed themselves. The researchers used four groups of bees from commercial hives, with more than 400 bees in each colony. Two groups were exposed to a neonicotinoid, Imidacloprid, for ten days, with one group also being treated with light therapy over the same period - 15 minutes of near infrared light (670nm) was shone into the hive twice daily. The mobility of the bees that were poisoned but not treated with light therapy dropped off rapidly, as did their ATP levels, and their survival rate declined accordingly. The bees that were poisoned but also treated with light therapy had significantly better mobility and survival rates, living just as long and functioning just as well as bees that had not been poisoned. One group was given light therapy without being poisoned, and their survival rate was even better than the control group. The researchers found the deep red light did not interfere with bee behaviour as they cannot see it. “Long-wavelength light treatments have been shown in other studies to reduce mitochondrial degeneration which results from aging processes. It’s beneficial even for bees that aren’t affected by pesticides, so light therapy can be an effective means of preventing loss of life in case a colony

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becomes exposed to neonicotinoids. It’s win-win,” Professor Jeffery says. While light therapy works best as a preventative measure, the researchers found it can also be helpful as treatment in response to an incident of pesticide exposure, as long as the treatment is started within a couple days of exposure. “We found that by shining deep red light on the bee which had been affected by the toxic pesticides that they could recover, as it improved mitochondrial and visual function, and enabled them to move around and feed again,” says Dr Michael Powner (City, University of London), who led the study while at UCL. Researchers at UCL Ophthalmology have been studying near-infrared light therapy because of its benefits not only for bees, but also for other animals including humans, particularly to counteract effects of aging and a range of neurological diseases. “When a nerve cell is using more energy than other cells, or is challenged because of a lack of energy, red light therapy can give it a boost by improving mitochondrial function. Essentially, it recharges the cell’s batteries,” Professor Jeffery explains.

ANOTHER SPECIES OF VARROA MITE THREATENS EUROPEAN HONEy BEES Courtesy of

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A sister species of the Varroa destructor mite is developing the ability to parasitize European honey bees, threatening pollinators already hard pressed by pesticides, nutritional deficiencies and disease, a Purdue University study says.

Researchers found that some populations of Varroa jacobsoni mites are shifting from feeding and reproducing on Asian honeybees, their preferred host, to European honey bees, the primary species used for crop pollination and honey production worldwide. To bee researchers, it’s a grimly familiar story: V. destructor made the same host leap at least 60 years ago, spreading rapidly to become the most important global health threat to European honey bees. While host-switching V. jacobsoni mites have not been found outside of Papua New Guinea, Purdue researchers Gladys Andino and Greg Hunt say vigilance is needed to protect European honey bees worldwide from further risk. “This could represent a real threat,” said Andino, a bioinformatics specialist with Information Technology at Purdue. “If this mite gets out of control and spreads, we might have another situation like V. destructor.” Varroa mites are considered the biggest bee health problem worldwide. Here, a Varroa mite has latched on to the upper-right side of a honeybee’s abdomen to feed. (Purdue Agriculture/Tom Campbell) Varroa mites are obligate parasites, meaning their lifecycle is inextricably entwined with that of their bee hosts. The mites can do serious damage to their hosts’ health due to their relatively large size – “think of a tick as big as your fist,” Hunt said. Mites latch on to bees and feed on their hemolymph, insects’ rough equivalent to blood, leaving behind open wounds that are susceptible to infection. They can also transmit diseases such as deformed wing virus and have been linked to colony collapse disorder. To gain insight into the biology behind V. jacobsoni’s host switch, Andino and Hunt, professor of behavioral genetics and honeybee specialist, studied the differences in gene expression between V. jacobsoni mites that fed and reproduced on Asian honey bees and those that parasitized European honey bees. Knowing which host cues mites respond to and the genes involved

Researchers Greg Hunt and Gladys Andino inspect bee colonies at Purdue University for signs of disease and mites. (Purdue Agriculture/Tom Campbell)

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Varroa mites are considered the biggest bee health problem worldwide. Here, a Varroa mite has latched on to the upper-right side of a honey bee’s abdomen to feed. (Purdue Agriculture/Tom Campbell) could lead to potential control strategies, the researchers said. “If we can understand the mechanism, we might be able to disrupt, block or manipulate that,” Andino said. “But first we have to understand what is happening and which genes are involved in allowing the mites to shift to a new host.” Andino and Hunt sequenced and assembled the first V. jacobsoni transcriptome, a catalog of all of the proteins made by an organism that shows which genes are actively being expressed. They then used the transcriptome to compare gene expression in populations of V. jacobsoni. They found 287 differentially expressed genes between the mite populations that only parasitized Asian honey bees and those that successfully fed and reproduced on European honey bees. A change in gene expression is often a sign that an organism is reacting to a change in its environment – in this case, a new host species. Of these 287 genes, 91 percent were upregulated in the host-switching mites. Many of these genes were related to stress responses, “which makes sense,” Andino said. “If you’re feeding on a new host, you’re going to be stressed. You have to adapt. The food is different and might not be optimal for development,” she said. “Potentially, European honey bees are not fulfilling the requirements these mites are used to getting from Asian honeybees.” Some genes involved in reproduction and egg production were overexpressed while some genes linked to digestion genes showed reduced expression, compared with the same genes in V. jacobsoni mites that exclusively parasitized Asian honey bees. Andino and Hunt said the mites’ leap to European honey bees likely occurred within the last decade. Previously, V. jacobsoni mites were occasionally found on European honey bees but seemed unable to produce healthy offspring, limiting their destructive capacity. Catching the host transition in its early stages will allow researchers to continue to investigate the complex genetic details behind the shift and monitor infected European honey bees, Hunt said. “This happened once with one species of mite, and it looks like it’s happening again.

American Bee Journal

Maybe if we catch this as it’s beginning, we’ll be able to figure out why it’s happening or, down the road, stop it.” The paper was published in BMC Genomics on Wednesday (Nov. 16) and is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-0163130-3. Funding for the study and an ongoing genome-sequencing project was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

KRISPN GIVEN PROMOTED TO APICULTURE SPECIALIST AT PURDUE Cornell University Farmers looking to reduce reliance on pesticides, herbicides and other pest management tools may want to heed the advice of Cornell agricultural scientists: Let nature be nature - to a degree. “Managing crop pests without fully understanding the impacts of tactics - related to resistance and nontarget plants or insects - costs producers money,” said Antonio DiTommaso, professor of soil and crop science and lead author of a new study, “Integrating Insect, Resistance and Floral Resource Management in Weed Control Decision-Making,” in the journal Weed Science (October-December 2016). “We are taking a renewed look at a holistic, sustainable integrated pest management (IPM) approach,” DiTommaso said. In corn production, for example, maintaining a few villainous milkweed plants in the middle of a cornfield may help minimize crop loss from the destructive European corn borer. The milkweed plants can harbor aphids (destructive sap-sucking flies) that produce a nectar food source for beneficial parasitic wasps Trichogramma. The wasps,

in turn, lay eggs inside the eggs of the European corn borer, killing the corn borer eggs - reducing damage to the crop. “Production management rarely considers the benefits of weeds in agricultural ecosystems,” said DiTommaso. “Let’s look at the big picture. If we open our eyes even if it’s a weed growing in the cornfield - we show it could be beneficial. Integrating weed benefits will become increasingly important, as pest management is likely to move from total reliance on herbicides and transgenic crop traits for control, because of increasing resistance of weeds to these products.” One additional side benefit for having a few milkweed plants in a field of corn is that it serves as a breeding place and food source for monarch butterflies. As of late, monarch numbers are down, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating a petition to have them protected under the Endangered Species Act. While some growers elect not to use engineered crops, producers may see a return to IPM methods from two decades ago, as resistance could easily occur when relying on a single tactic. With increasing no-till production, producers will inevitably see rebounds in perennial weeds - such as milkweed, the researchers said. Thus, some growers may be willing to tolerate a low milkweed population in favor of providing livable plant space for monarchs. “Every organism in an agricultural system plays multiple roles,” said John Losey, professor of entomology. “If management decisions are based solely on the negative aspects, yield and profit can be lost in the short term and broader problems can arise in the longer term.” Integration of the weed costs and advantages will become important. “The benefits of weeds have been neglected. They’re often seen as undesirable, unwanted. We’re now beginning to quan-

Krispn Given with his 2016 instrumental Insemination class at Purdue’s honey bee laboratory.

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tify their benefits,” said Kristine M. Averill, weed research associate. “It’s very important to recognize the benefits of all the species within the crop field - that includes both the crops and the weeds - not to mention cover crops. Weeds can offer ecosystem services, such as soil erosion protection and pollination services for the benefit of insects,” Averill said. “They can be part of a restorative cycle.” Joining DiTommaso, Averill and Losey on the study were Michael Hoffmann, professor of entomology; and Jeffrey R. Fuchsberg, director of intellectual property at the Medical Center of the Americas Foundation.

ROBERT E. PAGE JR. SELECTED FELLOW OF CALIFORNIA ACADEMy OF SCIENCES by Kathy Keatley garvey Uc davis dept. of entomology and nematology

Internationally known honey bee geneticist Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Arizona State University provost emeritus, has been selected a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), San Francisco. He is one of 10 Fellows, and the only one from UC Davis, to be inducted Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the annual CAS meeting and awards dinner. The Fellows are a group of distinguished scientists, nominated and appointed in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the natural sciences. They help extend the Academy’s “positive impact on research, public engagement, and education, through individual and collaborative efforts with Academy researchers and staff,” a spokesperson said. Page was nominated by chemical ecologist and CAS Fellow Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology). James R. Carey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology and a CAS Fellow, seconded the nomination. “Rob is internationally known for his expertise on social insect behavior and population genetics,” Leal said, describing him as a “highly gifted, innovative and productive researcher, administrator, collaborator, teacher and author.” Leal said there are few “who can match his scientific stature.” Page focuses his current research on the evolution of complex, social behavior. “Using the honey bee as a model, he has dissected bees’ complex foraging division of labor at all levels of biological organization—from gene networks to complex social interactions,” Leal noted. “Throughout his

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Academy of Sciences. His many honors include the Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize, the highest honor given by the German government to foreign scientists. In 2009 he was elected to Leopoldina, founded in 1652, for his pioneering research in behavioral genetics of honey bees. Other UC Davis entomologists who are members of CAS include integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom and native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology. Catherine Tauber and her husband, the late Maurice Tauber, both affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, were named honorary fellows of CAS in 2009.

BEEKEEPING WITH CHILDREN AND SCHOOL GROUPS Robert E. Page Jr. career, he has been on the cutting edge of discoveries involving behavior, life cycle, genetics, physiology and biochemistry, and, as such, is a highly cited author on such topics as Africanized bees, genetics and evolution of social organization, sex determination and division of labor in insect societies.” A native of Bakersfield, Page received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 1980 and served on The Ohio State University faculty before joining the UC Davis faculty in 1989. His UC Davis career spanned 15 years. He served as department chair from 1999 to 2004 when Arizona State University recruited him to found its School of Life Sciences. As the founding director and dean, he established the world-class, integrative School of Life Sciences and the Honey Bee Research Facility. Page’s career advanced to vice provost and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2011, and then to university provost in 2014. After a highly distinguished academic career, he became emeritus provost and Regents professor in June 2015 and continues his research, teaching and public service. A highly productive scientist, Page has authored more than 230 research papers and articles. He and his major professor, “father of bee genetics” Harry H. Laidlaw Jr., (for whom the UC Davis bee biology facility is named), wrote the pioneering book, “Queen Rearing and Bee Breeding.” In 2013 Page published his latest book, “The Spirit of the Hive: the Mechanisms of Social Evolution,” which explains the self-organizing regulatory networks of honey bees. Page is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Entomological Society of America and an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences, and the Brazilian

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good practice at the apiary by Undine Westphal Respectful interaction with creatures, an insight into the complexity of the living world, and the idea that every individual, even children, can contribute to the protection of our precious environment without much effort, are learning objectives which cannot be valued highly enough. If honeybees did not already exist, it would certainly be worth creating them as a topic for interesting learning and teaching responsibility and sustainability. The book “Beekeeping with children and school groups” is a wonderful guide and aide for experienced beekeepers who can and want to offer children more than simply letting them watch the honey extraction. (Prof. Dr. Jürgen Tautz, Würzburg) This book will act as a guide to support you throughout the whole beekeeping year with the use of examples. The Individual chapters will each cover the specifics that

occur when you carry out the corresponding work stages with the help of children or school groups. There are age recommendations, as well as specific instructions regarding dangerous situations, which could arise during beekeeping with children. Tips are provided about the hive and work materials considering the suitability for students and groups of children.

SAVING BEES… AND OURSELVES THROUGH SCIENCE a new way to detect insecticides in honey Introduction If you are reading this, you already know bees are important to the environment. In the U.S., alone, bees are responsible for pollinating more than 100 different crops from blueberries to almonds. What you may not realize, however, is that there is a global price tag on their fuzzy little heads. Sure, their honey production may keep us rubbing our tummies like so many Winnie-thePoohs, but there is so much more to the bee story than honey. Scientists at the University of California Berkley now estimate that the current value of global crop production made possible by bees is a staggering $200 billion annually. Not only are bees vital in maintaining our ecosystem, they also play an essential role in the global economy.1 Pesticides And Bee Colony Collapse While that sounds impressive, all is not well in the proverbial Hundred Acre Wood. Since the introduction of neonicotinoid pesticides (acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam) in the late 1980s, thousands of tons of these closely related compounds to nicotine are applied to seeds, crops, plants, and even grasses every year around the globe. One in particular, imidacloprid, has proven to be so effective, it accounts for nearly a third of the global pesticide market.2,3 These pesticides are especially effective against a wide assortment of sap-feeding pests. They work by binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the nervous systems of bugs to induce insect paralysis, thus preserving crops and maximizing yield. However, neonicotinoid pesticides are also under increasing scrutiny as a potential contributing factor to honey bee colony collapse disorder (CCD).4 A growing number of apiologists studying CCD, in fact, reason that bees naturally collect pollen tainted by neonicotinoid pesticides. They bring the toxin back to their respective hives and poison their own colonies. Worker bees disappear, leaving the queen bee, food supply, and immature bees in the care of too few nurse bees. The result is devastating. Over the course of a typical winter, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) esti-

American Bee Journal

mates that more than 23% of bee colonies are lost because of CCD.5,6 Given the scale of neonicotinoid pesticides use—and where the bulk of global honey is produced (Asia at 46.4% and South America at 23.3%), most scientists agree that it is important to develop effective methods to detect just how much of these toxins remain in the more than 200,000 tons of honey we use every year.7 New Approach To Detection Scientists at PerkinElmer, a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, recently tested five commercially available honeys (one organic and four conventional) for the presence of pesticides using both the PerkinElmer Altus® A-30 UPLC® System (Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography System) together with a PerkinElmer AxION® 2 Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOF MS). In combination, the system provides high resolution and sensitivity in detecting compounds. In this instance, PerkinElmer’s UPLC®/ TOF MS analysis detected trace amounts of eight different pesticide residues which were added to honey samples. These included the 7 neonicotinoids mentioned above, as well as sulfoxaflor at 5, 10, and 50 parts per billion (ppb) concentration levels. Data files were processed using AxION Solo software and analytes were identified based on mass accuracy, isotope abundance, retention time, and extracted ion chromatogram (EIC) peak intensity. Calibration curves were also generated from honey samples spiked at 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 ppb levels. Calibration curves for acetamiprid, dinotefuran, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam, which had r2 values greater than 0.99 (a statistical measure of how close the data are to the fitted regression line) , were applied to the three level spiked samples for quantitative analysis. There results demonstrated acceptable recoveries (94.1% to 115.6%) and imprecision (1.2 to 12.3 % CV) using an acceptability criteria of 70 to 120% recovery and a CV (Coefficient of Variation) of less than 20%. Based on these results, PerkinElmer scientists say their research to date demonstrates the value of UPLC®/TOF MS analysis for the detection of nAChR inhibitors in honey.8 That may well prove to be a significant scientific tool in the ongoing research of residual pesticides in honey and other foods and their impact on human and insect health. 1

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Erica Lee, “Bee Killers,” Environment Research, UC Berkeley, December 27, 2014, http://matrix.berkeley.edu/ research/bee-killers, accessed October 29, 2016. Peter Jeschke, Ralf Nauen, Michael Schindler, and Alfred Elber, “Overview of The Status And Global Strategy For Neonicotinoids,” Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, (2011) Vol. 59, pp. 2897-2908, http://www.moraybee dinosaurs.co.uk/neonicotinoid/global. pdf, accessed October 25, 2016.

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4 5 6

7

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N. Simon-Delso, et. al., “Systemic Insecticides (Neonicotinoids And Fipronil): Trends, Uses, Mode Of Action And Metabolites,” Environmental Science and Pollution Research, January 2015, Volume 22, Issue 1, pp. 5–34, http://link. springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356014-3470-y, accessed October 25, 2016. eschke, et. al., op. cit. Lee, op. cit. EPA, “Colony Collapse Disorder,” Pollinator Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sepytember 16,2016, https://www.epa.gov/pollinatorprotection/colony-collapse-disorder, accessed October 31, 2016. Agriculture and Rural Development, “Honey Market Presentation, Committee for the Common Organization of the Agricultural Markets, 18 June 2015,” European Union, http://www.ag-press.eu/sites/ default/files/resources/6.1._HONEY_ Market%20Situation%20Presentation. pdf, accessed October 31, 2016. PerkinElmer, “Detection Of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Competitive Modulator Pesticides In Honey By UPLC/TOF MS Analysis,” Application Note, PerkinElmer, 2016, https:// www.perkinelmer.com/lab-solutions/ resources/docs/APP_012986_01_ Detection_of_nAChR_Pesticides_in_ Honey.pdf, accessed October 31, 2016.

NEW APICULTURE TEAM TO STRENGTHEN ATLANTIC CANADA’S HONEy BEE POPULATION by ABBAS EDUN A Crown agency owned by the province of Nova Scotia (N.S.), Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc. came into existence on June 30, 2012. It is a merger of three provincial bodies: AgraPoint, the Atlantic Bioventure Centre and AgriTECH Park. Perennia is a fully integrated agriculture, food and bioresource company whose head office is in Bible Hill1; it is accountable to the Minister of Agriculture. With a focus on quality and safety of food, innovative research, production expertise and extension services, Perennia helps N.S. farmers, fishermen, processors and food entrepreneurs to grow and sustain their businesses, enter new markets, add value to existing products, and work to develop new ones. Perennia is now home to an exceptional group of specialists called the Atlantic Tech Transfer Team for Apiculture (ATTTA), whose intent is to strengthen the honey bee population in the three Maritime provinces, Nova Scotia (N.S.), New Brunswick (N.B.) and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.). Those provinces are one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of wild blueberries.2 For the industry to continue

to expand, the number of commercial hives will have to more than double to 100,000 by 2025. ATTTA will support improved productivity in the wild blueberry, beekeeping and pollination industries by helping regional beekeepers to expand their hives and increase hive density to meet the increasing demand for pollination in wild blueberry fields.3 The governments of Canada and the Maritime provinces are investing $355,000 in the team through Growing Forward 2, a fiveyear, (2013-2018) policy framework for the country’s agricultural and agri-food sector. It is a $3 billion-dollar investment funded by the federal, provincial and territorial governments and by the foundation for government agricultural programs and services. Industry organizations that are contributing another $54,000 to the two-year project are: Bleuets N.B. Blueberries; the N. S. Wild Blueberry Producers’ Association; the P.E.I. Wild Blueberry Growers Association; Oxford Frozen Foods4; Jasper Wyman and Son Canada Inc.5;and the Beekeepers Associations of N.B., N. S. and P.E.I. ATTTA will work with the beekeeping and blueberry industries to review current apicultural management practices across Canada and customize them for the more than 38,000 commercial bee colonies and nearly 39,000 hectares of blueberries in Atlantic Canada. Apiculturists Cameron Menzies6 and Robyn McCallum7 will join an industry-led committee to focus on honey bee nutrition, health (diseases and pests), and over-wintering based on the best practices of beekeepers. Quotes: “Bees play a vital role in keeping Canadian agriculture strong. The federal Government welcomes the opportunity to partner with industry and share best practices for a healthy bee population to support farmers, grow the industry and our overall economy.” - Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “This level of co-operation between governments and industry demonstrates what can happen when we need to tackle a key issue in our agriculture sector. A thriving bee population is incredibly important to ensure our wild blueberries are pollinated. The work done by this team to share information and research with producers is a key part of the ongoing health of both our apiculture and wild blueberry sectors.” - Jo Ann Fewer, C.E.O. of Perennia.

The wild blueberry is the number-one fruit crop in Nova Scotia.

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“This team at Perennia will provide leadership and share information that can help keep our bee population healthy so that it supports the economic benefits of the agriculture industry.” - Keith Colwell, N.S. Agriculture Minister. “The strength of our honey bee population is directly related to the strength of our agriculture sector. When government and industry work together, with collaboration between jurisdictions, the result is a stronger, more sustainable industry for all parties.” - Rick Doucet, N.B. Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries. “The province of P.E.I. recognizes the important role that a healthy honey bee industry plays in wild blueberry production and is pleased to be a partner in this regional initiative.” - Alan McIsaac, P.E.I. Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. 1

A village located across the Salmon River from the town of Truro in Colchester County, N.S. 2 The current value of the blueberry industry in the region is about $53 million. 3 The average density for the pollination of such a field in the Atlantic region is between one and two hives per acre. By having three hives, the yield in fruit may be increased by 0.4 tonnes per acre which means an increase of over $40 million for the industry. 4 Based in N.B., and owned by John Bragg, it is the world’s largest blueberry grower. 5 This company is located in Morell, P.E.I. and manages thousands of acres of blueberry land throughout the Maritimes. 6 As part of the ATTTA team, he works with beekeepers and lowbush blueberry growers to build the pollination capacity within the region. 7 She is also a part of the ATTTA team. Her PhD thesis at the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus looks at how farming and agro-eco systems can be enhanced and improved for pollinators and natural enemies.

CALIFORNIA DAVIS--If you want to become a beekeeper or learn more about working your colonies, rearing queens, managing varroa mites, and breeding bees, the E.L. Niño Bee Lab at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Research Facility has announced its list of 2017 courses, which begin March 11 and continue through June 11. The courses, directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and taught by her and her staff, will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Laidlaw facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis. Registration is now underway, and gift certificates are also available. The schedule: • Planning Ahead for Your First Hives (25 spots per session) Participants can sign up for one of two short courses: the first on Saturday, March

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cons of ways to monitor, mitigate and manage this pest. • Bee Breeding (25 spots per session) This is a one-day course, to be held Sunday, June 11. The cost is $75. Course description: This course complements the queen-rearing techniques course. Participants will learn the intricacies of honey bee genetics along with honey bee races and breeder lines. “We will also have an in-depth discussion of various breeding schemes,” Niño said.

UC Davis will offer numerous beekeeping courses, from novice to advanced, in 2017. This photo was taken at a recent class in the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) 11 and the second on Saturday, March 18. The cost is $95. The all-day course will include lectures and hands-on exercises. “This course is perfect for those who have little or no beekeeping experience and would like to obtain more knowledge and practical skills to move on to the next step of owning and caring for their own honey bee colonies,” Niño said. • Working Your Colonies (25 spots per session) Two separate short courses will be offered: the first on Sunday, March 12, and the second on Sunday, March 19. The cost is $150. The all-day courses are for novice beekeepers who already have a colony or have taken the previous course and want to develop their beekeeping skills further. Participants will learn how to inspect their colony and how to troubleshoot, as well as glean information on products of the hive. The afternoon will be spent entirely in the apiary with handson activities and demonstrations. • Queen Rearing Techniques Short Course (16 spots per session) The Niño lab will be offering two separate two-day courses: the first course on Saturday and Sunday, April 14-15, and the second on Saturday and Sunday, April 22-23. The cost is $375. Each course will include lectures on queen biology and rearing, as well as extensive hands-on exercises. This course is designed for those who have some beekeeping experience and would like to move on to the next step of rearing their own queens and bee breeding. • Varroa Management Strategies (25 spots per session) Two separate courses will be offered: the first on Saturday, May 13, and the second on Saturday, May 27. The cost is $175. Course description: Current beekeeping challenges call for all beekeepers to have a solid understanding of varroa mite biology and management approaches. Participants will dive deeper into understanding varroa biology and discussing pros and

Registration is underway at http://elninobeelab.ucdavis.edu/courses.html. For more information, contact Bernardo Niño at [email protected] or (530)-380BUZZ (2899). The Facebook page is https:// www.facebook.com/elninolab.

WyOMING The University of Wyoming Laramie County Extension Office is hosting the Wyoming Bee College conference at Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, March 18-19, 2017. The Wyoming Bee College conference is open to everyone interested in the health, welfare and conservation of pollinator insects. The Bee College is a two-day four-track conference covering beginning beekeeping 101-102, journeymen beekeeping methods, native bees and ways to help them all. We bring in longtime beekeepers, researchers from USDA Bee Labs and University professors for up to-date information. Cost for the two-day three track conference is $75 and includes meals. For more information; www.wyoming beecollege.org, www.eventbrite.com or call Catherine at 307-633-4383.

ARIzONA As the Organic Beekeepers yahoo.com discussion group has now grown in numbers to over 6067 + members, we have now put together our 10th annual meeting for an American Beekeepers Association, for beekeepers into clean Organic Beekeeping, to come together to associate for clean sustainable beekeeping with ZERO treatments, and getting off all artificial feeds, and getting off all artificial breeding parameters, not in tandum with Nature. Meeting to be held in Oracle, Arizona at the YMCA Triangle Y Ranch Camp and Retreat Center 3 - 5 March 2017. Meeting will start Friday early afternoon with signing in, with Friday Night Hello’s/Dinner,...run all day Saturday into eve, and thru late Sunday afternoon, with keynote presentations, two general panel discussions, breakout sessions, hands-on workshops/showings, with six catered meals/refreshments during breaks. Dinner for Friday Night Hello’s will also have speakers/movie. Vendoring wel-

American Bee Journal

comed with those attending (NO treatments/ artificial feeds allowed sold for bees. nor alcohol allowed for consumption on site,... though mead making can be taught). A $225 per person meeting fee will be required this year, which includes: accommodations in Lodges (with up to 6 per room dorm style, each with own bath....with bring-your-own sheets/bedding/blankets, w/ men separate from women);...plus six catered meals, access to all meetings/talks/ workshops/snacks/break refreshments, and also a camp liability coverage (form required to be filled out) concerning private property of the camp only. Overflow for accommodations in lodges, will be usage of cabin units on site, with same fee. Also no fee for vendors other than normal lodging costs for meeting/catered meals/camp liability needs. For those not bringing their own sheets/bedding/blankets due to plane travel/ other, rental is available at camp office for approx. $12 per person needing. For more information see: YMCA of Southern Arizona - Tucson, Marana, Oro Valley http://www.tucsonymca.org or visit OrganicBeekeepers at Organic Beekeepers http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ organicbeekeepers/ or contact Dee Lusby for information/registration at 520-3982474 late eve. For payment of registration per person of $225, due in advance of attending with check or moneyorder, send to Dee Lusby, for Organic Beekeepers (written in check memo section) address: HC 65, Box 7450, Amado, Arizona 85645, with stamped self addressed envelope for Organic Beekeepers meeting, for returning receipt and more information on YMCA to sender, plus liability/medical form to be filled out. Note: the $225 fee is a straight fee whether sleeping/eating at camp or not, for covering cost of lodges rented, meeting halls, vendoring/catering, hiring workers, liability insurance, etc during conference. For general information concerning the meeting, ... contacts are Keith Malone 907-688-0588, and Karin Matchett 612-360-1925, ... plus Karin Matchett will also be overseeing paypal signups this year.

TExAS aUstin 6th annUal beeKeeping seminar Date: Jan. 21, 2017 What: Austin 6th Annual Beekeeping Seminar Who: Sponsored by The Austin Area Beekeepers Association Where: J.J. Pickle Research Campus 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78758 Cost: $50 pre-reg. until 11/30/16. $60 normal reg. Why: The mission of this daylong seminar is to educate people of all experience levels in sustainable bee husbandry and to provide funding for The Texas A&M Honey Bee Lab.

January 2017

Description: This is a daylong seminar offering 4 different educational presentations running concurrently in each time slot throughout the day. This will provide many beginning and advanced subjects to choose from. A separate beginner track has been formatted covering a variety of startup topics for soon to be or very new beekeepers. For more info and to register for this event http://aabaseminar2017.eventbrite.com. For additional information you can email Lance Wilson [email protected]. This organization is non-profit and all proceeds of this event will be used to promote sustainable beekeeping practices and provide support to our much appreciated Texas A&M Honey Bee Lab. This should be a lot of fun, everyone please come out and see us!

MISSOURI Three Rivers Beekeepers Association (St Peters, Missouri) is having their annual new beekeepers workshop Jan. 27-28, 2017. More information will be available on our website: Threeriversbeekeepers.com Jerry Styczynski 314 420 0264.

MISSOURI Eastern Missouri Beekeepers To Host 10th Annual Beekeeping Workshop and Banquet in St. Louis on February 11, 2017 Beekeeping Education Specialists to Present Courses for Beginners and Experienced Beekeepers The Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association (EMBA) will offer a full day of professional beekeeping instruction for beginners and experienced beekeepers on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, at Maritz in Fenton, Missouri. Registrants are encouraged to attend The Fifth Annual EMBA St. Louis Beekeepers Mardi Gras Banquet the evening before the workshop on Friday, February 10, at Maritz. Leading beekeeping educators, and honey bee health specialists at the University of Minnesota Bee Lab, and the Honey Bee Research Center at the University of Guelph will be among the visiting faculty leading the workshop. Instructors will include Dr. Becky Masterman, Minnesota Bee Lab Team Leader, Jessica Helgen, Minnesota Bee Lab Bee Squad Instructor, Paul Kelly, Guelph Honey Bee Research Center, Research and Apiary Manager, and Daniel Thurston, Research Technician, Ontario Beekeepers’ Association, Technology Transfer Program. The Experienced Beekeepers course will be tailored towards intermediate and expert level beekeepers and will place special em-

phasis on hive management and honey bee health issues. The Beginners Beekeeping course is intended for novice beekeepers and persons with no prior beekeeping experience. The class will cover all aspects of basic beekeeping to prepare students to start keeping bees in 2017. Tuition for the workshop is $85 per person if registered by Jan. 22, 2017. Tuition is $95 per person for those registering on or after January 23rd. Banquet registration costs $30. Registration closes February 5th. Lunch and refreshments are included with the workshop. Registration packets will include course materials, an authoritative reference book, beekeeping periodicals, and equipment catalogs. The Friday evening banquet features New Orleans style food and music, a cash bar, door prizes, including nucs, queens and beekeeping equipment, and a keynote speaker. The cost of the banquet is in addition to the workshop. For more information, visit www.easternmobeekeepers.com. Equipment vendors include representatives of Dadant & Sons, Kelley Beekeeping Co., and others. EMBA supports beekeepers with a broad program of cooperative procurement and educational events throughout the year. Members may obtain complete beginner’s equipment kits, nucleus bee colonies, and queens for delivery in the spring. The Club also sponsors open hive instructional workshops and guided colony health monitoring, during the season, at the Club’s teaching apiary in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Registration is available online at www. easternmobeekeepers.com. More information is available by email to [email protected] or calling 314-669-1828.

IOWA The Central Iowa Beekeepers Association (CIBA) and Des Moines Backyard Beekeepers (DMBB) Club are pleased to announce a joint Winter Seminar presented by Michael Bush, The Practical Beekeeper. Topics will include Realistic Expectations, Queen Rearing and Genetics, Spring Management and Swarm Prevention, and Alternative Equipment. The seminar will be held from 9:00AM - 3:30PM on Saturday, January 21, 2017 at the Grimes Community Complex, located at 410 Southeast Main Street in Grimes, Iowa. Admission price includes lunch, which will be fully catered at noon by Hickory Park Restaurant. Admission is $15. Seating is limited, please pre-register ASAP to confirm your seat. Register online at: http:// tinyurl.com/ja95l7k or mail in a paper registration, located at http://www.desmoinesbackyardbeekeepers.org/wp-content/ uploads/2016/10/Winter-BeekeepingSeminar-registration-form3.pdf

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ILLINOIS The Lake County Beekeeping Association program committee has worked hard on its next seminar for members and interested gardeners — bringing the latest research and experience on the topic of nutrition of honey bees — held March 18, 2017 in Mettawa, IL. As a follow-on to their recent successful seminar on overwintering bees covered earlier, this next logical subject is how to care for the overwintered bees to make them healthy throughout the 2017 season and help them produce the healthiest possible bee-crop and honey for personal or business use. Our first goal for this seminar is to insure we bring in leading-edge speakers on this topic; and our second goal is to ensure attendee comfort to attend a one-day seminar in what could still be the winter season here in northern Illinois. Seats are on a firstcome, first-serve basis. For details go to: http://www.mettawabeeseminar.com. CONTENT For this seminar, we have made arrangements to bring in four nationally known experts who will speak on their leading-edge research and experience on improving the health of honeybees. We all know that our personal health is better when our immunities are higher; it is no different with honeybees. The question we will be exploring in this day seminar: how can we ensure our bees have more nutritional food which will help build their immunity to diseases while maybe even improving the nutrition and flavor of the honey they produce: (See one of the many research white papers listed on the seminar website on the topic of bee nutrition: http://www.mettawabeeseminar. com/research-on-topic/

and May 6, 2017. Second Step Class is Mar 18, 2017. All classes run from 9am - 4pm. The fee of $50 covers coffee, handouts, free sample journals & catalogues, and props galore for you to handle. Individual, hands-on Mentoring is also available, $20 for 2 hours in the apiary. To register, contact Jeanne Hansen at 608-244-5094 or jeannieala [email protected]. http://madbees.org/ cat/classifieds/

INDIANA BEE SCHOOL xV The Beekeepers of Indiana will hold its fifteenth Bee School in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at Decatur Central High School, 5251 Kentucky Avenue. Our guest speaker will be Susan Cobey. Susan has taught the specialized technique of instrumental insemination for more than three decades. This is the first year that Susan has been a guest speaker in Indiana and we are very excited to have her here. Spots fill quickly for this popular event. Walk-in registration is not available so please go to our website: indianabeekeeper.com as soon as possible to download a registration form. See you at Indiana Bee School XV!

ALABAMA

Beekeepers through a Master Craftsman Beekeeper level, in an open-minded, handson learning and training beekeeping program. Anyone over the age of 12 can enroll and learn to become a beekeeper. It takes a minimum of 5 years to obtain the Master Craftsman level. Go to Alabamamasterbeekeepers.com to register and get a list of all the requirements and program schedule or call Gerry Whitaker program chairman (334-494-0136) or David Kelton program adviser (256-523-4767)

PENNSyLVANIA The Western PA Beekeeping Seminar will be held on February 17 & 18, 2017 at the Doubletree by Hilton, Monroeville, PA. 15146. Dr. Roger Hoopingarner, Professor Emeritus of Entomology, Michigan State University, Elizabeth (Izzy) Hill, Director of the Center for Urban Bee Research and Mid-Atlantic Apicultural Research and Education Consortium (MAAREC) as well as local garden talk-show host and PostGazette garden writer, Doug Oster will headline the seminar. Along with break-out sessions on habitat for pollinators, bee nutrition, chemical-free disease and pest control, a Beginning Beekeeping workshop will be offered in tandem with the Seminar on Saturday (limit 75 participants). Seminar registration is $57; Beginning Beekeeping cost is $75. Registration opens at the beginning of December, 2016 at Penn State Extension, Beaver website: http:// extension.psu.edu/beaver or call 724-7743003.

LOCATION AND COMFORT We have taken special effort to ensure attendee comfort for this outstanding seminar. We know that the chances of bad weather in mid-March is high so we have contracted with the Grainger company to use their corporate auditorium and facilities — so once you enter the building, you won’t have to go outside until the seminar is over. The Grainger corporate facilities are first class. There will be two types of seating: general seating in cushioned theater seating with a writing table or limited seating at a few tables up front. See the layout here: http://www.mettawabeeseminar. com/seminar-seating/

The Alabama Cooperative Extension Sysem’s 2nd Annual Beekeeping Symposium will be held at the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center, 1850 Lay Dam Road, Clanton, AL 35045 on Feb. 4, 2017. Featured speakers include Dr. Jamie Ellis, Phil Craft, Keith Fielder, and Geoffrey Williams. Barry Richards will be a featured speaker live streamed from Tennessee. A separate Beginning Beekeepers Workshop will be available. National beekeeping vendors will be present. Registration at the door is from 8:00-8:30 am. Pre-registration is available at: https:// mell-base.uce.auburn.edu/wconnect/ CourseStatus.awp?&course=C170204A &Publish=ANYWAY Lunch is provided for those who pre-register. Deadline for pre-registration is January 20, 2017. For more information contact Dr. Paul L. Mask at 334-844-4450.

WISCONSIN

ALABAMA

WEST VIRGINIA

beeKeeping classes 2017 madison, wi

Alabama Master Beekeeping program (AMBP) will be having its annual certification classes and testing to become an AMB, February 9-11-2017 at the Performing Arts Center in Clanton AL. The classes are geared to the educational development of beekeepers. It is to set a standard of beekeeping that is useful for beginning

2017 honey bee expo

You are invited to attend one of our day long ‘Beekeeping Classes’ to be held at the Dane Co. Extension Building, 5201 Fen Oak Dr, Madison, WI 53718. Beginners Classes will repeat on Jan 21, Feb 18, Mar 11, Apr 8

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PENNSyLVANIA The Chester County Beekeepers Association’s Annual Conference will be March 11th, 2017 at the West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383. Speakers include Dr. Dewey Caron, author of Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, Phil Craft, columnist for Bee Culture Magazine, Dr. Meghan Milbrath, Michigan State University Department of Entomology, and Master Beekeeper Landi Simone, owner and operator of Gooserock Farm. Lunch will be provided. For registration and details, go to http://www. ChescoBees.org.

The Mid Ohio Valley Beekeepers’ Association, in conjunction with the West Virginia Extension Services, will be sponsoring the 15th annual Honey Bee Expo. This event will be held Saturday, January 28, 2017 on the campus of the West Virginia University,

American Bee Journal

Parkersurg. This is an all-day conference dedicated to the honey bee and the hobby of beekeeping. This year’s keynote speaker will be retired Kentucky State Apiarist and Bee Culture magazine’s (Ask Phil) column, Phil Craft. Also scheduled to attend will be Garrett Dodds from the USDA Baton Rouge Research Center. There will be classes for all levels of bekeeping, from beginning to advanced. Cost of this event will be $20.00 if preregistered by January 13th, or $25.00 at the door. Children twelve and under - $8.00. Vendors will be present with equipment (which can be pre-ordered) for your beekeeping needs. Complete information will be posted on the MOVBA website (movba.org) as it becomes available.

VIRGINIA 2017 chatham, virginia - 4th annUal bacKyard beeKeeping conference January 27th - 28th, 2017 Olde Dominion Agricultural Complex 19783 U.S. 29 South Chatham, Virginia 24631

CONNECTICUT BackYard Beekeepers Association January 31: Paula Sharp & Ross Eatman, Wild Bees Native Bees Each month we have timely weekend hands on inspection workshops, bee school, mentor program and more. Please check our web site for the dates and locations or more information at www. backyardbeekeepers.com. Back Yard Beekeepers Association 2017 Speaker Schedule: February 28: Aaron Morris March 28: Carl Jurica April 25: Frederique Keller May 23: Christina Grozinger June 27: Dinner & Silent Auction Meeting September 26: Tom Seeley October 31: Kirk Webster November 14: Jennifer Berry

EAS 2017 EAS Annual Short Course & Conference, July 31 - August 4, 2017. Univ. of Delaware, Clayton Conference Center, Newark, DE. See website www.easternapiculture. org for details/registration.

Sanders Honey

Queens For Sale Josh Sanders

7288 Perdie Lee Rd Nicholls GA 31554

912-399-8480

Featured Speaker/ Instructor Dr. Keith Delaplane Friday Night the 27th the event will open at 6:00 with an exquisite catered Angus Beef dinner followed by a program from Dr. Delaplane. Saturday the 27th Dr. Delaplane will cover multiple hot beekeeping topics with plenty of time for questions and discussion. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Pre-Registration is required for both days at http://halifaxbeekeepers.org/index. php/upcoming-events or call Jim at 434376-4490.

NEW yORK HoneybeeLives’ Organic Beekeeping Classes introduce students to Organic/Natural Beekeeping with a Biodynamic influence. This two-day winter weekend class has dates available in the Hudson Valley and Brooklyn. A philosophy of care is imparted, as well as practical knowledge in preparation for starting hives in the spring. Learn a gentle way to tend them while respecting their instincts and understanding their complex and beautiful lives. This class is also helpful for current beekeepers who are looking for a culture of nurturing to advance their skills. New Paltz location offered January 21 & 22, or January 28 & 29, or February 25 & 26. The Brooklyn location offered February 4 & 5 only. Please visit www.Honeybee Lives.org for more info on class and registration, or call 845-255-6113.

January 2017

23

A

UNITED STATES s reported by author Ron Phipps in his excellent “International Honey Market Update” this month, “If the combination of 1) more powerful and sophisticated technologies for assessing adulteration and 2) climate change and other environmental factors reducing both total production and productivity/hive of honey manifest themselves during 2017 and 2018, it will become crystal clear that a new Point of Inflection has indeed been reached.” Dr. Phipps believes these factors will bring an upswing in the global honey market which will encourage a stronger bulk honey market in the United States. This, in turn, will mean better honey prices for beekeepers across the board. Right now, local retail and small-lot wholesale demand and prices have not been impacted significantly by cheap imported honey. However, a continuation of the downward trend in world honey prices and honey quality caused by cheap foreign honey would eventually impact all honey sales, as well as the excellent reputation of honey as a superior food. Coming off a mild fall, beekeepers across the nation were preparing for the winter season and hoped their colony losses would not be large. Early reports suggest that colonies went into winter with good bee populations, but that winter stores were not adequate in many cases. This has brought about more feeding than normal, even in the southern states and California. In addition, beekeepers in some states have reported more problems with heavy varroa mite infestations and mite-vectored viruses which have reduced bee populations or resulted in colony collapse disorder-like symptoms. Much depends on the severity of the winter weather in January, February and March, as well as ground moisture conditions this coming spring. Meanwhile, thousands of colonies are being prepared for the California almond pollination season, which will get underway in February. Demand for colonies is expected to be strong again this season, especially in view of a stronger world market for almonds and improved prices. NORTHEAST—Reporters told us that they were hoping for another mild winter to help colony overwintering. Indeed, October and much of November were on the

January 2017

mild side, but beekeepers were bracing for the cold, windy conditions that come in December, January and February. A number of beekeepers fed their colonies this past fall due to poor to moderate fall flows. In addition, some beekeepers added winter wraps to their colonies to help overwintering. Moisture conditions have been helped by fall rains, but some states are still on the dry side. Cases of colony collapse disorder, mite-vectored viruses and occasional outbreaks of small hive beetles were all problematical for area beekeepers hoping to bring a higher percentage of colonies through the coming winter. Although our reporters in this area have heard about the weaker wholesale honey market, few producers have been affected by it due to the excellent demand for local honey. Some grocery story prices for generic honey have declined, but most local honey brands are still demanding and receiving top dollar for their product. MIDEAST—Very mild, but dry weather continued well into the fall season in these area states. The good result was that beekeepers could continue to feed and treat colonies longer, but the bad result was that the warmer weather kept colonies more active so that they ate more stores. In some extreme cases beekeepers even reported colony starvation during the fall season. In other reports, beekeepers had heavier varroa populations and more incidents of parasitic mite syndrome, in addition to more small hive beetle outbreaks. Beekeepers along the North Carolina coast were also still tallying up their colony losses from Hurricane Matthew. Meanwhile, in late November Tennessee beekeepers experienced severe forest fires and then stormy weather accompanied by deadly tornadoes. Intermountain West

Northeast West Central East Central

Mideast

Southeast Southwest

Honey crops were not great in this area, so beekeepers have had no trouble selling their new crop honey at the local level, especially during the holiday season. None of our reporters felt that their pricing had been impacted yet by cheaper imported honey prices, especially since consumers prefer locally produced honey and varietals. SOUTHEAST—A combination of dry conditions, unsettled weather, varroa mites, viruses, and small hive beetles have made beekeeping difficult over the last couple of months. Not only have many beekeepers had to feed colonies heavily, but at times heavy varroa mite infestations have blindsided beekeepers resulting in many deadouts. Thousands of colonies are overwintered in Florida and other Southeastern states and in some cases these colonies are in dire condition, especially for those bees that will be moved across country to the almond bloom in California at the end of this month. Hurricane Matthew reduced the important Brazilian Pepper flow significantly along the eastern Florida coast. In late November severe storms moved through Mississippi and Alabama causing much damage and several fatalities. The wholesale market has begun to pick up some, but cheaper imported honey is still holding bulk honey prices down. Beekeepers have been quoted as low as 95 cents for new crop pepper honey to as high as $1.75 to $2.00 for wildflower honey. Retail honey sales have remained mostly strong, although at times generic honey sold in grocery stores has been discounted to move it off the shelves. Local and varietal honey continue to sell very well. SOUTHWEST—The fall season was characterized by warm, dry conditions interspersed with periods of stormy weather. Colonies are in fair to good condition, but in a number of reports beekeepers said that they were feeding more than normal. Early nectar sources will be maple, willow and other early bloomers. Beekeepers hope that adequate rains will come to insure good spring wildflower growth. Professional pollinators will be moving colonies to California for almonds in January. Much of the new crop honey has been sold, but the wholesale honey market remains weaker than last year due to plentiful cheap imported honey. On the other hand, small-lot wholesale trading and retail sales continue to be good, especially for locally produced honey. EAST CENTRAL—As in much of the rest of the country, the fall season was warmer than normal, allowing beekeepers to do more of their feeding and medicating later than normal. However, the down side is that bees probably ate more of their precious winter stores. Indeed, a number of our reporters were worried about winter stores since summer and fall flows were light or nonexistent. Serious feeding efforts were underway in some cases in an effort to save colonies from later starvation. Bee populations were generally good going into winter,

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U.S. HONEY, BEESWAX AND POLLEN PRICES FROM OUR REPORTERS Northeast

Mideast

Southeast

Southwest

East Central

WestCentral

InterMountain West

Wholesale White lb. Blk.$2.00-$3.00 $2.00-$2.90 $1.60-$2.50 $1.70-$2.50 $1.70-$2.50 $1.65-$2.30 $1.60-$2.60 $1.75-$2.50 Amber lb. Blk $1.80-$2.50 $1.90-$2.25 $1.40-$2.25 $1.60-$2.25 $1.60-$2.35 $1.60-$2.30 $1.50-$2.50 $1.60-$2.35

1 lb. CS 24 $ 60.00$115.00 2 lb. CS 12 $ 59.00$ 85.00

$ 55.00$100.00 $ 58.00$ 80.00

$ 50.00$110.00 $ 60.00$ 90.00

$ 51.00$120.00 $ 58.00$ 77.00

$ 53.00$115.00 $ 59.00$ 82.00

$ 58.00$110.00 $ 55.00$ 85.00

$ 60.00$150.00 $ 57.00$ 110.00

$ 58.00$115.00 $ 60.00$ 84.00

5 lb. CS 6 $ 72.00$105.00

$ 59.00$102.00

$ 60.00$ 98.00

$ 57.00$ 95.00

$ 60.00$104.00

$ 60.00 $105.00

$ 59.00$101.00

$ 59.00$103.00

Jars 8 oz. $ 2.50$ 4.00 Squeeze $ 3.50Bear 12 oz.$ 4.90

$ 2.40$ 4.00 $ 3.00$ 4.85

$ 2.25$ 3.95 $ 2.75$ 4.85

$ 2.20$ 3.90 $ 2.80$ 4.75

$ 2.50$ 4.50 $ 2.95$ 4.95

$ 2.40$ 4.00 $ 3.25$ 4.75

$ 2.00$ 4.00 $ 3.50$ 4.85

$ 2.25$ 3.90 $ 3.25$ 4.95

Jars 1 lb. $ 3.95$ 11.00 Jars 11/2lb.$ 5.50$ 13.00 (Pint) Jars 2 lb. $ 7.99$ 14.00 Jars 3 lb. $ 9.50(Quart) $ 25.00 Jars 4 lb. $ 10.00$ 35.00 Jars 5 lb. $ 16.99$ 40.00 Creamed $ 5.50$ 7.50 12 oz.

$ 3.55$ 8.25 $ 5.25$ 10.00 $ 6.95$ 10.50 $ 8.95$ 22.00 $ 10.00$ 30.00 $ 15.00$ 39.50 $ 5.50$ 7.00

$ 3.40$ 7.00 $ 5.50$ 9.70 $ 5.99$ 10.49 $ 8.79$ 18.00 $ 11.00$ 29.75 $ 15.50$ 35.50 $ 5.49$ 6.95

$ 3.50$ 8.00 $ 5.45$ 10.00 $ 6.00$ 11.25 $ 8.25$ 21.00 $ 12.00$ 29.70 $ 16.25$ 32.00 $ 5.25$ 6.99

$ 3.45$ 8.25 $ 4.25$ 9.50 $ 6.25$ 11.00 $ 8.00$ 21.00 $ 10.00$ 30.00 $ 16.00$ 31.00 $ 5.50$ 6.25

$ 3.95$ 8.25 $ 5.50$ 9.50 $ 6.95$ 10.50 $ 8.50$ 22.00 $ 10.00$ 30.50 $ 15.75$ 35.00 $ 5.40$ 7.25

$ 3.75$ 8.00 $ 4.75$ 10.00 $ 6.25$ 11.25 $ 8.10$ 23.00 $ 11.00$ 28.50 $ 16.00$ 33.25 $ 4.75$ 7.00

$ 4.00$ 9.00 $ 4.75$ 10.25 $ 6.50$ 11.50 $ 8.00$ 25.00 $ 10.00$ 32.00 $ 16.50$ 35.00 $ 5.25$ 7.25

Comb 12 oz.

$ 6.00$14.00

$ 5.50$13.00

$ 5.25$13.25

$ 5.50$13.50

$ 5.50$14.75

$ 5.50$14.50

$ 5.50$13.75

$ 5.75$13.50

Round $ 5.00Plas. Comb$ 8.50

$ 4.50$ 8.50

$ 4.50$ 7.50

$ 4.00$ 8.25

$ 4.25$ 8.99

$ 4.00$ 7.50

$ 4.25$ 7.00

$ 4.50$ 8.50

1 Gallon $ 24.00$ 50.00

$ 23.00$ 46.00

$ 24.50$ 45.00

$ 24.00$ 50.00

$ 25.00$ 45.00

$ 23.00$ 45.00

$ 24.00$ 50.00

$ 25.00$ 50.00

Retail

60 lb.

$185.00- $130.00- $130.00- $140.00- $130.00- $140.00- $140.00- $140.00$225.00 $200.00 $200.00 $200.00 $225.00 $220.00 $225.00 $230.00

Beeswax

Light per lb. Dark per lb.

$ 3.20$ 6.50 $ 3.20 $ 6.00

$ 3.20 $ 5.75 $ 3.20 $ 5.35

$ 3.20 $ 6.00 $ 3.20 $ 5.25

$ 3.20 $ 5.50 $ 3.20 $ 5.25

$ 3.20 $ 6.00 $ 3.20 $ 6.00

$ 3.20 $ 5.50 $ 3.20 $ 5.75

$ 3.20 $ 5.50 $ 3.20 $ 5.50

$ 3.20 $ 6.00 $ 3.20$ 5.75

Wholesale $ 3.50per lb. $ 6.50 Retail $ 5.50per lb. $ 15.00

$ 3.50$ 8.00 $ 7.00$ 15.00

$ 3.00$ 6.00 $ 6.00$ 15.00

$ 3.00$ 5.00 $ 6.00$ 10.00

$ 3.25$ 6.00 $ 7.00$ 15.00

$ 3.25$ 6.00 $ 7.50$ 15.50

$ 2.50$ 6.00 $ 7.00$ 12.00

$ 2.50$ 5.50 $ 7.00$ 15.00

Pollen

The above prices are not meant to provide a realistic picture of prices in all states of the particular area. They are intended merely to show what a few beekeepers are receiving for their honey, beeswax and pollen and we realize prices may vary tremendously, even within individual states. The bulk prices for honey are stated per pound, delivered buyer’s warehouse, containers exchanged or furnished by buyer, unless otherwise noted. Where prices are not shown, insufficient data were available.

except in cases where beekeepers are reporting more cases of colony collapse disorder or parasitic mite syndrome. Migratory beekeepers had already moved their colonies to southern or California holding yards and were continuing to feed colonies in preparation for almond pollination season. Wholesale trading reports were mixed, but generally beekeepers have had little trouble selling their new crop honey. In some cases wholesale offering prices were lower than last year, however. Nevertheless, retail sales continue to be strong, especially for locally produced or varietal honey. On the other hand, some discounting of generic honey sold in the supermarkets has occurred. WEST CENTRAL—Most migratory beekeepers had moved the bulk of their

26

colonies to southern states or California for the winter season. Other beekeepers were finishing their feeding and were hoping for an early spring. Although bees made fair to good honey crops in the Dakotas, honey crops in Minnesota were down significantly. Elsewhere, beekeepers reported fair to good crops, but honey production was sporadic. What hurt many beekeepers were the exceptionally poor late summer and fall honey flows, after receiving fair to good spring flows. This caught a number of beekeepers off guard in the fall, especially in view of large populations of bees, but little in the way of winter stores. Many beekeepers started feeding both syrup and sugar patties, but how successful this will be depends on the winter season. Some beekeepers told us that they

HONEY MARKET FOR THE MONTH OF OCTObER 2016 In volumes of 10,000 pounds or greater unless otherwise stated (Courtesy November 2016 USDA National Honey Report) Prices paid to beekeepers for extracted, unprocessed honey in major producing states by packers, handlers & other large users, cents per pound, f.o.b. or delivered nearby, containers exchanged or returned, prompt delivery & payment unless otherwise stated. -Report includes both new and old crop honey(# Some in Small Lot — +Some delayed payments or previous commitment) California Avocado Extra Light Amber $1.65 Cotton Extra Light Amber $1.65 - $1.80 Cotton Light Amber $1.65 - $1.80 Orange Extra Light Amber $2.30 Sage White $2.30 Sage Light Amber $1.80 Valley Extra Light Amber $1.70 Valley Light Amber $1.65 - $1.75 Dakotas Alfalfa White $1.60 - $1.70 Alfalfa Extra Light Amber $1.60 - $1.70 Alfalfa Light Amber $1.60 - $1.70 Buckwheat Extra Light Amber $1.70 Buckwheat Light Amber $1.60 - $1.70 Capper Light Amber $.70 Canola White $1.65 - $1.70 Canola Extra Light Amber $1.70 Clover White $1.65 - $1.80 Clover Extra Light Amber $1.65 Sunflower White $1.65 Sunflower Extra Light Amber $1.65 - $1.70 Wildflower Extra Light Amber $1.65 - $1.70 Florida Brazilian Pepper Light Amber $1.60 Orange Blossom Extra Light Amber $2.20 Palmetto Light Amber $1.60 Wildflower Light Amber $1.60 Georgia Cotton Extra Light Amber $1.60 Wildflower Light Amber $1.60 Hawaii Macadamia Light Amber $1.60 Wildflower Light Amber $1.60 Idaho Wildflower Light Amber $1.60 - $1.68 Wildflower Amber $1.60 - $1.70 Louisiana Tallow Light Amber $1.60 MICHIGAN Star Thistle White $2.00 Mississippi Wildflower Light Amber $1.60 Minnesota Alfalfa White $1.70 Basswood White $1.65 Canola White $1.65 Clover White $1.65 Montana Alfalfa White $1.65 - $1.70 Alfalfa Extra Light Amber $1.65 - $1.70 Canola White $1.70 Clover White $1.65 - $1.70 Knapweed Light Amber $1.55 Nebraska Clover White $1.65 Oregon Alfalfa White $1.65 Clover White $1.65 Washington Buckwheat Light Amber $2.25 Wisconsin Basswood White $1.65 Basswood Extra Light Amber $1.70 Cranberry Extra Light Amber $1.65

American Bee Journal

Prices paid to Canadian beekeepers for unprocessed, bulk honey by packers and importers in U. S. currency, f.o.b. shipping point, containers included unless otherwise stated. Duty and crossing charges extra. Cents per pound. Canola White $1.00 - $1.03 Mixed Flowers White $1.03 - $1.06 Prices paid to importers for bulk honey, duty paid, containers included, cents per pound, ex-dock or point of entry unless otherwise stated. Argentina Mixed Flowers White $0.91 - $.98 Mixed Flowers Extra Light $0.88 - $.98 Mixed Flowers Light Amber $0.84 - $1.07 brazil Orange Blossom Extra Light $1.96 ORGANIC Extra Light $1.86 - $1.89 ORGANIC Light Amber $1.58 - $1.88 ORGANIC Amber $1.71 - $1.89 India Mixed Flowers Light Amber $0.84 - $.88 Mustard Amber $1.13 ORGANIC Light Amber $1.75 Mexico Orange Extra Light $1.91 Vietnam Mixed Flowers Light Amber $0.80 Mixed Flowers Amber $0.73 - $1.09 Ukraine Sunflower White $.88 - $.90 Sunflower Extra Light $.88 - $.90 Sunflower Light Amber $.88 Sunflower Amber $1.19 Uruguay Mixed Flowers Light Amber $.84

January 2017

were bracing themselves for heavy winter colony losses that would have to be made up with packages or nucs. Other beekeepers said that they had to contend with very high varroa mite loads this past fall, which further complicated their colony overwintering success. Bulk honey prices and demand are still down in this area with larger beekeepers reporting selling their crops in the $1.70 to $1.80 per pound range. Prices on smaller lots are better and retail sales have remained mostly good, although some discounting has been reported, especially in the supermarkets. INTERMOUNTAIN—Warmer fall temperatures allowed beekeepers more time to feed, medicate and move colonies to their winter locations in southern states or California. Lack of moisture this past season took its toll on honey crops in some Intermountain states. Although some beekeepers reported good crops, dry conditions hurt honey flows over much of the area. In addition, some beekeepers reported significant colony strength problems due to queen loss or parasitic mite syndrome. Some Idaho commercial beekeepers continue to have good luck overwintering their colonies in potato warehouses located in the state. The perennial problem of limited bee forage has led some beekeepers to seek better access to public lands for nectar plants. Large-lot wholesale honey prices being offered remain in the $1.65 to $1.80 range, but smaller lots and retail honey sales have

been relatively unaffected by the influx of cheaper imported honey. WEST—After a relatively mild fall, rainy, cooler conditions began to predominate over much of California, Oregon and Washington. Many beekeepers had already completed their fall feeding and medicating and had moved colonies to winter holding yards in preparation for the almond pollination season starting in February. The rainy weather at lower altitudes and the snow in the mountains is very welcome since dry weather has been a major hindrance to honey crops for the last several years. Many thousands of colonies having been coming into California over the past few months and many more are expected before the almond pollination season starts. According to Bill Morecraft of Blue Diamond Almonds, “2016 crop pricing has been rising steadily as California almond shipments have roared back from two years of suppressed supply that generated an extended period of historically high prices. Early 2016 crop commitments were made at very attractive prices to buyers after a market correction on the 2015 crop. Almond prices since June have been in a stable but gradually increasing range. The strong early demand assures that a 2.4-2.5 billion pound supply will be readily absorbed. Prices for delivery in this crop year should continue firming, with the next inflection point hinging on winter weather, water supply, new acreage, and the resulting prospects for the 2017 crop.”

27

by RON PHIPPS*

President, CPNA International Ltd.1 Co-Chairman, Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health

• A Point of Inflection or turning point has been reached in global honey prices. • The incentive to produce pure honey is being restored. • More powerful and sophisticated scientific techniques and a more comprehensive global data base to assess the adulteration and circumvention of honey are being developed. • The integration of the incentives to produce and consume honey is approaching.

T

Introduction he need to achieve a Point of Inflection in honey prices after 2 years of sharp declines in prices is universally recognized by all fair-minded members of the industry. The incentive 1 CPNA International, Ltd.

e-mail: [email protected] Report distributed November, 2016

Mr. Phipps is president and founder of CPNA International, Ltd. and is currently on the National Honey Board. He is an importer of honey, natural foods and tea from various international producers. Ron is also the former personal research assistant to the president of the American Philosophy Association. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation fellowship for philosophy of theoretical physics. His chapter on Integral Philosophy was published in the book Intuition in Mathematics and Physics in 2016. Mr. Phipps is a founding member of the Tea & Health Committee, which organized three major scientific symposiums on tea and health and the role of antioxidants in the prevention of disease. He has worked with FDA to develop a research protocol for the global diversity of honey. Currently, Mr. Phipps is president of the Chamber Players International.

January 2017

for beekeepers to produce honey will collapse if a Point of Inflection is not reached imminently. Later in this article you will see several bar graphs illustrative of the price declines over the past 2 years. We quantify the percentages of those declines. We also quantify in this article the shifting quantities and values of exports of honey from major honey exporters to the US market. In our July report, Dr. Stan Daberkow, formerly of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provided USDA data regarding the contrast in the collapsing export prices of raw honey and comparatively stable retail prices for honey in the U.S. Dr. Daberkow’s data and the reproduced chart illustrate there is more than ample elasticity for raw honey prices to rise. The underlying reasons for the collapse in international and domestic honey prices are indicated by three variables in the graph below from our October 2016 report. Professor Norberto Garcia, president of the International Organization of Honey Exporters, was a guest speaker at the convention of the National Union of French Beekeepers, and his speech was the subject of a report in a major French newspaper

Le Figaro on Oct. 30, 2016. He was quoted in Le Figaro: “While the number of hives increased in the world by 8% in 2007 to 2013, the export of honey in the world increased by 61%... in the “Oriental” hemisphere –from Ukraine to Taiwan – the trend is even more glaring with an increase of hives of 13% and an explosion of exports by 196%, according to figures from the FAO. These statistics show a shocking anomaly which is completely against the global trends of lower productivity of hives.” He also made the following main points regarding the basis of the rapid and unsustainable collapse in international honey prices: 1) The role of adulteration through a variety of sophisticated techniques and 2) the persistent circumvention of honey through clever and shifting schemes. The data before scientists, government officials and independent academic researchers illustrate that the consumption of what is ostensibly pure honey far exceeds the most diligent thorough and informed scientific estimates of the production of honey. “Very many countries in Europe increased their exports of honey last year.

Chart: Three Variables: Honey Exports, Bee Hives, Productivity per Hive

29

Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Foreign Trade Statistics In parallel, they increased their imports from China and the statistics show us that this honey is then re-exported and labeled as local product..the main victims are consumers…it is believed that national authorities should intervene with proven methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance and sharing results of analyses at the global level” added Prof. Garcia, as quoted by Le Figaro. Chinese honey production is reported to be 450,000 tons with 150,000 tons exported. Growth in Global Honey Demand Since 2010, global honey demand grew

30

at a high rate of 19,504 tons (43,000,000 lbs.)/year, a significant increase over the period 2001-2009 (4,313 tons or 9,500,000 lbs./year). The U.S. led the demand growth at a rate of 12,797 tons (28,200,000 lbs.) year, and demand in Germany and Japan was stable. We note that the current drop in prices for honey cannot be attributed to a decrease in overall demand! However, as of the end of 3rd quarter 2016, total U.S. honey imports slowed to 122,121 metric tons (269,227,956 lbs.), a decline of 11.5% relative to the same period in 2015 (138,071 metric tons/304,392,777 lbs.).

The Science of Honey Honey is the by-product of the interactions of zoological and botanical life forms. Many forms of zoological pollination and diverse botanical sources of nectar, pollen, honeydew are involved. From that diversity honey achieves its variety of flavors and colors and textures, which has charmed and captivated humanity from ancient to modern times. To those bio-chemical and physical interactions nothing can be added nor removed, nor can those interactions artificially be interrupted and suspended. This latter point is relevant to the predominance in certain producing nations of immature honey or “Shui Fu Mei” or Water Honey. Water honey can explode the quantities of “honey” produced, dramatically increase productivity and reduce costs. Such practices have dominated some country’s honey industries for at least the past 5 decades. The consequences of 1) using inadequate or poor science and 2) failing to use more sophisticated and powerful scientific techniques for assessing adulteration and/or circumvention, are judged by many observers of the industry to allow the old foxes to achieve their goal of “permanent residency in the hen house” while the hunters and the hounds remain ignorant and unsuspecting. A study of honey in the EU, begun in December 2015, showed that 32% of samples from all origins were non-compliant. When the EU’s next report is released, it is expected that the percentage of non-compliant results will increase. Once Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis is applied, an even more dramatic picture of adulterated honey is expected. The good news is more schemes of

American Bee Journal

adulteration are being exposed and more sophisticated scientifically accurate methodologies and techniques are being both developed and implemented through increasing collaborative efforts of government, academic and private scientists and laboratories. The EU Beekeepers Association is cooperating with academic researchers in Bayreuth, Germany, to study honey analysis and create an economic model of the honey market. Collaboration links with government, private laboratories and independent academic researchers are forming, which could extend to other nations. In the Era of Traceability and advanced computerization a new scientific approach to assessing purity, adulteration, contamination and circumvention of honey is being formulated. This approach furthers the discussions I had with the FDA on the “Research Protocol” and with Dr. Joseph Bowden who worked with the USDA. Since biblical times, people have sought to avoid both adulteration and false witness, or in scientific parlance both false positives and false negatives. In the case of our charming product that is not so easy since there are so many variables which influence and determine the physical and chemical profiles of the global honey supply. Magic markers were sought, but they remained elusive and often deceptive, leading to both false positives and false negatives. Questions of botanical source, regions of origin, time of production, weather and elevation, extracting processes, blending, extraneous mechanical manipulation, beekeepers, exporters, importers, and packers, are all involved in the global supply of honey purchased and sold. That level of traceability allows the creation of a global data base of chemical and physical profiles of all honeys and blends of honey. Modern computerization, as occurs in particle physics, astrophysics, genetic research, etc., allow those diverse profiles to be easily computerized and centralized. Against that background of scientifically authenticated and original samples, honeys can be analyzed for purity and authenticity. This approach allows the creation of the Gold Standard in analysis, a standard which minimizes false positives, false negatives, uncertainty, and contradictory judgments. The emergence of the rather universal problem for the global food industry of glyphosate underscores the need to abandon the Mythology of Ultra Purity and establish, based upon good science, reasonable tolerance levels. Neither bees nor plants exist in Domains of Invulnerability to Disease. Realistic tolerance levels must be established based upon solid science and real health risks taking into account Average Daily Intake (ADI) not regulations which are excessive and unrealistic.

tity of 77,131,000 pounds, making Indian honey imports number one in both value and quantity. This is a remarkable development since 15 years ago India exported virtually no honey to the international honey market and has a population of over 1.3 billion people. This is especially stunning since during the antidumping investigation; India was used as a surrogate country for China. However, there was no record of export from India and the data comparing China, the largest producer and exporter

with high levels of productivity, to India led to clearly aberrational conclusions. The calculations, which were based on that data, would imply that the whole world was then, and in subsequent years, dumping honey. As of August, 2016, Indian imports were $38,000,000, down from $70,000,000 for the same period in 2015, and total volume declined to 40,789,000 pounds. From January to August 2016, average prices for Indian honey declined 37% to fall under $1.00. Imports of White and ELA Indian

India In 2015, imports from India into the U.S. reached a value of $114,000,000 and quan-

January 2017

31

honey declined in volume in 2016, and Light Amber imports grew. The main Indian mustard honey crop looks to be short. That crop usually begins in December, but adverse weather has hampered its development. In late 2016, Indian honey exporters were reluctant to buy or sell on a forward basis any significant quantities. In November, 2016, the Indian economy was in some turmoil because of currency uncertainties, after the recall of certain rupee banknotes by the Indian government to reign in corruption which was generated by the black market for rupees. That black market has contributed to a severe underestimation of India’s GDP and a reduction in national tax revenues. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired a direct shot at India’s endemic corruption with a surprise move on Tuesday to ban the country’s largest currency bills, starting [November 9]. The ban is intended both to curb the flow of counterfeit money and to take aim at terrorist organizations…” (Geeta Anand and Hari Kumar, The New York Times, Nov. 9, 2016). This problem parallels the two-tiered currency market which plagued Argentina during the final years of the Kirchner presidency. If the banknote recall is successful, then the rupee should strengthen which would increase Indian domestic honey prices. A special Indian government task force raided a honey-producing company, Apis India Ltd., in connection with alleged trade tax evasion on a huge quantity of illegal sweeteners like glucose. “Raw honey is a non-taxable item and this company is taking advantage of this provision” stated a senior official, as reported by the Times of India (September 24, 2016). Argentina Argentina remains a major factor in the international honey market, including the American honey market. Argentina has a very mature, experienced and qualityconscious beekeeping and honey-exporting industry. This is a result of several decades of high level scientific work in apiculture that included the training of beekeepers and the meticulous testing of honey. Furthermore, Argentina produces large quantities of White and Extra Light Amber honey whose flavor profiles both mirror and are compatible with the flavor profiles of American honey, including clover, alfalfa, thistle, mesquite, citrus and sunflower. This contrasts with white honey of other origins that crystallizes rapidly and lacks flavor components desirable in the U.S. market. From January to October of 2016 Argentina exported 70,000 metric tons of honey, with over 20,000 metric tons imported into the U.S. The US received 43.4%, Germany 23%, Japan, Spain and France about 5% each, Belgium 4%, Italy 3%, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland 1.7% each. There were 18 other export destinations. Germany and Japan were paying significantly higher prices than other international buyers. As of November, an

32

additional 15,000 metric tons were sold for export in the December – February period. This means that almost all of the honey of the 2015-2016 crop has been sold, along with the carryover of the preceding crop. The new 2016-2017 honey crop has been significantly affected by cold temperatures in the spring, and migration of colonies to suitable regions which puts stress on the bees. It is estimated that the reduction of the spring crop will be about 50%. It is premature to predict the summer crop (January – March), but there is considerable caution since the poor conditions in the spring diminish the vigor of the bees. Also, La Nina has created dry conditions in many areas which could lead at best to a regular crop and at worst to a poor crop. While a decade ago, Argentina annually produced over 100,000 metric tons of honey, the conversion of pasturelands to soybean production has resulted in normal crops averaging about 60,000 metric tons along with decreased productivity per hive which correlates to increased expenses in production of honey. It is now most probable that the current crop will be below the new normal of 60,000 metric tons. Domestic prices during the 4th quarter of 2016 increased 15%. This is creating serious dilemmas as the international honey market has rising prices and some Argentine exporters and their import partners have not been able to cover their positions. A similar situation prevails in Brazil relative to pending contracts for organic honey. It is widely expected that the reality of the Argentine honey market in respect to demand and the prices of new offers will have a fundamentally different tenor and reality than that which prevailed for the past 2 years. The demand from Germany and other markets for Argentine honey has increased as cited above. The analysis of adulteration in honey has reached much more sophisticated levels which has diminished the demand on Chinese honey. It has also increased the scrutiny of the purity of various international sources of honey. Argentina with its high quality and quality control standards is a beneficiary of this significantly increased interest from Europe, Japan and North America. The Argentine honey industry is confident that the next 2 years will be dramatically different and better than the preceding 2 years. Brazil Brazil remains the central source of genuine certified organic honey, which is predominantly light amber (about 80-85%), with ELA about 10-15% and white about 5%, depending on weather. The crop from late 2015 to first quarter 2016 was affected by El Nino and the heavy rains and floods which reduced production at a time when international demand for organic foods was increasing. There is not enough supply to serve the two large markets, the US and the EU. Agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture held classes on queen rearing, increasing

honey production and organic management, and colony numbers have increased for the current crop. The 2016 harvest is beginning slowly due to recent rains, winds reaching 80 miles per hour and cold, but a good harvest is expected in the south. The price gap between Brazil’s organic and specialty honey and conventional honey from other countries is huge. That gap must narrow at some point, either from a decline in organic honey prices or a rise in global prices for conventional honey. There is growing interest in organic honey production in India, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina and Vietnam, which will introduce new competition in the world for organic honey. The main lesson is that creative marketing of special high quality honey, like the marketing of premier wines, coffees and teas, results in more remunerative and attractive prices. Brazil is the beneficiary of the Era of Creative Marketing. Vietnam In 2015, Vietnam was the second largest exporter of honey, by volume, to the US. The vast majority of the honey was Light Amber, Amber and Dark Amber. A dramatic decline in prices occurred, from an average of $1.34 as of August, 2015, to $0.85/lb. as of August, 2016 (8 months customs value). This decline reflects not only the overall decline in international honey prices, but the preference in Vietnam of “quantity over quality.” The decline in quality is attributed to changes in the main botanical sources from rubber to Acacia mangium, both honeydew sources of honey. While many variables affect the quality, including leaf size, time of production (early or late summer), bee feed, the main issue with Acacia mangium is color instability. During the first half of the year (December – May), Vietnam produces honey from coffee, cashew, lychee and a few other main floral sources. During the past 5 years, the predominant botanical source of the honey produced and exported June through November has been Acacia mangium. Vietnam’s main destination for honey remains the U.S. market. It is interesting to note that in the post-Vietnam war era, Vietnam received international support to develop its agricultural sector. It is a major global producer of coffee, cashew nuts and black pepper and is now the largest exporter of those three items to Europe, according to Mr. Phil Hogan, commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development of the EU, who spoke in April 20, 2016, during his visit to Ho Chi Minh City. Geopolitical relations between the U.S. and Vietnam have significantly improved during the past decade. But those relations are now also fraught with anti-dumping cases, some tangentially involving China. For example, as this report is being composed, the U.S. is investigating the use of Vietnam as a transshipment point for Chinese steel, which is subject to high anti-dumping tariffs. “U.S. firms alleged

American Bee Journal

the Chinese steel was modified to be corrosion-resistant and then sent to the U.S. at Vietnam’s U.S. tariff rate, which is lower than for China…the heart of the issue is whether the steel is modified enough to be a new product made in Vietnam” (David Henry, New York, Reuters, Nov. 2016). With the imminent failure of the TTP, we anticipate new bilateral agreements between the U.S. and Vietnam will be negotiated. Hopefully the Vietnamese honey industry will put quality first, quantity second and in so doing both attain a fair price for their beekeepers and contribute to the recovery of a more vigorous honey industry by increasing incentives to produce honey. China The chart on the right illustrates the predominant role Chinese honey played in 2015 as the largest honey supplier to the EU, with 48.2% of the import market. This dominant role has been jeopardized by the EU honey study which, using traditional analytical methodology, revealed that 32% of samples from all origins were adulterated. The EU honey industry awaits publication of a second study of commercial honey, which is expected to suggest even more severe findings of adulteration. Use of the nuclear magnetic profile (NMR) methodology, with an expanding global data base of samples, may reveal a much higher amount of adulterated honey. This technique is able to demonstrate not only the addition of extraneous and manipulated sugars, but also the use of both 1) resin technologies to disguise country of origin, remove residues and change darker honey to lighter honey and 2) premature extraction of high moisture honey whose high moisture levels are subsequently artificially reduced by use of a vacuum chamber. The latter technique has been in play in China for at least 5 decades and accounts for 1) the large aggregate quantities of “honey” produced in China, 2) the extraordinary productivity of Chinese beekeepers and 3) the comparatively extremely low cost of production. Such “Water Honey” cannot be regarded as either a natural or a pure product. This is the key point which can not be ignored or accepted by the international honey industry. European consumers (perhaps with the exception of British consumers) and packers have become increasingly aware of those facts of adulteration. Of great importance is that major European honey retailers are demanding of European honey packers that the honey they buy pass the NMR test. The retailers fear that the use of NMR analysis will reveal adulteration of honey via extraneous sweeteners, the use of resin technology, and/or the practice of producing immature honey. They are very concerned about a very proactive consumer backlash and the harm to the reputation of prominent retailers. This is causing a fundamental change in the landscape of the large European honey industry.

January 2017

(Source: Prof. Norberto Garcia, UNCOM Trade data) As Chinese honey exporters have become aware of the burgeoning demand for nonadulterated honey from Europe, a 3-tiered price structure for Chinese honey has been offered, that is, honey that can pass China’s tests, honey that can pass traditional carbon isotope ratio (C13) tests and honey that can pass the NMR test. The sales prices for the 3 categories are dramatically different. The prices for honey that can pass NMR testing are high but the quantities available are low. Current prices of Chinese honey that can pass the NMR and Heat-stable Amylase tests are significantly higher than honey from South America and about 40% higher than other Chinese honey. Due to these developments, China’s honey exports to Europe declined from about 8,000 tons per month to 4,000 tons per month in 2016. The situation described above will likely cause Chinese authorities, who are facing tremendous and increasing domestic demands for environmental protection, food safety and food security, to re-assess both 1) beekeeping practices and 2) the manipulation of honey by factories. In fact there have been 2 international honey conferences in China the past 2 years to harmonize Chinese honey-producing practices with 1) international demands for purity, quality and authenticity and 2) sophisticated modern technologies to determine purity and origin of honey. In 2016, there were major international conferences regarding Food Safety held in China in which food scientists from the US and elsewhere have participated. We anticipate that pressure will grow in China to cease exporting and using resin technology on honey and to terminate the production of “water honey” and to allow the complete bio-chemical interaction of bees and their botanical sources in the production of pure, mature and natural honey. Due to multiple factors it is clear that

China will not gain market economy status in the U.S. in December, 2016, as China expected from the bilateral agreement for China’s membership in the WTO. This means the use of surrogate country analysis in the U.S. assessment of anti-dumping petitions brought against China will persist. With the changes in the U.S. government in January, 2017, trade tensions with China will likely follow a complex and tortuous path. China’s direct outside investment (DOI) is exponentially increasing, including in the honey industry. That includes investments in both major honey-consuming countries and third countries linked with circumvention of honey. China’s investments are driven by a slowing economy, large capital reserves, non-performing bank loans, and the quest for external markets and foreign sources of minerals, energy and food to assure food security for the large population in China. There are many geopolitical and macroeconomic issues that are being placed upon the bilateral negotiating table. Conclusion Interestingly, in the U.S. Congress and agricultural circles there is open interest to restrict outside ownership of strategic resources. Because of the vital role of beekeeping in agricultural production (see the October, 2016, ABJ) beekeeping is being elevated to be a “strategic industry.” The Plight of the Bees has caused some environmental groups to argue that bees should be classified as an “endangered species.” Climate change and geo-political transitions hover over all global agricultural production and international macroeconomics. The planet continues to warm, sea levels continue to rise. There are shifting patterns of El Nino bringing excessive rainfall and floods and La Nina provoking droughts and widespread wild fires. Dramatic political changes are increasing in their intensity

33

Chart: Global Temperature Data from NASA and NOAA

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and frequency in South America, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. There are no reliable crystal balls. What recent scientific evidence established is that 2016 promises to be one of the hottest (if not the hottest) years since Pre-industrial times. Data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicate that 2016 exhibits record Arctic sea levels. “2016 is set to be the hottest year on record by a significant margin, with temperatures that are 2.2° F (1.2° C) above pre-industrial times, the World Meteorological Organization told diplomats gathered in Marrakech, Morocco, to discuss international action to limit global warming to less than 2° C by the end of the century” (Andrea Thompson, Climate Central, Nov. 15, 2016). Parts of the Arctic in Russia have suffered temperatures 11-13 degrees F. higher than the average temperatures from 1961-1990. The general expectation for the short term is that La Nina will result in higher temperatures and drought is the southern areas already suffering drought and in cool, wetter weather patterns in the north. If the combination of 1) more powerful and sophisticated technologies for assessing adulteration and 2) climate change and other environmental factors reducing both total production and productivity/hive of honey manifest themselves during 2017 and 2018, it will become crystal clear that a new Point of Inflection (turning point) has indeed been reached.

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American Bee Journal

The Classroom by Jerry Hayes

Please send your questions to Jerry Hayes Email: [email protected]

Q

Caustic Acid Concerns

Jerry, I’ve been beekeeping for about 3 years. I have been lucky to have help from a veteran beekeeper. I had noticed a mite problem in a few of my hives so I treated with an unnamed acid strip. I had split off a few hives and installed new queens after treating for seven days per instructions. Checked my hives and found all my new queens dead and the older ones had stopped laying--a real mess going into our Georgia winter. I live in the South so maybe they can catch up. Anyway does this product normally work this way, and is there a better treatment without the side effects of this product. I also was reading The Classroom and have had good luck controlling hive beetles with black ground cover under my hives. I have noticed the difference in my hives--in the apiaries I don’t use it they have more beetles. Thanks, Ricky

Which varroa treatment to use?

A

Hello Ricky, I am just into Alabama for their state meeting, so am not too far from you really.

January 2017

We have a New President…that should be interesting. The Flow Hive has sold a lot…that should be interesting. Varroa is still #1 for honey bee health impacts. Those who chose not to treat are making ‘Varroa Bombs’ to infect all their neighbors….that is interesting. Small Hive Beetle, Wax Moth, Nosema, are still around….always interesting. And the interest in Honey Bees is at an all-time high….which is interesting. My wish for all of us is to realize that Honey Bees need you as owner/operators. Without appropriate care, nurturing and attention, like a pet or livestock, honey bees will be sick and spreading their sickness to other honey bee colonies. This is the year for all of us to help a new beekeeper and be a solid mentor so that they don’t make all the mistakes we all did when we were new beekeepers. Working together will help our Honey Bees be less sick, more environmentally sound and we can have more fun from our relationship with an insect….which is a pretty cool opportunity.

A hundred years ago I taught high school in Quitman, Ga. Some people have great luck with caustic acids and some don't. There are a few variables like heat, humidity and colony size that greatly influence efficacy. Acids are especially tough on brood and queens if temperature and humidity are too high. I would give ApiGuard or Apivar miticides a try. Glad to hear that black ground cover is helping with small hive beetles in your area. Keep it up. Hang in there.

Q

plan, but decided to get some advice from a veteran before I waste bees unnecessarily. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Jeffrey Detweiler

Overwintering nucs

This is my second year keeping bees (first spring this year) and because of my poor management and a rainy spring, I have two hives that were not able to put up enough honey for winter. Each of these hives are about 10 frames of bees each. I got this idea of making a 4-frame nuc out of each one and over-wintering them above a full sized colony. I already made a special double screen/ bottom board to separate the nucs from the hive below. The thinking behind this idea is that since the bees use honey for energy to generate heat, a small cluster above a large cluster wouldn’t use as much honey throughout the winter. I was going to go ahead with my

A

This will work to capture heat and keep the upper nucs warm. You will still have to feed consistently over winter. What is your plan for that for the lower colony if needed and the upper separate nuc above the double screen? Feeding over winter should be as least disruptive as possible.

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And just as a what if, why don't you just stack one weak colony on the other and get that critical mass that you need to overwinter. You will, of course, lose 1 colony in theory, but might gain from combining now and as spring comes. Splitting a big healthy colony in spring might be better than overwintering two weak nucs. If both nucs die for some reason, then you are behind in colony numbers for sure.

PESTICIDES IN BEESWAX FROM JERRY: I was speaking at a recent meeting and had someone ask me a question that I truly had not thought about. The question was, “If we are all so concerned about the residues of pesticides stored in the beeswax comb in a honey bee colony hurting the bees, then why doesn’t it seem to kill Wax Moth larvae or Small Hive Beetle larvae? Are we simply overreacting to pesticides in beeswax comb or is it a mistake?” My answer was that the dosage in the comb of pesticide residues from miticides or toxins found in the environment wasn’t enough to kill, hurt or damage them. But the more I thought about the question, the more I liked it. I had to ask some respected researchers.

to it (maybe the bees have as well?). SHBs – they do not eat wax, so they would be exposed to pesticides in wax the same way bees are, thus leading to similar impacts (if any).”

Q

Dr. Jamie Ellis, University of Florida: “It is possible that wax moths and SHBs are impacted by residues found in wax. Perhaps it is simply that no one is looking for this impact. On the other hand, it is also possible that “lipophilic” (i.e. “wax loving”) compounds love being in wax. In this case, why would we expect the pesticides to leave the wax and impact SHBs or wax moths? Of course, wax moths eat wax, and have been eating wax as long as pesticides have been making their way into wax. Wax moths might have developed some tolerance

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Hey Ervin. So are these sugar or pollen sub patties? Why do you want to use them? Let me know. Thanks.

Absonding bees

Last week one of my hives was heavily populated. I treated with Hopguard II because I saw mites on a bee. Today the hive was empty. There were very few dead bees in the hive, about 20, and about 6 dead bees with their heads sticking out of cells. I did see evidence of mite feces in a lot of cells. So, I obviously treated for mites too late. My question is: Next spring can I introduce new bees to the hive and do I need to clean out all the old drawn out comb first, or can I just put them in? There is honey and pollen in the combs. Rick Stephens

REPLY / ERVIN They are the AP23 winter patties. I was just going to put some in the hive when I close them up for the winter for extra insurance.

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Having plenty of insurance is good. Put the winter patties on the top frames immediately above the cluster of bees. Have a great winter.

A Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp, University of Maryland: “The levels found in wax are sub-lethal, so they are not killing honey bee colonies outright, so I would be surprised if they were killing wax moth or Small Hive Beetle (SHB) outright. I don’t know that wax moth and SHB are not being negatively affected, but still the amount of contamination is below the LD 50. (Lethal Dose to kill 50 %). I guess I would challenge the assumption that wax moth and SHB are healthy on the comb. Maybe they are as healthy as the bees are.”

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Cleaning StainleSS equipment

Well, that is disappointing that they “absconded”. High mite levels that you describe and late treatments can cause significant events. That is why sampling for Varroa often can give you an idea of levels at that moment in time and how the Varroa population grows and changes over time. If you can see the mites or damaged bees, it is way too late. You can store the comb in a freezer or if you live in an area with a real winter, you can store them outside in the cold, but protected from mice. Replace any comb older than 3-4 years old, but other than that, put bees in next spring and they will be fine. But, and there is always a but, I hope this was a learning experience for you. In order to be successful in beekeeping in 2017 the 3 keys words to remember are Varroa, Varroa, and Varroa.

COMMENT I read the October ABJ and the question by Ryan who was looking for a way to clean his metal equipment. The best thing is a heat gun that you can buy at any hardware store. It softens the wax or propolis so that it can be wiped with a cloth. I have been doing this for many years and it does a fantastic job. I clean all my stainless equipment that way. Dennis Ross Winnipeg Canada

Q Supplemental Food

I was wondering when you put winter patties in the hive, do you put them in the center or on top? Thanks for your input. Ervin

Using a heat gun to remove stubborn wax or propolis buildup.

American Bee Journal

Jerry Oh, nice Dennis. I like it!! Thank you.

AFRICAN HONEY BEES (AHB) COMMENT On pg. 400 of ABJ (April 2016), you answered Chris K. concerning Africanized honey bees and honey production differences compared to fully European colonies. I deal extensively with bees that have some amount of Africanization at any given time, but we have been actively excluding highly defensive colonies for several years now. A paper by Dr. Ernesto Guzman doesn't specifically compare Africanized to European colony honey production, but details yields during a period of active selection for honey production among a sample of Africanized hives while trying to increase safety and efficiency. I continually see general reference concerning amazing swarming rates among Africanized colonies, but since we don't see near that frequency in our managed larger hive populations, I'd venture to say that we may be comparing apples to oranges when we attribute this characteristic to all Africanized colonies regardless of the conditions they are under. I know of no study (yet) that measures swarming rates of Africanized honey bees in standard equipment in a managed apiary setting — most of the studies that I can recall were assessing African or Africanized honey bees in natural cavities that tend to be very small. High absconding tendency is another characteristic that I cannot confirm. Although I would agree these attributes seem more likely among Africanized strains, the difference in my experience is not one that would "break the bank." However, I'd suspect that if I was negligent to the extent that I didn't manage the hives at all that I'd see an increase in these attributes. Or maybe not, since that same negligence would likely eliminate me as a beekeeper, and it would probably result in such a temperament that I'd have to get rid of them before noticing any correlation. CC Miller reminisced that he wished he would have paid more attention to temperament during the "50 year" selection of his stock due to temperament issues.

experience with AHB is predominately from Florida and Guyana. In Florida having so many managed genetically European colonies changed outcomes and elsewhere selection for more manageable traits is always helpful. Defensive/aggressive colonies could not be tolerated by commercial beekeepers or backyard beekeepers. It was a huge public perception issue. Glad you are having “success” and keep it up. Constant selection is a good thing.

Q

Varroa Bomb!

Hi Jerry, I am a dedicated and loyal reader, I am also one those people who flips immediately to "The Classroom" when I receive my edition of the ABJ. I have taken your advice and now sample my 5 hives for mites using the sugar roll method of 1/2 cup of bees. I sampled after the major nectar flow (I live in New Jersey), the 2nd week of July. I knew I would have a large count due to the population in the hive. I read Randy Oliver's article in the June ABJ, "A test of late-summer varroa treatments." I installed a single MAQS in each of my hives for 7 days in the third week of July. I waited 2 weeks and put Apivar strips in each hive for the recommended 6 weeks which brought me to the 2nd week of October. I just completed another round of mite sampling and I am slightly confused about the results and would appreciate any advice you can give me. The first hive I sampled has a count of 1. I was very pleased, but then the numbers for the next 4 hives went up. Second hive – 6 mites, third hive - 10, forth hive - 11 and the last hive had 16 mites. At this point I am hesitant to use another chemical treatment and would like to know how you feel about sugar dusting once a week for 6 weeks. That would put me into December and there should be little to no brood. I look forward to your response. I appreciate any advice or suggestions you have. Again, thank you for all the knowledge and experience. Tom Kirgan New Jersey beekeeper

Best Regards, Jaime de Zubeldia Southern Arizona

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You are on the ground living this everyday so I appreciate your perspective. My

January 2017

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Varroa Bomb?

Thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it and let's see if I can be worthy of it

in next few sentences. Do you know what the mite count was before treatments? They may have worked well in comparison. Let's assume, all things being equal, treatments were applied according to label directions and they performed as advertised. So why the heck do you have these elevated varroa levels? I think you have what is labeled as a "varroa bomb" or multiple varroa bombs in your area. A varroa bomb is a colony(ies) of honey bees that are being weakened by varroa parasitism that at this time of the year have increasing numbers of varroa. It is not unusual for colonies not having been managed to reduce varroa populations well in advance of winter to show elevated levels as the honey bee population decreases and the Varroa population increases proportionately. Honey bee colonies are super-efficient opportunists. If a populous strong, healthy colony in fall can steal unprotected vital food resources from a weak honey bee colony—that is what they will do. It’s survival insurance. If the weak colony that is being overrun by a strong colony is weak because of untreated varroa, those varroa are survivalists as well. They realize that the colony that is weak cannot support them and their survival is in jeopardy. As these robber bees from a strong honey bee colony from near or far away enter the weak colony to take over the honey resources to transport back to their colony, the varroa mites hop on the robbers and ride back to the strong colony. This colony is most likely strong because of low numbers of varroa because the beekeeper managed to control this devastating parasite. However, it has now been transformed into a perfect home for these hitchhiking varroa. So, a colony with low numbers of varroa can quite quickly become infested with high levels of varroa. My guess is you have some beekeepers or feral colonies within flying range that have accidentally or purposely facilitated sick, highly varroa-infested colonies. But that doesn't help you now. If you will apply enough powdered sugar to make all bees in the colony coated until they look like ghosts with this mechanical, edible varroa treatment (over a screened bottom board and retreated every 5 to 7 days), you can remove a very high percentage of phoretic (exposed) mites. At this late date, it probably doesn't make much difference what labeled varroa control product you might use, but control is a major goal. Hang in there!

Q

MITE AWAY QUICK STRIPS

Hello Jerry, we used Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS) this year, a single pad between the deeps. Having several empty buckets that were wet inside, I just pitched them out into the yard (with the plastic wrappers) to air out before taking them in to recycle. The bees showed up and started to

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clean the wet puddles of formic acid! They actually licked them clean. My question is: Since formic is a natural chemical in the hive, are the bees telling us that there is a lack of formic available in nature? And this brings another question: Would this be related to the improved brood pattern after the formic has run its course? And, would this lack of formic acid in the hive have something to do with the bees’ mite resistance? Hope this makes some sense. Thanks, Dale

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There are two major suppliers of commercial bumble bee colonies, BioBest and Koppert. These bumblebees are used mostly for greenhouse pollination. Honey Bees become very disoriented in greenhouses since they can't adjust to the natural light source. The honey bees will fly to glass ceilings and walls and beat themselves to death trying to get to the light. Bumblebees do not have that characteristic, so are used extensively in greenhouses. They are better for tomatoes because they "buzz pollinate". They grasp the tomato flower and vibrate it causing the pollen to be released. Over a million bumblebee colonies are produced each year to fill this role. Another cool pollinator!

A

I have never heard of that Dale, so I looked up the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) in a couple places to see what the ingredients were. The MSDS sheet was easy to find and it showed what the active ingredient was that produces the formic acid, but 53.3% by weight of the rest of the formulation is inert or listed as inactive ingredients and that they are trade secrets. So, we don't know what the 53.3% is made up of or do we….? NOD’s website (the seller of MAQS) says it’s a polysaccharide gel — http://nodglobal.com/mite-away-quickstrips/. Could be agar, locust bean gum, pectin, corn starch, etc. but all will be long chains of sugars. Could be pretty tasty to a bee. It sure wouldn’t be a caustic acid they are lacking.

Q

TOMATO POLLINATION

Jerry, I just visited a greenhouse growing tomatoes. They use bumblebees for pollinating their tomatoes. They use approximately 1 colony per acre. They use bumblebees because supposedly honey bees would reject the bitterness of the tomato plant? Really?

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American Bee Journal

The miticide Taktic has been the savior of the commercial bee industry since the early 2000s. But it may be time to move on. I’ve been experimenting with a promising potential replacement.

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OUR SITUATION s I recently pointed out, there are signs that mites in areas of the U.S. are exhibiting some degree of resistance to Taktic’s active ingredient--amitraz. And since Taktic has been pulled from the U.S. market, some beekeepers are justifiably concerned that the EPA may stop looking the other way about them illegally using the product (Canada’s already hit one beekeeper with a hefty fine; no telling when some State enforcement branch will make an example of a U.S. beekeeper). I’m freshly returned from the California State Beekeepers Assoc. conference, where Dr. Juliana Rangel presented the findings of her student Liz Walsh (who previously found negative effects on queens from residues of miticides in the comb). Liz recently found that field-realistic residues of amitraz in queen cell wax appeared to reduce the egg laying rate of queens reared in those cells. I’ve suspected something like this, since queen problems appear to have increased since the widespread adoption of amitraz as a miticide. Of further concern is that amitraz residues are increasingly being detected in U.S. honey. In any case, commercial beekeepers are (or I suspect will soon be) looking for alternatives to Taktic. THE IDEAL TREATMENT In this same issue of ABJ, I’m pushing our industry to get serious about shifting to mite-resistant stocks so that we can give up treatments altogether. But I know that my own operation would collapse if I were to attempt an abrupt transition, and have no doubt that most others would too. So although I don’t use amitraz in my own operation, I have a common interest with my professional brethren to find mite treatments that are cheap, don’t harm the bees, queen, or brood, and don’t get into the honey. My sons and I have managed so far with Apiguard thymol gel, MAQS formic acid strips, and oxalic acid dribble (still not yet registered in California, thus unhappily making me a pesticide scofflaw too). I previously reported on last summer’s trials, in which we found Apiguard to be quite effective if applied in a 1½” rim. MAQS can also provide excellent mite reduction, although there are occasionally issues with it knocking out poor or aged queens (perhaps not a bad thing). We love oxalic acid, but neither the dribble nor vaporization is effective if the colony contains much brood.

January 2017

As I reported last year, I had tried a new extended-release formulation of oxalic acid to overcome that problem.[1] In our initial small test, the results were so promising that I could hardly wait until this summer to work with it more seriously. The results are so encouraging that I wrote this lengthy step-by-step, picture-rich article to fully share what we learned. OXALIC ACID/GLYCERIN STRIPS Oxalic acid dissolves to some extent in water, but has a notable fondness for glycerin. This makes food-grade glycerin an attractive carrier for oxalic acid in the hive, especially since its oily nature also confers upon it an affinity for bee (and mite) cuticle (Figs. 1 & 2). Since my first trial of OA/gly strips last fall (using Fernando Estaban’s formula), my good friend Juanse Barros in Chile tested them extensively, and was also impressed. Practical application: by dissolving oxalic acid into glycerin, and then saturating a cardboard strip with the solution, one can obtain an extended release application method for the acid into the hive, thus continually killing mites over more than one reproductive cycle, thereby overcoming the limitation of the dribble or vaporization application methods. By this time, an Argentine group started selling a formulation, Aluen CAP. The product was extensively tested by Matías Maggi[2], with astounding results—excellent mite control, no adverse effects on the bees, and no residues in the honey (plus it’s considered as an “organic” treatment). Almost too good to be true! So when it came time for late summer mite control, I was ready to test it more extensively. TRIAL #1 We set up a yard of 28 hives of moderate strength, containing 2ndyr queens, in which we had intentionally allowed mites to build to high levels (I wanted mite-stressed, old-queen hives to best detect any adverse effects from the treatments). Scientific note: one gets much better efficacy data if treatments are tested on colonies that have high mite counts at the begin-

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ning of the trial. However, if the trial is to run for an extended period, the issue arises that the untreated controls may collapse from mite overload before the trial is over. But this creates another potential issue when one later applies the HendersonTilton formula to calculate treatment efficacy. This is because of mite drift from the high-mite test hives into the low-mite controls. The movement of mites carried by drifting bees is akin to the process of diffusion—invariably moving from hives with high mite density to those with lower mite density. This can result in increasing the apparent rate of mite increase in the Control hives relative to that of the Treated hives, thereby artificially skewing the final calculation of efficacy upward. Thus, in calculating efficacy, one should be sure to limit the apparent rate of mite growth in the Controls against the biologically-limited maximum daily intrinsic rate of increase.[3]

intended to be only a preliminary and exploratory “quick and dirty” testing of various methods of application of the OA/gly formulation, we used low numbers of hives in each group. What I was looking for were substantial and consistent differences rather than trying to tease out slight statistically significant effects.

We ran positive controls of Apiguard and MAQS, as well as untreated negative Control hives (Table 1, Figs. 3-7). Since this was

Table 1. The treatments. This was a preliminary “quick and dirty” trial, so we used low n’s. We used a slightly different OA/gly ratio than did Maggi.[4] We waited for a window of hot weather, since that is often a limiting factor for us (Fig. 3).

Figure 3. The trial ran from June 28 through September 13, with daytime temperatures often in the high 90s.

Figure 1. These wonderful photomicrographs by German beekeeper Bernhard Heuvel show the sticky tarsal pads which the mite uses to get a grip on the bee. Photos courtesy of Bernhard Heuvel.

Figure 2. It has yet to be confirmed, but perhaps, as it moves over a bee carrying oxalic residues on its exoskeleton, the mite absorbs the acid through the thin cuticle of these pads. (Findings by Dr. Dennis van Engelsdorp suggest that acids may also affect the mites’ sensory papillae.)

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RESULTS OF THE FIRST TRIAL As expected, the mites increased at a normal rate in the Controls, and Apiguard reduced mite levels quickly, after which they resumed a normal climb. The oxalic strips took longer to drop the mite counts, taking two months for full effect (Figs. 8 & 9). I inspected the colonies regularly throughout the course of the trial. At these high temperatures, both the Apiguard and mixed essential oil treatments were hard on the bees (colonies tended to move their broodnests away from both treatments)[5], although the Apiguard hives quickly recovered once the bees removed the last of the gel after 20 days. The efficacy of the mixed essential oil pads was unimpressive. It was (not unexpectedly) too hot for MAQS, even applied as single strips, which set the colonies back, although treatment did reduce the mite level. I was pretty stoked about the 4 OA/gly strip treatment--not only did it control the mites (with time), but the colonies thrived during treatment (Figs. 10 & 11). Although our results confirmed those of Maggi, with the OA/ gly strips fully living up to expectations, this method of application came with some major problems: THREE PROBLEMS Problem #1—the labor involved: When I excitedly showed the results to my son Eric, he rained on my parade with some simple arithmetic: 4 strips per box, 8 strips per hive, 1500 hives to treat = 12,000 strips to make, insert one at a time, then pry out one at a time for disposal (wearing nitrile gloves at every step). This treatment wasn’t going to fly, not at our labor costs. Problem #2—disposal: We’d need to deal with 12,000 strips of hazardous waste. The spent strips still contain enough acid that you can’t be casual with them--you don’t want to touch them with your

American Bee Journal

bare hands or hive tool, nor toss them into the back of the truck, since they’d corrode the bed. Problem #3—pest resistance management: I don’t want to apply this (or any) treatment continuously, since I’d then be selecting for oxalic-resistant mites. I want an application method that the bees will remove by themselves after 30 days. MORE EXPERIMENTATION By this time I was networking with a few other beekeepers in testing the strips. Laying the strips across the top bars (similar to the facial pad application shown in Fig. 6), resulted in poor mite kill, since the bees simply avoided the strips or pads. Bees apparently don’t like glycerin-saturated cellulose—in another test that I ran, they even steered clear of cotton pads soaked in plain glycerin. I needed to go back to the drawing board.

If you refer back to Fig. 9, you can see that application via blue shop towel was pretty efficacious. So I starting experimenting with various towels, fabrics, expanded packing cardboard, and other substrates, as well as with different concentrations of oxalic acid in the glycerin (since one can easily make a much more concentrated solution than that used in Argentina)(Figs. 12 & 13). One would think that it would be easy to simply dilute the OA/ gly solution with water to create low-glycerin towels. I’ll save you the trouble—the addition of water causes the OA to come out of solution. There is some interesting chemistry involved.[6] The most promising application method was to mix a very concentrated solution of OA in glycerin, allow shop towels to soak it up, and then to press the solution out of the towels until only a fraction remains (this also has the effect of dissolving much of the blue pigment out of the towels) (Figs. 14 & 15). THE LAST TRIAL—AUGUST THROUGH SEPTEMBER As September approached, the pool of 200 untreated high-mite hives that I’d set aside for trials began to dwindle, so I brought the remaining 40 into a single yard for a final experiment. In this quick and dirty trial I wanted to see how well my “dry” (squeezed out) shop towel formulation would work. At this point perhaps I should

Figure 6. I was curious whether the bees would tug the OA/ gly-soaked cotton fibers from facial pads and thus drag the solution over the bodies of other bees. (Result: they didn’t touch the pads). Figure 4. All hives were double deeps. Here we’re placing two strips per box, over brood frames. For an absorbent cardboard, I used strips cut from egg carton lids.

Figure 5. Here we’re placing 4 strips per box (8 per hive), distributed for maximum bee exposure.

January 2017

Figure 7. The beekeepers’ favorite, the blue shop towel. I wondered whether bees would expose themselves to the OA/gly in the process of removing the towel. (One result: it did not help to cut slits in the towel—that allowed the bees to remove it too quickly).

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point out the total amount of OA applied per hive by various application methods (Tables 2 & 3). In another trial (we ran a number of controlled trials of mite treatments this summer), I applied OA dribble, using glycerin instead of sugar as the humectant (as a number of beekeepers in Italy are currently doing). Even after three weekly dribbles, the degree of mite reduction was unimpressive (ditto for other applications of thymol dissolved in glycerin, on facial pads, as well as other application methods of Apiguard). The hung towels were a pain to apply—requiring pulling out a frame in order to make space. But the bees did not avoid them, and continued to rear brood “beneath” them (Fig. 16). Practical application: beekeepers have been looking for an inexpensive, fairly rapid acting, easy to apply miticide that doesn’t

Figure 10. A brood frame with an OA/gly strip at right, two weeks after insertion. The colonies consistently reared brood right up to the strips. To my surprise, the bees and brood appeared to thrive in the acid-rich environment for the duration of the summer, and were some of my best looking hives come fall.

Figure 8. The alcohol counts for the groups at each time point. I took Day 77 counts only for the 4-strip group—note how the mite count had begun to climb, suggesting that the effect of the strips starts to wear out after two months. See the next figure for normalized results for easier comparison of treatment effect.

Figure 9. I normalized the results (so that they all start at 100%) and added standard error bars. Of the oxalic acid treatments, the winner was the 4-strip group, although the shop towels didn’t do too badly.

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Figure 11. There was little chewing of the strips, and all remained intact for the entire summer (still tasting of acid). This created the problem of needing to remove the strips one by one.

Figure 12. I tested various types of substrates, and various concentrations of oxalic acid. What soon became apparent was that it was critical to arrive at a delivery method in which the bees would chew and remove the substrate, thus getting the acid solution onto their bodies.

American Bee Journal

Figure 13. The trick appeared to be to reduce the amount of glycerin saturation of the strips. Here you can see that when I reduced the amount of saturation of the towel to only 25%, that the bees would chew and remove it. That’s a piece of slotted, expanded Kraft paper at the top, tested with the hope that the bees would crawl through the holes and get the solution on their bodies (they didn’t).

Figure 14. This photo, by my collaborator Aaron Bergman, shows the drier texture of a pressed towel (compare to the towel in Fig. 7).

leave residues in the combs or the honey, and that doesn’t slow colony growth or harm the queen. Oxalic acid dissolved in glycerin, applied on a removable substrate, appears to fit the bill. Applied on a shop towel, it causes immediate mite kill, and then continues to kill mites over a period of a month—spanning approximately two varroa reproductive cycles. COnClusiOn I’m sharing the results of my preliminary experimentation so that others can use what I’ve learned, and further experiment at improving this delivery method. I expect that next season many of us will be using oxalic acid instead of less desirable miticides. There remains the problem, however, that this method of application is not currently legal in the U.S. I’m currently working to see whether we can get this method added to the existing label, which allows only for dribble, vaporization, and spraying (Fig. 24). It is especially important to beekeepers to pay attention the last part of the label—RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT (enlarged in the box at the top of page 50). Beekeepers have proven to be quite adept at breeding varroa resistant to any miticide (in the case of coumaphos, it took us only three years). Since we really don’t know the exact mode(s) of action of oxalic acid upon varroa, there’s no telling how readily the mite will be able to evolve resistance. The scary thing is that there’s not much margin of safety between the dose of oxalic that kills mites, and that which kills bees—so if mites develop even marginal resistance, we’d lose oxalic as a viable treatment. All indications are that the OA/gly strip or towel application method, despite containing fairly large amounts of acid, are not harmful to the hive. Indeed, as best I can tell, the bees thrive in the slightly acidified environment. But if beekeepers leave oxalic strips in their hives 365 days a year, or even rely upon it as their only treatment, without rotation of other modes of action, they will be

January 2017

Figure 15. In this ironically humorous photo, one of my collaborators is using a container of Taktic as a weight in order to press the OA/gly solution out of a stack of towels—perhaps akin to forcing someone to dig their own grave? applying strong selective pressure for oxalic-resistant mites, thereby screwing it up for the rest of us. Practical application: OA/gly towels appear to be a dream come true for beekeepers (Fig.25). Please don’t screw up a good

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Table 2. In the dribble and sublimation applications, only a small amount of oxalic acid is applied in a “flash-type” shortterm treatment. The Aluen CAP strips used by Maggi are an extended-release treatment, apparently (based upon mite drop) releasing OA for three weeks to a month (with some amount of unreleased OA residue remaining in the strips). The pressed “dry” shop towel, which is removed by the bees over the course of about a month, contains less OA, and some is contained in the towel trash carried out of the hive.

Table 3. We tested two application methods of the “dry” towels—either laid across the top bars of the lower hive body, or hung over a central brood frame in the lower box. I also tested simply placing thymol crystals in a 70 mm jar lid, covered by 1/8” hardware cloth, in order to see whether simple thymol evaporation would be as effective as an Apiguard treatment. *Some of the Control and Thymol Crystal hives died from mites; 2 of the Hung towels dropped and were censored.

Figure 16. Bees rearing brood “beneath” a hung shop towel. This method certainly forced rubbing of the bees against the towel, and resulted in good exposure to OA. Unfortunately, the bees chewed the top edges of some, causing them to drop to the hive floors, where they then lay untouched.

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Figure 17. Bees readily chewed the “dry” towels, and in the process apparently exposed the mites to OA. I included this photo since beekeepers love to see pictures of dead mites. I didn’t take sticky board counts, but Maggi’s data indicate that the Aluen strips cause serious mite drop for three to four weeks.

Figure 18. As I hoped, the bees removed the “dry” towels, dragging pieces of them through the brood nest, which likely helped to distribute the OA/gly solution to other bees’ bodies. This photo is of a hive given a “wet” towel, with slits cut into it at time of application, which resulted in excessively quick removal.

Figure 19. Typical beautiful brood pattern during treatment with a “dry” towel. Photo courtesy Aaron Bergman.

American Bee Journal

thing by overusing them! Rotate treatments—using biotechnical methods, formic acid, thymol, and perhaps Apivar strips to delay the development of oxalic-resistant mites. THE FORMULA It is only legal to use oxalic acid that has the EPA label on the package, and it is a violation of Federal law to use the product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. I am not in any way suggesting that beekeepers mix or apply this formulation unless it is registered for such use in your State. For each towel (1 towel per hive): Wearing nitrile gloves and eye protection, measure 25 mL of food-grade glycerin, and heat it to the temperature of hot coffee in the microwave (easiest) or on the stove. Weigh out 25 g of oxalic

Figure 22. During hot weather (and thus high temperatures in the rim space), the thymol crystals quickly melted, but despite the temperature, evaporated only to minimal extent (I’ve confirmed this in other tests). Bees build a propolis wall around thymol vapors, but I could easily smell thymol every time that I opened the hive cover (there was always plenty of clear vertical space above the screen). It appears that the efficacy of Apiguard is due to the bees coming in physical contact with the granules as they remove them from the hive, rather than from vaporization of the thymol.

Figure 20. The bees work at the “dry” towels at a nice rate, thus exposing themselves to OA. Figure 23. Results of the trial. Mite counts in the Controls went up as expected. The OA/gly towels performed as well as Apiguard. The thymol crystals were of little benefit. I hesitate to offer Henderson-Tilton calculations of efficacy (due to the small n’s), but for the flat towels it was 95%.

Figure 21. As I hoped, colonies removed most of the flatlaid towels in about a month, with some degree of propolization. I’ve got ideas to reduce that problem. In any case, the objective of removal in about a month was largely met—any remaining residues could safely be scraped from the top bars and discarded on the ground (although you’d want to rinse your hive tool afterward). Such “pesticide waste” is about as dangerous as is lemon slices, and readily biodegrades.

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Figure 24. Oxalic acid is not yet registered as a varroacide in all states. If it’s not yet registered in your state, start making phone calls.

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rEsIsTanCE managEmEnT: any Varroa mite population has the potential to become resistant to insecticides. Resistance development is affected by both the frequency of application and rate/dose of application. Continued reliance on a single class of miticide or single miticide with the same mode of action will select for resistant individuals which may dominate the mite population in subsequent generations…To delay resistance: …rotate the use of miticides to reduce selection pressure as compared to repeatedly using the same product, mode or action or chemical class. If multiple applications are required, use a different mode of action each time before returning to a previously-used one.

tells me that during damp winter conditions, the oxalic acid may crystallize on the surface of strips and cause problems to the bees (such as wing damage). I have not yet had the chance to test myself. TrEaTmEnTs arE only buyIng us TImE I must temper my enthusiasm about OA/gly by reminding you that this is still only a stopgap flyswatter as far in the long-term picture of varroa management. We need to start demanding of our queen producers that we want, and are willing to pay for, truly mite-resistant stock. In my concurrent series I will lay out how our industry can realistically do that. We only need guidance from scientists—we can do the work ourselves. Stay tuned. aCknoWlEdgEmEnTs This research was funded by donations to ScientificBeekeeping. com, with major funding by boston Honey Company, Inc., Holliston, massachusetts. If you find such research to be of value, feel free to donate at the website. Thank you to those of you who have contributed, as it is very costly to perform such research, not only in labor, but in resultant loss of those colonies that I intentionally allow to reach high mite levels for research purposes (we blew off nearly 200 hives for research purposes this season alone). I could not manage all the work without the skilled assistance of my sons Eric and Ian. Thanks to collaborating beekeepers Fernando Esteban, Juanse Barros, Aaron Bergman, Richard Hyde, Kenny Reed, and Charles Linder. And to organic chemists Mark Burlingame, Richard Cryberg, and Edmond Stark. 1 2

Figure 25. I strongly suspect that the trio above is going to become a treatment of choice for many beekeepers, both recreational and commercial. Let’s hope that we can get the method quickly approved by the EPA! acid dihydrate (wood bleach), and stir it into the hot glycerin until it is fully dissolved (you can reheat, but don’t bring it to a boil[7]). This will produce enough solution to saturate 1 shop towel (multiply these figures by the number of towels that you wish to prepare). Soak a stack of towels in the warm solution until they are all fully saturated.[8] Then place them in a tray with a catch drain, and squeeze or press them until you’ve recovered half the solution (it will be surprisingly blue, and can be reused). The final “dry” towel will hold about 25 g of solution, and weigh about 31 g. Handle the towels with nitrile gloves (as the OA/gly solution sticks readily to your skin, and can easily be transferred to everything and anything you touch!). Luckily, it washes off easily with warm water. I am not suggesting that you actually do this, but it is easy to check for residues on your fingers by seeing if they taste like lemon juice. Oxalic acid can be easily neutralized by baking soda dissolved in water. Note: it is possible to dissolve a greater amount of OA into the glycerin (I’ll experiment next season). I suspect that this application method can still be improved on. Practical caution: I’ve only tested this application method on colonies during the dry California summer. Fernando Esteban

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noTEs and CITaTIons Suggested to me by Fernando Esteban of Argentina. maggi, m, et al (2015) A new formulation of oxalic acid for Varroa destructor control applied in Apis mellifera colonies in the presence of brood. Apidologie 47(4): 596–605. During periods in which colonies are full of brood and the bee population is expanding, the daily intrinsic rate of increase (without drift) is limited to around 0.021 (for use in the formula Pt = P0 *ert), and will be roughly reflected in alcohol wash counts. I will elaborate upon this in an upcoming installment. Maggi used strips each containing 10g of OA and 20g of glycerin. We used a common “kitchen formulation” from Argentina of a 6:10 ratio. Thus, Maggi applied 40g of OA per single-box hive. With the 4-strip/box treatment, we applied a total of 39g of OA, essentially the same amount as Maggi. The 2-strip/box treatment was roughly half that dose. Although humans enjoy the aromas of some essential oils, we should keep in mind that plants generally produce these oils in order to repel insects or other herbivores. Bees clearly do not like some essential oils, and my impression was that the colonies were stressed by their presence. I’ve researched the literature, and consulted at length with a few organic chemists. The oxalic/glycerin/water/temperature/time chemistry is complex. There may be reversible esterification occurring to some extent, and reversible solubility issues. At boiling, the water molecules unbind from the oxalic dihydrate, and esterification and other reactions begin. Two InterDesign Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Organizer Trays for Kitchen, 12” x 2” x 14.5,” work very well for soaking and draining—they stack, and fit a shop towel nicely.

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American Bee Journal

I imagine that some readers may be thinking, “Randy lives in cannabis country with the rest of the fruits and nuts in California—what’s he been putting into his smoker?” And I’m glad to hear that, since smart minds exhibit a healthy degree of skepticism for any claim put forward without strong supportive evidence. Since I feel that this issue is important to the beekeeping industry, I’m happy to offer that evidence, and then let you decide whether I’m merely blowing smoke. THE NECESSARY EVOLUTION OF MITE MANAGEMENT ifteen years ago, I planted nearly a hundred fruit trees and grape vines at my place. Once they were established and fruiting, to my dismay I found that in order to bring fruit to the table, that (at least in my region) some of the cultivars needed timeconsuming treatments. But others, season after season, have required no special care. Since my time is limited, I’ve been replacing those that required regular spraying with those that take care of themselves. Rather than fighting nature, it’s easier to simply use stock selectively bred for disease resistance in my locale. Farmers and ranchers worldwide have long realized that it’s generally easier and more profitable to grow or keep stock adapted for your region. Such strains require the minimal amount of inputs and management (which is why, for example, there are few almond growers outside of California’s Central Valley.[1]) Worldwide, many beekeepers realize this, and recent research has confirmed it.[2] But since there just aren’t enough queens produced for sale in many ecoregions[3], the bulk of our managed bees consists of stocks specifically tailored for high-input commercial migratory operations. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s no reason to expect such stock to survive without regular treatments against varroa. Anyway, after playing the Sisyphus role for 25 years, I’m getting sick and tired of fighting the damn mite. If I can grow trees and vines that can deal with pests and parasites by themselves, why the heck wouldn’t I want to keep bees that can do the same?

F

IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING This article is not coming off the top of my head--I wrote the first draft back in 2008.[4] But at that time I felt that our industry was not yet ready for it--some hobbyists, perhaps, but not the commercial guys who have the greatest impact upon the managed bee breeding population. As I’ve previously explained, the inevitable failure of

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amitraz may change that, since without an inexpensive, effective miticide at their disposal, mite control will become more difficult. So now, after waiting eight years, I feel that the time has come to present the argument that we should finally get serious about dealing with varroa. For thirty years we’ve been managing The Varroa Problem with flyswatters and Band-Aids. We could make beekeeping so much easier if we, as an industry, worked together to shift the genetics of the North American bee population toward stocks that were able to manage varroa on their own. PROOF OF CONCEPT I wouldn’t expect any serious beekeeper to waste their time considering my proposal unless I could present firm evidence of plausibility. And as such I offer the following exhibits:

Apis cerana is nearly identical to our bee, yet has evolutionarily figured out how to keep varroa under firm control. Photograph by Azman, CC BY-SA-3.0.

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Exhibit A: Apis cerana. This sister species to our bee is the natural host of varroa, and has established a stable and non-threatening host-parasite relationship with the mite.. Exhibit B: The Africanized bees. Although mite resistance varies in this widespread population, in many areas beekeepers find little reason to bother to apply treatments. Exhibit C: The USDA VSH and Russian stocks. These stocks are maintained without any mite treatments whatsoever, and there is hard data showing that they can perform well in commercial operations.[5] Exhibit D: The U.S. feral populations. As I’ve pointed out previously[6], there are numerous unbroken maternal lines of feral bees existing in the U.S. that have not been propagated by breeders. They are living proof that many different bloodlines of bees living wild in this country have survived through nearly three decades of varroa pressure. Exhibit E: The pioneers. John Kefuss, Kirk Webster, and many small-scale breeders are successfully keeping bees of selected stocks without using any mite treatments (there are even a few almond pollinators in this group). It will require expanding numbers of this last subset to convince our industry of the feasibility of using resistant stock. A note: the vocal self-righteous attitude of some of these early adopters doesn’t help their cause—commercial beekeepers copy financial success, not rhetoric.

Personally, the mere thought of beekeeping without regard to varroa brings a smile to my face. TWO EXCITING NEW STUDIES And as obvious as it was that mite resistance was achievable, I still hesitated to write about it, because other researchers were having trouble in understanding the exact mechanisms involved. I’ve spent the past couple of years researching and writing my series Understanding Colony Buildup and Decline (and am now a much better beekeeper because of it). In doing so, I came to realize that if I want to beat the mite, that I need to understand varroa at the same deep level—to put myself into its body and experience the world through its senses, and to achieve the same deep understanding of how some bees have evolved to coexist with this parasite. I now feel that I’m nearing that understanding.

The varroa mite is tiny and blind, and experiences the world in ways nearly incomprehensible to humans. To beat the mite, we need to learn to understand how varroa exists at the scale in the photo above. Photo credit ARS, public domain. I visited pioneer Kirk Webster in the early years of his breeding program. It wasn’t easy for him[7], but he now runs an entirely treatment-free and profitable operation, producing honey and selling nucs. Photo credit Mike Palmer. Exhibit F: The Savannah and Cape bee races in South Africa. I saved the best for last. South Africa has a robust bee industry, which was invaded by varroa in 1997. However, unlike as in Europe and North America, few beekeepers chose to use varroacides. Plenty of hives collapsed in the first few years, but both races of indigenous honey bees (of the same species as the bee that we keep) soon showed signs of resistance. In a few years, varroa was considered to be only an incidental pest.[8] Practical application: At every bee conference in the U.S., varroa is a major topic. On the other hand, read the Chairman’s Report from the 2016 South African Bee Industry General Meeting—the words “varroa” or “mites” are not even mentioned![9] And in the most recent issue of the South African Bee Journal, varroa got only brief mention in a single scientific article on bee pests, saying that a new study had figured out the bees’ specific resistance mechanisms.[10] How refreshing it would be to not even have to think about varroa. To be clear, I am not about to advocate going treatment free “cold turkey”—most of us would go out of business in short order (not to mention the collapse of the almond industry). But there is absolutely nothing to keep us from making a smooth transition (I will later describe how we can go about doing this). That is, if we have the will.

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I’ve also spent several hundred hours in developing a mite population model (which I plan to soon make publicly available). The model confirms that mite resistance is achievable by the bees slightly tweaking a few behaviors and chemical cues. And then in the last few months, two new studies riveted my attention, finally explaining key varroa resistance mechanisms in different types of bees.[11] I’ll return to these incredibly important papers later in this series, but to me, they confirmed that there was more than one way for bees to skin the varroa cat. Practical application: These findings brought to mind the “Zero, one, infinity principle.” That is, in solutions to a problem, there are either none (it’s unsolvable), there’s only one solution, or there are an arbitrary number of ways to solve the problem. The two studies clearly showed that there are indeed any number of ways for bees and varroa to coevolve a working relationship. This fact suggests that regional breeds of mite-resistant bees, as well as commercial bloodlines, may well exhibit different mechanisms for resistance. OUR MAIN CHALLENGES Professional beekeepers have every right to be skeptical of being sold some sort of pipe dream, and can come up with any number of reasons why they think that it will be difficult to shift to miteresistant stocks. Yeah, change generally comes with problems, but I don’t see any that are insurmountable. I’ve thought this through— the obstacles appear to me to be less of a problem than The Varroa Problem itself. The first problem is lack of demand (and thus little financial incentive to produce resistant stock). I’m a big believer in the power of the free market. It can drive major changes seemingly overnight. What’s held back adoption of varroa resistant bees is lack of demand. It’s sort

American Bee Journal

of a Catch-22 situation--so long as the customers of the larger queen producers don’t demand mite-resistant stock, the breeders have little incentive to go in that direction. But until truly bulletproof stock is readily available, no one will be picky enough to demand it. The second problem is that there is a general feeling that it would be too darn hard for Joe Queenproducer to set up a rigorous breeding program, requiring a scientific background and tedious assessment and recordkeeping. Luckily, nothing could be further from the truth—any of the queen producers that I know could easily do it. Practical application: any large queen producer with at least one semi-isolated mating yard can undertake a serious selective breeding program for mite resistance.[12] The more hives involved (hundreds), the better chance at success. You don’t need to be a scientist, nor need special equipment, nor take risk, nor spend a lot of money. I’ll detail exactly how to go about it later in this series. The main obstacle is not the biological ability of bee stocks to manage mites on their own, but rather the problem with maintaining the reproductive isolation necessary for a breeding program. Luckily, this isolation can be realized by having a mating yard in an area remote from other hives (or ferals), or by simply dominating the drone population with one’s selected stock. And this only needs to occur once each spring during the mating of the selected virgins to the drones produced by selected drone mother hives.

with, and how many queens you can involve in the program each season. Practical application: the good thing is that you can start to realize a benefit long before your stock is bulletproof. If you can reduce your need for treatments to only once a season, that alone may pay for the costs involved in the program. And don’t delude yourself. You’re not going to be selling “miteresistant” queens after the first couple of years. Once your stock exhibits consistent resistance, you’ll need to maintain strong selective pressure until the involved traits are “fixed” in the population. And most importantly, don’t start advertising your stock as “mite resistant” until it truly is. THE NEED FOR HARD NUMBERS The worst thing is to advertise queens as being “mite resistant” unless they truly are. And even then, even resistant colonies can be overwhelmed by mites drifting in from poorly-managed nearby hives. This gives “mite resistant” a bad name. Practical application: Over the years, I’ve tested “mite-resistant” breeder or production queens from many sources. I introduce them into nucs in my home yard, starting identical nucs with my own stock to run side by side. A very few “resistant” queens actually lived up to that name, but the majority succumbed to mites even more quickly than my own stock (and I make zero claim for my own stock being resistant). Beekeepers have every reason to be skeptical of claims for “mite resistance.” Professional beekeepers have huge overhead costs, and families of employees who depend upon them to successfully keep their hives alive and healthy. They cannot, and will not, take the risk of switching to mite-resistant stock until they see hard numbers that show that such stock is actually going to do the trick—for a miteresistant stock to crack the market, it will need to produce strong hives for almonds and then make honey, and not be overrun by mites come September. Practical application: Buyer beware! Monitor any test colonies to track whether they indeed hold mites at low levels. Be prepared to step in with a treatment if necessary. But remember, even if a stock reduces the rate of mite increase by only 10%, you could drop at least one treatment per season. This is going to be a process—don’t expect completely bulletproof mites at the outset.

The map above shows the locations of our apiaries (red plus signs; blues are ponds). Obviously, we can control most of the drone population in our mating yards, since our hives return from almonds chock full of drones—ahead of the local hives not taken to almonds. Practical application: You will need to devote some yards to the breeding program. The good news is that no colonies need to die in the process, you can still use mite treatments, and run nearly all colonies for production or pollination. Really—I’m gonna tell you how to do it. Here’s the thing: there are only a relatively tiny number of colonies worldwide in serious breeding programs. Just a few big large U.S. queen producers could make much faster progress. The costs involved are truly minimal, and the potential gain, tremendous. DON’T EXPECT AN IMMEDIATE MIRACLE If you start from scratch, it’ll take at least several years to develop a truly mite-resistant breed, depending upon the stock that you start

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DIFFICULT DOESN’T MEAN IMPOSSIBLE I’ve personally kept colonies that laughed at varroa, and whose daughters clearly inherited some degree of mite resistance. I feel that I have no one but myself to blame for not being diligent enough in propagating those bloodlines (I failed at managing the drone population). Personal side note: I’ve done half-assed selection for mite resistance for some years (with clear benefit), but now that I’ve taken the time to understand what’s involved in a realistic breeding program, I’m stepping up my game. Things look promising so far, and I’m excited about one queen line that exhibits a degree of heritability of resistance. I’ll be reporting on my progress. That said, I’m not about to claim that I have mite-resistant stock. Every spring, after grafting from 30 promising breeders exhibiting very low mite levels, we maintain them without treatments until mid summer. And every year, nearly all of them then require treatment to survive. I could get discouraged. But instead I remember a quote from Thomas Edison: Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

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The above is the kind of hard data that will be required to tempt professional beekeepers to try mite-resistant stock. Horizontal lines above the bars mean no significant difference. Figure modified from ARS testing.[13] Practical application: I have no illusion that things will change overnight. What I do know is that once enough “early adopters” find that using mite-resistant stock makes beekeeping easier and more profitable, that our industry will eventually reach a tip point, after which queen producers will have a hard time selling mite-susceptible stock. We will soon afterward talk about the days when varroa used to be a problem. GOING BEYOND FLYSWATTERS AND BANDAIDS We’ve fought varroa with flyswatters and Band-Aids for over two decades. It’s time to move to a more serious and sustainable solution—handing the job over to the bees themselves. There is abundant evidence that this long-term solution is within our grasp. We know our objective; the only question then is what realistic and practical steps we can take to achieve that goal. Over the rest of this series, I will lay out how to do it. NEXT: SO MUCH TO COVER—I’M NOT YET SURE, BUT I’LL EVENTUALLY ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Pete Borst for his assistance in research, and to those reality-based pioneering beekeepers at work selecting for mite-resistant stocks (meaning that the bees never allow varroa to reach damaging levels). NOTES AND CITATIONS (Most of the papers cited below are (with a bit of diligence) available open access on the Web). 1 You could produce almonds anywhere, but the expenses necessary would not be worth the returns. 2 Büchler, R, et al (2014) The influence of genetic origin and its interaction with environmental effects on the survival of Apis mellifera L. colonies in Europe. Journal of Apicultural Research 53(2): 205-214. 3 This is a huge business opportunity. 4 In hindsight, perhaps I shoulda finished researching and writing it at that time-- my mind was much sharper eight years ago : ( 5 Danka, RG, et al (2012) Functionality of varroa-resistant honey bees (Hymenoptera:Apidae) when used in migratory beekeeping for crop pollination. Journal of Economic Entomology 105(2):313-321. Ward, K, et al (2008) Comparative performance of two mite-resistant stocks of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Alabama bee-

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keeping operations. J Economic Entomology 101(3): 654 – 659. De Guzman, LI (2007) Growth of Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) populations in Russian honey bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 100(2): 187-195. 6 http://scientificbeekeeping.com/whats-happening-to-thebees-part-5-is-there-a-difference-between-domesticated-andferal-bees/ 7 Kirk used the Bond method, which involves the loss of colonies. It is entirely unnecessary to do this in order to successfully breed for mite resistance. 8 Allsopp, M (2006) Analysis of Varroa destructor infestation of Southern African honeybee populations. M.S. Thesis, Univ. of Pretoria. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08082007153050/unrestricted/dissertation.pdf A must read for anyone interested in breeding bees for varroa resistance. 9 Report of the Chairman South African Bee Industry Association Annual General Meeting 2nd July 2016 http://www.sabio. org.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Chairmans-ReportAGM-2016.pdf There was considerable concern about the recent invasion of AFB, but no mention of varroa. For more information, see: Strauss, U, et al. (2015) Impact of Varroa destructor on honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata) colony development in South Africa Exp Appl Acarol 65: 89. Open access. Pirk, CWW, et al (2014) A survey of managed honey bee colony losses in the Republic of South Africa - 2009 to 2011. J Apic Res 53:35-42. Open access. Strauss, U, et al CWW (2013) Seasonal prevalence of pathogens and parasites in the savannah honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellata). J Invertebr Pathol 114:45-52. Open access. 10 http://sabio.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/SA%20 Bee%20Journal%20August%202016.pdf 11 Strauss, U, et al (2015) Resistance rather than tolerance explains survival of savannah honeybees (Apis mellifera scutellata) to infestation by the parasitic mite Varroa destructor. Parasitology 143: 374–387. Page, P, et al (2016) Social apoptosis in honey bee superorganisms. Nature Scientific Reports 6:27210 DOI: 10.1038/ srep27210. 12 No liquid nitrogen testing, instrumental insemination, or recordkeeping involved. 13 Danka, RG, et al (2015) Selection of VSH-derived “Pol-line” honey bees and evaluation of their Varroa-resistance characteristics. Apidologie 47(3): 483–490.

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T

he convergence of populations brings with it many risks. The convergence of athletes to the Olympics every four years is an opportunity to share colds and flu. Refugee camps and disaster shelters are breeding grounds for disease, stress, and the ignition of social issues. The convergence of too many animals in a small space leads to disease transmission, pandemics and other stressors that lead to a proliferation of disease and pests. The clustering of 2.5 million colonies of commercial crop pollinating honey bees in almonds each February is certainly a catalyst for the spread of pests and pathogens. If the bees encounter a pesticide exposure in addition to the “stress of the place,” immune systems begin to fail. Hundreds of beekeepers with thousands of colonies congregate in America’s “bread basket” each spring to ensure growers get a good “nut set.” Weather and honey bee health are two very important factors that influence the success of the largest pollination event on the planet. For a great nut set resulting in high crop yield, weather should be above 55F, mostly sunny, and not too breezy. Honey bees must be plentiful and healthy enough to fly throughout the bloom. High honey bee winter losses though, can put a damper on this pollination party. On average, most beekeepers move colonies into the orchards in the middle of January to be ready when the bloom pops between February 9 – 15th . If beekeepers choose not to treat for Varroa until after “petal-fall,” and they’ve gone into the almonds in mid-January with mite counts higher than the recommended 1-2 mites per 100 bees, there’s a good chance their bees are stressed, not only from high mite counts, but also from the act of pollinating almonds. Honey bees in almonds survive on a diet

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of syrup, pollen substitute, almond pollen and nectar, and come into contact with insecticides and fungicides, despite the Almond Board’s Guide for Best Management Practices (http://www.almonds.com/sites/ default/files/content/attachments/honey_ bee_best_management_practices_for_ ca_almonds.pdf) while working the bloom.

Dr. Dennis van Englesdorp speaks of this high mite count risk to healthy colonies within areas of heavy bee congregations. It just takes one hive with high mite counts to infect surrounding hives. It just takes one beekeeper with 200 hives spread out in an orchard to have their mites unloaded into all of the surrounding hives. To help prevent mite populations from exploding, he suggests a “community treatment day.” Most commercial beekeepers run palletized operations so mite counts using sticky boards are not convenient options. Some treat prophylactically with Apivar or a form of amitraz when they arrive in the almonds

because it’s the treatment that appears to be easiest on their queens and developing brood. Many also wonder about treatment efficacy. Some beekeepers wait until after petal-fall to treat. The variances across the many commercial and sideline operators in treatment protocols, IPM’s and BMP’s before, during, and after almond pollination, create opportunities for a lot of mite mixing and viral vectoring between outfits. As honey bees are social insects, those that are healthy, hungry and strong will locate the neighboring less active colonies and take advantage of free forage, often bringing back with them mites and diseases. When frames of bees are stolen from one hive and deposited into other equipment, or combined with a weaker hive, disease and pest transmission is unavoidable. When colonies go into winter with mite counts higher than 1-3 per 100 bees, Dr. Dennis van Englesdorp claims that colony failure the following spring is probable. During a presentation at the Bee Culture workshop in Medina, Ohio October 2015, Dr. Dennis van Englesdorp spoke of this high mite count risk to healthy colonies within areas of heavy bee congregations. It just takes one hive with high mite counts to infect surrounding hives. It just takes one beekeeper with 200 hives spread out in an orchard to have their mites unloaded into all of the surrounding hives. To help prevent mite populations from exploding, he suggests a “community treatment day.” Bee Informed Partnership reviewed close to 1000 samples from hives in almonds in February 2016. Most counts were “near zero.” Dr. van Englesdorp stated, “We believe that collapsing colonies that have high density of mites, spread within and between operations. These “mite bombs” result from

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colonies heading into the summer with too many mites (more than 1 mite per 100 bees = 3 mites in a typical 1/2 cup sample).” If treatments are missed, or there is reduced treatment efficacy from not following the label directions, colonies could exceed mite threshold by late summer. Weakened immune systems from high mite loads, pesticides, and poor forage exacerbate the situation, and the end of summer death spiral so many beekeepers encounter begins. Commercial beekeepers pollinating almonds should know their operation’s mite counts going into the almonds to avoid infecting another operation. As our honey bees traverse the country pollinating crops, and producing honey, we have a second opportunity to eradicate as many Varroa as we can when colonies converge in North Dakota for the summer. We can help reduce the impact of mite load transfers by holding another “community day of treatment” in North Dakota. Traditionally, May and August treatments are the Best Management Practice for IPM in North Dakota. Beekeepers can treat with Formic acid while they take the last honey supers off, then the bees can winter in a shed or in sunny California. Community treatments – if “subsidized” three times a year would certainly help the beekeeping industry. Government and miticide manufacturer funding could be developed to support this endeavor. No matter if your hives are stationary or migratory, all beekeepers must work to protect their bees, and therefore their neighbors’ bees from pests and pathogens. Commercial beekeeper, John Miller exclaimed, “We know of community treatment initiatives in livestock. A recent example of nursing homes and hospitals cooperating to reduce C. difficile by 36% caught my attention. What if a community Varroa treatment reduced Varroa by 36% - in late August? It’s time we get serious about Varroa community treatment.” (Rochester hospitals unite to defeat a difficult foe: C. difficile, http:// on.wsj.com/1OiIah8 ) Stationary sideliners are able to monitor their hives more often, and correct mite levels before deadly results occur. Whether soft or hard chemicals are used, following the label when applying treatments results in hives with low, but acceptable mite levels. Do check your mite counts pre- and postapplication to ensure the efficacy of the treatment. Early detection and treatment, and then routine monitoring/testing with retreating if needed keeps a sideliner’s hives healthy. Backyard/sideliner beekeepers could benefit from a community treatment day as well. With the presence of migratory beekeepers on the doorsteps of stationary backyard and sideliner beekeepers, the results are an increased Varroa pressure. Many backyard beekeepers have a false sense of “treatment” until that Varroa infestation arrives, and they may lose their hive to an unrealized virus load. A consistent treatment and testing plan is the best course of action. A local “treatment day” could begin at the county

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association bee yard with the beekeepers then returning to their home bee yards to practice what they learned at the club’s yard. Treating their hives and then re-checking mite levels in 2 to 3 weeks could maintain safe levels to insure winter survival. Honey bee husbandry considerations in large commercial operations and smaller sideline and backyard apiaries are surprisingly similar: What is the “go-to” treatment to reduce mite loads, kill Varroa under the cap, and cleanse colonies of viruses, sick bees and queens? What treatment saves busy beekeepers time, money and energy? How can proactively practicing a “strength to strength” beekeeping approach at petalfall, prepare healthy bees for splitting and re-queening? What treatments are best used to clean up colonies and prevent swarming while preparing to split an operation? Is there a preferred treatment that highlights sick, weak and dying bees and queens, so combining and re-queening efforts can be performed expeditiously following mite treatments while making splits? Are the splits sold or put back into the outfit with the assurance the bees are mite free and healthy? Everyone is focused on honey bee health: beekeepers, researchers, environmentalists, and policy makers. Americans want to continue to have the diversity of food beekeepers and farmers work together to deliver. How can we capitalize on the convergence of two million plus hives first in California, and a few months later in North Dakota to treat for a common pest? Gordy Wardell summed up the start of the pollination season well in the February 2016 Project Apis m. newsletter, “. . . we have to take our hats off to the American beekeepers who managed to provide colonies for the largest commercial pollination event in the world. Two million colonies in one place (California) at one time. Pollination is not something that can be outsourced; we can’t rely on other countries to do this job for us, our borders are closed to bees on combs. All of those bees come from this great country. It’s truly amazing when you consider the scope of the undertaking.” Sacrifice, diligence, perseverance, determination, and hard work; these are just a few of the virtues beekeepers must call upon to ensure our crops are abundant, and our food choices diverse. A subsidized or free community day of treatment in honor of beekeepers’ dedication and devotion to America’s food security is the least we can do to reciprocate.

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aking a few queens for the hobby beekeepers can be a simple affair. It was the original intent of this column to use a method that has been in use since the invention of the movable frame hive by Langstroth in 1850. Now there is another method developed that may be easier and better. Why would a hobby beekeeper want to make a dozen queens? You can take a queen cell from your chosen queen-producing colony and place that queen cell into a hive body with a frame or two of brood and adhering bees. That nucleus colony will grow rapidly. New queens are now $25 each and up. The queens are more expensive than ever. Making a few queens is not difficult. I am not talking about grafting, using queen cell bank frames or using plastic cell cups. It is necessary to use queen-rearing equipment if you wish to commercially produce queens for sale. However, making a dozen queens for your own use can be done more easily. Keep in mind that a dozen is about all you will get and that is hardly enough to build a queen-rearing business. A strong colony is needed to produce queens. Bees have a natural tendency to produce queens in the spring. This is best time to stimulate queen production. That colony which is getting strong and likely to swarm is the best choice. To induce queen rearing, you must first remove the queen in the chosen strong colony. Remove her and one frame of capped brood covered with bees. Place this frame into a colony for making a nucleus. If you have a second strong colony, it is best to shake the bees off another frame of capped brood and add this to the nucleus colony you will make. Two frames of brood, a queen and a frame or two of honey will grow faster than any package of bees in the mail. You can make up this nucleus and expect it to make a strong colony that year. It will likely produce honey surplus in the first year, especially if fed protein patties. Once you remove the queen and bees, look for a frame with eggs and just-hatch-

January 2017

ing larvae. This frame must have been loaded with beeswax foundation. For reasons that will soon become obvious, plastic foundation does not work. Find the parabolic curve in that frame where eggs are just below newly hatching larvae. Cut the wax comb completely through and remove the lower portion of the comb where the eggs are. Yes, we are sacrificing newly laid eggs for the good of our new queens to be. If you feel sorrow about sacrificing the eggs, you can save them. Place them into a brood frame with beeswax foundation. Cut out the wax foundation to match the size of the pieces with brood eggs. Use string and nails. Tap the nails into the top bar and bottom bar to hold the string. Nails must be on both sides of the top and bottom bar. Zigzag the string to the nails making a fence to hold the loose brood comb eggs into the frame. You can put this in your nucleus colony and let the bees wax in everything and tend to the eggs as they hatch.

Meanwhile, back in the queen-producing colony, your newly hatched larvae should be neatly lined up at the bottom of the cut brood comb. These larvae will be used by the bees in the queenless colony to make new queens. This process must be watched closely. The bees will start those queens within 24 hours. It only takes 16 days to make a queen. The cells need to be removed as soon as they are capped. This takes less than two weeks. The bees will make those queens over a 2 -3 day time. If one hatches, she will immediately assassinate all 10 of her rivals with help from the workers. When the queens are cut out, do not handle the queen cells. Those queens will be easily damaged. Cut about an inch diameter piece of comb out above the new queens. Use this comb piece as a handle. It will have brood in it but this can be moved to the nucleus colonies you make up with your new queen cells. A queen cell with two frames of capped brood from a strong

This is an old comb due for replacement that has been cut to illustrate the appearance of brood comb cut for queens.

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colony will grow quickly. You can also use your new queen cells to requeen weak colonies. The break in brood cycle that comes with using queen cells lasts more than two weeks. That break will help reduce mite infestations. When capped brood is removed from a strong colony, placing foundation into the middle of the brood nest to replace the frame is good. The bees perceive the increase in space within the brood nest as a sign that swarming is not necessary. Remember to leave a couple of queen cells in the colony that donated their queen and a frame of brood for the purpose of queen cell construction. These queen cells will allow that colony to requeen itself. You can take as few as three colonies and make up 3 nucleus colonies resulting in an apiary of 6 hives instead of 3. This procedure will not only make more colonies but reduce swarming in the colonies you have. It also reduces mites because brood is not available for at least two weeks. Your new queens will go on mating flights. It is not likely but possible that a queen can be consumed by a bird on her mating flight. That is a risk you must take to get new queens for nuclei. I met Mel Disselkoen and bought his book at our state beekeepers’ meeting. He has developed a method of raising queens similar to what I have described. Instead of cutting up a brood comb, he recommends using a hive tool to pull down the comb below day-old larvae. The opening of that brood comb below the right age larvae replaces cutting the entire comb at the bottom. In my opinion, this is a brilliant way to reduce the work, make a few queens and make up multiple nucleus colonies from 1 or 2 favored donor colonies. The queens must still be removed from these colonies to stimulate queen rearing. Mel calls his method On-the-Spot Queen Rearing. The book title is abbreviated “OTS Queen Rearing”. I am so intrigued by his method; I will try it this spring and report the process. If you are interested in raising a few queens in a hobby apiary, this book is highly recommended. The explanation in this article is oversimplified. Take my word for it, you need the book. It explains the timeline, his notching method and methodology in great detail. Mel has raised queens commercially. This book is a great reference, even if you decide to use the Doolittle method described above. One other thing must be said here. There was a conversation between myself and a fellow beekeeper recently about “Organic Beekeeping”. Many hobbyist beekeepers want to keep bees chemical free. To them this means skipping treatments for mites, Nosema, small hive beetles and all other honey bee pests and diseases. They are misguided in assuming the bees in a small apiary will adapt and thrive once the diseases have been exposed to natural selection. There are numerous erroneous assumptions with this idea. First, the circumscription of the geographic and population sample size in a

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Ripe queen cell on comb

tors. They supplement what our honey bees are doing for pollination. Wild pollinators work plants that bees skip. There is much pollination that wild pollinators cannot accomplish. This is especially true in large agricultural production. The bottom line is we need all the pollinators we can get. Wildlife food plants are most likely pollinated by wild pollinators. Treat your bees for mites each fall. Use screen bottom boards. Use health-promoting products for your bees. Feed sugar and or honey in the fall in large quantities to build strong colonies going into winter. It is likely your bees have Nosema. Consider treatment for this pest as well. Trap and remove small hive beetles. Responsible beekeeping means taking good care of your bees. There are good physical and mechanical controls and natural chemicals for most bee problems. Use these products as indicated on the labels. You can keep bees naturally using good health practices.

single apiary is exceedingly small. The chances of those few colonies of bees having a worldwide bee-saving genetic trait is so minute as to be less likely than winning a world-wide lottery. You have a much greater chance of being struck by lightning. Queen breeders source from hundreds and even thousands of colonies. There is talk of the genetics in these commercial operations being too narrow as we speak. It has taken years with thousands of colonies involved to develop hygienic traits in honey bees. This is not going to happen in your back yard. These hygienic traits can be purchased from many queen breeders. Why would you want any other type of bee? Breeding from local survivors is something that was recently recommended in this column. Local survivors probably have hygienic traits. Secondly, you are not trying to find one genetic trait. Hygienic behavior itself requires multiple traits. But why would anyone think they can develop multiple traits for numerous diseases, some bacterial, others viral, where every disease requires its own set of genetic defenses. Couple this with trying to gain genetic traits that stop mites and where are you? If our scientific community cannot come up with a simple solution, why do you have any confidence that your backyard apiary is going to save the world of beekeeping? Finally, it is not responsible as a beekeeper to allow your bees to harbor diseases and mites that affect others bees. There are organic solutions to some of these problems. Hygienic bees are one solution. Formic acid used in the fall is an organic solution. Bees, ants and wasps use formic acid to keep their homes clean. Formic acid can reduce mite populations in your bee colonies significantly and it is “Organic”. We now know that some of the diseases in honey bees can be transferred to other social bees and perhaps even some solitary bees. Spreading disease to these wild pollinators is irresponsible. We need our wild pollina-

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Immunity in the Superorganism – the Mechanisms

his month marks the two-year anniversary of the start of my serial history on the evolution of the honey bee. It has been my wish to explore the deep origins of things we regularly observe in our colonies and to give the biological bases for the practices beekeepers do to maximize bee health and honey crops. The fact that 24 months have passed and we aren’t close to the final chapter is testimony to the deeps we are plumbing. The modern honey bee colony is the product of an evolutive process in which the re-shuffled genomes of each generation are pitted against a new season’s challenges and gifts, with the winning combinations rewarded with another opportunity to reproduce. Each iteration improves the “fit” of the species with the habitat it occupies. As our bee moved from a solitary to increasingly social species, genes that formerly served in solitary contexts were coopted into new social functions. As colony members increased in number, the opportunities grew for spontaneous emergent order as each member made independent decisions based on her immediate local conditions. Innate behaviors and preexisting physical constraints allied to create such marvels as the beeswax comb, winter thermoregulation, symbolic dance language, and group decision making. Self-regulating feedback loops and stops in the bee colony mirrored similar things that were evolving in the cells and tissues of metazoan animals like ourselves. The language of science becomes inadequate to capture the wondrous and tapestried connectivity of it all. I am reminded of the faun Tumnus in C.S. Lewis’s fictional Narnia when Tumnus grasps for words to describe the new world he is seeing for the first time: it’s “like an onion: except that as you continue to go in and in, each circle is larger than the last.1” In the case of the genus Apis, this great experiment has been repeating for 30-40 million generations2, and in the case of one of its youngest members, Apis mellifera, for 6-8 million generations.3 And the story of the honey bee – and her descendants – will

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not end as long as there is a viable planet Earth to contain it. So I am in no danger of running out of material for monthly columns. This month I want to turn our attention to the topic of immunity in the superorganism. Bearing in mind that superorganisms do the sorts of things that organisms do, it’s no surprise to learn that there are integrated behaviors and phenomena in the honey bee colony that deter the entry and proliferation of pathogens and parasites in the nest. There are parallels to the immune systems of organismal creatures such as ourselves4, but when the focus is on the superorganism the term most commonly used is “social immunity.” Before we get started, I need to point out that immunity against pathogens exists in the honey bee at two levels of organization – the level of individual bee and the level of colony. Individual bees express innate immunity with a variety of means shared with other insects. These include initial defenses such as antimicrobial secretions on the integument, microbe-hostile gut chemistry, and the physical barrier of the gut lining. If pathogens breach these outer defenses, they next encounter cellular and humoral (body fluid) resistances such as enzymes that degrade pathogens, cells that engulf

Figure 1. A forager bee collecting tree resin.

pathogens, antimicrobial peptides, and cells that promote melanization – a process analogous to scar tissue formation in mammals that walls off invading cells.5 Even though honey bees boast a full repertoire of these immune classes, they are relatively impoverished in the gene richness of those classes. Compared to two widely studied solitary insect groups – fruit flies in the genus Drosophila and mosquitoes in the genus Anopheles – honey bees possess about one-third fewer immune genes6, and the genes they retain appear to be very ancient. In other words, honey bees have not kept pace with solitary insects when it comes to richness and diversity of immune responses. The two best explanations for this are that (1) bees tend to be attacked by a fairly small number of highly coevolved pathogens, thus narrowing the range of demands on immunity, or (2) the innovation of social life – and simultaneous evolution of social immunity – have down-graded selection pressures for individual innate immunity.7 For the individual, it appears, social life decreases costs for disease resistance. For our present purposes it is social immunity we want to focus on. But it is important for readers to understand that individual innate immunity is still live and well, acting as another layer of immunity in the colony. I organize my following synopsis of social immunity with the “sequential lines of defense” approach used by Cremer et al.8 Let’s look first at the possible modes of parasite transmission. Epidemiologists recognize two: the first is parasite transmission that happens between parent and offspring. This is called vertical transmission, and in the case of honey bees it is best understood as transmission between a parent colony and its swarm. The second mode of transmission happens between two members of the same generation. This is called horizontal transmission, and in honey bees this happens when parasites are transmitted between colonies. Of the two, horizontal transmission is expected to select for more virulent pathogens.9

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The first line of social defense is to prevent the “uptake” of parasites by individual nest members. As biotic threats to a nest are by definition external to the nest, the members most prone to parasite uptake are the foragers. In honey bees, one way to limit parasite uptake is to narrow the range of individuals engaged in this risky behavior, and in a normal colony foraging is indeed restricted to the oldest, and most expendable individuals. If an old forager becomes infected, its short remaining lifetime limits its opportunity for spreading the parasite. A second line of defense is to prevent or reduce parasite “intake” – the entry of parasites into the nest. At a basic level this is exercised in the choice of bees to occupy cavities. Entrances to these cavities tend to be small, ranging from 10-40 cm2 in area10, which restricts access points for nest invaders and limits the surveillance demands on guard bees. However, as we mentioned, many parasites gain entry to colonies not by direct assault but by catching a ride on a forager. This is the exclusive mode of entry for the Varroa mite which is otherwise incapable of independent movement between colonies. Guard bees inspect returning foragers and repel those infected with pathogens including viruses, but I am unaware of any evidence that guard bees restrict entry of Varroa-laden nestmates. Nevertheless, the choice of nest site and guard policing behaviors constitute an important line of social defense. If these first lines of defense fail, or if the parasite gains a foothold through vertical transmission, then the third line of defense focuses on preventing the parasite from getting established in the nest. This is where we see a battery of hygienic behaviors come into play, and for a beekeeping audience I must clarify that I’m talking about general

hygiene – not the specific form that has become a familiar management tool against Varroa; that one comes later. For now, we’re including one of the most well-known examples of insect-applied antimicrobials – the use of plant resins. Honey bees collect tree resins (Fig. 1), return them to the nest, mix them with beeswax, and apply them inside cells and onto nest cavity walls, at which point we call the substance propolis (Fig. 2). The substance has antimicrobial properties which serve to reduce pathogen load in the nest environment. However, it has also been recently shown that propolis reduces the expression of immune response genes in 7-day old bees. The significance of a reduction in immune response was due to an overall reduction in bacterial loads in the experimentally propolis-treated colonies, but moreover, a highly charged immune system is not only indicative of a pathogen problem, but it is also exhausting on the bees to sustain the response.11 Propolis therefore “turns the temperature down” on a stressful situation – first by direct antimicrobial action and second by reducing the need for the bees to ramp up a costly immune reaction. Colonies whose bees are in a sustained state of immune response produce less brood.12 There are other behaviors in the colony that constitute hygienic resistance to parasite establishment in the nest. These include the well-known “undertaker” bees who remove corpses of dead nestmates from the nest. And venom, it turns out, has more uses than its well-known function in defense; there is evidence that bees apply it to their beeswax combs and onto their own integuments, apparently benefiting from venom’s antimicrobial properties.13 And lastly, there is evidence that the Cape Honey Bees of southern Africa, Apis mellifera capensis,

Figure 2. Bees mix plant resins with beeswax to produce propolis. They coat it on the interiors of nest cavities and brood cells. Although its initial function may have been to give structural strength to combs, propolis also confers antimicrobial benefits to the colony and reduces energetic costs associated with innate immune responses. This image shows the interior of a Langstroth hive in South Africa in which the bees have severely restricted the entrance size with a sheet of propolis.

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“socially encapsulate” invasive small hive beetles with propolis prisons in an action analogous to scarring and abscess formation in mammals.14 In the event a parasite becomes established in the nest, then the colony attempts a fourth line of defense – limiting the parasite’s spread between colony groups. The probability of a healthy colony member becoming infected is a product of its susceptibility, its contact rate with an infected individual, and the infectivity of that individual (number of infectious propagules it carries). The most direct way to reduce infectious propagules is to pick them off and kill them – and the best example of this for bees is the well-known grooming behavior against Varroa mites. Bees expressing this heritable trait can detect and remove mites off their own bodies or bodies of nestmates and sometimes lethally bite them15. A similar strategy is employed with so-called hygienic lines of bees that are capable of detecting compromised cells of brood, opening them up, and removing the infected pupa and its associated pathogens or parasites.16 A higher-order expression of this fourth line of defense happens with the fact that members of a colony do not randomly distribute themselves throughout a nest, but instead compartmentalize themselves into recognizable zones based on age and reproductive status. Young bees, the brood, and the queen are always central in the nest whereas older hive bees and foragers predominate at the periphery. As social interactions are more common within, rather than across, these compartments, this has the effect of localizing parasites and limiting their spread (Fig. 3). This has been called “organizational immunity17,” and readers of this column will recognize it as an easy example of an emergent property – the kind of order that emerges spontaneously given enabling pre-existing conditions. Another higher-order example of limiting a parasite’s spread invokes genetic diversity, and here we harken back to polyandry, the subject of my installment in May 2016 – the queen’s habit of mating with many males which causes her workers to be genetically diverse. Genetic homogeneity, sameness, would be a dangerous situation in a dense aggregation of individuals like a social insect colony. One virulent pathogen could sweep through the nest with devastating results. But genetic diversity not only increases the likelihood that individuals will possess innate resistance mechanisms to a variety of pathogens, it also increases behavioral repertoires that add up to social immunity. A good example is hygienic behavior. It is not just one behavior, but rather a suite of behaviors – the ability to detect abnormal brood, the ability to uncap it, the ability to remove the contents, and a low tolerance threshold for abnormal brood that stimulates the possessor to engage in the process. There are at least six genetic regions responsible for these behaviors18, and a multiply-mated queen has a better chance of delivering all necessary genes to her colony. It is no

American Bee Journal

Figure 3. Bees in a colony compartmentalize themselves into zones based on age and reproductive status. Young bees, the brood, and the queen (with gold halo) are centered in the nest (light zone) whereas older maintenance workers and foragers predominate at the periphery (red zone). Social interactions (shown by connecting lines) are more common within, rather than across, these compartments; this has the effect of localizing parasites and limiting their spread, an outcome called “organizational immunity.” The zones are not equal in value. The brood, queen, and young bees are more important than the older bees on the edge. It is from the older edge cohorts that foragers are drawn that leave the colony (lower left), and as the most expendable cohort in the colony, it is foragers that are most likely to experience parasite uptake. By extension, foragers’ tendency to linger in the periphery tends to restrict infected individuals ( ) to the periphery. Image re-drawn from Cremer et al.8 surprise that high rates of queen polyandry have been associated with lower disease incidence in colonies.19 As a fifth and final line of defense we can hypothesize on colony strategies that limit vertical transmission of parasites to a colony’s swarm offspring. One line of evidence for this is the fact that Nosemainfected workers remove themselves from tending the queen20; as it is the old queen that moves with a swarm, this can be interpreted as a strategy for reducing Nosema risk to the swarm offspring. The existence of natural selection against horizontal transmission seems less likely, at least from the point of view of an infected colony. There is no obvious evolutionary advantage to protecting a neighboring colony from your infection unless that colony is closely related or its proximity increases the chance for your re-infection. If natural selection responds to horizontal transmission at all, it is probably active as a defensive measure in step one above – reducing uptake of parasites. This may be one explanation why colonies in nature separate themselves from one another at rather large distances, ranging from 304 - 4848 meters.21 By now it is apparent that social immunity is yet another one of those complex and interacting pods of biologic phenomena that collectively make up the honey bee superorganism. Like caste differentiation, comb

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construction, mating behavior, group decision-making, and so many others, the social immunity pod is an outcome of interacting behaviors, pre-existing conditions, and emergent properties. This month we covered some of its mechanisms, but we haven’t yet talked about how it is regulated or how it evolved. References 1 Lewis, C.S. and P. Baynes. 1956. The Last Battle. Chronicles of Narnia, 7. New York: Macmillan 2 Engel. M.S. 1998. Fossil honey bees and evolution in the genus Apis (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Apidologie 29: 265–281 3 Garnery, L. et al. 1991. Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Apis inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data. Apidologie 22: 87–92 4 Cremer, S. and M. Sixt. 2009. Analogies in the evolution of individual and social immunity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 364: 129142 DOI:10.1098/rstb.2008.0166 5 Hoffmann, J.A. 2003. The immune response of Drosophila. Nature 426: 33-38 6 The Honeybee Genome Sequencing Consortium. 2006. Insights into social insects from the genome of the honeybee Apis mellifera. Nature 443(7114): 931949 DOI: 10.1038/nature05260 7 Evans, J.D. et al. 2006. Immune pathways and defence mechanisms in honey

bees Apis mellifera. Insect Molecular Biology 15: 645-656 DOI: 10.1111/j.13652583.2006.00682.x 8 Cremer, S. et al. 2007. Social immunity. Current Biology 17: R693-R702 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.008 9 Bull, J.J., et al. 1991. Selection of benevolence in a host-parasite system. Evolution 45: 875-882 10 Seeley, T.D. and R.A. Morse. 1976. The nest of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.). Insectes Sociaux 23: 495-512 11 Simone-Finstrom, M. and M. Spivak. 2010. Propolis and bee health: the natural history and significance of resin use by honey bees. Apidologie 41: 295-311 12 Evans J.D. and J.S. Pettis. 2005. Colony-level impacts of immune responsiveness in honey bees, Apis mellifera. Evolution 59: 2270-2274 13 Baracchi, D. and S. Turillazzi. 2010. Differences in venom and cuticular peptides in individuals of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) determined by MALDI-TOF MS. Journal of Insect Physiology 56: 366-375 14 Neumann, P. et al. 2001. Social encapsulation of beetle parasites by Cape honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera capensis Esch.). Naturwissenschaften 88: 214-216 15 Guzman-Novoa, E. et al. 2012. Genotypic variability and relationships between mite infestation levels, mite damage, grooming intensity, and removal of Varroa destructor mites in selected strains of worker honey bees (Apis mellifera L.). Journal of Invertebrate Pathology 110: 314-320 16 Spivak, M. and M. Gilliam. 1998. Hygienic behaviour of honey bees and its application for control of brood diseases and Varroa. Part II. Studies on hygienic behaviour since the Rothenbuhler era. Bee World 79: 169-186 DOI:10.1080/0 005772X.1998.11099408 17 Naug, D. and B. Smith. 2007. Experimentally induced change in infectious period affects transmission dynamics in a social group. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274: 61-65 18 Oxley, P.R. et al. 2010. Six quantitative trait loci influence task thresholds for hygienic behaviour in honeybees (Apis mellifera). Molecular Ecology 19: 1452–1461. DOI:10.1111/j.1365294X.2010.04569.x 19 Tarpy, D.R. and T.D. Seeley. 2006. Lower disease infections in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies headed by polyandrous vs monandrous queens. Naturwissenschaften 93: 195-199 20 Wang, D.I. and F.E. Moeller. 1970. The division of labor and queen attendance behavior of Nosema-infected worker honey bees. Journal of Economic Entomology 63: 1539-1541 21 from data cited in: Nolan, M.P. and K.S. Delaplane. 2016. Distance between honey bee Apis mellifera colonies regulates populations of Varroa destructor at a landscape scale. Apidologie DOI: 10.1007/s13592-016-0443-9

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ropolis is commonly considered by beekeepers the bane of their existence. It gums up the hive making it difficult to perform even the most simple tasks. As a result, beekeepers have selected against this trait and today few commercial queen breeders purposefully produce queens whose progeny are propolizers. When I capture swarms from areas where bees are actively managed, the lack of propolis production is a common trait. In contrast swarms that I capture from areas with little active beekeeping activity, and I presume to be for the most part feral, typically gum up my equipment within weeks. As a molecular biologist, this suggested to me that there remains a fairly strong natural selection process for propolis production and that human selective forces interferes with the natural selection process. My research experience told me that organisms rarely endeavor in costly energetic behavior unless it provides

a benefit in survival. In 2010 a comprehensive review of propolis and honey bee health was published. This review was a mere tease, providing researchers many more questions for future research.1 Since this review was published, researchers worldwide have started to explore propolis and its action within the hive. And the research is beginning to suggest that it may not be coincidence that honey bee health has declined as we humans have selected against propolis production. WHAT IS PROPOLIS Propolis is a complex mixture of compounds produced by honey bees and certain other insects, the exact mixture varies from country to country, region to region, and is dependent on the local fauna. The general mixture, however, remains fairly consistent. Honey bee propolis generally consists of 50% botanical compounds, 30% waxes,

10% essential oils, 5% pollen, and 5% other organic compounds and displays common biological activities.2 Those activities, relative to honey bees, are; antibacterial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory. In temperate climates in the United States the primary source for the plant resins collected by honey bees are poplar, birch, horse chestnut, alder, beech, and some conifers. A Typical propolis sample from temperate regions contains over 300 unique compounds. The primary compound types in this propolis are; phenolic acids and esters, flavonoids, terpenes, lignans, aromatic aldehydes and alcohols, fatty acids, stilbenes, and steroids. Propolis from other climates or regions contain a totally different mix of compounds; yet, demonstrate similar biological activity. Interestingly, just as with nectar, honey bees appear to be just as selective in collecting plant resins for use in propolis. A

(l) Propolis deposited by bees on the top of new frames of a hive that has been selected for propolis production. (r) Propolis deposited on the top of new frames as well as being deposited to seal the seams between frames and the hive body.

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(l) Two workers bees depositing propolis between the hive body and a freshly placed top feeder. (r) Propolis deposited on a bottom board from a hive selected for propolis production. recent study examined propolis for unique markers that identified the plant resin source.3 This research indicates that honey bees appear to ignore some tree species that produce abundant quantities of plant resin. This selection appears to be highly specific with honey bees differentiating between even closely related species, in this study selectively collecting resin from one white birch species while ignoring another white birch species. This research and other research suggests that selection of plant resins for propolis production is not based solely on the plant resin’s antimicrobial attributes. As an interesting side note for urban beekeepers, recent research identified petroleum derivatives from asphalt in propolis suggesting that the honey bees may collect resins from unexpected sources when the environment limits availability of ideal compounds.4 PROPOLIS AND BIOLOGY Honey bees are social insects; this social trait has important implications on the biology and selection processes that act on honey bees. In the typical biological sense, natural selection works on the reproductively active individual, in other words only those individuals capable of producing offspring. In the case of honey bees that would be the drones and the queen. However, the social aspect of honey bees, much like humans, adds a complexity to this simple natural selection model. One can consider the honey bee colony as a super organism that is reproductive and hence an additional level where natural selection acts. In a healthy honey bee colony the collective of individual honey bee defense behaviors produces a colony immune response, the consequence of which results in a downward modulation of each honey bee’s immune response. In other words, the sum of the whole (the colony immune response) is greater than its individual parts (individual honey bee immune response). Because each honey bee shares in her sister’s immune response she expends less energy in maintaining her own immune response.

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Propolis production represents one defense behavior that appears to protect the colony and downward modulate individual honey bee immune systems.5 During the summer and autumn, honey bee colonies maintained in a propolis envelope found individual honey bees had decreased and more uniform baseline expression of immune genes. The activation of immune systems in any organism is energetically costly and typically tied to negative long-term biological consequences (stress, decreased lifespan, etc). The researchers hypothesized that propolis may function to reduce individual honey bee immune system expression. Of interest the researchers found no significant differences between bacterial or pathogen levels between colonies maintained in a propolis enveloped colony as compared to control colonies. However, the research offers some tantalizing data that suggests that colonies maintained in propolis envelopes demonstrate increased strength after overwintering. Research has started to explore the expressed traits of bees that produce large quantities of propolis (HP) versus bees that produce low amounts of propolis (LP).6,7 The researchers crossed HP and LP queens and drones. It was found that HP x HP colonies displayed significantly higher brood viability, significantly increased worker life spans, enhanced hygenic behavior, higher honey production, and collected more pollen. However, it should be noted this work was performed in Africanized honey bees (AHB). The researchers examined for Varroa destructor resistance and no differences were identified. The researchers postulate that AHB have previously been identified as being tolerant to Varroa mite and therefore this study may not appropriately address the Varroa mite vs. propolis question. Researchers have also explored the bioactivity of propolis on various honey bee pathogens. This work has mostly been in vitro (in the laboratory) but some in vivo (in the organism/colony) experiments are beginning to appear in the literature. Numerous in vitro experiments have demonstrated the inhibitory activity of propolis extracts on

Paenibacillus larvae (responsible for American foulbrood, AFB) and Ascosphaera apis (responsible for chalkbrood).4 Propolis extracts have been found to have miticide properties against Varroa mite in vitro.8 A recent in vivo experiment that utilized an Egyptian propolis ethanolic extract in 50% sugar water demonstrated a 100% reduction in AFB clinical symptoms in AFB-infected colonies.9 For the most part, the miticide properties of propolis have not yet been borne out in in vivo studies. However, biology is rarely as simple as scientists would like it to be. A study that examined propolis chemical composition in Varroa mite resistant and susceptible bees in Avignon, France demonstrated just how complex the question may be.10 The researchers found that Varroa mite resistant colonies had lower amounts of 70% ethanol soluble content in their propolis. However, the composition of the propolis from Varroa mite resistant colonies had higher concentrations of specific chemical components as compared to susceptible colonies. The researchers go on to hypothesize that the Varroa mite resistant colonies in Avignon, France may allocate less resources in total to gathering plant resins, lending to the idea that propolis producing colonies may be more productive. As has been previously mentioned, the composition of propolis is highly altered by regional differences in plant fauna. And as we have observed from the previous studies described above altered propolis composition alters the biological activity of the propolis. A recent study examined regional differences in propolis composition and antimicrobial activity for AFB and chalkbrood in the United States.11 The study examined 12 climatically diverse regions finding honey bees in each region produce a chemically unique propolis. Of greater interest was the finding that propolis from the various regions commonly displayed different antimicrobial and antifungal properties. Propolis from Nevada, Texas, California, Colorado, and North Dakota displayed inhibitory properties against both AFB and chalkbrood;

American Bee Journal

whereas, propolis from Georgia, New York, Louisiana, and Minnesota displayed limited inhibition of AFB and relatively good inhibition of chalkbrood. CONCLUSION When one considers that there are at least 31 diverse organisms or viruses that parasitize honey bees, it becomes clear that researchers have a long way to go in understanding the complex relationship that exists between propolis and the honey bee colony. In the last decade, several hundred papers have been published looking at various aspects of propolis. Many of these papers are focused in parts of the world where beekeepers have limited access to costly chemical treatments. Yet, through these papers one gets the feeling that natural selection led to propolis and it was not merely to be the bane of the beekeeper’s existence. I have started to select for propolis production in my queen breeding program. Similar to the research by Nicodemo et al5,6, I have observed that some traits seem to be readily passed with (genetically linked) propolis production. My propolis hives typically demonstrate enhanced vitality and strength. Their brood chambers appear to be larger and foraging from those hives begins earlier and ends later in the day. I have also experienced fewer issues with swarming from my propolis-rich hives. Albeit, my observations are strictly qualitative, but my experience suggests to me that my propolis-rich hives make it easier for me to be a successful beekeeper in spite of the gummed up equipment.

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Mezgabu, Ebisa, et al, Occurrence and Distribution of Varroa Mite and Antivarroa Effect of Propolis in Walmara District of Oromia Special Zone Around Finfine, Ethiopia, J Vet Science & Technology 7(5), 1-6, 2016. Kamel, A., et al, Propolis as a natural antibiotic to control American foulbrood disease in honey bee colonies, African Journal of Agricultural Research 8(23), 3047-3062, 2013. Popova, M., et al, Propolis chemical composition and honeybee resistance against Varroa destructor, Natural Product Research, 1-7, 2014. Wilson, M., et al, Regional variation in composition and antimicrobial activity of US propolis against Paenibacillus larvae and Ascosphaera apis, J Invertebrate Pathology 124, 44-50, 2015.

Footnotes Simone-Finstrom, Michael and Spivak, Marla, Propolis and bee health: the natural history and significance of resin use by honey bees, Apidologie 41, 295–311, 2010. 2 Alday, Efrain, et al, Chapter 5: Advances in Pharmacological Activities and Chemical Composition of Propolis Produced in Americas, Beekeeping and Bee Conservation - Advances in Research, Dechechi Chambo, Emerson, InTech, Rijeka, Croatia, 99-151, 2016. 3 Isidorov, Valery, et al, Selective Behaviour of Honeybees in Acquiring European Propolis Plant Precursors, J Chem Ecol 42,475–485, 2016. 4 Alqarni, Abdulaziz, et al, Organic Tracers from Asphalt in Propolis Produced by Urban Honey Bees, Apis mellifera Linn., PLoS ONE 10(6), 2015. 5 Borba, Renata, et al, Seasonal benefits of a natural propolis envelope to honey bee immunity and colony health, J Exp Biology 218, 3689-3699, 2015. 6 Nicodemo, D, et al, Honey bee lines selected for high propolis production also have superior hygienic behavior and increased honey and pollen stores. Genet. Mol. Res. 12, 6931-6938, 2013. 7 Nicodemo, D, et al, Increased brood viability and longer lifespan of honeybees selected for propolis production. Apidologie 45, 269-275, 2014. 1

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hen I was in my twenties I had the unexpected fortune of falling in love with an Italian man, and so, inevitably, have had to spend most of my married adult life in Italy. Having earned degrees in American Literature and Writing, I taught English as a

second language to Italians part time while writing and raising our two daughters. One of the things I found to like in Italy was the frequency and variety of outdoor markets. At these, any and nearly all manner of things were for sale, from vegetables and fruit, bread, cheese, salami, olives and oil, grappa,

The Crea-Api research laboratory located in Bologna, Italy.

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wild mushrooms, fresh and dried fish, to antiques, jewelry, household linens, gadgets, toys, houseplants, clothing, and more. It was at one such outdoor market, held in the courtyard of a fifth century monastery, where I first came across “the honey man”. He was an older gentleman from the Turin area, but I have lost track of his name. At his booth were displayed over twenty different unifloral honeys. Surrounding his table was a large crowd of potential buyers, and as I inched my way to the front, I saw he was offering taste samples of each honey. Growing up in Ohio and New Jersey, I was fond of the cut comb honey my mother used to buy at the supermarket, and as a teenager learning to bake, I experimented widely with using honey as a substitute for sugar in cake and quick bread recipes. But it had never fully dawned on me that the aroma and taste of honey would vary wildly according to which flowers the bees visited for nectar and pollen. The old gentleman inquired about what sort of honey I would like to try — something delicate? Something strong? A dark liquid honey? A crystallized citrus honey? Or something bitter? Not quite believing that honey could taste bitter, I chose the last, and he offered me a tiny tasting spoonful of corbezzolo honey. Corbezzolo, which is Arbutus unedo, or strawberry tree, grows all over the Italian island of Sardinia, and, less prolifically in Calabria, Sicily, and southern Tuscany. It is related to the U.S. west coast madrona tree. The tiny taste of arbutus honey filled my mouth with a burst of fresh green bitter ivy, aromatic and medicinal as Listerine gold, and I loved it. I tried several more of the man’s honeys, then purchased a two pound jar of arbutus, and one pound jars of heather and eucalyptus honeys.

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Evaluating honey samples in the class. Standing are Gian Luigi Marcazzan and Dario Pozzolo.

Unifloral honey samples ready for taste testing.

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I finished that first jar of arbutus honey in a couple of months, and next time there was an outdoor market in the monastery courtyard, I was there bright and early for another big jar of this Sardinian honey I could find in no local shop. (Locally, black locust and chestnut honeys are ubiquitous). The honey man gave me his business card, and after that, whenever I ran out, I telephoned him in Turin, and he mailed me a nicely boxed jar of honey, c.o.d. The honey man was not a producer himself, just a honey connoisseur who purchased highquality unifloral honeys from producers throughout Italy, and bottled them under his own label. Years passed, our daughters grew up, and we moved to a house surrounded by fruit orchards, pastures, and woods. Passionate about aromatic herbs, I planted an extensive and unusual flowering herb garden, and noticed that some distant neighbors kept bees. That winter, looking through a pamphlet of adult education courses, I was drawn to the course on apiculture (beekeeping), and signed up to start in January of 2007. It was held at the local beekeeper’s association headquarters, taught by the officers and veterinarian of the association, and lasted ten weeks—one two-hour evening course per week. There were about 20 of us in the course. Some of my fellow students were already beekeepers, but had learned their skills from a family member or mentor and wanted to improve their knowledge and technique. But most of us were new to beekeeping. By early spring I had acquired all the necessary basic equipment second hand and had it gamma rayed at a nearby factory. A neighbor and fellow beekeeper sold me two colonies. With each passing year my apiary grew, and, unless the weather was exceptionally uncooperative, I produced more honey. The bee veterinarian from the association became a friend and occasional visitor, and on one of his visits I proudly showed him a jar of my newly harvested black locust honey. He said, “It looks very nice, except for those black specks!” “What black specks?” I said. “If you entered this honey in a competition, points would be taken off for that.” After he had left I used a magnifying glass and did indeed see a couple of miniscule black specks in my honey. It was only the following year that I figured out that the black specks were tiny fragments of burnt honey coming off my electric uncapping knife. I scrubbed it to its original splendor with steel wool. I also discovered later that my friend the bee vet was on the National Registry of Honey Tasting Experts, a pre requisite for Italian honey competition judges. The following year, having taken care of the black speck problem, and carefully separating my first harvest honey before

American Bee Journal

uncapping, sometimes even frame by frame, for light colored black locust honey, I believed my product was ready for a competition. I entered the first edition of the Golden Bee Great Honeys of Lombardy in the fall of 2013. After some weeks had passed, I received a phone call from the president of the Association of Lombardy Beekeepers congratulating me on my honey that had placed ninth with a score of 88.33 (considered “very good”), and inviting me to attend the awards ceremony in Brescia. When I received my quality certificate, I noted that, under “observations” was written, “Taste/smell—presence of crucifer”. In fact, my husband had planted broccoli rabe next to my hives that year. The next year, I asked him to plant the broccoli rabe somewhere else, and, in the fall of 2014 I again entered my black locust unifloral honey in the second edition of the same contest. There were many more entries that year, so my honey placed lower, even with its higher score or 91.25 (still in the “very good” category), and the visual observation, “slight presence of foam”. In 2015 I double strained all my honey using a regular strainer over an organza bag, and took a risk by entering three different honeys—black locust, wildflower, and chestnut—in the third edition of the contest. My black locust came in 14th, with an almost “excellent” score of 94.67, my wildflower honey surprised me by placing 6th (thanks in part to my flowering herb gardens), with a score of 94.33, while my chestnut honey, unsurprisingly to me, really bombed, coming in 19th, with a score of 60.50 (“sufficient”). This was because the many chestnut and linden trees where I live are simultaneously in bloom, and it is impossible to separate the two honeys when uncapping. The observation was, “Not conforming well to the category”. Having received expert judgment on my products made me curious as to how people become honey tasters, and, with a web search I found Crea-Api. Crea-Api is the Italian institute for research in beekeeping and sericulture (silkworm rearing). It is part of the Council for Agricultural Research, and has been in operation, in Bologna, but under different names, for nearly a hundred years. This is the only institute in the world that offers a three-part course (followed over a period of at least fourteen months) in the sensory analysis of honey. The third and final part of the course, second level expertise, ends with an exam that, if passed, qualifies one to be on the national registry of expert honey tasters. It is a required qualification for Italian honey judges and honey tasting instructors. Each part of the course lasts for an intense 3-4 days, then a period of at least 5-9 months must elapse before moving on to the next level. During those months students are expected to study and practice regularly on their own. The courses are offered at the institute headquarters in Bologna, and,

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Instructors Dario Pozzolo (left), and Sergio Massi introduce the class to the general principles of sensory analysis. periodically, at various places throughout Italy. In addition, the Crea-Api research laboratory, located in the institute building, is fully accredited to perform physiochemical analysis (refraction, crystallization, density, hydroscopicity, electric conduction, viscosity, specific rotation, color, plus presence of sugars, water, ph, minerals, amino acids, HMF), palynologic analysis (types and quantity of pollen), biometric

analysis (how the sample compares sensorially to the established standard for that honey), and of course, sensory analysis, on honey samples brought or sent in. I wondered how the standard for a unifloral honey was decided. The standard for a black locust honey, for example, allows extreme variability in quantity of black locust pollen, although, in general, it should contain not less than 15% of this plant’s pollen. On the other hand, chestnut honey’s

A view of the basic chemical lab at the Crea-Api Center in Bologna. Other labs at the center include the Analytical Lab, Microscopy Lab and Sensory Lab.

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Laboratory analysis at Crea Api. standard for chestnut pollen is 90% or more. Apparently, more than fifteen years ago, when the standards were being developed, many samples of each unifloral honey were gathered from all over Italy, and, initially relying only on sensory analysis, composite profiles were created according to what tasted consistent and “right”. I decided to register for the introductory honey sensory analysis course held in January 2016, in Bologna. It was a four-day course, so I booked a hotel room and took the high-speed train from Milan, arriving in central Bologna in one hour, just in time to catch the 27b bus from the train station to the research center, and start class at 9 a.m. Monday. There were about 20 of us, many beekeepers, but some were not. There were professional tasters, olive oil producers, biologists, cosmetics manufacturers, and someone interested in opening a unifloral honey shop. The first morning, the instructors, researcher Raffaele Dall’Olio and technician Roberto Colombo, introduced us to the general principles of sensory analysis, which is a series of techniques using the sensory organs that enables you to reliably measure your perceptions. The history of the sensory analysis of honey began by following the basic tenets of the traditional expert methods described in the 1965 book, “Principles of

Sensory Evaluation of Food” (by Amerine, M.A., Prangborn, M.R.; Roessler. E.B., Academic Press, New York, Food Science and Technology). These principles included a laboratory physiochemical analysis, a sensory panel analysis, and statistical means. The first course in sensory analysis of honey was held in France in 1978, by Michel Gonnet and Gabriel Vache, These two then collaborated on the book, “Le Gout du Miel: l’Analyse Sensorielle et les Applications d’une Méthode d’Evaluation de le Qualité des Miels” (Ed. U.N.A.F., Paris, 1985). In 1979 Gonnet was invited to hold the first introductory course in Italy. In 1984, advanced courses were introduced in Italy, open to those who had already attended the introductory course. In 1988 the National Registry of Experts in Sensory Analysis of Honey was born, but not until 1999 was the Registry officially recognized with a ministerial decree. There are about 260 people in the Registry, most of them Italians, but, as of 2015, there is one American, C. Marina Marchese, who I’ll bring up again later. In the afternoon of the first day we got down to business. Samples of unifloral honey in unlabelled small rounded wine glasses were wheeled in on a metal cart. Every group of three or four people were given one sample at a time to inhale, warm up the wine bowl with the palm of the hand and inhale deeply again, stir the honey with

a small plastic spoon and inhale ever more profoundly, and begin to take mental and written notes of perceived aromas. Yes, it smelled good, and it smelled like honey, but what other aromas could you pick up? If the honey were sunflower, maybe it smelled a little like cooked carrot, or cardboard. If it were citrus honey, it smelled flowery, perhaps fruity, too, like fruit gelée slices, and a tiny bit metallic. The further we went with this exercise the more apparent it became that each unifloral honey had a distinctive, definable aroma unlike any of the others. By the second day we were allowed to taste the honey samples—after identifying each aroma, a tiny bit of honey on a plastic spoon, let it spread all over the tongue and inhale a little air over the tongue to open up the flavor. Sure, it tasted sweet, but on further thought, it was so much more than just sweet. The sunflower honey that smelled of cardboard and carrot blossomed on the tongue to a wonderful flavor of dried tomato, raisins, and pollen. And the citrus honey’s flavor, very like its aroma, reminded me of springtime in Naples when the orange flowers are in bloom. The first couple times we smelled and tasted the samples we were told of what botanical origin each was, but thereafter we were expected to recognize the unmarked honeys by using our senses and our notes. The seventeen unifloral Italian honeys studied were: black locust, citrus, paradise tree, thistle, chestnut, canola, arbutus, heather, eucalyptus, sunflower, fir tree honeydew, metcalf honeydew, rhododendron, sulla, dandelion, linden, and thyme, plus coriander and ivy. At the end of the four days I had a folder full of sensory notes to recognize each honey, and was awarded a finisher’s diploma. This meant that, the following October, I could go on to the first level advanced course, a three-day course held at the Bologna center. Fortunately I managed to find a genuine jar of each type of honey either in a nearby supermarket or organic foods shop, or through a mail order honey connoisseur in Trento. At first I practiced regularly, but as spring came I got too busy with other things and

(l) 2015 Biomel Organic Honey Competition Judges (r) Antonio sniffing

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tapered off, so that by fall my sensory analysis abilities had become somewhat rusty. Never mind, I dug out my notes, booked a room, and jumped on the highspeed train back to Bologna in October, 2016. I had thought the advanced course would have fewer pupils, but again it was a full house of about 20. Many of these were the same people from the introductory course, but several were new, having taking the introductory course at a different time or location. Among the new people were a professional taster, a chef, and a food journalist. The instructors were beekeeper Dario Pozzolo, technician Sergio Massi, and researcher Gian Luigi Marcazzan. We started right in with a review of the aromas and flavors of all 17 honeys. The rhythm of sensorial analysis picked up pace, it seemed we always held a goblet of honey to our noses. Besides identifying the unlabelled uniflorals, we had several tests of recognizing a small amount of unifloral honey mixed into a mild base honey such as sulla (French honeysuckle), several triangular tests, where two unmarked samples are the same (but perhaps one is crystallized and one liquid), and one is very slightly different. These could be the same unifloral honeys from two different producers, for example, or two very slightly different blends of 2 or 3 honeys. Another test was to rank five unmarked samples according to what percentage of it was monofloral (in a mild base). For example, the high might be 80% citrus honey with 20% sulla, ranging down to 10% citrus in 90% sulla, and we were to arrange them from low to high. By the end of the first day, my sensorial analysis abilities had returned in full force. On the afternoon of the third day we formed four panels of five people, and judged samples of the same unifloral honey from five different producers. Judging was based on appearance, aroma, consistency, taste type correctness, with points taken off for any defects such as black specks, presence of wax, etc. Each group then tallied and averaged each sample’s score and ranked them from best to worst. At the end of the course we were awarded finishers’ diplomas and advised to continue our study and practice until March, 2017, when the second level expert course and exam will be held. So far (until March, anyway) only one American has completed all three courses, passed the exam, and been awarded a place on the Registry. C. Marina Marchese, of Weston, Connecticut, completed her course work in March of 2015, and currently offers, through the American Honey Tasting Society, introductory courses in honey tasting. She is usually assisted by Raffaele Dall’Olio. Some of the honeys analyzed in Marchese’s courses are the standard Italian ones, for which profiles exist, and others are

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North American uniflorals, for which, as yet, no standard profiles exist. This makes sensory analysis more difficult. AHTS recently started a program called “Project: Flavor and Floral Mapping”. Most recently, samples of American citrus honeys were called for from producers. In order to begin to set up a standard profile for a unifloral honey many samples of (raw) honey are needed. Marchese also collaborated with Kim Flottum on the 2013 introductory honey tasting book, “The Honey Connossieur” (Black Dog & Leventhal Pubs., New York), an excellent starting place. On the west coast, the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute, which created a handy and inexpensive Honey Flavor and Aroma Wheel, in 2014, offers honey tasting courses. The Center has plans to analyze 5 American unifloral honeys—Florida tupelo, Midwestern sweet clover, California orange blossom, California star thistle, and Hawaiian lehua, in order to begin establishing profiles. The problem is that all of the necessary preliminary sensory analyses, and the following laboratory work, require honey tasting experts, palyntologists, researchers and technicians in an equipped laboratory, and money. These two programs are still in their early stages, and, hopefully, within a number of years, the sensory analysis of unifloral honeys in North America will be greatly appreciated by American honey producers for the prestige and customer appreciation it will ultimately bring to the product.

Suzanne Ress Suzanne Ress resides in the Province of Varese, Italy, and on Cape Cod. She can be reached at: [email protected]

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Beekeepers and beekeeping organizations are continually seeking to attract and educate new individuals to beekeeping. Several beekeeping associations have developed outreach projects to youth and young adults. One group Delaware beekeepers are seeking to attract are military service veterans.

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he next EAS conference, July 31-Aug 4, 2017 at University of Delaware will feature a presentation on the Delaware Beekeeping project reserved for service veterans entitled Planting Hope with Honey Bees. The Planting Hope project is a joint effort venture between the Delaware Beekeepers Association, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and the Delaware Departments of Agriculture and Health and Social Services. Marine Corps veteran Ronnie J. Hazlett II (SHOWN IN PHOTO) of Wilmington was the initial individual selected for the Delaware beekeeping project developed to train beekeeping skills to returning veterans, with the expectation they will pay forward and pass beekeeping interest and nuc colonies along to fellow veterans. As the first recipient, Ronnie got assistance from mentor Ray Walker of Walker Apiaries in Northern Delaware. With this designation, Ronnie initially established 1 hive and 3 nucs at the Delaware Urban Farm near New Castle. The farm is on the grounds of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services’ Herman Holloway, Sr. Campus, south of Wilmington. One nuc colony for the project was supplied by the Delaware Beekeepers Association, an anonymous Delaware Beekeeper contributed the full-sized colony and Two Drones Apiary of Lincoln Co, KY (Ron’s homeland) provided funding for two additional nucleus colonies. Beekeeping equipment was supplied by Brushy Mountain Bee Supply and smoker

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and hive tools by Mann Lake. Maxant Industries, who take great pride in helping veterans, was a significant benefactor in enabling the program to purchase honey processing items (uncapping tank, bottling tank, extractor, clarifier, wax melter) in the second season. Faith Kuehn, the environmental program administrator with the Delaware Department of Agriculture (which includes the apiary inspection program), conceived of the Delaware program, after attending a conference by the nonprofit Farmer-Veteran Coalition. Although of different designs, the Delaware and another in West Virginia both veteran programs seek to enable veterans to develop valuable, practical beekeeping skills as they return from military service. Prior to establishment of the apiary, Faith

Kuehn first started injecting a bit of nature in the heart of the Holloway complex, which houses the Delaware Psychiatric Center and DHSS administrative offices, with establishment of a 3,000-squarefoot Planting Hope Urban Farm. Now the planting includes production, sensory and community garden areas. She envisioned that the bees would be a natural to the Garden. “Gardening and beekeeping have a very practical aspect, but the actual work itself can be very healing for people going through some tough times” she says. Hazlett, a native of Lincoln County, Kentucky, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1998 following high school graduation. After honorable discharge, he enrolled at the University of Kentucky in 2003. He moved to the Wilmington area in 2010.

From left, Delaware State Apiarist Robert Mitchell; Marine veteran Ronnie Hazlett; Planting Hope Project Manager Faith Kuehn; and University of Delaware assistant professor of apiculture Debbie Delaney, in the Department of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology.

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Farmer to Chef event in Wilmington, DE

Marine veteran Ronnie Hazlett at the Planting Hope Apiary, New Castle, DE Ronnie’s interest in bees started as a youngster. He recalls several of the old Kentucky famers having beehives out behind their barn. One early memory was a fishing outing with his dad when the property owner was out checking his hives near their fishing spot. When he closed up the hives, the beekeeper gave them a chunk of comb filled with honey. “I’m excited about this opportunity to learn about beekeeping and eventually pass the knowledge on to fellow veterans,” Hazlett said in a statement released by the Delaware Department of Agriculture. “I’ve been interested in having my own hives ever since I was a kid.” Ronnie hopes one day to ”hand my child or grandchild a piece of honeycomb and give them that same memory.” The original investment has grown

substantially. Hazlett expanded the four original colonies into 8 full colonies and 5 additional nucleus colonies the first season. The apiary was also able to produce approximately 35 pounds of honey in its first season. Now, as the second full season is wrapping up, Planting Hope’s 2016 numbers are amazing compared to the previous year. Going into winter after the second season, the apiary now hosts 20 hives. In 2016, nine colonies were used for honey production, bringing in just shy of 1000 lbs of wildflower honey. The remaining hives were used to produce nucleus colonies; twenty nucleus colonies were sold to new and established beekeepers in the Delaware Valley region. The honey was sold at the Urban Farm’s

Above: Selection of candles available from Amanda’s Candles –photo courtesy of Amanda Charbonier

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Philadeplhia Honey fest display by Planting Hope project. campus market, where vegetables from the garden are also offered, as well as at Bright Spot Urban Farm, at local farmer’s markets, and through the Facebook Page https:// www.facebook.com/PHWHB/. Proceeds from the sales go back into the Planting Hope projects. To further promote the apiary, Hazlett participated in several local events. He was present at Bartram’s Garden for the Philadelphia Honey Fest, attended a Farmer and the Chef event in Wilmington, Delaware to help support the March of Dimes, and gave a presentation at the New Castle County Detention Center for youth housed and going to school there. In addition to Honey, Ronnie and his fiancèe Amanda have began producing an expansive line of 100% Beeswax candles. “Amanda is terrified by any kind of bee,” Hazlett exclaimed, “but, this has been a great way for her to get involved without having to worry about getting stung!” Amanda’s Candles line includes almost 100 different designs, all of which are offered at farmer’s markets and on the Facebook page. For the upcoming season, new veteran volunteers are being sought to help grow the program. A second apiary is planned at Victory Village at Boxwood Manor in Port Penn, a new 24-bed housing facility for veterans. At the summer EAS at the University of Delaware, Marine veteran Hazlett, Faith Kuehn of DOA and veterans project mentor Ray Walker of Walker Apiaries in Northern DE will give a keynote address on their project and the new season’s progress. That presentation is Friday August 4 at University of Delaware Clayton Hall Campus. See www. easternapiculutre.org website for details about EAS and the week-long Short Course and conference. Registration will be through the same web site.

American Bee Journal

Veterans Sought for Beekeeping Opportunity DOVER, Deleaware -- Delaware veterans interested in beekeeping can apply to be part of the Planting Hope Apiary project, the Delaware Department of Agriculture announced in November. One veteran will be selected to receive training and mentoring, beehive materials, protective gear, and bees to help establish the hives. Extraction and honey bottling equipment will be arranged, with the veteran to be responsible for other materials and supplies. The two hives will be located at Blackbird State Forest near Townsend. “This project is a unique way to thank our veterans for their service and sacrifice,” said Faith Kuehn, DDA’s Plant Industries administrator and Planting Hope project manager. “Bees have countless benefits and hold a lot of fascination for many of us, and we want to help lower the barrier to getting people involved.” Applications from veterans of all branches of the armed forces, including Guard and Reserves veterans, will be accepted through December 23. Interested veterans can submit a one-page summary

detailing their interest in beekeeping and their thoughts about developing a pollination and bee products business, as well as three references and contact information. The material should be submitted to Faith Kueuhn at the Delaware Department of Agriculture, 2320 South DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901, or by email at faith. [email protected]. On veterans day 2016, a press release was issued seeking application from veterans to participate in the continuing program. A new 2-colony apiary will be located in a 2nd Planting Hope apiary in Blackbird State Forest. Yet a future apiary is evisioned for Victory Village at Boxwood Manor in Port Penn, a new 24-bed housing facility for veterans. The site at Blackbird State Forest will be the second for the Planting Hope Apiary project. The first site is located at the Planting Hope Urban Farm at the Herman Holloway Campus near New Castle. U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ronnie Hazlett II was selected last year as the first veteran partner.

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American Bee Journal

This is an aerial view of the seven acre skep beehive corn maze located on the Weathers Family Farms in eastern Colorado.

In 2016 Nikki Weathers of Yuma, Colorado, was selected the Southwest Regional Winner in Monsanto’s annual Farm Mom of the Year Contest. This event honors farm women who are strong advocates of agriculture and live a farming lifestyle. From hundreds of highly qualified nominated candidates five regional winners from across the United States were picked.

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ikki explained, “I was very excited to learn I was named a regional winner and surprised to find out that a great friend of mine along with my brother-in-law had both turned in nomination letters about me.” She and her husband Nathan are fourth generation farmers on the family’s Weathers Farms where they help farm about 2,500 acres of irrigated corn and popcorn with

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Nathan’s parents. Additionally, they, along with Nikki’s brother, Danny, also farm 1,500 acres of a combination of field corn and popcorn. Their land is located about six miles from the town of Yuma (pop. 3,524) in eastern Colorado. Nikki explained, “We are also raising 250 head of commercial Angus cows, plus we grow some sweet corn that our kids pick and sell in town to put funds in their

college savings account.” Besides the corn and cattle operations, they grow alfalfa, grass and oat hay. They sell their locally raised beef as well as fertilizers through a company called Conklin. As a regional winner Nikki received a check for $5,000 in July and traveled to Monsanto’s world headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, where she spent a day touring their research facilities and then another

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Nikki Weathers is the Southwest Regional winner of Monsanto’s Farm Mom of the Year Contest for 2016. day of media training. Since then she has had a number of opportunities to relate her farming story with radio, newspaper and TV reporter interviews. Married for nine years the Weathers’ live on their family farm with their two children, Ty 6 and Tenley 4. Both children help with chores around the farm. Nikki said Ty loves to help with the cattle from gathering, sorting to vaccinating. He also has a heifer of his own that he has to feed and take care of. Tenley, on the other hand, is the farmer who loves to dig in the dirt in the garden and pumpkin patch. She also loves to ride in the tractor with an adult any time it is moving. Both Nikki and Nathan have been involved with Agriculture nearly their entire lives. She was raised on a cattle ranch in southwestern Colorado, and Nathan grew up on a grain farm in the northeastern region of the state. They both attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, and then transferred to Colorado

State University in Fort Collins where they met. Nikki graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Ag Business and Animal Science and Nathan earned his degree in Ag Business and Soil & Crop Science. Following college, Nathan returned to the farm to work with his dad, while Nikki took a job at the local co-op. She started working at the grain elevator and then moved to the energy accounting department where she filed excise fuel taxes and kept track of all customer contracts. Today, while keeping the books and records for the Weathers Farms operations she also keeps books for a few additional farmers in the area. For the past four years they’ve grown and operated an enterprising seven acre corn maze and a small “you pick it” pumpkin patch on their farm. Nikki said, “We open the maze up on weekends in October to the public. Because we live in a rural area and being six miles from the town of Yuma, we don’t have a large population draw, but we do have a few hundred visitors.” They charge $6 for adults and $4 for kids under 12. During the week and by appointment they open the maze up to field trips from four different school districts (mainly pre-k to 5th grade). When families and school children visit, Nikki looks at it as a hands-on education opportunity to pass on information about farming. This year school-aged students were instructed on the role that bees play in pollinating our food products and it includes the process of honey making. Nikki said they believe it is important that visitors gain the experience of seeing what a real life farm is like and they do not set up any carnival activities. Each year they select a different promotional agriculture theme for their corn maze. One year they had the maze in a design of a large pumpkin. They then provided tours of their pumpkin patch and had information available to hand out and gave talks to visitors about farming and the life cycle of pumpkins. Another year they had a picture of a combine picking corn and they taught visitors about how they raise corn for feed

and silage and also popcorn. That year they let school students pick their own ear of popcorn to take home. Nikki said that last year (2016) with their corn maze they did a special tribute to beekeepers by picturing a traditional skep beehive so they could teach about the importance of pollinators to the agriculture industry and how they use bees on their farm. Although they don’t actually keep bees on their farm, Nikki explained, “We have a neighbor a few miles away who grows about 300 acres of pumpkins commercially. He grows them in irrigated circles and contracts with chain stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot. When commercial beekeepers place bee yards on this farm, the bees will also travel to our farm and pollinate our ½ acre pumpkin patch as well as our 55 acre alfalfa hay field.” With ten different varieties of pumpkins in their patch they’ll get several different color and shape combinations from cross pollination from the bees. Nikki added that there aren’t many large-scale beekeepers in their region who she’s aware of, but there are a few smaller ones. Farm crops vary in their area and also include fields of sunflowers, potatoes and canola. A lot of people are surprised when they learn that the entire seven acre corn field is planted all at the same time. Nikki explained that the electric drives on the corn planter are connected with the hightech GPS system on the tractor. Thus by programming the skep beehive design into the computer, it controls when to shut down, or turn back on the planting. “There are in fact places on the skep hive maze that only required a couple seeds in order to make the proper design. By planting the maze right in with our regular field corn, we do not waste any seeds. We also don’t have to go back and mow through the stalks once it all comes up. We feel it saves a significant amount of time and resources.” Nikki said, hoping to further educate the general public, who may not know a lot about farms or bees, a variety of farming

(l) Four farm family generations of Weathers pose for a picture. (L-R) Nathan (with his future farming son Ty), great grandpa Tom and grandpa Byron. (r) Nikki and Nathan Weathers along with their children, Ty 6 and Tenley 4, gather in a field with part of their 250 head cow herd.

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American Bee Journal

and beekeeping resource information is made available before people head into the corn maze. Most of the beekeeping teaching materials she gathered came from the American Farm Bureau, plus Monsanto provided farming materials to pass out. When they opened the skep beehive corn maze this fall, Nikki said their four year old daughter Tenley, tagged along and listened to her when she talked about farming and the pollination role bees play when she meets and greets school children on their field trips. According to Nikki, before long Tenley had taken it upon herself to help her Mom out by telling everyone that bees are safe and that you don’t want to kill them. She added, they may not be as big and fun to play with as a dog, but you can keep them in the back yard. Both Nikki and Nathan are very involved in the Farm Bureau organization. Nikki currently sits on the state board of directors as the Women’s Leadership Chair. They were also members for several years of the American Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher committee. Nikki says she is involved with Common Ground, an association which provides a way for women who grow food to interact with women who purchase food and may have questions about the process. They have also been members of the National Corn Growers Association for about 15 years. With their growing cattle herd they are members of the following beef organizations: the National Cattlemens Beef Association, the American Angus Association and the American Hereford Association. According to Nikki, although they are

Nikki strolls through the skep beehive corn maze with her children Ty and Tenley. The maze is open to the public on weekends during the month of October. During the week it is open to groups and school class field trips by appointment

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Nikki Weathers and her kids check out the pumpkins growing in a patch located next to their farm’s seven acre corn maze that is planted in the design of a skep beehive. kept busy with their farming responsibilities, they still find time to participate in their local church and they love to be involved with their kids’ school activities. Nikki said in the next few years, “We’d love to expand and grow our cow herd by adding some registered Hereford and Angus to what we already have. Our goal would be to share and sell safe and affordable beef.” They are also in the process of growing the amount of ground they farm. “In this day and age it is very difficult for young farmers to get started in a very expensive occupation. We have some great neighbors and family who have really helped us expand the amount of acres we can affordably farm.” In summing up what Nikki Weathers

learned about bees once she was named the Southwest Regional Winner of Monsanto’s annual Farm Mom of the Year Contest for 2016 and selected a skep beehive for the design in their corn field maze she stated, “I have been lucky enough to visit the Monsanto world headquarters twice in the last year. The amazing research they are doing on honey bees is astounding. Knowing bees are important to our future, I gained specific facts and knowledge about why they are so important. Hive health has been a great concern and researchers are working to ensure ways to get rid of varroa mites and find natural resources to feed bees safely. If we don’t have bees in the future, there are many foods we will not have the pleasure of eating.”

Aerial view of the skep corn maze after the corn has dried and turned brown.

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American Bee Journal

by Dr. Wyatt a. ManguM university of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, Virginia e-mail: [email protected] tBHSbyWaM.com

A. E. Manum: a Famous Vermont Beekeeper

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lthough his name has drifted into obscurity, in the first half of the 1880’s, A. E. Manum was nationally known (see Figure 1). Manum was a beekeeper selling honey by the ton and manufacturing beekeeping supplies on a large scale in Vermont. His origins, however, were humble, and he did not come from a beekeeping family. Augustine E. Manum was born in Waitsfield, Vermont in 1839.1 In the late 1840’s, his father apparently passed away. The 1850 census showed Manum residing with the Joselyn family, still living in Waitsfield, but parted from his mother and sisters. After being an apprentice in the harness trade, Manum moved to Bristol, Vermont around 1857. There he began his harness business at 18 years old. Manum would eventually give it up when his bee business became prosperous.2 In 1870, Manum read Quinby’s Mysteries of Bee-keeping Explained, by Moses Quinby, inventor of the bee smoker. The book sparked his interest in bees. Manum began beekeeping with four purchased hives, and he increased his hive numbers and honey production. In 1885, he produced 44,000 pounds of section comb honey, averaging 93.25 pounds per colony. That honey production occurred over a 12-day basswood nectar flow. Eventually Manum would surpass 700 hives in eight apiaries1 (see Figures 2 and 3). Manum manufactured bee equipment with his distinctive designs. Historical items related to Manum are exceedingly difficult to find. However, I have been lucky a few times. To see the original hives, Figure 4 shows Manum’s hives with their numerous peaked roofs on a hillside.1 I also wanted to know how Manum used his hive. Since Manum manufactured and sold his hives,

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his catalogs, although very rare, provided a wealth of obscure details. Figure 5 shows his 1881 catalog. The hive on the cover is the outer case, which appears as a city of hives ascending the hill in Figure 4. Figure 6 shows a miniature version of Manum’s outer case with its distinctive gable roof. This little hive was a salesman sample hive, a small portable “model” used to promote and sell the hive. Originally, the rest of the scaled-down hive, brood frames, etc. would have probably been inside the outer case, just like in the full-size hive. Figure 7 of the 1881 catalog shows the “inner” hive, where the bees would reside. Above the extra steep alighting board were the brood frames. Around the brood

Figure 1. A. E. Manum.1

frames was an inner wall. From his catalog, the Manum hive had a three-inch spacing between the outer case and the interior wall around brood frames. Manum filled this space around the brood frames with insulating chaff for the winter, which could have been sawdust, cut straw, or shavings from a wood plane. I know about similar hive designs from the early 1880’s in the northeast, which helps to fill in some gaps on how Manum may have used his hive (details missing in the catalog). A chaff tray most likely went above the frames for top insulation during the winter and to absorb moisture from the bees. Notice in this arrangement, the bees would winter only on one set of brood frames, as a single story hive in modern slang. Manum’s brood frames were only 9 ½ inches deep. For honey production, Manum’s hive originally was meant for producing section comb honey (extracted honey came later). Comb honey section boxes received detailed description in Manum’s supply catalogs. Section boxes were labor intensive for beekeepers to assemble, much more than the modern one-piece design, where the beekeeper folded three corners and pressed together the finger joints (small dovetails) of the fourth corner. Manum made a fourpiece section box where all four sides had finger joints. Thus, all four corners had to be assembled (glued and pressed). This section box was thought stronger than a four-piece section just nailed together or one-piece section folded together (in the modern way). Manum sold the very popular one-pound section box, 4 ¼ square (still used today), and other sizes, for example a larger section box that held two pounds of honey. The section boxes were held tightly in a row, called a clamp. The hive in Figure 7 has three clamps on it. The number of

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(l) Figure 2. In Manum’s commercial operation, he would hire a beekeeper to manage each of his large apiaries (around 100 hives each). Shown here are some of his employees. Manum is second from the left and his son Fred is at the far left. Manum’s distinctive smoker hangs from the hive. The hive is closed, perhaps to show his smoker along with the beekeepers.3 (r) Figure 3. Horse protection while pulling loads of honey from Manum apiaries. Once well away from the apiary, the driver could remove the cotton coverings. The wagon carried 169 clamps of honey, or 2560 one-pound sections–over a ton of honey.4 Back then beekeepers spoke of “clamps of honey” analogous to us saying “supers of honey.” Bees could easily frighten horses, calling for special attention, especially when hauling hives. section boxes in a clamp seemed to vary with its design and size of the section box. In addition, some kind of separator (partition) was typically between the section boxes, usually a thin piece of wood. The Crane clamp had tin separators between the section boxes in one row. In addition, the Crane clamp seemed best for the large two-pound sections shown in Figure 7. According to a price circular in 1885, Manum’s Bristol clamp was recommended for smaller onepound sections. That clamp had two rows of eight sections for a total of 16. Two clamps covered the brood frames of Manum’s Bristol hive and three tiers (layers), analogous to supers, were possible, for a total of 96 sections, the maximum capacity,

which could always fit in his hive. That is why all the hives in Figure 4 are the same height. In old beekeeping literature, a clamp could mean what we would call a super of comb honey sections, instead of just one or two rows of section boxes. Interestingly, the 1885 price circular has a kind of “evolution to a super.” First was the Crane clamp as one row of sections. Next was the Bristol clamp as two rows of sections. Then came another clamp, called a Twin clamp, which covered all the brood frames. From the description (no picture given), the Twin clamp sounded like a comb honey super. The claim that the Twin clamp worked on a “single wall” hive (no outer case) suggested

Figure 4. Manum’s hillside apiary.1 From what I have read, here and there, Manum preferred his hives on a hill. He thought the airflow was better, and the honey was easier to carry out of the apiary.

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this clamp was essentially a modern super, just for comb honey sections. In the 1885 circular, the Twin clamp description came last, beginning ironically at the bottom of the page, under its more famous clamp cousins. Yet this Twin clamp design prevailed. And now what would most any practical beekeeper do? Remove the comb honey section boxes, make some minor modifications on the shell (the body), install shallow frames–and you have a modern

Figure 5. Manum’s Fourth-Annual Circular and Price List of Bee-keeper Supplies for 1881. In addition to selling honey and beekeeping equipment, Manum sold and shipped bees and queens. He even shipped queen cells in warm weather.

American Bee Journal

Figure 6. A salesman sample outer case for Manum’s Bristol hive. Miniature hives are very rare. Note the standard hive tool (for scale) beside the hive. super for extracted honey. The evolution from clamp to super is complete. Besides designing his own hive, Manum designed his own bee smoker, shown in Figure 8. From long days working in the apiary, Manum knew the design features to make smoking the bees more efficient. His smoker hooked on the edge of the hive, near the beekeeper’s hands as seen in Figure 2. I had the picture of Figure 8 in my head for over a couple of decades before I found a

Figure 9. Two rare Manum smokers, the left one is older. It has an external bellows spring, but with only two coils of the wire to keep the bellows open. The hook is present, as depicted in the catalog, for hanging the smoker on the hive. The offset hole was meant to accept the tube nozzle. The smoker on the right lacks the hook on the bellows, and it has a typical hole at the tip of its funnel. Its bellows are larger with additional coils in the spring, providing more strength and durability. Although the smoker style remained steadfastly Manum, the simplifications made it more similar to the modern smoker.

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Figure 7. The interior of the Bristol hive. Manum smoker. The little back projecting nozzle had been knocked off, the delicate soldering attaching it not surviving some 135 years, but it had been there. The hole at the end of the funnel was not centered there as one might expect. Rather, it was cut slightly off center where the little tube nozzle would enter from the side (see Figure 9). At one point, A. I. Root of Medina, Ohio visited Manum in Vermont. (I am not sure of the date.) Manum impressed Root, and Root especially liked Manum’s swarm catcher. We saw that device in the previous column article. I used it to catch the summer swarm from the roof of my bee house. Root must have secured the rights from Manum to mass-produce his swarm catcher. The swarm catcher appeared in the bee supply catalogs of the A. I. Root Company for several years and also the ABC of Bee Culture1 (see Figure 10). In 1884, Manum sold his bee supply business to the Drake and Smith Company2, who seemed to keep much of his original

Figure 10. The Manum swarm catcher. The tripod held up the screen basket on a pole while the swarm clustered around it.

Figure 8. A Manum bee smoker. It was offered for sale in both catalogs, for 1881 and 1885, suggesting it had somewhat of a production life. wares, at least by the following year. Figure 11 shows the Circular and Price list for 1885. One reason for the sale was the destruction of basswood trees, the prime nectar source for the comb honey. Basswood is an exceptional wood for making the comb honey section boxes with its fine tight grain and pristine white color. Even after Manum (and others) switched to white poplar for making section boxes, essentially millions of them, the destruction of basswood trees continued because the wood had other uses (furniture for example). Indeed from the Northeast to further West, the demise of basswood forests made large quantities comb honey from basswood fundamentally unsustainable. Manum branched out from beekeeping, and pursued other agricultural interests: raising swine, chickens, potatoes, and

Figure 11. Changing of the guard. Manum sold his bee supply company in 1884. As best as I can tell, here is the first catalog from the new owners, the Drake and Smith Company.

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Figure 12. An envelope from Manum’s business, postmarked in 1892, Bristol, Vermont, and sent general delivery, a common practice at the time.

producing jams and jellies in glass tumblers. Manum even made fertilizers. In the winter of 1904, Manum sold his farm in Bristol and moved to California with his second wife, Hattie. (His first wife, Rozella, had passed away in 1891. In 1865, his two daughters by Rozella had died from dysentery when they were only five and two years old. His son, Fred, from Manum’s first marriage, by the time of his California exodus, was grown and stayed in Bristol.) On the West coast, Manum continued with his other agricultural interests, including growing gladiolus flowers.2 Augustine E. Manum passed away on June 25, 1915 in Pasadena, California. He was buried in the Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. (Hattie passed on February 21, 1921, and she was also buried in the Rosedale cemetery.2) Well into the first decade of the 1900’s, the standardization of beekeeping equipment had begun in earnest. The singlewall Simplicity hive, as they called it back then, to us the modern hive, was being massproduced by virtually all bee suppliers. Even Manum had it in his 1881 catalog, and Drake & Smith kept it as of 1885. I am not sure how long Drake & Smith produced Manum’s hive and his smoker. In similar situations after a few years or so, the regional hive or smoker designs were dropped as the bee supply companies transitioned completely to standard equipment. (I am still looking for a Manum hive and any style of clamps.) Nevertheless, A. E. Manum flourished. He started as a beginning beekeeper with one bee book and four hives. He expanded his operation to producing honey by the ton with hundreds of hives. Manum was creative and innovative. He applied his talents to designing his own hive and smoker. Manum’s swarm-catcher idea lives on, helping beekeepers retrieve valuable swarms from trees. With his own beekeeping equipment, Manum built a successful bee supply company. In all, A. E. Manum was a talented Vermont beekeeper to admire and remember. Perhaps the return address on Manum’s stationery says it best (as shown in Figure 12). Acknowledgments The author thanks Suzanne Sumner for her comments on the manuscript. Visit TBHSbyWAM.com.

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References Root, A. I. (1891). ABC of Bee Culture. A. I. Root Company. Medina, Ohio. 2 Dearborn, R. (2016). Historical Spaces: Tales of the Bristol Beekeeper. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/ story/news/local/2016/09/23/talesbristol-beekeeper/90916160/. Accessed October, 2016. 3 Manum, A. E. (1898). Horses in nightcaps and night-gowns. Bee Culture. 26(24): 807-809. 4 Anonymous (1898). Supplement: Picture Gallery of the Gleanings in Bee Culture. Bee Culture. 26(20). 1

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American Bee Journal

January 2017

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American Bee Journal

Most of us have been involved with fairs. Either we’ve manned our own booths or helped out with the club’s county fairs. Dealing with people is mostly fun and gratifying, but, every so often, there are interactions that are not perfect. In fact, they’re down-right frustrating. In this article, we will offer advice as well as roll-play suggestions for how to handle these different situations.

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ere, then, are the situations, and our suggestions as to how to deal with them:

• The hanger-on. Some people like to stick around your booth and talk. And talk. And talk. The person (guy #1) appears eager and interested, so you engage with him. When someone else comes along with questions, Guy #1 offers his opinion. But when you realize that guy #1 is not going away, you wonder how to get rid of him. After all, it isn‘t fair to the other people who want to spend a few minutes at your booth, if nothing more than to view the observation hive, without being lectured to by a non-beekeeper who knows everything about bees. One way to handle the situation is to confront the person gently. Say, “Look, I know you are curious about beekeeping and I appreciate it. But a lot of other people are equally interested. And I need to be able to devote my full concentration to them. So how about if you take off for a while and look at the other exhibits. If you think of some other questions, you can come back at the end of the day. Is that fair?” Hopefully, he’ll be agreeable and move along. Another approach is to be more aggressive in your rebuff. When he interrupts another person at the booth, look at him and say, “Look, I want to run this myself. January 2017

Can’t you understand that?” If he continues butting in, tell him that you will call security to have him removed. Another approach is to take a break, while your replacement takes over. The replacement might say: “I don’t know anything about bees” and that precludes continual conversation. Take as long a break as you need, until the annoying individual departs. With this approach, he’ll leave without being offended.

• The misbehaving child (children). The mother seems unfocused while her kids are tapping the glass of the observation hive, picking up jars of honey, running their fingers along wax ornaments, and generally being less than well-behaved, adorable children. As a starter, point to a sign which says “Do not touch.” Suggest to the mother that she should see that her children obey the rules. If that doesn’t work, became more forceful. Say: “Hey, Mother, your kids are not treating my equipment with respect. Please take them away right now.” Unfortunately, this leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, especially the other customers standing around your booth who might be considering making a purchase. So try humor. Get down to the kids eye level, and say, “How would like your house knocked at so violently that it shakes. I

bet you wouldn’t like it a bit, buddy boy. And I’m sure your mother agrees.” Rising, look up at mother and say, “Last year, a child hit the glass so violently that it broke. Needless to say, the bees escaped and all hell broke loose. Please mother, see that your child doesn’t set the alarm off.” If a few children are fingering products, again get down to their level, and say something like this: “Hey kids, think of these jars as little people. They wouldn’t like to be man-handled, so please don’t touch the merchandise.” Or try this: “Your fingerprints are all over my jars. Fingerprints are evidence. You wouldn’t like to go to jail, would you?” This last statement doesn’t make that much sense, except it deals with crime, something the kids see on TV every day. Most likely, the youngsters won’t exactly believe you, but they’ll be so put off that they’ll stop. With all these mock-humorous responses, you achieve the results you want without losing your head and without looking like an angry person.

• The price chiseler. A customer looks over your products, and says, “I don’t believe that you get $14.00 for this jar of honey. That’s highway robbery.” Don’t follow one rude comment with another. Stay calm, especially if people are around. In fact, if there are other people there, you can win an audience. The steps are: smile, 95

agree, and explain. It might go something like this, “Well, yes, $14 is a lot of money. But this isn’t store-bought honey. This is local honey. All the healthy ingredients are kept inside this bottle, because it’s not batched, heated, pasteurized, and otherwise tampered with, as store-bought honey is. When you’re eating a teaspoon of my honey, it’s not only fresh and tasty. It’s good for you. You see, bees bringing the nectar back to the hive, add healthful enzymes to the liquid. These enzymes fight infection, both in and on the body. Heating and batching kills the enzymes. Only local honey is health-giving. That’s why you are willing to pay extra for my honey. In fact, I have several customers who buy a dozen jars to insure that they obtain enough.” Such an argument puts the ball in the customer’s hands. He must respond to you. If he says, “I’m still not willing to pay so much,” add “That’s right, you don’t have to buy my honey. But you might think of treating yourself to something special, and just see if you don’t feel better, feel more alive, feel reinvigorated a few months down the line. Many of my regular customers tell me they really feel better. Maybe you will too.” Plant the seed. Perhaps down the road he might buy local honey at your stand or at someone else’s.

• The active child. A child in front of you jumps up and down, shouting “I was stung by a bee at the beach. I was stung and it hurt.” Use this as an educational opportunity. Ask about the reaction and after effects of the sting to determine if it was a honey bee. Explain that there are 300 flying, stinging insects, and a honey bee is just one variety. Point out that honey bees only sting when they feel that they are in danger. Suggest that it might have been a wasp or hornet that stung. That will quiet the child, so that he won’t keep jumping up and down in front of your stand. Plus the comment might reduce the fear of bees, or at least alert the public that not all flying, stinging insects are honey bees. • The outsider bees who buzz the stand. Often, some random bees will find their way to your stand. They might arrive an hour after opening up. These bees are from nearby hives and the scent has caught their attention. Don’t worry. Unless you have on open bottle, there won’t be a stampede. These bees will look around, and after a while, not finding anything, leave. A few other bees might arrive, but you only have to deal with a few bees at a time. Don’t try to swat them away. Don’t kill them with a flyswatter. Don’t spray them with poison. Again use humor to dissipate fear. Say. “Don’t worry, folks. These are just my friendly bees seeing what’s going on. If you don’t annoy them, they will not bother you.” And go on with your business of educating and selling bee products. Such a fear release will go a long way in reducing concern. 96

You might try spraying the area above your stand with air freshener. This might keep the bees from smelling honey and wax. Also wipe any slightly sticky jars with wet wipes. Such housekeeping might just keep the bees away. Finally, if you offer samples, you will have to cover your jars after each sampling.

• The rain problem. When it rains, fair sales suffer. Even worse, it dampens spirits. When it rains hard, there is nothing that you can do except to get out of the rain. If it rains sporadically and not too hard, an umbrella could save the day. Hold an umbrella up over the customer as he browses your product offerings. Keeping him/her dry just might make the person inclined to buy something. I always use a large umbrella festooned with a honey bee design. Large caricatures of smiling honey bees in black and yellow lighten the mood. I also offer a 20% rainy day special. I might state that, because of the rain, we are offering a large discount, because we don’t want to carry everything home. Some customers will take you up on your offer. Even in inclement weather, price savings have a way to loosening the purse strings. • The bee vomit antagonist. Sometimes, a wise guy approaches your booth, with the remark, “I don’t like honey because it’s bee vomit,” and he laughs as if it’s a big joke. Here’s where you can trump him with your superior knowledge. “No, sir. That’s not true at all. You see, honey bees have two stomachs, a honey stomach and a digestive stomach, and each works independently. So vomit goes through the digestive stomach while pure, natural honey comes out of the honey stomach. In addition, the enzymes that bees put into honey makes everything germ-free. Did you know that honey laid on a wound fights infections?” With this, you have mollified his fears, or ruined his joke, depending on where he was coming from. Anyway, now you can go into your closer line: “If you were serious about that fear, you should try some of this honey. After a few tastes, you will know the purity of my product.” Use these strategies at your upcoming fairs, and you’ll be prepared to handle whatever comes along.

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January 2017

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American Bee Journal

Chinese tallow tree, Florida aspen, chicken tree, gray popcorn tree (Euphorbiaceae) Scientific name: Triadica sebifera Synonyms: Sapium sebiferum Origin: China, Japan [5 &13]. Plant Description: The ultimate height of the tree is generally 30 to 40 ft and occasionally 60 ft. Dirr[3] states that the national champion is/was 76 ft in height and was located in Polk County, TX. The leaves are about 3.5 to 7 cm (~1.4 to 2.8 in ) long and about as broad. They are abruptly acuminate1, broadly cuneate. The slender petioles are 2 to 5 cm (~ 0.8 to 2 in) long. The leaf looks much like a poplar leaf. The yellow-greenish floral displays are slender and generally 5 to 10 cm (~2 to 4 in) long. The male florets are located at the apex of the display while generally 1 to 5 female florets are located at the base of the inflorescence. The fruits are three segmented brownish capsules 1 to 1.5 cm (~0.4 to 0.6 in) across. The capsules open to expose the white waxy seeds which gives the species one of its common names, the popcorn tree. The leaves turn reddish to red in the fall.[3 & 9] The species is native to China and Japan [13].

flower for about two weeks. In Louisiana the species blooms in April and May with floral displays 4 to 5 inches long.[8] Occasionally in Louisiana it may bloom a second time with smaller floral displays[8]. Skinner and Mahler[2] seem to indicate that it blooms August to November in North Central Texas. Compared to other blooming dates in the literature however, this seems late to this author. Perhaps it represents a second blooming period as occurs in Louisiana. Importance as a honey plant: Ayers and Harman[1] from their questionnaires found the species to be of some importance in Texas. Where the plant is plentiful, it can be quite a good honey plant (see honey potential below). Honey potential: Pellett[7] reports honey yields of 60 to 100 pounds from the Houston, Texas area. Pollet[8], writing about Louisiana honey plants, states that it is “the number one source of

Distribution: See map.[11] Blooming period: Pellett[7] reports in the Houston, Texas area there is continual bloom for about six weeks beginning in early May. There individual trees are reported to Distribution of

Triadica sebifera

1

Acuminate: gradually tapering to a sharp point with concave sides along the tip. Cuneate: wedge shaped and tapering to a point.

January 2017

Photo of Triadica sebifera in flower. © Dwain Goforth. Be sure to notice the spectacular floral displays.

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in their landscapes. There is, however, a much darker portrayal of this species. The following text is found in the 1999 ‘Shinners and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas: “The species was introduced into the U.S. in South Carolina in the late 1770s and is now widespread; it displaces native vegetation and is considered one of the most serious invasive exotics in the U.S[2]” It is also claimed that the species releases compounds that modify soil chemistry that affects the establishment of native species and the sap is said to be poisonous.[2] Not surprisingly, it seems not to be mentioned in Watkins and Sheehan’s Florida Landscape Plants.[12]

Herbarium specimen of Triadica sebifera showing the seed capsules and whitish seeds that give the species one of its common names, ‘The popcorn tree’. The white waxy coat is extracted by the Chinese for use in soaps and candles.[3] Photo taken in the Michigan State University Herbarium. a majority of the honey crop each year.” Harvey Lovell[6] cites L. A. M. Barnett, apparently from Eastern Texas, as indicating the average surplus is 75 to 100 lbs per colony, but in 1948 he produced 228 lbs per colony. The Lawrence Goltz[4] version of the Harvey Lovell manual[4] indicates that the average yields are 35 to 50 lbs per colony in Texas. Honey: Pellett[7] reports the honey to be amber in color with a mild though excellent flavor. In Louisiana the honey is considered table grade and is light to medium amber, has a mild flavor, and is used to blend with other honeys.[8] Harvey Lovell[6] indicates that the honey is light amber with a good flavor and body. Pollen: The pollen is yellow and abundant. Additional information: The species is said to have a reddishpurple fall color, making the species useful in landscapes[3]. While Sanford[10] doesn’t seem to mention the species in his treatment of Florida honey plants, he does list it in his ornamental plants list for homeowners, the implication being that it is a good plant for homeowners who want to provide nectar and pollen for bees

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References 1. Ayers, G. S. and J. R. Harman. 1992. Bee Forage of North America and the Potential for Planting for Bees. In: The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant and Sons. Hamilton, IL 2. Diggs, G.M., Lipscomb, B.L., O’Kennon, B., Mahler, W. F., & Shinners, L.H. (1999). Shinners & Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Fort Worth, Tex, Botanical Research Institute of Texas. Fort Worth, Texas. 3. Dirr, M. A. 1998. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Stipes Publishing L. L. C. Champaign, Illinois. 4. Goltz, L. R. 1977. Honey Plants. A revised edition of the Orignal Honey Plants Manual of Harvey B. Lovell. 1977. A. I. Root Co. Medina, OH. 5. Hortus Third A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada 1976. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc. New York. 6. Lovell H, 1966. Honey Plants Manual. A Practical Field Handbook for Identifying Honey FloraA. I. Root Company. Medina, OH. 7. Pellett, F. 1976. American Honey Plants. Dadant and Sons. Hamilton, Illinois. 8. Pollet, D. 2011. Louisiana Honey Plants. Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Baton Rouge, LA. 9. Rehder, A. 1990. Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs Hardy in North America. Dioscorides Press. Portland, OR. 10. Sanford, M. T. 1988. Florida Bee Botany. Florida Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 11. USDA, NRCS. 2016. The Plants Database. (http://plants.usda. gov, 31 August 2016). National Plant Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. 12. Watkins, J. V. and T. J. Sheehan.1975. Florida Landscape Plants. Native and Exotic. University Pressses of Florida. Gainsville, FL. 13. Wunderlin, R. P. 1998. Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. University Press of Florida. Gainsville, FL.

American Bee Journal

Western Tansy mustard, Tansymustard (Brassicaceae) Scientific name: Descurainia pinnata Synonyms: Descurainia brachycarpa, Descurainia incise, Descurainia halictorum, Descurainia intermedia, Descurainia menziesii, and Descurainia brachycarpa.[7] Origin: North America Plant description: The original questionnaire that is recorded in the Ayers and Harman publication[2] and upon which this series of monthly articles since June of 2004 has been based, listed only the genus name Descurainia and the common name tansymustard. It came from an area that represented southern New Mexico and was supplied by an individual who seemed very interested in and quite knowledgeable about the plants her bees were working. The USDA Plants Website[7] lists five species of Descurainia that grow in southern New Mexico. For the purpose of this article, I added the species epithet pinnata primarily because it is so very widely spread (See map). Admittedly, the respondent who filled out the questionnaire may not have actually been reporting on Descurainia pinnata, or may not have known on which of the five species she was reporting or may have intended to report on more than one. The following description of Descurainia pinnata is adapted from a plant manual that covers the area of North America in which this author lives (Michigan).[6] Because of the great variation within the species it is not clear how appropriate the above description is for other parts of North America. The author received six different Descurainia pinnata seed accessions, from The Western Regional Plant Introduction Station located in Pullman, Washington. From these he succeeded in growing multiple specimens of five of the six accessions. In height they all grew to less than 10 inches. The floral and leaf photographs provided here are from those plants. Given the list of synonyms listed above, Descurainia pinnata is apparently quite a variable species and it is possible that there may be little resemblance of plants that I grew to the Descurainia pinnata that grows in southern New Mexico. The USDA Plants Website[7] indicates that Descurainia pinnata can act as an annual, biennial or perennial plant and that it is native to North America. It is generally more or less erect and 20 to 70 cm (~7.9 to 28 in) tall. The leaves vary from generally oblong to oblanceolate and become smaller higher in the plant. They can be either pinnate or bipinnate with deeply pinnatifid segments, the upper ones becoming progressively reduced and less dissected. The flowers are bright yellow, 2 to 4 mm (~0.08 to 0.16 in) wide, and are placed around the central stem of a raceme that is up to 12 inches long. The individual floral stems (pedicels) are 5 to 20 mm (~ 0.20 to 0.79 in) long. The fruits are elongate narrow pods that become thicker toward the unattached end (clavate) and are 5 to 13 mm (~0.2 to 0.59 in) long and 1 to 2 mm (~0.04 to 0.08 in) thick.[6] 1

2

3 4

Oblong: Shaped more or less like a geometrical rectangle other than a square. Oblanceolate: Lance shaped (Pointed) much longer than wide with the stem attached to the narrower end. Pinnate: in a compound leaf where the leaflets are arranged along ‘leafstem’ like the sides of a feather. Bipinnate: Doubly pinnate where each leaf is itself pinnate. Pinnatifid: Pinnately cleft or lobed at least half the distance to the midrib but not reaching the midrib. Pinnatifid: pinnately cleft forming pinnate lobes where the clefts half the distance or more to the midrib, but do not reach the midrib. Raceme: An elongated unbranched inflorescence where the individual flowers are on their own floral stems and the inflorence blooms from the bottom upward.

January 2017

Distribution: The species is widely spread over North America. See map. Blooming period: In the Central and Northeastern U.S., depending on location, it blooms March to May.[5]. In California depending on the variety it blooms February to July.[1] In Oregon and the Pacific Northwestern U.S. it blooms April to July.[4] In the Great Plains Distribution of Descurainia it blooms March to August.[3]

pinnata

Importance as a honey plant: The original questionnaire that implicated the species as a honey/pollen plant came from the portion of New Mexico that Ayers and Harman[2] referred to as the Southwest Desert. Despite having gone through my standard set of references for the U.S. and Canada, I found nothing about this plant concerning honey or pollen potential. A quick search of the web also didn’t find anything. I did find, however, that other bees are sometimes found working the species.

Descurainia pinnata flowers. The display appears to be either the top of a longer floral display or more probably is quite a short display. See other photo provided showing a spent longer display. Seeds for for both photos were kindly provided by the Western Regional Plant Introduction Station located in Pullman, WA. The species is thought to possibly be involved in the poisoning of grazing cattle.

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If one of the ABJ readers can add some clarity to the above, please send it to Joe Graham at the American Bee Journal (51 South 2nd Street, Hamilton Il. 62341).

An old spent raceme (indicated with the white pointer). It is located a little to the left of the group of flowers shown in the other photo provided here. All the flowers have bloomed and nearly withered away. Normally if the flowers of the raceme had been pollinated there would also be some fruits developing along the central stem, but in this case the plants were grown in a screen cage to keep them from being eaten by large herbivores. The cage also apparently kept out potential pollinators.

References 1. Al-Shehbaz, Ihsan A. 2012. Brasicaceae (Cruciferae) Mustard Family. The Jepson Manual Vascular Plants of California. (2nd edition). Pp 540-542. 2. Ayers, G. S. and J. R. Harman. 1992. Bee Forage of North America and the Potential for Planting for Bees. In: The Hive and the Honey Bee. Dadant and Sons. Hamilton, IL 3. Barker, W. T. 1986. Brassicaceae Burgett. The Mustard Family. In: Flora of the Great Plains. Ronald L. McGregor Coordinator. University Press of Kansas. 4. Burgett, S. M. , B. A. Stringer, and L. D. Johnston. 1989. Nectar and Pollen Plants of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Honeystone Press. Blodgett, Oregon. 5. Fernald L. F. 1970. Gray’s Manual of Botany. (Eighth Edition). D. Van Nostrand Company. New York. 6. Gleason, H. H. and A. Cronquist. 2006. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden Press. Bronx, New York. 7. USDA, NRCS. 2016. The Plants Database. (http://plants.usda. gov, 31 August 2016). National Plant Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

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American Bee Journal

January 2017

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American Bee Journal

American Bee Journal

MarketPlace PARSONS’ GOLD SOLUTION - The Only Solution For Keeping Your Honey Bees Healthy! Herbal Treatment Oil & Jelly - Bee Grooming Stimulant - Train The Bees To Do The Work - Healthy Bees Year Round. No Negative Effects On Bees, Queen, Wax or Honey. Business (419) 273-3066; Cell (419) 2357037. www.parsonsgold-honeybees. com #33 Treatment Loaded Syringe $15.00 plus $8.00 S/H. Checks, Money Orders, Credit Cards. Parsons’ Gold Apiaries, c/o Robert B. Parsons, 2092 Twp. Rd., 195, Forest, OH 45843.

FOR SALE 1000 hives 10-frame two-story on 4-way pallets, new outfit & queens, excellent condition, available in May in California. (530) 671-6188. For Sale: New Hummerbee Turbo and XL model beekeeper forklifts with more performance enhancements. Used beekeeper forklifts. Our full time knowledgeable staff offers more to you in parts, service, and advice. View our website:www. hummerbeeforklift.com or call A & O Forklift at 800-943-8677 (remember we are eastern time zone) or leave a message. Heavy Duty Clear View Masts for ‘Bobcats – 12’ lift - double action cylinders - 42’’ forks (48’’ optional) - all roller bearings/no sliders - fits Bobcat 743 - 763 & S130 - S150. Call A & 0 Forklift, Inc. (800) 943-8677. Top Bar Hive – handmade, plans, info, pictures, video, community: www.NetShed.com FOR SALE: Singles and 1 1/2 story hives for sale. 1000 available. Call for Pricing, Jon@(208) 4121092 or Golden @ (208) 250-8420. www.golden beeinc.com Nucs - $99. Deep or Medium single beehives. Buckets of Honey - $175. Pollen - $300. John Pluta Milledgeville Georgia (478) 452-2337 www.georgiabees.blogspot.com Five frame NUCS for sale mid-April through Fall. Price dependent on season and quantity of order. Minimum order of 24 NUCS. No frame trade, only return of our boxes. Call early to secure your order. FOB Lewistown PA or Dade City, FL. Please call W. Fisher Bee Farm for more information. 1-800-736-6205. Ask for Aaron. BROKER OF BEES AND BEE EQUIPMENT: Find out what is for sale or request a listing agreement at www.morrisweaver.com Morris Weaver Enterprises, 11625 Princess Margaret Ct., Montgomery, TX 77361-3616. Phone (936) 4488061, Mobile (936) 825-4738. rmorrisweaver@ gmail.com Cowen Heated top and bottom bar cleaner with extra SS tub and hot water supply unit purchased in 2009 less than 40 hours, asking $6000.00. Item available for pickup in Lewistown, PA or Dade City, Florida. For more information call 800-7366205.

We have purchased Tom Industries. We have hand crank and motorized embossed rollers. 5.1, 4.9 drone cells etc. We have sheeters that make 180# per hour. Call (620) 365-5956 or email: [email protected] Singles for sale, delivery possible on orders over 200. For pricing and availability call: 800-736-6205. FIVE FRAME NUCS AND TEN FRAME HIVES FOR SALE. CALL JEROME @ (352) 406-4938 OR EMAIL: [email protected] HONEY PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey Hot Line. (763) 658-4193. 2000 10-frame hives, new queens, on 4-way pallets, very good equipment in FL. Now or after almonds in CA. Limited numbers of 4 and 5-frame deep nucs. Also available in FL starting in March. Call NOW!! (262) 689-1000. 140,000 pounds sugar and syrup in like new 55 gallon drums $150 each or $140 ea. for 10 or more. 200 like new barrels - $10 each. Honey 5 gallon buckets, new and used bee equipment. Can deliver to KC, Joplin MO, Tulsa, Wichita, Springfield. Call (620) 365-5956. Trade Honey. Open head steel 55-gallon drums, like new and new condition. Central Florida. $16.00 Each. 863-559-0074 David Adams Make your own Honey Sticks. Complete system to start putting your honey in your own sticks for pennies per stick. Keep the profits for yourself. www.honeystickmachine.com Strong, healthy 5 frame Nucs (deep or medium) available in South Florida starting in April of 2016. Limited quantities of mated queens are also available. Call Joseph at (561) 715-5715 to place your order. PACKAGED BEES AND 5-FRAME NUCS. TAKING ORDERS NOW FOR 2016 & 2017. CALL (231) 735-1203.

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For Sale: 200 5-frame nucs and 400 single hives in Florida. (772) 633-1134. Bobcat, Hummerbee and Superbee Trailers custom built. New S450 Bobcat’s, set up with masts and fifth wheels complete. Fifth Wheels sold separately. Used Bobcat’s bought, sold and tradeins welcome. Custom truck bodies and Custom smoker boxes, all built by a beekeeper FOR beekeepers. www.tropictrailer.com - Eli Mendes 239-340-0484, [email protected] The Shizel-the Super Hive Tool at www.shizeltool. com Cook & Beals 128-frame extractor line with uncapper. Will extract 5000 colonies. New ones cost $65,000+ buy mine for $30,000 OBO, will trade for honey, ND. Call Gary (701) 650-0200. North Dakota. 290 Ross Round supers, rings, foundation, excellent $10K takes all. Five frame NUCS for sale in Florida Panhandle. No frame trade or box return. Call Ryan Faircloth @850-510-4627. www.chroniclesof beekeeping.com 1000 Hives (double deep) 10-frame on 4-way clipped pallets. Available after Almonds. Call (951) 906-4254. HIVES FOR SALE: 2,000 1 ½ stories on 4-way pallets in CA after Almonds. Sold in lots of 100 or semi-loads. Ray (229) 921-8776. Email: ray@ weekshoneyfarm.com NUCS FOR SALE(Limited Supply): 5-frame NUCS @$130.00 (minimum order = 50). Available in GA/MI. April – August. 50% deposit when ordering . Balance due 2 weeks prior to pickup. Ray (229) 921-8776. Email: ray@weekshoney farm.com 1972 Bobcat with diesel Kabota engine, hydrostat, 12 ft Edwards mast, like new tires, excellent condition. Upgrading. $7,500 on first come basis. Available after October 1. Located in Michigan. Photos per request. Cell/text 231-408-7485. Email: [email protected] 2013 Hummerbee Turbo, fully loaded: 2 speed, loaded balloon tires, HD 126” mast with side shift, scales, high flow oil pump for accessories. 1790 hours. Upgrading. Price $30,000.00. Hummerbee trailer available for $5,000. Available after November 1st on first come basis. Located in southern FL. Photos per request. Call/Text Ed 231-408-7485, or [email protected] 2500 8-FRAME EXTRACTING FULL DEPTH BOXES WITH COMB. 2500 METAL EXCLUDERS. 1000 EMPTY SHELL BOXES. 400 BEE PALLETS. 2000 LIDS. EVERYTHING IS 8-FRAME EQUIPMENT. 303-903-8643. FOR SALE – 50-100 hives, doubles, singles, bottom board. Near Sacramento, CA. Call Kim (925) 913-0531. For Sale: 8-frame doubles and 10-frame 1 ½ story hives before or after almonds. Call Mark McCoy (561) 723-2921. Semi-load of 1 1/2 story hives for sale before or after the almonds. New queens and new equipment. Contact Joey McCoy 561-723-3170. 200 strong 5-frame nucs for sale. Full of bees and brood ’16 qeens. 50% deposit when ordered, 50% 2 weeks before p/up, no frame exchange - $120.00 each. Available after April 25th. (661) 586-3285 near Bakersfield, CA.

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING-Net price $1.00 per word per insertion. Initials, letters as in street address, counted as individual words. No advertisement accepted for less than 10 words. Payable cash in advance. Blind Classified 10% additional. (A blind ad is one in which responses are addressed to the ABJ and then forwarded to the advertiser.) Extreme care always is exercised in establishing the reliability of all advertisers, but the publishers do not guarantee advertisements. Orders close the 20th of the second month preceding cover date. Send typed copy to : Advertising Dept., American Bee Journal, 51 S. 2nd St., Hamilton, IL 62341 or FAX to 217-847-3660 or e-mail to: [email protected].

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Hive bodies and supers cut from Minnesota pine. Custom built and assembled to your specs. Delivery available for truckload lots. 45 years experience. Bjorndahl Apiaries, Box 194, Goodridge, MN, 56725. Phone (218) 378-4188. QUEENS available April thru September. 5-frame nucs also available. Credit cards accepted. Rabbit Creek Bee Company – Franklin, NC. (828) 6341233. 200 Double Deep 8 frame hives, in CA or NE after almonds $165. 2500 8 frame shells on pallets in NE. 308-529-2690. For Sale:75-8 frame telescoping painted plywood covers. 75-8 frame bottom boards painted, all like new. Dadant bee blower. NW Illinois 815-5415310. 5 frame nucs in South Miss. Available starting in April. Delivery Possible, Call for pricing. Buddy Graham 601-433-8466. For Sale: 6500 colony migratory bee business. Registered summer locations in best honey producing area of ND, winter locations in TX. Almond pollination contracts in CA. Turnkey operation with 36 years in same locations. Bees, supers, trucks, loaders, warehouses, extracting equip. More info @ www.apiaryforsale.com 200 hives, enough deeps to make 250 more, 750+ honey supers, most boxes 3 years or less, 28frame Cowen with 600 lb. tank, dodge up, swinger forklift and trailer, bottling machine, hive jig, 500 gal. syrup tank w/pump, and much more smalls. Located in S. Tx, with shop available for lease. Sold altogether. Wes (830) 570-9223. 5 Frame nucs in NorthEast Oklahoma. Taking orders now for Spring 2017. www.RoarkAcres. com Michael Roark (918)578-9201 nucs@ roarkacres.com For Sale: 8-frame doubles, heavy, 2016 queens on 4-way pallets. Newer equipment. $305.00 before almonds, $165.00 after. $140.00 second week of May. Cottonwood, CA. Sam & Joyce Van Vleet, Home (530) 347-1987, Cell (530) 768-3620. PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW!!! 2600 double deep hives for sale immediately after almonds in mid-March. Fall 2016 queens. Boxes and frames in excellent condition. 3000 singles for sale before or after almonds. Chris Oslobanu (941) 720-6025 or [email protected] 800 double deeps, heavy and strong. S. Florida on 4-way good equipment. $290.00. Tom (239) 5654420 or [email protected] For Sale: 1 1/2 story hives for sale after almond on 4 way pallets. New queens and equipment 1 to 2 years old, treated in hot wax. Call Joseph at 561-715-5715. 5 frames Nucs for spring 2017 with new queen/ brood is from her/ medicated call for pricing/ shipping available. TY 601-788-7717 or [email protected] FOR SALE: SINGLES ON 4-WAY PALLETS, BULK BEES, BROOD, SOUTHEAST TEXAS. 507-273-4359. North Dakota operation for sale. Property has 5 bedroom house, large warehouse/shop/extracting plant/honey tank/large barn for storing supers, boxes and equipment. There are 4 newer mobile homes for workers’ quarters with separate laundry facilities. Includes 180 registered locations. Property has 240 acres of farmland, can be used for stockpile yard. asking $1.7M. See website for pictures and description at http://Laotzu.tk/bees. Call or text Linda Palmer (909) 226-7438. Profitable honey packing, pollen processing business. Western Colorado. Equipment suitable for packing 50 to 300 drums. Long established customer base. Perfect family operation. [email protected] For Sale: 816 double deep 10 frame hives after almonds. Deep 10 frame brood boxes with 9 frames. Deep 10 frame supers with 8 frames; frames are recent, paint is good. (208)431-0630 or (208)4314468.

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For Sale: Swinger 110 Diesel Power Forklift call Dave 760-310-0005. Ten frame singles for sale end of April. $115.00 each, call Paul Godlin (559) 804-8678. 6,000 beehives for sale after almonds. 10 frame double deeps and 1.5 story on 4 way clip pallets. Semi loads only. Call Karen@949-533-3841. For Sale: 1000 hives; 10-frame doubles or singles on 4-way clipped pallets available after Almond Pollination 2017, very good condition. 5-frame nuc’s available May 13th. Call (559) 974-4042 Madera, CA. Dadant 84 frame extractor used one season excellent condition $6000 - metal bound excluders $2 - 550 gal black plastic h2o/syrup tank $300 - Dadant fructose pump base and motor $300 Southern Arizona 520-240-3135. Southern California Outfit - 300 colonies, Cowen 120, House, warehouse on 5 acres. 951-694-5319. For Sale: 500 hives, 10-frame, two-story, 1 1/2 story, and/or singles on 4-way pallets available after almond pollination in CA. Very good condition. Contact 510-731-7801. For sale Cook and Beals 128 Frame Extractor which includes uncapper, deboxer and feed Conveyor with bottom bar cleaner. Excellent Condition. (815) 954-4277. Nucs for sale, NE Texas and central MN. In early May. 150$ ea. Northern Italian queen stock/VSH. Full amount down for purchase. Call John @ 763-498-4964. Dakota Gunness Uncapper with 8 foot SS extension. Motorized medicine mixer. 1500 6 5/8 treated empty boxes $5/Box. 600 shallow supers $7/Box 100 deep supers $15/box all ten frame equipment. 400 migratory lids $2/lid Any questions please call TODD at 701-5902305 located in western ND. For Sale: 5-frame nucs and package bees. SPRING VALLEY HONEY FARMS, Perry Iowa. From late April thru June. Nucs $135.00, 100+ - $110. Possible delivery on large lots. Contact: Curt Bronnenberg (515) 480-6075, Connie Bronnenberg (515) 480-6076.

HONEY FOR SALE Excellent clover honey in drums and light beeswax available. Mark Gilberts Apiaries, (608) 482-1988. U.S. sweet clover, alfalfa, thistle mix, (9 drums of black locust-limited supply), white honey, melter honey, filtered, new drums, excellent honey f.o.b. several loads available. Produced by Baldwin Apiaries, Darlington, WI (608) 776-3700. Very nice looking & good tasting Nebraska bottling honey. (402) 319-5125. CLOVER – Buckwheat, Orange, Tupelo, and Wildflower – pails or drums. PURE SWEET HONEY FARM, 514 Commerce Parkway, Verona, Wisconsin 53593. (608) 845-9601. Clover, Basswood, Wildflower honey available in drums in WI. Great tasting! Light beeswax available. Call (262) 689-1000. Honey and beeswax for sale. Clover, Orange Blossom, Wildflower. Many varietals available. Smitty Bee Honey (712) 748-4292. PREMIUM HONEYS – Summer: Michigan Blueberry, Thistle (Knapweed) – excellent for creamed honeys, plus FL premium fall pepper and FL spring orange blossom honeys. Call Ed (231) 408-7485. Email: [email protected] QUALITY HONEY, barrels, your buckets. Hollenbeck, Kirksville, Missouri. (660) 665-2542 evenings. Raw honey and wax (melted) extracted 7/16. $2.10 per lb. In drum with exchange, $2.45 per lb In bucket. Call or text 601-788-7717.

Tupelo Honey for Sale. This honey is certified. $7.50/lb. (231) 383-0800. Honey for sale, in barrels, delivery possible. Ron (296) 313-5698. North Dakota Clover Alfalfa Honey for sale in Semi load lots. Call 701-650-0200 or 701-9842696.

HONEY AND BEESWAX WANTED HONEY WANTED—Extracted or comb. LEIGHTON’S HONEY, INC., 1203 Commerce Ave. Haines City, Florida 33844. (863) 422-1773. FAX (863) 421-2299 HONEY WANTED– all grades. Also, honey barrels for sale. Contact Pure Sweet Honey Farm Inc., 514 Commerce Parkway, Verona, WI. (608) 845-9601. Round comb, Fresh, good tasting Pollen, Varietal Honeys. 800-678-1226. [email protected] HONEy PRICE UPDATES. Call Honey Hot Line. (763) 658-4193.

ROYAL JELLY BEST 100% PURE FRESH ROYAL JELLY. $65.00 per kilo plus shipping. HIGHEST POTENCY. LOWEST PRICES guaranteed on larger orders. CERTIFIED TOP QUALITY. Stakich, Inc. (248) 642-7023 ext. 301

POLLEN QUALITY, CLEAN, LOW MOISTURE POLLEN $5.40/lb. Min. 10 lbs. + shipping. LOWEST PRICES guaranteed for large orders. STAKICH, INC. Phone (248) 642-7023 ext. 301

Pollen supplement and pollen substitute patties made to your specifications and delivered anywhere. Fast service. Visit www.globalpatties.com or call. Toll free (866) 948-6084. Fresh 2016 Northern California raw bulk pollen available. Available raw uncleaned and semi-dried and cleaned. Call for pricing at (916) 224-2211.

POLLINATION Bees wanted for the Almonds. Art Harris, 6301 Victor St. #63, Bakersfield, CA 93308 (661) 4441470. Bees Wanted for 2017 Almond Pollination Season. We will need over 3,500 additional hives this season. We have crew and forklifts to place hives in Orchard. You are paid 50% on February 20th and 50% April 20th. Excellent references. For more information visit www.almondbeepollination.com or call California Almond Pollination Service, Inc. at (209)-202-8915, E-Mail [email protected] Strong hives needed for 2017 almond season. Bees placed on our contracts in central California. We can winter your hives for you. Call: Brian Johnston – (719) 201-5199 or Larry Johnston (719) 469-4580. WANTED: Bees to lease on share for honey production, from after almonds until June 10th. Call (760) 793-1245. Bee Solutions LLC has approximately 15,000 acres for the Chinese Tallow flow in Jefferson and Orange Counties. At this time, we have about 25 sites that can be easily accessed by 18-wheelers. Start taking reservations January 15. Call (409) 504-7073. Ask for Brett.

American Bee Journal

BEES AND QUEENS JERRY FOSTER QUEENS quality Carniolan and hybrid Italian queens at competitive prices. Nucs and packages also. Jerry Foster Apiaries, 937 9th St., Colusa, CA 95932. Phone (530) 458-4234. Pacific Northwest mated queens. Orders of 50 or more. Treasure Valley Idaho. Call for Pricing, Jon @ (208) 412-1092. www.goldenbeeinc.com Package bees in Ohio. Taking orders now for spring 2016. Waldo Ohio Apiaries, George Taylor, P.O. Box 122, Kilbourne, OH 43032. (740) 524-6241. Email: [email protected] Website: www.waldobees.com California Queens for Sale: Well mated Italian queens available April. KingBee Apiarys (760) 417-1810. QUALITY QUEENS from HAWAII, available year round. Call KARRUS QUEENS (808) 854-5308. Queen Haven Apiaries is taking orders for Italian VSH and Carniolian VSH queens for the 2017 season. Please call Ray and Klarene Olivarez at (530) 526-7034. 3 lb Packages Bees for sale, for pick up in Wisconsin. Contact: Mark Gilberts Apiaries 608482-1988. Let us put bees into your equipment with enough time to feed them up for the almonds. May be willing to do the feeding. Also, willing to fill your equipment in the spring. Call Rick Riggs (661) 204-2631.

Doubles, singles, brood for sale year round. FOB Jan-April, Oakdale, CA. April-Dec., Milton Freewater, OR. Queens less than 6 months, great equipment. Ryan@sweetbee honeyco.com (360) 907-0842. $5k min. purchase. Olympic Wilderness Apiary – Pacific NW WILD SURVIVOR BREEDER QUEENS – Disease and Mite Resistant – Isolated yards– Available July – Sept (360) 928-3125. www.wildernessbees. com Top Bar Queens & Bees: Taking orders now for spring 2017 with deposit, state health inspected & state certified breeders. Italian, Cordavin, & Poline stocks. (813) 690-9808. QUEENS available April thru September. 5-frame nucs also available. Credit cards accepted. Rabbit Creek Bee Company – Franklin, NC. (828) 634-1233. PACIFIC QUEENS Hybrid Italian Queens from CHILE. Hygienic behavior and pollen production. Available JANUARY – MAY. [email protected] Contact Francisco and Alejandra Rey. RUFER’S DEEP EAST TEXAS QUEENS, LLC – now booking for the 2017 season for MN Hygienic Queens, Brood, or fill equipment out of our Deep Texas location. For pricing and scheduling, contact: Darrel at (612) 325-1203. Fill up your DOT’S and rent your bees for the right price! 5-frame nucs available in Modesto, CA on January 15, 2017. Deposit required. Chris Oslobanu (941) 720-6025 or beerom@verizon. net BEES & QUEENS: Italian package bees, 3# $77.00 plus cage. Pick up only. 50 minimum. Cottonwood, CA. Sam & Joyce Van Vleet. Home (530) 347-1987, Cell (530) 768-3620. PACKAGE BEES (Queenless only) February – June. Pick up only Metter, Georgia. Patrick Wilbanks (912) 286-7789 or pwilbanks@ hotmail.com

January 2017

8 and 4 framers for sale, available for pick up in Texas and Minnesota at the end of April. Call for pricing 507-3275388. Located in Northeast Georgia – Italian Bees. 5-frame nucs and 3 lb. packages for Spring 2017. PICKUP ONLY! Order at www.jarrettbees.com For Sale: 5 Frame nucs in East Texas, New queen, 4 frames of bees and brood, available May 5, 2017. $ 135.00 402-305-0268. Sanders Honey: Queens for sale. Josh Sanders, 7288 Perdie Lee Rd, Nicholls Ga 31554. 912399-8480.

WANTED Honey and Beeswax wanted. All colors and varietals. Send samples or call Smitty Bee Honey (712) 748-4292. Buying old combs. $.05 to $.15 per frame. (206) 947-4483. Glenoma, WA. (206) 947-4483.

HELP WANTED Full time position available in Oregon. Beekeeping experience and CDL required. Contact [email protected] PO Box 558, Milton Freewater, OR 97862 (360)907-0842. Seasonal and full-time help needed at our migratory bee operation. We are located in FL and WI. We do pollination, queen rearing and honey production. Some experience preferred, team environment, wages dependent on experience, good opportunity or advancement. Prior work history and references required. Contact Gary at (262) 689-1000. Olivarez Honey Bees/Big Island Queens is seeking motivated beekeepers to join our Hawaii team! Experience preferred. Self-motivator and ability to work in a team environment a plus. Positions are full time, salary based on experience. Great Benefits Package. Prior work history and references required. Advancement opportunities available. Submit resume to [email protected] or Olivarez Honey Bees Inc/Big Island Queens, P O Box 847 Orland Ca 95963, Fax: 530-8655570, Phone 530-865-0298 Growing migratory operation seeking experienced beekeepers and unit managers. Based in Florida, we travel to Georgia, Michigan and other northern states during production season. Extended travel and overtime required. Wages/salary dependent on experience. Benefits include health insurance, dental, paid time off, and 401K. Contact [email protected] or (850)2537824 for more information. WANTED: Full time experienced commercial beekeeper. Bilingual Spanish/English, USA citizen or legal resident, physically fit, have CDL (or able to upgrade), willing to migrate TX – ND with bees. Salary based on experience and qualifications. References required. Foreign workers need not apply. Email resume and salary expectations to: [email protected] Looking for hard-working, motivated beekeepers to join our team in Florida. We do queen rearing, pollination and honey production. The applicants must have a social security and a clean valid driver license. Reference required. Contact Chris Oslobanu at (941) 720-6025 or send resume to [email protected] Need help loading or unloading semi loads of bees in California? Need help placing or removing bees from Orchards? We have trucks forklifts and equipment. Our crew leaders have five plus years of experience. Contact Ben at 435-272-7239 or [email protected]

FEED Recent study finds that supplementation of HB diet with lactic acid bacteria reduced Nosema and increases HB lifespan. SDFM-HB contains billions of active, safe microorganisms capable of displacing and inhibiting honeybee pathogens and boosting honeybee immune response. Field trials show SDFMHB increase colony survival ! http:// www.strongmicrobials.com/#/products/ honeybee - 248 385 3248

LABELS Custom Labels. FREE BROCHURE. (319) 759-0161 leave message or [email protected]

MISCELLANEOUS The AMERICAN BEEKEEPING FEDERATION has many benefits to offer its members. Send for a membership packet of information today! We also offer a free Beginning Beekeeping Packet. Contact the AMERICAN BEEKEEPING FEDERATION, 3525 Piedmont Rd. NE, Bld. 5. Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30305-1509, Phone (404) 760-2875, Fax 404-240-0998, or email info@ abfnet.org. HONEY BEE INSEMINATION SERVICE (HBIS) – Susan Cobey – Specializing: Equipment; Training; Consulting; Custom II; Speaking. Message: (530) 554-2527 – Facebook.com/ HBIService, honeybeeinsemination.com For Sale: Cook & Beals Spin Float, complete rebuild in 2015, used one season since rebuild, digital speed control. Very good condition. $5500.00. Cook & Beals heat exchanger. Rebuilt 2013. Heat tank with circulating pump and digital display readout panel. $1000.00. Cook & Beals King melter. New seals on auger and all new screens. $2500.00. Dakota Gunness uncapper. Last used 2015. $500.00. Cowen 5’ cappings auger. Stainless steel. Attached to the Gunness uncapper. 5 years old. Auger alone. Very good condition. $2000.00 Lattner 15HP horizontal tube. 1972 mfg. Last used in 2012. Excellent condition. Water return system with electronic controls. Propane fired. $4500.00. Call: Brent Woodworth 701-938-4647 or 701-290-0175 7 to 7 Mountain time.

WAX RENDERING Wax cappings, slumgum and frames rendered. If you’re not getting medium color and price on your slumgum wax, you should be using our service! Shipping assistance on large lots. (863) 559-0074. Old frames rendered and returned clean. Beeswax extraction from 5 gallon buckets of cappings/ scrapings/slum…$5 per bucket. Barrels…… please inquire. Glenoma, WA (206) 947-4483.

BEE BOOKS Huge collection of antique bee books & magazines dating from 1800’s. Including vol. 1 issue 1 of the ABJ - 1861 mint condition. Over 900 books and mags. Will sell as one lot only. Also have antique beekeeping equipment, smokers, lots of antique wood items. Excel spreadsheet available to be emailed. Hard copy can be mailed. bill45newmexico@gmailcom (575)6534670. Serious inquires please.

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PERIODICALS L’ABEILLE DE FRANCE—The most important of the monthly publications in France - for all beekeepers, from the amateurs to the professional. Each month: an article for beginners, reports from specialists, a review of the latest information all over the world. Ask for a sample Annual subscription: 40$ US. ABEILLE DE FRANCE- 5, rue du Copenhague-F 75008 PARIS. THE AUSTRALASIAN BEEKEEPER— Senior Beekeeping Journal of the Southern Hemisphere. Complete coverage of all beekeeping topics in one of the world’s largest beekeeping countries. Published by Pender Beekeeping Supplies Pty. Ltd., “Bilga” 79 Naylor Road, Urila, N.S.W. 2620, Australia. Annual subscription paid in advance $160 AUD. THE AUSTRALIAN BEE JOURNAL— Caters to both amateur and commercial apiarists. Subscription $120.00 Australian currently for all overseas subscribers per annum. Published monthly. Victorian Apiarists’ Association, Inc., P.O. Box 40, California Gully,Vic. Australia 3556 Ph: 03 5446 1543, Email: vaa@vic beekeepers.com.au. BEECRAFT The UK’s leading monthly beekeeping magazine. View a digital copy and subscribe on line at www.bee-craft.com. DIE BIENE – ALLGEMEINE DEUTSCHE IMKERZEITUNG (ADIZ) – IMKERFREUND The Bee magazines with special publications in bee science and management for the hobbyist as well as for the sideliner and professional beekeeper. Three regional titles but same content today for Germany except partly Imkerfreund for Bavaria. Monthly publications with 64 pages. Subscription Euro 44.50 per year – Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, Postfach 870324, 13162 Berlin, Tel. +49(0)30/293974-87, Fax +49(0) 30/293974-59, www.diebiene.de HIVELIGHTS, National magazine of the Canadian Honey Council. Published quarterly. Free sample on request, write to Canadian Honey Council, Suite 236, 234-5149 Country Hills Blvd. NW, Calgary AB T3A 5K8, CANADA. Subscription information available at www. honeycouncil.ca. HONEYBEE NEWS, The Journal of the New South Wales Apiarists’ Association, Inc., International Subscription AUS$50.00 (Airmail) Bank Draft, Visa or MasterCard payable to NSW AA. Published bi-monthly—For more information contact: The Editor, PO Box 352, Leichhardt NSW 2040 Australia. E-mail: honeybee@ accsoft.com.au IBRA is the information service for beekeepers, extension workers and scientists. Our members support this service and enjoy the benefits of belonging to IBRA, which includes Bee World. We need your involvement - join IBRA - support this important information network and extend your beekeeping horizons. For more information contact: IBRA, 18 North Road, Cardiff CF1 3DY, UK. Telephone (+44) 1222 372409. Fax (+44) 1222 665522. IRISH BEEKEEPING—Read An Beachaire (The Irish Beekeeper). Published monthly. Subscription $50.00 per annum post free. Dermot O’Flaherty, Journal Manager, Rosbeg, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland ATTENTION LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS— Ranch Magazine is your monthly information guide for Angora, Cashmere and meat goats, as well as sheep and cattle. Comprehensive Breeder Directory. 1-Yr $27, 2-Yrs $54. Foreign & Canada add $36 per yr. postage. Subscribe today! Box 2678-ABJ, San Angelo, Tx 76902. Call for free sample.

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THE SCOTTISH BEEKEEPER—Monthly Magazine of the Scottish Beekeeper’s Association. International in appeal, Scottish in character. View back numbers and Subscription rates at: http://scottish beekeepers.org.uk SOUTH AFRICAN BEE JOURNAL—The official organ of the S.A. Federation of Bee Farmers’ Associations. Published Bimonthly in English and Afrikaans, primarily devoted to the African and Cape Bee races. Subscriptions incl. postage (six copies). All subscribers outside of South Africa R100-00 surface mail, payment to be made in S.A. Rands. NB. Sample copies only available on receipt of a donation. P.O. Box 41 Modder-fontein, 1645, South Africa. ULADAG BEE JOURNAL - Publication of Uludag Beekeeping Association, published quarterly in Turkish (with English titles and summaries of all articles) and English in all aspects of beekeeping; beekeeping news, practical beekeeping, and research articles, and considered a link between Turkish beekeeping and the world. Gazcilar Cad. No. 9/2 16220 Bursa-TURKEY Fax:+90 224 224 3964 http://www.uluda garicilik.org.tr

American Bee Journal

WINTERSUN

1250 E Belmont St., Ontario, CA 91761 USA Tel: 1-800-930-1688 Fax: 909-947-1788 Email: [email protected]

v Acetic Acid v Benzaldehyde v Formic Acid v Menthol Crystal

v Methyl Salicylate v Thymol v Oxalic Acid v Sulfuric Acid

See more available items on our website Website: http://www.wintersunchemical.com

E. Suhre Bees Package Bees available April and May Queens available April through October For information, pricing or ordering call Eric (530) 228-3197

January 2017

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A.N. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 A & O Forklift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Acorn Beekeeping Equip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Almondbeepollination.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 American Bee Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66, 108 American Beekeeping Federation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 American Honey Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Avoyelles Honey Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Barkman Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 BeeCulture.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Bee Excellent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Beekeepingins.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 BeeInformed.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Beeline Apiaries & Woodenware . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Beelite Wax Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Bee Smart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 BeeVital.us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Betterbee, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Bigdipperwaxworks.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Big Island Hawaii Queen Rearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 BlissHoney.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Blue Ridge Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Blue Sky Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Bordelon Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Bordelon’s Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Borntrager Bee Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Brand New Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Brown Honey Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Browning Cut Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Brumley Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Bucko Gloves, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Buzz’s Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 CC Pollen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Chinabeeworld.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Complete Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Contract Pros Mfg.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 Cook & Beals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Cowen Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Dadant and Sons, Inc.5, 34, 36, 50, 52, 65, 102, 109 & Back Cover Dakota Gunness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Drebbieville Hives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Ernst Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

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Advertising Index Gardner’s Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Globalpatties.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 GloryBee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Gold Star Honeybees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Hardeman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Hawaiian Queen Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Heilyser Technology Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Heitkams Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 Hilbert’s Honey Bees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Hogg Halfcomb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Honey B Healthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Honey Land Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Horace Bell Honey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 H2 Visa Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 Jester Bee Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 JJ’s Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Koehnen, C.F. & Sons, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Kona Queen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Lohman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Mann Lake Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28, 51 Maxant Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 McKenna Boiler Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Medivet Pharmaceuticals Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Merrimack Valley Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Meyers, A.H. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Miksa Honey Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Miller Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Mother Lode Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 Nod Apiary Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Old Sol Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Olivarez Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 OxaVap.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Park-Burris Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 PierceBeekeeping.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Pierco.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Plastic Packaging Concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Powell Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Propolis-etc.ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Queen Right Colonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 QSI Honey and Food Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 R.M. Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Roberts Bee Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Ross Rounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Rossman Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Sandors Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Sasse’s Apiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Selby Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 Shastina Millwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Sherriff, B.J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Simpson’s Bee Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 South Georgia Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Spell Bee Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Stayer’s Quality Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Strachan Apiaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Strong Microbials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Suhre, Adam Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Suhre, E. Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 Sunshine Honey Bees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Superior Bee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Swienty Beekeeping Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Taber’s Honey Bee Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Texas Insurance & Financial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 TimelessMicroscope.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 TreatVarroa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 T.R.S. Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 UMT.EDU/BEE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 Vermont Flexi Pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Vidalia Apicultural Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Vpqueenbees.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Weaver, R. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Western Bee Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Wicwas Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Wilbanks Apiaries Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Wilbanks, Patrick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Will County Beekeeping Workshops. . . . . . . . . . .104 Wintersun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109 WoodcampFarm.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 Wooten’s Golden Queens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Z Specialty Food, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

American Bee Journal