Archives – November, 2012

Can rooftop honey production survive the current bee crisis

From: The Ecologist

 

by St. Ermin’s Hotel staff

Just as urban bee-keeping gets trendy, London yields are reported to be at their lowest. So what can be done give our city-dwelling bee populations a much-needed boost?

 

As a group of young women sip their tea and nibble at the mille-feuille and the finger sandwiches in the St. Ermin’s Hotel Library, the low autumn sun glints on the silverware. In the middle of the table is an open jar of golden honey, the spoon slowly sinking back into the gooey nectar.

 

Leave a Comment November 30, 2012

Discovery of Asian bees prompts bisoecurity warning

From: RuralWeekly.co.au

THE discovery of Asian bees at Port Kembla has prompted a warning for people to be on the lookout.

THE discovery of Asian bees at Port Kembla has prompted a warning for people to be on the lookout.

 

THE identification of Asian honey bees at a port in Kurnell is a timely reminder to the community to be on the lookout for this potentially devastating pest.

 

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Technical Specialist Bees, Dr Doug Somerville, said the bees were found on a bulk carrier and have now been destroyed by Commonwealth biosecurity officials.

 

“The Asian honey bee poses a significant risk to the State’s apiarists and bee industry,” Dr Somerville said.

Leave a Comment November 28, 2012

Killer bee mite discovered on ship in Australian waters

From: Radio Australia

 

Thousands of Asian honey bees carrying the devastating Varroa Mite have been discovered on a foreign ship berthed in Sydney.

 

The Varroa Mite is a tiny parasite which attacks bees and eventually destroys their hives.

 

While Australia is considered free of the Varroa Mite there are fears that a breakdown in quarantine procedures could lead to the devastation of the local bee population and cause tens of millions of dollars damage to agriculture.

 

Will Ockenden reports.

 

Correspondent: Will Ockenden

 

Leave a Comment November 26, 2012

CCD – An Idiopathic Decline in Bee Health

Editor’s Note:

The poster’s comments here are welcome yet incorrect.  No pesticide has been “shown to cause CCD.” To the contrary, there is research regarding many different hypothesized causes for the declines in bee health which has subsumed under the term “CCD.”  It is because the cause(s) of CCD are not known, that researchers at Iowa State University, under a grant from USDA, are exploring “the importance of nutritional stress and viruses on honeybee health.” http://www.thecre.com/oira_pd/?p=848

 

It is important to note that the US Environmental Protection Agency has closely examined whether a pesticide which some reports have linked to CCD and concluded that:

Leave a Comment November 23, 2012

Date set for new bee society’s inaugural meeting

From: Farming Life

 

At the recent Federation of Irish Bee-Keepers Association annual summer course in Gormanston a meeting was held which included beekeepers from the whole of Ireland who had at heart the future welfare of the native Irish honeybee.

 

At a subsequent meeting it was decided to establish, as soon as possible, an all Ireland society that would serve as an umbrella organisation for groups and individual beekeepers who are interested in the preservation and improvement of the various Irish strains of native honeybees.

 

Leave a Comment November 23, 2012

SFIREG Meets on Bees and other Issues

 The State FIFRA Issues Research & Evaluation Group Full Committee will meet on December 10 and 11, 2012, at US EPA Offices, Arlington, VA

2777 South Crystal Drive, One Potomac Yards (South Building) 1st Floor.

The meeting is open to the public. 

Those who can’t attend in person can call in at 1-866-299-3188 then70.330.55561.

A meeting agenda is available at http://www.aapco.org/meetings/agenda.full.sfireg.dec2012.pdf .  Meeting items include

 Status of Pollinator Protection Issues Policy Development.

Leave a Comment November 21, 2012

Colony collapse caution urged

From: Stratford Press (NZ)

 

Nick Hanson

 

Federated Farmers Bee Industry Group is urging caution after an Auckland beekeeper’s claims that hives have suffered colony collapse disorder (CCD). CCD is a phenomenon causing the entire population of a hive to suddenly die, but is yet to be seen in New Zealand. The causes are unknown, but in the United States in particular, CCD has resulted in significant losses for beekeepers and reduced food crop pollination. “It is a concern, but beekeepers should look at their own management in the first instance,” Bee Industry Group chairman John Hartnell said. “The varroa mite is still the major threat to honeybees in this country. “It is essential that varroa treatments are in on time and chemical families are rotated. “Beekeepers in the upper North Island are now seeing possible signs of varroa resistance to the miticides that were first available so it’s important we now alternate between modes of action.”

Leave a Comment November 19, 2012

Iowa State team explores possible causes of honeybee disappearance

From: High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal

 

Iowa State University is taking a team approach in studying what is behind the disappearance of honeybees known as “Colony Collapse Disorder.”

 

Amy Toth, assistant professor in Iowa State’s ecology, evolution and organismal biology department, was awarded an Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to explore the importance of nutritional stress and viruses on honeybee health. She is working with researchers Allen Miller and Jimena Carillo-Tripp in the plant pathology and microbiology department and Bryony Bonning in the entomology department.

 

3 Comments November 16, 2012

New [Australian Government] poster addresses bee threats

From: Stock and Land

 

BEEKEEPERS are the front line for biosecurity, when it comes to protecting the honey industry and all the food crops that depend on bees for pollination.

 

To help them identify one of the greatest threats, the Varroa mite, a poster has been sent to all registered beekeepers across the country in a mailout which also contains a manual on how best to look after the health of their hives.

 

Chairman of the Pollination Program R&D Advisory Committee, Gerald Martin, says it’s vital to identify and report Varroa mite immediately, as it has the potential to devastate the industry.

Leave a Comment November 14, 2012

Bees fight back killer mites, and win!

Editor’s Note:  For more on this story, including the complete articles, please see Review of Bee Health Decline IPD here.

 

From: Futurity

 

PURDUE (US) — Honeybees are developing defenses to outsmart and destroy varroa mites, which can wipe out entire bee colonies.

Researchers are searching for the genes that enable those defenses and say they’ve narrowed the possibilities considerably.

 

“Bees are fighting back,” says Greg Hunt, professor of behavioral genetics at Purdue University. “They’re getting rid of the mites themselves. We can select for these traits now, but it’s tedious. If we can identify the genes that influence these traits, we could develop better methods to screen for these genes and speed the process.”

Leave a Comment November 12, 2012

Previous page


Links

Submit a Post




Upload Files



Archives