Archives – November, 2012
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.
November 30, 2012
From: RuralWeekly.co.au
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.
November 28, 2012
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
November 26, 2012
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:
November 23, 2012
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.
November 23, 2012
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.
November 21, 2012
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.”
November 19, 2012
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.
November 16, 2012
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.
November 14, 2012
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.”
November 12, 2012
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