Archives – June, 2013
From: Agri-Pulse
By Sarah Gonzalez
May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois’ Department of Entomology spoke to Hill staffers recently on the benefits that mapping the bee genome are offering in the investigation of reduced bee populations.
The presentation and discussion ‑ part of National Pollinator Week and hosted by the National Coalition for Food and Agricultural Research’s (C-FAR) Hill Seminars Series last week ‑ addressed the importance of the honey bee species in U.S. agriculture and likely causes of recent widespread declines in its population.
June 28, 2013
From: Western Farm Press
Kathy Keatley Garvey, UC Davis
Honey bees are in trouble. They are dying in record numbers.
That’s why you should watch “Blossom Buddies,” a two-part video segment in the Growing California series, produced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture in partnership with California Grown.
June 26, 2013
From: Pilot Online/The Roanoke Times
By Tonia Moxley
FLOYD, Va.
The bee sounded angry.
But after a few moments, she gave up looking for someone to sting and flew away.
It had not been a good day to open the honey bee hives at Spikenard Farm Honey Bee Sanctuary, said Gunther Hauk, executive director of the organization.
There had been too many clouds and the possibility of rain. Even after the hives had been closed up, one bee remained disturbed.
June 24, 2013
Editor’s Note: Listen to the broadcast of the interview on here.
From: WUNC.org North Carolina Public Radio
By Isaac-Davy Aronson and Frank Stasio
The past year has been a bad one for America’s honeybees, with commercial beekeepers reporting hive losses of up to 50 percent. Some blame the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder; others blame pesticides; and many scientists say we just don’t know.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Dick Rogers, manager of Bayer CropScience’s Bee Care Center under construction in RTP; David Tarpy, associate professor of entomology and extension apiculturist at NC State University; and Jeffrey Lee, owner of Lee’s Bees in Mebane.
June 21, 2013
From: DavisPatch
Posted by Lindsey Hickman
ERIC MUSSEN; TRIBUTES AND ONE TRIBULATION Kathy Keatley Garvey UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
It was a time for tributes and one tribulation.
When honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist and member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty since 1976, received the Alexander Hodson Graduate Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, he was praised as an outstanding apiculturist who does the university–and the nation–proud.
June 19, 2013
Editor’s Note: The joint Australian Government-Honeybee Industry biosecurity plan, “Biosecurity Manual for the Honey Bee Industry: Reducing the risk of exotic and established pests affecting honey bees, Version 1.0” is attached here.
From: Farm Weekly (Australia)
Bee-autiful biosecurity plan
A NEW industry biosecurity plan has been launched by Plant Health Australia (PHA) in conjunction with the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council.
The plan was launched at the 100th NSW Apiarist Association Conference in Merimbula NSW last month, establishing a range of actions to be taken by stakeholders to protect Australia’s honey bees and the valuable pollination services that they provide.
June 17, 2013
From: National Post
By Greg Burchell
Ottawa is spending $244,000 to help build a tougher honey bee.
Researchers at the universities of Guelph and Manitoba are working with queen bee producers in Ontario to find bees that are resistant to the disease and pests that have decimated their numbers, and to then breed them, said Rob Currie, professor of entomology at the University of Manitoba.
“Beekeepers are losing on average 35% of their colonies every year. You always had a couple losses over the winter, but it was usually 5%,” said Les Eccles, a specialist at the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association.
June 14, 2013
From: Press Release
Jerusalem– Research leading towards a solution to the problem of colony collapse disorder (CCD) — a world-wide syndrome of bee disappearance inflicting losses of an estimated $35 billion annually in the US alone — has earned a Hebrew University of Jerusalem professor first prize in this year’s Kaye Awards for Innovation. The awards will be presented on June 18 during the 76th meeting of the Hebrew University Board of Governors.
The project began with the discovery by Prof. Ilan Sela of a new virus (IAPV), and the insertion of the IAPV genome in the public database. Then, an American group doing a metagenomic study, associated the phenomenon of CCD with IAPV.
June 12, 2013
From: Wired
by Ian Steadman
The Cornish black honeybee, once believed to be extinct but still extremely rare, could be key to saving worldwide bee populations from colony collapse disorder.
According to the BBC, research from Paignton Zoo has shown the black bee is better at fighting off varroa mites. They carry the deformed wing virus, which has been implicated in the deaths of bees around the world.
Colony collapse disorder is a term that applies to a range of unknown factors that has led to the widespread decline of honeybee populations around the world.
June 10, 2013
From: NZFarmer.co.nz
DEBBIE JAMIESON
New Zealand’s bee industry has learnt to live with the varroa mite but has been left vulnerable to the viruses, Federated Farmers bees industry group chairman John Hartnell said.
In the 13 years since varroa had been in New Zealand, it had halved the number of working hives, with feral and wild hives being worst affected, he said.
The cost of treatment for each hive was about $50 a year and there were still considerable losses. Some West Coast beekeepers were reporting 15 per cent losses.
June 7, 2013
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