APIS Volume 3, Number 12, December 1985

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In this issue

• Beekeepers and Back Trouble
• 1985 in Review--Index of This Year's Issues

OH MY ACHING BACK!

The above is the title of the lead article in the November issue of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service Safety Newsletter, edited by Dr. Bill Becker, Safety Specialist. [Editor's Note 5/11/1997--Dr. Becker has subsequently retired.] It caught my eye because just the day before I'd seen a listing of a bee outfit for sale. The owner was forced to sell because of a chronic back problem. According to Dr. Becker, the second most common reason why people are absent from work is back pain, resulting in a "billion dollar headache for American workers!"

Beekeeping is literally backbreaking work. Ironically, persons doing heavy physical work like beekeeping are not the ones most likely to suffer backaches; it is the inactive person who is more at risk. This does not mean that beekeepers can be complacent, however, because their work depends more on their back being in good shape than many other activities.

According to Dr. Becker, studies indicate the majority of lower back pain is caused by degeneration of spinal discs. These discs are round pads found between vertebrae that serve as cushions and provide space for nerves to exit from the spinal column. Discs wear out with age or abuse, most frequently at the base of the spine. If a disc becomes too thin and a vertebra slips, nerves can be pinched, resulting in lower back pain or a shooting pain down the leg. Discs are like tires; the more used and abused, the more rapidly they wear out. Improper moves may cause a sharp pain which might disappear in a few minutes, hours or days. To some this happens only a few times during their lifetime; others must endure such pain on a regular basis. These pains are most frequent in individuals in their thirties and forties, becoming less severe but more persistent in later years.

Lower back pain cannot be cured, but is manageable with proper treatment and behavior. Dr. Becker cautions that those with "bad" backs must avoid macho or defeatist attitudes. To help prevent and reduce back pain, he recommends the following:

1. Do not become inactive; it is important to maintain good physical condition.
2. Learn as much as possible about the subject of back pain. Ignorance promotes fear, intelligence promotes the healing process.
3. Redesign you work station and/or activities to reduce or eliminate motions or loads that place undue strain on the back.
4. Follow a program of "loosening-up" exercises before placing stress on the back. ***
5. Avoid lifting above your waist; absolutely avoid lifting a weight above your head. ***
6. Avoid work in a bent-over position. ***
7. Lift with the legs, not the back. Keep the load close to the body, avoid twisting while either lifting or carrying and keep your back straight.***

Fortunately, most beekeepers are not often faced with inactivity. But other recommendations, especially those followed by *** , must be taken seriously. Failure to follow these suggestions can lead to creation and aggravation of a "bad" back to a point where there is no cure, except retirement from keeping honey bees.

1985 IN REVIEW

With the new year upon us, it may be profitable to reflect on the events of the last twelve months. If you kept your back issues of this newsletter, it won't be too difficult. The following is an index of Volume 3 (1985) of APIS. Should you want a specific issue or article, either write to me or contact your extension office:

• January-- Honey Bee Tracheal Mite Quarantine Lifted, Leroy Putnal Dies and Financial Forecasting 1985
• February-- The Honey Research, Promotion and Consumer Information Act, Who Eats Honey and Why, Africanized Bee Impact.
• March-- Generic Promotion-Can it Work?
• April-- Federal Mite Quarantine Lifted, 1985 Honey Loan Rates, Frank Robinson Retires, Alternate Crops for Honey Production, Calculating Feeding Sugar to Bees.
• May-- Experimentation and Tracheal Mites.
• June-- Strained Honey, Hearings on Honey Research Promotion and Information Act, Wetland Losses, Pollinating Florida's Vegetable and Melon Crops.
• July-- What We Might Expect with Africanized Honey Bees--Harvesting at Night, , Long-Term Use of Pollen Traps, Bee Sting Allergy in Beekeepers' Families..
• August--Cost of Pesticide Use--Employee's Right to Know, Africanized Honey Bees in California.
• September-- Upward Ventilation in Beehives, Wax Moth Control.
• October-- Requeening in the Fall, Robbing Bees, Again, The Case for New Comb.
• November-- More on Pollen Trapping.
• December-- Oh, My Aching Back (what beekeepers need to be aware of to prevent back problems), 1985 in Review.

Sincerely,

Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (352) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: (352)-392-0190
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
©1985 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved