APIS Volume 8, Number 4, April 1990
In this issue
- Pesticide Registration Procedure--Amitraz
- Limiting Factors in Apiculture
- African Bee Awareness--AHB Task Force
- Speaking Clearly--What it Means
- Honey Background--1990 Farm Bill
PESTICIDE REGISTRATION PROCEDURE --AMITRAZ
It is becoming increasingly more costly and difficult to get a pesticide registered. This is certainly true for Nor-Am Chemical Company's product, Miticur (R), which contains the active ingredient amitraz. Originally, the product was scheduled to undergo the review process by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last February. Now, however, the Agency indicates this will not occur until June. Unfortunately, this means that the product may not be available in the fall, when it will be most needed to reduce tracheal and Varroa populations in beehives.
Nor-Am has recently written a letter to beekeeping industry leaders about the situation. The company urges that political action be taken to speed up the process. It suggests that beekeeping associations and individuals contact EPA regarding the situation and request the Agency to expedite registration of this material. The need is certainly there. An alternative chemical to fluvalinate will reduce the possibility of Varroa mites becoming resistant to the only currently registered material, Apistan (R). In addition, Miticur (R) is expected to provide protection against tracheal mites as well. The contact person is: Mr. Doug Campt, Director, Office of Pesticide Programs, United States E.P.A., 401 M. St. S.W., Washington, DC 20460, ph 703/557-7090.
Dr. Harvey Cromroy, Acarologist at the University of Florida, also indicates that registration of Miticur (R) is extremely important because the current situation with reference to Apistan (R) registration is not clear. This material was also due to be reviewed by EPA and a general-use label (called "Section 3") was to have been available by the first part of 1990. This has not occurred, however. Apistan (R) continues to carry an emergency-use label (called "Section 18") and it must be used under stipulations of a compliance agreement with state agriculture officials. Fortunately, Zoecon, the manufacturer, has assured him that the Section 3 label has been approved and will be available as of October 1, 1990, the date the Section 18 label is due to expire.
LIMITING FACTORS IN APICULTURE
One of the perplexing things about many beekeeping problems is the complex interrelationships of the many factors involved. Beekeeping is one of agriculture's last very extractive industries. Success in the activity relies very much on environmental factors not under control of the beekeeper. Other kinds of production agriculture such as raising crops or livestock are more closed systems. The material put into the system (bags of fertilizer and food, buckets of water) can be measured as well as the results (bushels of corn, number of pounds of butter or meat). Some of this is possible in beekeeping, especially with reference to managing colony population size. But because the bees cannot be confined and it often is not known how they are interacting with the environment, analysis of results of management practices is often not reliable and involves a great deal of guesswork.
Because more is known about the dynamics of many crop production systems, it is often easier to determine what might be limiting than in beekeeping situations. For example, a soil analysis will provide a good deal of information. In spite of this, however, an understanding of the concept of limiting factors by the crop manager is important. No matter how much the system is altered by adding other components, the limiting one prevails. This idea is represented in what is known as the barrelstave analogy.
Take the classic case of plant growth being limited by the presence of nitrogen. All staves of the barrel are required to keep plants growing (i.e. liquid from pouring out). No matter what is done to lengthen the other staves in the barrel (soil moisture, solar radiation, insect infestation, etc.) increased growth will not occur until the nitrogen stave is elongated. Once nitrogen fertilizer is put into the soil, plants will begin to grow. However, the amount of phosphorus (the stave marked P) then becomes limiting. And so it goes; the staves becoming longer or shorter depending on actions either imposed by the manager or the environment.
The ideal barrel in this analogy would be one filled with water with all the staves as even as possible in length. This balanced approach is what most managers strive for. Why put a lot of energy into reducing competition from weeds (the longest stave), for example, when the other staves are shorter? Many beekeepers strive for this in beeyard management by equalizing colony strength. This way the same procedures can be done to each colony in the yard which saves a good deal of time. Unfortunately for the beekeeper, many of the factors or barrel staves contributing to successful beekeeping are not well understood. In addition, two other important factors have recently been introduced into the system, tracheal and Varroa mites. With all the attention focused on these two pests, however, there is a real possibility that the beekeeper may be led astray. The assumption that these two mites are the most limiting factors to bee production may not be true in all situations. Other staves of the barrel in fact might be shorter so that no matter what influences are brought to bear on mite populations, increased production will be limited. What the barrelstave analogy reveals is that focusing on only one aspect of honey bee management can be counterproductive and that a balanced approach based on sound beekeeping practices developed over the years is by far the best way to optimize production.
AFRICAN BEE AWARENESS
Along with many other issues placed before the Florida legislators during April and May will be the African honey bee awareness plan I reported on in the January issue of APIS. A recent letter from Representative Joseph R. Mackey to the Honey Bee Technical Council and the Africanized Honey Bee Task Force appointed by Agriculture Commissioner Doyle Conner asks for comments about the plan. Representative Mackey is Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Research and Marketing. As a member of both committees, I have written a letter which provides information on why an awareness campaign is needed. The text follows: "Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Subcommittee on Research and Marketing concerning the African honey bee. The Agriculture Commissioner's Honey Bee Technical Council and Africanized Honey Bee Task Force have spent many hours discussing ways Florida can respond to the bee's arrival.
Deliberations of the Council and Task Force have been driven by the fact that Florida is expected to be the state most affected by the African honey bee in the U.S. Based on experience in other subtropical areas, much of Florida can expect a saturation of over-defensive bees. This will mean potentially more stinging incidents, higher liability insurance rates for beekeepers and pressure to limit locating managed colonies of bees in many areas of the state. The latter action will be counterproductive. It will reduce competition from managed bees on the wild or feral population in many areas, resulting in higher populations of over-defensive African bees. A spin off will be a decline in Florida's commercial pollination industry responsible for producing an estimated $1 billion in income inside and outside the state. Although wild bees will also pollinate, they are not amenable to manipulations which build up large populations needed during marginal weather conditions. Manageable bees, trucked from Florida, are much in demand in the northeastern U.S. for pollinating cranberries, blueberries, apples and other fruits.
The Council and Task Force expect little help from federal sources to blunt the effects of the African honey bee in Florida. One reason for this is that the insect will more than likely be considered a "southern problem." Thus, Florida must take the realistic view that it will have to fend for itself by funding both research and awareness programs. The Council's and Task Force's research priorities include developing methods of identification and stock certification which go hand in hand with learning more about the genetic interactions between European and African honey bees. This is the focus of current studies and is the basis for the request to your committee for further support. A review of the results from research now being conducted by IFAS is found in the enclosed February, 1990 issue of APIS, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service's monthly beekeeping newsletter.
There is unanimity that making available information about the bee to the beekeeping and general public must be a top priority to minimize the impact of the African honey bee in Florida. A major information program in place when the bee entered Mexico is the reason that the insect's effect on human and animal populations was much less than in Venezuela and other Latin American countries where no such programs existed. An awareness campaign, therefore, which includes Dr. Hall's research component, has been conceived in cooperation with the Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences at the University of Florida and the Division of Plant Industry's Apiary Bureau. Details of the plan were published in the enclosed issue of the January, 1990 issue of APIS.
In summary, the Honey Bee Technical Council and Africanized Honey Bee Task Force urge continuation of a vigorous research effort required to meet the challenges provided by the African honey bee. However, this must be coupled with a correspondingly strong information dissemination plan to provide the best chance of limiting the expected negative effects of this over-defensive insect in Florida."
As the 1990 Florida legislative session heats up, there will be a cacaphony of appeals for legislators to support a wide variety of programs. With limited resources at their disposal, not all worthy causes can be funded. The African Bee Awareness program is no exception.
Update July 16, 1996: The African Honey Bee Crossed the Texas Border in 1990, but its invasion has been stalled in Texas ever since (see July 1994 issue of APIS).
SPEAKING CLEARLY
A recent article reprinted in the The Speedy Bee quotes the Fall 1989 Consumer Magazine Digest. The editor printed a chart which shows how many persons often misinterpret scientific prose. This is particularly relevant with respect to the DNA research I have discussed in the last APIS issue, but also covers many areas where government officials, the media, activist groups and consumers all seem to differ in their visions of risk assessment.
When it Says It Does NOT Mean
contributes to causes
suggests means
indicates proves
is associated with is causally related to
some scientists be all scientists agree
at least in some people (bees) probably in all people (bees)
animal studies show human studies would showFinally, remember that simply speaking does not necessarily mean speaking clearly or being understood as evidenced by the article's quotation from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. "The (Mad) Hatter spoke again on the subject at length, and although she could not catch the thought, it was certainly, Alice felt, English that he spoke."
BACKGROUND TO 1990 FARM BILL
Ms. Jane Phillips and Dr. Frederic L. Hoff have coauthored the publication,Honey: Background for 1990 Farm Legislation. This is must reading for anyone interested in how Federal legislators will be looking at the honey industry within the context of the new farm bill. To obtain a copy, dial 1 800-999-6779 and ask for staff report No. AGES 89-43. Cost is $5.50 which you can charge on Visa or MasterCard. You may also send a check or purchase order made payable to ERS-NASS, P.O. Box 1608, Rockville, MD 20849-1068.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 904-392-0190
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
©1990 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved
