APIS Volume 11, Number 12, December 1993
In this issue
- Taking Stock--Summary of 1993
- 1994 4-H Essay Contest
- Bumble Bee Newsletter
- Hybrid Bee Biology--A New Frontier
TAKING STOCK IN 1993
It's time to take stock again as the old year closes. This is the 131st consecutive issue of APIS to roll off the press. Not only is the printed form available, however, but also the electronic document. This year, APIS will be formally recognized as a pioneer of the Information Age. The history of its publication on the Internet (a collection of various computer networks) will become one of a few stories compiled into a publication that will be used to promote construction of the National Information Infrastructure (NII).
Most back issues of APIS are no longer in print, however, the electronic revolution still keeps the information, along with an index, available to anybody with an electronic mail address. Perhaps these files will also be part of a Gopher or accessible by anonymous FTP in the future. For those on the IFAS Computer Network, there are other options, including issues for the last two years in the ONLINE database. My electronic mail address appears at the end of this newsletter for anybody who would like to peruse either the index or back issues.
Perhaps 1993's top subject was first the availability (January) and then abrupt withdrawal from the market (October) of the alternative Varroa mite treatment, Miticur (R). This was a great setback for the beekeeping industry. As a consequence, it will continue to have to rely on only one chemical for Varroa control, a prescription for accelerating the development of resistance by the parasite (November).
In conjunction with this, the dangers of using alternative mite treatments for Varroa and the search for mite-resistant stock were discussed (January). The phenomenal ability of Varroa to transfer among colonies was also described as a beekeeper community problem (March) and the parasite's control, therefore, as a moving target (August), culminating in what some have called the Great Mite Plague of 1993 (October).
The February issue detailed the search for a model management plan, not only for disease and pest control, but other issues beekeepers face. The question, When is a bee colony healthy? was asked in July. Tracheal mite resistance was also discussed (April), as well as a sampling procedure to find these parasites (May).
Another topic addressed at some length was the African honey bee migration. Results of research at the University of Florida on African-European hybrids in the tropics were reported, leading to some ideas about why they do not appear to persist in the wild (June). The advance of the African honey bee into Arizona (August) and New Mexico (November) was also cataloged. How the word "swarm" is now perceived by beekeepers and others, but might have to be modified with the arrival of African bees, was addressed (April). Finally, this issue discusses the need for studying the biology of African-European hybrids.
A plethora of other topics were dealt with throughout the year: bee bashing by columnists and others involved in the honey subsidy issue (January), the life and death of beekeeping pioneer Phil Packard (April), queen rearing on the rebound in Florida, conserving honey quality (May), apitherapy and human health (July) and agricultural ethics (August). The future of pollination as a consequence of Varroa depredations on feral honey bee nests and the hue and cry for training persons in urban areas to tend bees strictly for pollination were also addressed in June.
Finally, an era ended in 1993 with cancellation of the traditional Beekeepers Institute (September). This sad occurrence was replaced by a phenomenally successful one-day beekeeping seminar in Florida's panhandle (October). What 1994 will hold is anybody's guess. Stick around, however, you'll be one of the first to know as a recipient of APIS.
1994 4-H ESSAY CONTEST
The time is right to be penning an entry for the American Beekeeping Federation's 4-H Essay Contest. The prizes for this year's event include:
Cash prizes to three top winners:
- 1st Place $250.00
- 2nd Place $100.00
- 3rd Place $ 50.00
Each State Winner also receives an appropriate book about honey bees, beekeeping, or honey.
The topic is Products of the Hive and Their Uses.
Essayists should research the subject thoroughly and cite uses of not only honey, but beeswax and other hive products: royal jelly, venom, propolis, honeydew, bee brood and live bees.
To get started, look for how hive products have been used in a wide variety of ways in the past. Some of these are highly unusual, even humorous, when viewed from today's perspective. Then answer the questions, "what roles do hive products play in the world today?" and "what uses do you imagine for them in the future?".
NOTE: Honey bee pollination of plants is not considered a product of the beehive.
RULES:
- Contest is open to active 4-H Club members only. 4-H'ers who have previously placed first, second, or third at the national level are not eligible; other state winners are eligible to re-enter.
- Essays must be 750 to 1000 words long, written on the designated subject only. All factual statements must be referenced with endnotes; failure to do so will result in disqualification of the essay. A brief biographical sketch of the essayist, including date of birth, complete mailing address, and telephone number, must accompany the essay. (The word limit does not include the references or the essayist's biographical sketch.)
- Essays submitted must be typewritten, double-spaced, on one side of the paper and should follow standard manuscript format. Handwritten essays will not be judged.
- Essays will be judged on (a) accuracy, (b) creativity, (c) conciseness, (d) logical development of the topic, and (e) scope of research.
- Essayists in Florida should forward essays directly to Essay Contest, Dr. M.T. Sanford, Bldg. 970, Box 110620, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620. The deadline is February 1, 1994, earlier than usual.
- Each state may submit only one entry.
- Final judging and selection of the National Winner will be made by the ABF's Essay Committee, whose decision is final.
- The National Winner will be announced by May 1, 1994.
- All entries become the property of the American Beekeeping Federation, Inc. and may be published or used as it sees fit. No essay will be returned.
FEDERATION MEETS IN FLORIDA
It's not too soon to plan to attend the annual meeting of the American Beekeeping Federation in Florida. It will take place at the Sheraton World Resort in Orlando, January 19-23. The program promises to be one of the best ever. Featured presentations will be given about NAFTA's possible impact on U.S. beekeeping, the USDA's "new" honey program, bee research around the nation and world, coping with African bees in Texas and Arizona, apitherapy and the beekeeper, and managing Varroa and tracheal mites.
On Saturday, January 22, there will be meetings of special interest sessions (package bees and queens, commercial beekeepers, supply manufacturers and dealers, inspectors and researchers, hobby beekeepers and honey packers). In addition, participants will be given the opportunity to attend a wide range of educational workshops that afternoon. Finally, on Sunday, January 23, an all- day visit to Mike Blocker's Bee Ranch in Umatilla is planned. Tentative events include a barbecue and bobcat/forklift rodeo to find the fastest, most proficient driver in beekeeperdom.
Information on the meeting is available from the American Beekeeping Federation, Inc., P.O. Box 1038, Jesup, GA 31545, ph and fax 912/427-8447 or ph 912/427-4018. I look forward to seeing you there.
BUMBLE BEE NEWSLETTER
I am in receipt of the August 1993 issue of Bumblebeequest, published in Canada. It contains an article on how these non-apis bees manage to fly in cold weather and the results of a survey of cranberry pollination by North American bumble bees. In addition, there is information on regulations involving moving colonies in Canada and three reviews on books recently published on pollination biology. To subscribe (up to four issues per year are planned), send a check for $20 to Dr. D.T. Fairey, Box 411, Beaverlodge, Alberta, Canada TOH OCO. Phone 403/354-2212, FAX 403/354-8171.
There seems to be more and more interest about bumble bee culture as the availability of Bumblebeequest attests. A discussion list on the these bees and their contribution to pollination has also been set up by Dr. Chris Plowright at the University of Ottawa. For those on the Internet, send a subscribe message to BOMBUS@CSI.UOTTAWA.CA. For other questions, communicate directly with Dr. Plowright (PLOWRIGHT@CSI.UOTTAWA.CA).
HYBRID HONEY BEE BIOLOGY--A NEW FRONTIER?
Drs. Glenn Hall at the University of Florida and Orley "Chip" Taylor, University of Kansas, teamed up recently at the Florida State Beekeepers Association meeting in West Palm Beach to discuss hybrid honey bee biology. Together they reported on a mounting body of evidence suggesting that there may be surprises when the New World feral African honey bee population meets up with the managed European one in temperate America.
Dr. Taylor's studies of queen and worker development time in Mexico, Dr. Hall's investigations of metabolic rates in collaboration with Dr. Harrison of Arizona State University, and analyses of honey production at the Escuela Agricola Panamericana (Zamorano) in Honduras all show similar patterns. African mother lines generally propagate better-performing hybrid offspring than do Europeans in the first generation (called F1 by geneticists), although European mother lines do produce viable stock. In succeeding generations (back crosses), both African and European mother lines become progressively less vigorous. However, the European mother lines do so to a much greater degree.
Thus, instead of uniform hybridization between the two populations, these investigations suggest a parental influence skewed towards the African side in the American tropics. It was stressed that these dynamics have been studied in mostly feral or wild bee populations. Colony management (helping them become more competitive) by beekeepers in the honey production study appeared to help hybrid stock compensate. In one African-European cross, for example, while metabolic rates were lower, suggesting a less productive bee, honey production was almost the same level as that of the maternal African parent.
Dr. Taylor said that in the tropics, a zone of temporary hybridization may first appear along the feral African bee invading front, but that population becomes more African-like over time. How much of a hybrid African-European feral population will eventually persist across the southern tier of states in the U.S., as is now found in northern Argentina, he stated, is unknown at present.
The reason African bees have appeared to slow in east Texas, Dr. Taylor conjectured, is because the hybridizing front may be meeting tough resistance from an already entrenched Varroa population. If the hybrids are decimated by mites, there remains a question about how long it might take the African bee to actually reach Florida. Another possibility, he concluded, is that the large number of nesting sites in the "Big Thicket" of east Texas might be swallowing up the feral population for a period of time, until it outgrows the region and again pushes eastward.
According to Dr. Hall, these studies collectively reveal that far more attention may have to be paid to the contribution of the African mother line when developing hybrid honey bees for beekeeper use in the southern U.S. Simply saturating an area with European drones or requeening with European certified stock may not be enough to keep the feral African-derived population's influence at bay. In the final analysis, the only way to answer many of these questions is to intensively study the hybrid biology of African and European bees where they collide.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 904-392-0190
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
