APIS Volume 12, Number 5, May 1994
In this issue:
- Scott Yocom Dies
- More on Fluvalinate
- Honey Bees and Environmental Contamination
- The Information Superhigway (Internet)
SCOTT YOCOM DIES
It is with a great deal of sadness and regret that I report the death of Dr. Scott Yocom. Many of the readers of these pages knew Scott well. He attended several beekeepers institutes held in Florida and also gave presentations to many beekeeping associations around the state. In recognition of his research efforts on both tracheal and Varroa mites, he was presented the very first Florida State Beekeeper Association's Researcher of the Year Award. He recently was awarded his Ph.D. in Entomology for work on how mites affect honey bees.
Beyond his activities with the beekeeping industry, Scott had a broad range of interests. He was an accomplished artist, who also helped the local community by being involved in establishing the Art and Healing Program at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. He served in many other capacities, including president of the Graphics and Scientific Illustrators Association and vice-president of the Gainesville Orchid Society.
As a graduate student in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, Scott was deeply involved in the student organization, ENSO. He helped this group in many ways, including raising money by selling honey, planning trips and winning contests held under the auspices of the Entomological Society of America.
During a memorial service for Scott in Gainesville, it was emphasized that he was people oriented. It can truthfully be said he touched many lives. I will certainly miss his optimistic, energy-filled presence, and the Florida beekeeping industry will also be poorer for his absence.
MORE ON FLUVALINATE
Dr. Yaacov Lensky's remarks on fluvalinate in the January 1994APISdrew a varied response. Some suggested he, and by extension I, was advocating unregistered and illegal use of fluvalinate in the United States. This is not true, as clearly stated in the March 1994 issue of this newsletter.
Others charged that Dr. Lensky had no data to back up his controversial ideas. However, he was repeating much of what he, along with Yossi Slabezki and Hani Gal, published in "The Effect of Fluvalinate Application in Bee Colonies on Population Levels of Varroa jacobsoni and Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.) and on Residues in Honey and Wax," Bee Science, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 189-195, October 1991. In that paper, the authors conducted several experiments with fluvalinate-soaked plywood inserts in Israel. They compared colonies treated only six weeks versus those treated from six to eight months, and measured the results in terms of subsequent bee populations, honey production and fluvalinate residues in wax and honey.
The authors stated that Varroa was effectively controlled using both short- and long-term treatments, but there were more mites left after the six-week period than in colonies treated longer. Although there were no significant differences between resultant populations treated by either treatment, those colonies exposed to fluvalinate for a shorter time period generally made more honey. No residues of fluvalinate in honey were found in colonies treated six weeks, but for those in the six- to eight- month window, the level exceeded 0.05 parts per million. In wax, larger residues were detected in both treatments. The authors also found that adequate mite control was achieved by placing inserts either on the bottomboard or inside the brood nest. They, therefore, recommended the former procedure because it avoids inserts being in contact with wax and is less labor intensive.
The above results thus led to Dr. Lensky's statements expressed in the January issue of this newsletter about placement of inserts, and treatment with fluvalinate at too high levels for too long. His overriding concern was possible effects of fluvalinate buildup in a honey bee colony. As the authors concluded in the above article: "The undesirable effects of long- term treatment with fluvalinate clearly warn beekeepers who leave fluvalinate inserts in hives longer than the recommended treatment period. While a beekeeper may feel that extended treatment might provide prolonged protection from Varroa mites, our data indicate that it will result in reduced honey yields and honey and beeswax contamination at levels above established tolerances."
HONEY BEES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION
Several recent discussions across the Internet (see subsequent article on the information superhighway) about bee-collected propolis and pollen have concluded that honey bees are excellent samplers of their environment. This has both good and bad aspects according to one of the pioneers in the field, Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, University of Montana. Here are his "take home" messages concerning these insects as environmental monitors:
- Honey bees serve as multi-media samplers that average the concentrations of pollutants over time and throughout large spatial areas. Bees sample contaminants in all forms - gaseous, liquid, particulate - and can detect chemicals in their surroundings at levels often difficult, if not impossible, to detect using more conventional approaches - i.e., instrumentation.
- Most of the contamination (at least as indicated by the concentrations measured) ends up in the bees themselves and in pollen. Some chemicals concentrate in wax, especially the lipophilic ones. As a consequence, beekeepers should refrain from letting bees collect and consume pollen in industrial areas, near highways, chemical plants, or a local nuclear reactor.
- Except for tritium or other special elements, levels of contaminants in honey will be the same order of magnitude or lower than those found in bees, pollen, and some wax samples. Even when contaminated, therefore, honey is as good or better than most food products.
- Propolis, like wax, can contain high levels of contaminants, but levels often change dramatically from one date to the next, much more than in bees or pollen.
- Given the bees' affinity to filter contaminants out of the environment and bring them back to the hive, putting untested chemicals into hives (for example, to try to control mites) poses a very serious risk of contamination for the hive and its products. (see August 1996 APIS)
- Beekeepers should take the attitude that monitoring environmental contamination by their bees is a valuable new service that they can provide. Public reception and support of this concept has been good.
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
The demise of the Beekeepers Institute last year led to the rise of a successful beekeeping seminar in Florida's panhandle. The organizers are planning a longer event this year. The dates are September 9 and 10. The program will begin around noon on Friday and go through Saturday. Participant costs are estimated at $45.00, $55.00 for those spending the night. The site is Blackwater State Forest Training Center. Further information is available from Bill Overman, President, Escarosa Beekeepers Association, 9801 Lyman Dr., Pensacola, FL 32534, ph 904/478-7690.
The summer will see the traditional meeting of the Eastern Apicultural Society in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, July 11-15. This will include the annual short course with two tracks (intermediate/beginning beekeeping and the business of keeping bees). Individual cost is $410.00, including dues, registration, room, meals, picnic and banquet). Registering for the short course is $80.00. For more information, contact Joe Duffy, 309 Clivden St., Glenside, PA 19038, ph 717/885-1681 or Maryann Frazier, Dept. of Entomology, 501 ASI Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, ph 814/865-4621.
The 1994 Georgia Beekeeping Institute will meet June 17-18 at Young Harris College in Young Harris, GA. Room rates are $16.00 per person per night and early bird (before June 3) registration is $30.00 for two days. For more information, contact Mrs. Tracy Coker, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, ph 706/542-8954.
THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY (INTERNET)
The Information Superhighway, sometimes called the Internet, has recently been getting lots of press. And it is trying to get up to speed, but still has a way to go. Like many roadways, it can be full of narrow lanes under construction and care must be taken that all communities are served. The APIS newsletter, available electronically across the Internet, has been a pioneer publication in this electronic delivery system. It is featured in the new booklet, 51 Reasons: How We Use the Internet and What it Says About the Information Superhighway. This publication will be distributed by the publisher, FARNET, Inc., as part of a major effort to familiarize elected officials about the educational potential of the National Information Infrastructure (NII).
Dr. Jim Tew, Federal Extension Leader in Apiculture, in association with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) computing center, has recently set up a suite of services on the Internet to help the beekeeping community keep up with informational changes. An anonymous ftp (file transfer protocol) center has been established at the host (sun1.oardc.ohio- state.edu). On this computer, one can find an extensive list of files which can be accessed by computer. Recently, the information is being delivered on another provider called a "gopher."
For those knowledgeable about this system, the gopher bookmark is:
- Name=Bees and Beekeeping
- Type=1
- Port=70
- Path=1/bioag/bee-info
- Host=sun1.oardc.ohio-state.edu
Information at the above host or site is found in the Bees and Beekeeping menu under Agricultural Resources. As the announcement for this service says, "Point your gopher client to sun1.oardc.ohio-state.edu (port 70) and enjoy!"
An index and the last two years' worth of APIS are also available at the above gopher under the topic, Bees and Beekeeping newsletters. The Cooperative Extension Service publications at this site and the APIS newsletters are full-text searchable. There is an important caveat, however, as the announcement further states: "Please be warned that this gopher server and its menus are still 'under construction'. Please feel free to let us know (postmaster@sun1.oardc.ohio-state.edu) if you like what you see, or if you have suggestions for enhancements/improvements..."
A new beekeeping group has recently been added to the USENET database which is also allied with the information superhighway. It is called "sci.agriculture.beekeeping." This service is in the process of adding frequently asked questions (FAQs) about beekeeping and is also being monitored by the computerized beekeeping bulletin board, WildBees BBS (dataline 209/826-8107), run by Andy Nachbaur (Andy.Nachbaur@beenet.com on the Internet).
Finally, the BEE-L network, a version of what is known as a LISTSERV on the superhighway, continues to be frequented by apiculturists and others. A description of this information resource, along with availability of other computer programs, was published in July, 1993 in the paper, "Electronic Delivery of Apicultural Information," BeeScience, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 10-15, authored by myself, T.R. Fasulo and J.C. Medley here at the University of Florida. I will gladly mail a reprint of this paper to anyone upon request.
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (352) 392-1801, Ext. 143 FAX: 352-392-0190
INTERNET Address: MTS@GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU
