APIS Volume 12, Number 12, December 1994
In this issue
- Taking Stock--Summary of 1994
- 4-H Essay Contest
- Parasitic Mite Syndrome
TAKING STOCK
It's that time of year again. Each December, I try to take the opportunity to reflect on what has happened over the past 12 months as reported in the pages of this newsletter. This is the 143rd consecutive issue of APIS, continuing this publication's reputation as the longest-running newsletter of its kind currently distributed in the United States. In January, APIS was recognized as a pioneer in electronic information delivery in the 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).
In the May issue relayed the information that many back issues are archived at several internet sites around the country. At that time, I also described other internet resources available to apiculturists. A fuller description of electronic information resources, along with availability of other computer programs, was also published by myself, and colleagues T.R. Fasulo and J.C. Medley here at the University of Florida. A reprint of the paper, "Electronic Delivery of Apicultural Information," Bee Science, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 10-15, July 1993 is available to anyone upon request. The latest development concerning electronic delivery of this newsletter, accessibility via the World Wide Web, was announced in the October issue.
The African honey bee (AHB) was a hot topic in 1994. The January APIS described the complexities involved in trying to manage this insect in Texas. In summary, Bill Vanderput boiled it down to: "...25 percent more stings, 25 percent more work and 25% more sweat." The spread of the AHB was also reported in Arizona (June), California (November), and, more ominously for Florida, in Puerto Rico (October), proving that this insect can be introduced by sea, as well as by migrating overland. AHB Information resources developed in Arizona (June) and Texas, California and USDA (April) were also described. Finally, the July issue discussed the reasons that the AHB invasion seemed to have stalled in Texas. The same issue discussed how scientists were attempting to make sense of the AHB migration by using DNA to track honey bee ancestry.
The February issue of APIS focused on apitherapy, describing some of the activities of the American Apitherapy Society, particularly its data collection efforts (Multi-Center Apitherapy Study). The value of apitherapy for several illnesses was reported, as was a comment from the dean of U.S. apitherapy, Charles Mraz: "The only way to find out if this kind of therapy works is to try it."
Other topics during the year included introduction of a new citrus pest in Florida, the citrus leafminer, and what that potentially meant to beekeepers (March), the disappearance of pollinating honey bees (January) thought to be a consequence of widespread Varroa infestation, use of attractants to increase pollination potential (June) and employment of non-APIS or pollen bees (April) in some pollinating situations.
The real possibility of fluvalinate contamination of hive products in conjunction with Varroa treatment was discussed in several issues (January, March and April) of this newsletter, along with potential effects of general environmental pollution on a bee colony (May). Bee poisoning by plants in Florida was reported in June and the current status of the U.S. beekeeping industry in July.
The August issue of APIS was devoted to honey processing, including how to get a permit, guidelines for honey house sanitation and the recent rapid rise of adulterating activity. The new nutritional labeling law as it applies to small firms was described in October and November, as was Varroa control and possible chemical resistance by mites due to heavy use by beekeepers. Discussions of vegetable-oil patty use for American foulbrood (September) and tracheal mite control (October) rounded out the year.
4-H Essay Contest
Back in June, I wrote that the annual 4-H Essay Contest sponsored by the American Beekeeping Federation needed entrants. Since then, I have had only two (2) inquiries. Florida had no entries last year; this means there is an excellent chance of winning by simply entering the contest. Here are the details:
Cash prizes to three top winners:
1st Place $250.00
2nd Place $100.00
3rd Place $ 50.00Each state winner also receives an appropriate book about honey bees, beekeeping, or honey.
This year, essayists are asked to write an original story on honey bees, one that is suitable for a teacher to read to second-grade students. The story can be about the honey bee family and the members' life cycles or fancifully casting individuals in the colony as characters. Any style is suitable as long as it covers:
- The roles each of the bees--queen, drone, worker--play in the honey bee colony.
- The life cycle of the honey bee colony as a unit.
- The ways in which honey bees benefit humans.
The title of the story should indicate its context. Some suggestions: The Busy Little Bee; I Like Honey; A Trip to the Apiary; My Friend, the Beekeeper; Moving Day at the Bee Hive.
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 15, 1995.
- 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, 1995.
- 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.
Parasitic Mite Syndrome
The report by James Bach on his trip to the British Isles in the November issue of APIS provoked some feedback. Bob Hawkes, a beekeeper accessing the newsletter on World Wide Web, sent me these observations:
"Last Saturday I attended the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association meeting. The apiary inspection chiefs from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia reported that they no longer consider tracheal mites to be a serious problem. But there is serious concern about Varroa. We have Varroa infestation throughout much of Pennsylvania now. And this fall many beekeepers have seen their colonies crash--the "disappearing disease." Some have been wiped out, and the colonies went from very strong to dead in a very short time. The experts reported finding the same [those reported by Mr. Bach] viruses (chronic paralysis virus and Kashmir virus) in some of these dead colonies. So they associate these viral infections not with tracheal mites, but with Varroa mites. Are the viruses carried by one or both? Or are these viruses always present and their effect associated with stress from any source? It's a frustrating yet fascinating time!"
Now comes a report in the December 1994 American Bee Journal (Vol. 134, No. 12, pp. 827-828) on what the authors (H. Shimanuki; N. Calderone and D. Knox) call parasitic mite syndrome. As the they state: "...two different parasitic mites in a colony is especially devastating because Acarapis woodi (the tracheal mite) parasitizes the adult and the preferred host of Varroa is the prepupae. We theorize that the parasitic mite syndrome is in some way connected to one or both of the parasitic mites vectoring the acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV)..." Dr. Shimanuki has subsequently reported to me by electronic mail that 28% of the adult bee samples with Varroa are also found to be infested with the tracheal mite. The authors provide a list of symptoms that can occur at any time of year and which may not all be evident at a given time:
Adult Symptoms:
- Varroa is present.
- Adult bee population is reduced.
- Crawling bees are seen.
- Queens are superseded.
- Tracheal mites may be present.
Brood Symptoms:
- Varroa is present.
- Brood pattern is spotty.
- Symptoms resembling the foulbroods or sacbrood may be present. These may disappear after feeding Terramycin (R), sugar syrup or inserting Apistan (R) strips.
- Affected brood can be in any stage and anywhere on the comb.
- Many symptoms are similar to American foulbrood, but there is no "ropiness," no typical odor and resultant scales are not brittle and easy to remove.
- No predominant bacterial type is found and no known bee pathogen has been isolated from samples so far.
Although coincident with presence of mites, the use of "parasitic mite syndrome" to characterize the above conditions is not without complications. As the authors state: "It is somewhat confusing that colonies with parasitic mite syndrome benefit from the feeding of oxytetracycline or sugar syrup, both of which are not known to be effective against viruses. Nevertheless they conclude: "The effectiveness of fluvalinate impregnated plastic strips [Apistan (R)] strongly suggests an association with Varroa jacobsoni."
Until further notice, the authors report that they will begin to use the term "parasitic mite syndrome" in routine reporting of disease diagnosis from their laboratory. Persons submitting brood disease samples to the laboratory should send a piece of brood comb and 100 adults from each affected colony. Comb should be at least 2 inches square, wrapped in a paper bag, towel, or newspaper and mailed in a wooden or cardboard box. The use of plastic bags, aluminum foil, waxed paper, tin or glass should be avoided. Address samples to: Honey Bee Diagnosis, USDA, ARS Bee Research Laboratory, BARC-E, B-476, Beltsville, MD 20705.
The symptoms listed above, especially those associated with adult bees, except for the presence of either or both mites, ring familiar to many beekeepers. These conditions have often been referred to as "disappearing disease," "autumn collapse" or "May disease." They also remind me of those involved in the unexplained dieoff in Florida's panhandle in 1986-1988, coincident with the initial detection of tracheal mites in the area. First reported in the February, March and April 1987 issues of APIS, and later reflected on in April and March 1988, this situation culminated in a feeding study carried out in 1988 and 1989. The results were reported in Bee Science in 1991 [A Florida Honey-Bee Feeding Study Using the Beltsville Bee Diet (R), Vol. 1, No. 2, pp 72-76]. I will mail a reprint to anyone upon request.
Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season!
Sincerely,
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
APIS on the World Wide Web--
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