APIS Volume 13, Number 4, April 1995
In this issue
- Ifas Software and Media Catalog
- Queen Rearing Resources
- Pollinator's Bible Availability
IFAS SOFTWARE AND MEDIA CATALOG
The new catalog of IFAS (University of Florida College of Agriculture) Software and other media has just been published. It includes a wealth of material that the Cooperative Extension Service and others in the college have put together over the years. The cornerstone continues to be a CD-ROM, available for $125 to Florida residents or as a one-year subscription, guaranteeing two (2) updates ($200 for Florida residents).
This CD-ROM database includes most of the publications available from the extension apiculturist. It also contains an enormous amount of information on beneficial insects, citrus, dairy, energy, soil, turfgrass, water quality and other topics. Elsewhere in the catalog, not on CD-ROM, are the insect and nematode control guides, and the hugely popular color sheets, showing a wide variety of insects. Finally, there is a list of software, including Profitability Model for a Mid-Sized Beekeeping Operation, produced by myself using Multiplan 1.0 ($25 for Florida Residents). For further information and to obtain a copy of the catalog, contact IFAS Publications, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110011, Gainesville, FL 32611- 0011, ph 904/392-1764.
QUEEN REARING RESOURCES
Invasion of the African or Africanized honey bee, now called the AHB by some, continues. There have now been five confirmed finds in California. This makes four states in total which are affected by this controversial insect. Fortunately for Florida, the invasion has not advanced eastward as rapidly as predicted. For possible explanations of this phenomenon, see the July 1994APIS.
The AHB invasion has produced somewhat of a renaissance in the art of queen rearing. This has been compounded by Varroa mite infestation in most of the U.S. The long-range solution to this parasite, now under control by chemical application, is also considered to be honey bee breeding (See May and July 1993, and January 1995 APIS).
Dr. Keith Delaplane in the April 1995 American Bee Journal published some observations on the basics of queen rearing. His remarks are based on the G.M. Doolittle's classic book Scientific Queen Rearing (1888). According to Dr. Delaplane, the concepts are: (1) motivating a colony to rear numerous queens, (2) providing the colony female larvae, of the beekeeper's choice, to rear queens, and (3) providing ideal mating conditions for the new queens.
Two (2) new resources have appeared that are designed to help the beekeeper develop the queen rearing skills outlined by Dr. Delaplane. The first is the second edition of Rearing Queen Honey Bees by Dr. Roger Morse. According to Dr. Morse, "Queen rearing requires attention to detail. Queens vary greatly in size and weight; the greater the weight, the more ovarioles a queen has and the more eggs she will lay. The size of the queen is a direct result of how well she is fed and cared for during her growth and development, especially during the larval stage." [Editor's emphasis].
It is the section on stock selection and improvement that is really the basis for this second edition. Dr. Morse urges beekeepers not to be sold a bill of goods by those whose promotional skills are superior to their queen producing abilities. And he suggests that selection be confined to honey production and disease resistance. Breeder queens should also be chosen that have a good brood pattern. As Dr. Morse says, "A good queen has a compact brood nest. In colonies with good brood patterns, eggs are adjacent to eggs, larvae to larvae, and pupae to pupae."
The chapter on Rearing Queens and Managing Africanized Bees also emphasizes stock improvement by describing experiences of beekeepers in areas influenced by Africanization. As part of this discussion, Dr. Morse attempts to define the word "Africanized." He says the term is used in Brazil to differentiate honeybees from Africa from stingless bees that are native to the Americas. He concludes that Africanized bees "have been crossed with the original European bees. They are predominantly African." [Editor's emphasis]. "Their size and behavior is (sic) similar to that of the bees on their native continent. On the average, Africanized honey bees are about ten percent smaller than their European counterparts, as are African honey bees."
Rearing queens in AHB areas is only somewhat different from techniques used with European bees, according to Dr. Morse. Specifically, this includes using larger mating nuclei, taking care to locate colonies away from human habitation and dressing adequately to work with these sometimes very defensive insects. Rearing Queen Honey Bees is available from WICWAS Press, P.O. Box 817, Cheshire CT 06410-0817 for $14.95 plus postage, ph 203/250-7575.
Dr. Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter of the University of Minnesota have recently produced a videotaped short course titled Successful Queen Rearing. Again, a major reason for its development is the impact of the AHB. This insect is not expected to survive in the temperate climate of the midwest. As a consequence, the authors say that the "..primary goal of this course...is to teach northern beekeepers methods of rearing their own queens so they have alternative sources of European queens." There is nothing very radical in this idea they claim, as Canadians have done it successfully for many years ever since closure of the U.S. border caused a queen shortage in that country. The authors encourage experimentation and conclude with the words of C.L. Farrar: "Poorly reared queens of productive stock generally will be inferior to well-reared queens from less productive stock."
The video is a little over 13 minutes long and takes the student through the basics of queen rearing according to the Doolittle method. Specific techniques include establishing starting and finishing colonies, confining breeder queens to get correctly aged larvae for transferring (grafting), and introducing sealed, ripe queens cells into nuclei.
Although the video is good quality, it is the accompanying manual that really stands out. This ambitious, oversized publication includes excellent graphics showing detailed plans of a push-in cage, larval grafting (transferring) tool and pollen trap; cell bar frames; two kinds of swarm boxes; several types of mating nuclei; and starting and finishing colony setups.
Examples of record sheets to keep track of one's rearing efforts and other tips such as marking queens are also included in the manual. Finally, a calendar of queen rearing events is presented, along with a scheduling "wheel." Three circular paper wheels can be cut out and mounted together which, like a circular slide rule, will tell the producer what must be done during a calendar year, when given a starting or ending date. The manual and video are available for $45.00 from University of Minnesota Extension Service, Distribution Center, 20 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108- 6069, ph 612/625-8120.
In the above short course, Dr. Spivak liberally credits her queen rearing mentor, Steve Taber. And although not a new resource, Mr. Taber's book, Breeding Super Bees, published by the A.I. Root Co. in 1987 is one any aspiring queen producer should always have on hand. In contrast to the other resources outlined elsewhere in this newsletter, Mr. Taber's book is not so much a "how to" volume, but rather reflects his own experiences in several geographic areas, including Madison, WI, Baton Rouge, LA and Tucson, AZ.
Two areas of Mr. Taber's book deserve particular attention. The first has to do with his ideas on nutritional management. These hark back to the resources listed elsewhere, both emphasizing well-reared queens by well-fed colonies. The other concerns bee breeding and selection, somewhat controversial topics not covered in much detail by many resources on queen rearing.
Mr. Taber addresses the nutritional problem by asking a rhetorical question, when do queen rearing colonies need to be fed protein (pollen). Artificial feeding of queen rearing colonies is required when there are no drone larvae present, is Mr. Taber's unequivocal response. He suggests, therefore, that 25-50 drone cells be scattered throughout brood comb. As a corollary, he also states that the amount of stored pollen is a poor indicator of colony nutritional status. Thus, he concludes: "...successful queen rearing is directly related to drone rearing....Ample pollen enables bees to rear drones. Bees need a plentiful supply of a balanced diet year around and if there is a shortage they must be fed." [Editor's emphasis]
The protein source in Mr. Taber's recipe (13 pounds of pollen per 2.75 pints of water per 13 pounds of sugar with applicable amounts of TM-25 and fumagillin) consists strictly of bee-collected pollen. He does not mention pollen substitute, but states: "In my opinion, the questions on pollen feeding and nutrition are foremost in areas of needed bee research....Since clear answers...have not been made available, arbitrary decisions on diet mixes, preparation and feeding have been the result." For other information on this subject, I still have available reprints of my 1992 Bee Science paper, "A Florida Honey-Bee Feeding Study Using the Beltsville Bee Diet," that I will send out on request.
In contrast to the two other resources mentioned above, Mr. Taber's book goes into much more detail concerning bee breeding and stock selection. He advocates the use of single-drone instrumental insemination (SDM) as the preferred way to ensure maximum gene frequency change. In combination with SDM, a "closed population breeding" plan would ensure needed changes in the bee population, he says. These include resistance to pests and diseases and genetic manipulation of the AHB. However he says that an important theoretical problem still must be faced. This is the retention of sex alleles in the mating population. (For another analysis of this and other limitations to bee breeding, see the September 1992 APIS.)
Mr. Taber says: "...concepts...in the closed population breeding scheme are difficult to understand....However, both the methods used and the results obtained are very easy to understand." [Editor's note: Instrumental insemination instruction is available by contacting Susan Cobey, Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210, ph 614/292-7928.]
Because of all the potential problems and limitations, Mr. Taber concludes "...it's best not to breed for honey production." "Of course," he adds, "my position is not supported by others....However the only published work on this...showed only a slight increase in honey production over 13 years of selection." Breeding Super Bees is available from A.I. Root Co., P.O. Box 706, Medina, OH 44258, ph 216/725-6677. It sells for $8.99 including postage.
POLLINATOR'S BIBLE AVAILABILITY
In the March 1995 APIS, I discussed the "pollinator's bible," Agriculture Handbook 497, Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants, by S.E. McGregor. Well, my pronouncement that it was not available was somewhat premature. Copies are still floating around. WicWas Press continues to sell them for $20.00 plus shipping and handling; see address above. And the Weslaco Bee Laboratory also has copies available at no charge while they last. To request a copy, contact Dr. Anita Collins, 2413 E. Highway 83, Bldg 205, Weslaco, TX 78596, ph. 210/969-4870.
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
©1995 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved
