Editor’s Note: The paper published in Ecology and Evolution, “Host adaptations reduce the reproductive success of Varroa destructor in two distinct European honey bee populations” by Barbara Locke, Yves Le Conte, Didier Crauser & Ingemar Fries is attached here.
Abstract
Leave a Comment September 21, 2012
From: Lafayette Online
By Phillip Fiorini, Purdue University News Service
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A Purdue University entomologist will speak Thursday (Sept. 20) about research efforts to breed hardier, parasite-resistant honeybees in North America and Europe at the next Science on Tap.
Honeybee specialist Greg Hunt, a professor of behavioral genetics and author, will speak at 6:00pm in the upstairs of the Lafayette Brewing Company, 622 Main St., Lafayette. His talk is titled “What’s Bugging our Bees? Bee Health, Parasitic Mites and Breeding for Hardy, Resistant Bees.”
Leave a Comment September 19, 2012
Weight of the Evidence and Models
Weight of the Evidence
Weight of the evidence and the use of models were two very significant topics addressed today.
From the onset, weight of the evidence and the requirements set forth the Data Quality Act could be on a collision course—all dependent upon how weight of the evidence is implemented.
If the weight of the evidence is implemented in a “Lazy Susan” manner, meaning that each reviewer tastes a morsel of data spun around a circular table and then opines on the merits of the information, such an approach is probably inconsistent with the DQA because the end result could not be replicated.
Leave a Comment September 14, 2012
From: AgWeekly
By Maurice Hladik
Growing up on the farm, my father had a few beehives so when I recently watched the documentary What Are the Bees Telling Us? it brought back fond childhood memories. For those who want an introduction to beekeeping, it does a fine job on many fronts. However, based largely on opinions of those interviewed, it presents the colony collapse disorder (CCD) as a disaster for the honey industry and indeed for our entire food supply. It also lays most of the blame for this phenomenon on monoculture crops, genetically modified food plants and pesticides. A little research has uncovered some interesting facts that are quite the opposite of many claims made in the film.
Leave a Comment September 14, 2012
Sitting through hours of informed discussions, one has to be impressed with the very extensive body of research dedicated to bees. It is also obvious that if one is going to wade into this pool it is best they do their homework.
Dr. Potter opined that there is a need for a reassessment of alternative pathways such as drinking water and dust. He appeared to question the usefulness of high levels of loadings for input evaluation.
Dr. Pettis commented on how to incorporate queens into Tier I tests and concluded, in our opinion, that standardized tests are not presently available.
Leave a Comment September 13, 2012
The SAP most certainly was presented with a number of challenges.
First we remind our readers that these very talented individuals donate their time and expertise over a long period of time. In doing so, one would not expect that they would be subject to the rudeness displayed by the presenter from the Center for Food Safety.
We subsequently learned that the presenter was an attorney not a scientist so as they often say in the great city of New Orleans, you can put lipstick on a pig but it is still a pig.
Leave a Comment September 12, 2012
From: StatemanJournal.com
Honeybees were already facing colony collapse in the Northwest when a Northwest researcher discovered they were also falling victim to a new horror: the zombie fly.
Ramesh Sagili, a honeybee specialist at Oregon State University, discovered the region’s first honeybee to be infected by the zombie fly, which already has been found to afflict honeybees in California and South Dakota.
Leave a Comment September 12, 2012
Editor’s Note: The following article is a blind acceptance of the Lu Study. The SAP, with its recognized expertise in bee health decline, is in a position to educate the public of studies with little or no scientific foundation.
In particular the Lu study purported to determine whether feeding colonies of bees with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)—often done by beekeepers in order to supplement the bees’ diet in cold temperatures—that was assumed to have imidacloprid residues would lead to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in the colonies.
Leave a Comment September 11, 2012
From: New Zealand Herald
By Alanah Eriksen
Beekeeper fears devastating colony collapse disorder may have arrived.
An Auckland beekeeper who has set up 300 hives around the region says his insects have started dying at an alarming rate.
He believes a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD), which has wiped out bees and reduced food crops around the world, may have reached New Zealand.
Bees are already increasingly under threat from the varroa mite as it becomes more resistant to pesticides.
Leave a Comment September 10, 2012
Neonicotinoids: : Trying to make the Science Work
Mr. Randy Oliver of ScientificBeekeeping.com describes the scientific process dealing with the review of neonicotinoids. His review of recent studies (pg 809) is of particular interest because it supports, in part, CRE views on Nosema..
Mr. Olivers article is attached.
– American Bee Journal – Aug 2012 (1)
Leave a Comment September 7, 2012
