From: The Mountain Mail
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“When a beekeeper loses hives, it’s most likely due to poor management, not pesticides,” Johnston said. “Often beginning beekeepers don’t understand how to control pests.”
The largest threat to the bee industry is not pesticides, but the varroa mite, he clarified. The small mites are similar to a tiny tick and can destroy a hive within three months.
Leave a Comment March 10, 2017
Dr. Jack Rath of Betterbee gives a detailed explanation of the the origin, biology, and treatment for Varroa destructor in Apis mellifera hives.
Leave a Comment March 9, 2017
From: Science Daily
Source: Penn State
“In the past decade, honey-bee populations have experienced severe and persistent losses across the Northern Hemisphere, mainly due to the effects of pathogens, such as fungi and viruses,” said Vincent Doublet, postdoctoral research fellow, University of Exeter. “The genes that we identified offer new possibilities for the generation of honey-bee stocks that are resistant to these pathogens.”
Leave a Comment March 8, 2017
From: Asian Scientist
AsianScientist (Mar. 7, 2017) – The genome of the parasitic bee mite Tropilaelaps mercedesae suggests that existing methods to prevent bee colony collapse might be ineffective. These findings have been published in GigaScience.
Although there are many potential causes for the decline in honey bee colonies, pathogens and parasites of the honey bee, particularly mites, are considered major threats to honey bee health and honey bee colonies. The bee mite T. mercedesae is honey bee parasite prevalent in most Asian countries, and has a similar impact on bee colonies that the globally present bee mite Varroa destructor has. With the global trade of honey bees, T. mercedesae is likely become established world-wide.
Leave a Comment March 7, 2017
From: ABC News
The research, led by Professor Ben Oldroyd from the University of Sydney, found the risk status of the beetle should be upgraded from ‘low’ to ‘ high’ to stop it from become invasive.
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Mr Hortnizky said the beetle posed a significant threat to hive health, as it fed on infant bees.
Leave a Comment March 6, 2017
Editor’s Note: Federal research is essential for bees and agriculture. This occasional series of articles profiles notable federal scientists working to help humanity via bee research, see here.
From: USDA/ARS
Dr. Lilia De Guzman is a Research Entomologist. She has studied varroa and tracheal mite resistance of Yugoslavian and Russian bees. Her current focus is grooming behavior by Russian honey bees against varroa mites, and finding methods that reduce the impact of small hive beetles in honey bee colonies.
Leave a Comment March 6, 2017
From: Honest to Paws
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Josh Kennet is a beekeeper from Tintinara, Australia. He knows how important bees are to our ecosystem, so, when he learned that a deadly disease known as American foulbrood was wiping out thousands of hives in south Australia, he and his dog Bazz helped out in a most unique way.
Bazz was trained by Josh to sniff out the American foulbrood scent. Through a lot of trial and error, he designed a special suit for Bazz so he could approach beehives without getting stung.
Leave a Comment March 3, 2017
From: Genetic Literacy Project
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Times’ Michael Pollan on presenting only one side of complex issues
Covering food and modern farming has not been the Times strong point. Journalist and foodie MIchael Pollan’s articles on the virtues of organic food and the dangers of ‘industrialized agriculture’ have been a Times’ staple since the early 2000s. In 2013, he bragged in a video interview with a fellow activist that he long has exploited the willingness of his editors to forego traditional vetting because they share his reflexive anti-industry perspective. View the video here:
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Leave a Comment March 2, 2017
From: FG Insight
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No incidents
“In the UK, poisoning of all animals is investigated by the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. If seed-eating farmland birds were being poisoned as a result of eating neonicotinoid treated seed, you would rightly expect this scheme to be finding these incidents.
“There are no incidents of bird poisoning resulting from the use of neonicotinoids over the last ten years.
Leave a Comment March 1, 2017
From: Les Echos
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Finding a modern replacement for Buckfast will be challenging. The bee will have to be as rustic as the Buckfast bee but also as resistant as the Asiatic bee, the Apis cerana. The latter can live alongside the Varroa destructor, a mite that can introduce parasites in a swarm in no time. While the parasite isn’t usually strong enough to kill a bee, it weakens the colony by enabling the spread of a whole range of viruses such as the deformed wing virus, a disease that shrinks the wings of infected bees.
Leave a Comment February 28, 2017
