Thursday 15 July 2010

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Bees trained to give early warning of plant disease

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Bees trained to give early warning of plant disease


Bees trained to give early warning of plant disease

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 06:06 PM PDT

Remember, back in school, hearing about Pavlov’s dog that learned to drool when it heard a bell ring? That method of “classical conditioning” is how Dr. Andrew Sutherland, a researcher with the University of California Davis Plant Pathology Department, is training honey bees to detect plant disease in agricultural crops.

Here’s the story, straight from Dr. Sutherland:

The problem that we face in California and in the world really is that there are many plant pathogens infecting our crops and many times we apply chemical fungicides to combat that. In our lab we hope to teach honey bees to respond to plant pathogens in the field so that we may detect those plant pathogens and reduce the fungicide applications. Insects in general and honey bees included are excellent vapor sensors and have excellent chemo sensors on their antennas so they’re able to detect organic molecules in the air at the low parts per billion. Bees can be taught to associate an odor with a reward through classical conditioning. First, we restrain the honey bees after collection, we restrain the honey bees inside a harness of sorts such that their heads and antenna are protruding then we expose the bees to the smell of an infected grape leaf or grape berry and we feed the bees at the same. So, in time, the bees learn to associate this odor with the sugar reward. So, the next step is actual detection in the field and this is accomplished through some prototype equipment that’s been designed by my collaborators at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The bees that have been trained are placed inside and when they encounter the smell within the box, they respond and this information is relayed to a computer and we were able to see that indeed we have detected the pathogen in the field. The ultimate goal here is to be able to detect plant pathogens in the field earlier than you can do with your eye so that we have an early warning system and we can better plan fungicide applications to be more efficient in time and space.

See also:
Can bees be trained to prevent plant disease? (Smart
and
Bees can be trained to detect plant diseases by Jeannette E. Warnert at UCANR.org

Bees trained to give early warning of plant disease was written and published by the Central Beekeepers Alliance - Honey Bees & Beekeeping in New Brunswick, Canada. For more information, please visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com.

Random Posts

Central Beekeepers Potluck Corn Boil 2010 – updated

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 11:15 AM PDT

Central Beekeepers Alliance will hold our Summer corn boil at Dave & Ruth McKinneys’ place in Maugerville on August 21st. As always, visitors and new beekeepers are welcome. Corn will be provided — but do bring your favourite potluck supper dish and a good appetite!

Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: Saturday, 21 August 2010
Location: #769 Route 105, Maugerville, New Brunswick

In CBA business at that meeting, we’ll also be looking for any last-minute volunteers who would like to man the beekeepers’ booth at the Fredericton Exhibition coming up in the first week of September.


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Central Beekeepers Potluck Corn Boil 2010 – updated was written and published by the Central Beekeepers Alliance - Honey Bees & Beekeeping in New Brunswick, Canada. For more information, please visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com.

Tuesday 6 July 2010

Apis Newsletter, July 6, 2010




Dear Subscribers,

It's going to be a hot summer it seems in Gainesville, Florida and elsewhere on the Eastern coast according to AccuWeather.com reports: "Average summer temperatures will rival some of the hottest summers ever recorded across the eastern half of the nation. It's possible for record-breaking warmth in the first half of July for much of the nation." Between I-80 and I-20 from the Rockies eastward, temperatures will hold between the mid-80s and low 90s F through mid-July.  The first tropical storm of the season came and went. Fortunately, it didn't seem to affect the oil spill as much as folks thought it might, at least on the eastern Gulf Coast, and it does seem to have brought some cooler breezes and afternoon thundershowers. 

The bees are shutting down for the hot part of the summer here just like my tomatoes in the back yard. As the colonies reduce brood rearing, a critical situation may occur. The Varroa population will continue to grow, fueled by all that brood produced in the Spring. This could be bad news. How bad will depend on the condition of each colony, but it is possible to lose hives if the beekeeper does not actively keep up with actual Varroa levels.  Two strategies to employ should the mite population appear to be above its economic threshold is chemical intervention and/or active brood nest management. As part of the latter, sometimes making splits, producing a break in the brood cycle, and introducing a new queen can be a good way to keep the Varroa population to tolerable levels.  This could also provide the wherewithal for a colony to produce the critical winter bees so important to survive the followi ng winter.

This concept is also in part written about by Mel Disselkoen in this July issue  of Bee Culture in his column entitled: "Artificial Supersedure."

There's been a kerfufful over discovery of bees in the Sahara desert that have remained isolated from all other bees for at least 5,000 years.  It seems they arrived at Kufra in Libya when the Sahara was still a green savannah, and have survived ever since around an oasis in the desert, over 1,000km from their nearest neighbouring bees.  So concludes a new study which has analysed the bees' genetics.The Kufra honeybees are so isolated they remain free of a parasitic mite that threatens bees around the world. Details of the discovery are published in the journal Conservation Genetics. What confounds some is how  such a  relatively small population was able to have conserved enough genetic diversity to survive, even flourish, so long.

Apitrack continues to send out its jam-packed newsletter, mostly dealing with Latin America . There's a new digital Chilean beekeeping publication entitled Actualidad Apícola  and a time-honored journal in Argentina, Espacio Apícola, reports that the small hive beetle has shown up in Zacatecas, Mexico.

There's a new player of growing importance in the beekeeping world. It is Project Apis m, an offshoot of the Almond Board,and a non-profit organization focused on finding realistic solutions to beekeepers' challenges by supporting practical, results-oriented in-field research. The latest initiatives are  listed by Editor Kim Flottum in a recent Catch The Buzz. These include a the three-year Best Management Practices project to produce educational and outreach materials for beekeepers.  PAm is working with the California State Beekeepers Association to pursue much-needed funding for evaluation of forage crops in an effort to improve bee nutrition, bee health and bee strength.  Now working for PAm on a part-time contract basis, is a former school teacher, Meg Ribotto.  Meg is assisting in keeping PAm’s website current, conducting interviews, developing outreach materials, and managing exhibitor booths for dissemination of information.

The ELAP program includes mergency Assistance for Honey bee Operations, including but not limited to, colony collapse disorder (CCD), earthquake, floods, hurricane, tidal surges, tornado, excessive winds, volcanic eruption and wildfires. Editor Flottum says it's a long-winded program with strings attached, but worth a read.

A new honey bee health survey is in the works   Also see the Colony Loss Project mounted mostly by Europeans, but also including others around the world.

Remember that each month a check of the bee health site is in order: .  Read about the CAP project, coordinated by Dr. Keith Delaplane, a new in-depth discussion on American and European foulbrood, The Video Guide to Beekeeping from the University of Floria  and a growing number of videos found at the Bee Health section on Youtube.com.

Check out the accounting software on the web designed for beekeepers .  Let me know how it works for you.

A number of honey marketers have come together to form the honest honey initiative.  Finally, Check out the relevant links  at Publish2.com;  These include: a possible project for a bee club, several concerning urban beekeeping, and a 1911 Maryland Beekeeping Book.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Gleanings from the July 2010 edition of Bee Culture:

Remember that Bee Culture is now available in a digital edition:

John Lunsford, Anacortes, WA writes to Ross Conrad concerning Varroa traps. He kindly responds, providing some good ideas about where to get the "bait" he recommends in the book Natural Beekeeping.  A letter describing the latest on reinstating he Boy Scout Merit Badge from Dave, provides some insight into the challenges many are facing.

Lesley Chesson, IsoForensics, Inc. writes that he will share data about a research project looking at origin of honey in the next issue of Bee Culture.  Steve Sweet, Boise, ID writes about beekeeping in S.W. Idaho.  Jim Cowan, Aberdeed, WA has had some furher insight about scouts searching for new nest sites.  Wyatt Mangum, Fredericksburg, VA offers his experiences on top bar hives in response to the April 2010 article by Jim Tew about the same topic.  Dale Wolf, Baldwin, WI wonders what the motive might be for stealing hives.  Matt Redman, Chestertown, MD enjoyed Tammy Horn's article on women beekeepers.  David Kelton, Gadsden, AL finds more evidence that nosema treatments save bees.  Burce Guilliani says a photo  in  the June edition, Page 49 should have shown "acceptable" behavior when measured by OSHA standards.

Editor Flottum reflects on the retirement of two very different individuals, Dave Cowen, equipment designer and manufacturer, and Dr. Clarence Collison, current head of Entomology at Mississippi State University and long-time columnist in Bee Culture, currently writing the "A Closer Look" series.  He also says that the concept of "enough food" is something that needs solving for both humans and bees.  Finally read why he's not kidding when it comes to sharpening the hive tool.

Two new books for summer reading include Beekeeping in Coastal California , a different approach as it provides information about a specific place, proving that all beekeeping is "local."  A british book, Keeping Healthy Honey Bees, by David Aston and Sally Bucknail is published by Northern Bee Books, and concentrates on diseases and pests

Christi Heintz and Gabriele Ludwig write about pesticides and honey bees from a larger perspective. Read how this issue might provide an issue for strategic planning that might better unify beekeepers. 

Clarence Collison and Audrey Sheridan take a closer look at queen recognition and retinue formation. Read how tergal glands are involved, along with the other glands in the head and elsewhere producing the necessary components of so-called queen substance.

Matt Redman explores L.L. Langstroth's Maryland Roots. Read how these show Scottish and Swedish origins and some evidence of French.  Finally, L.L. appears to have been at least partially related to England's Plantagenet lineage.

J. lloyd Harris describes the development of a spreadsheet that calculates growth and measures bee population. Read the article to get tips on using the spreadsheet, an .xls file.

Greg Hunt writing for the Managed Pollinator CAP Coordinated Agricultural Project, describes the events and developments concerning breeding honey bees for resistance to parasites and diseases.  Read why we can expect more emphasis on this  in the future.

Yael Grauer concludes that plant diversity is necessary if we are to increase bee diversity.  Read why imported foods may become a greater part of the U.S. diet.

Mel Disselkoen maintains that artificial supersedure is a  good way to get around using chemicals in a beekeeping operation.  Read about on-the-spot queen rearing (OTS)

Jim Tew provides a discussion of sowing honey plants for bees.  Read about planting in both small and larger areas.  See the full list at his web site.

Peter Seiling engineers a coup d'état and becomes President of a local bee association.  Read what he plans to do next.

Walt Wright provides a personal perspective on small hive beetle.  Read what he found out about this adaptable creature.

Larry Connor gives a description of biology and behavior of queens in his article Queen Bee 101.  Read what he says about development timing, mating, egg laying and storing sperm.  This is the first part of a series.

Gwen Rosenberg uses a John Wayne saying to bring into focus that honey bees are worth saving.  Read about her use of apples and bees in the classroom.

Brian McDermott provides the background for the legalization of beekeeping in New York City.  Read his account of how this happened and what it portends for urban beekeeping.

Peter Smith describes one of the biggest beekeeping events in the United Kingdom. Read about this three-day event and see why it's unlike anything else you've seen.

Ann Harman reflects on gardening in the summer, encouraging folks to leave flowers and some plants for bees and other pollinators.  Read what to do about all that zucchini and other prolific crops.  Finally, can you guess what she says to do beyond employing an insecticide-free pest control strategy?

Connie Krochmal defines honeydew and lists a number of surprising plants that will give yields of this unique substance.  Surprisingly, some are also nectar producers.

Tom Theobald asks if we have a pesticide blowout with neonicotinoids, similar to the crude oil one in the Gulf of Mexico.  Read his disturbing analysis, which indeed has many parallels to the oil spill,  and he says, involves both corporations (pesticide companies) and the governmental agency (EPA) that is charged with regulating them.

In All The News That Fits, read the obituaries of Willy Baumgartner (founderof Medivet Pharmaceuticals) and Ted Hooper (author of Guide to Bees and Honey), Nosema as the possible cause  of CCD, USDA Apis bee survey, Pesicide/Pollinator Simulcast Symposium (July 22), Pittsburg as the home of the first community apiary, and a Florida bee theft.

Read poems entitled: I Am a Queen, Honey For Breakfast, and Joy.

Ed Colby recounts a day in the life of ski patrol employee who only wanted to replace his honey cache on the top of a nearby mountain.  Read this highly entertaining account of what went wrong.

Sincerely,


Malcolm T. Sanford
beeactor@apisenterprises.com
http://apis.shorturl.com

Bee sure to subscribe to Catch the Buzz, Bee Culture's latest releases of importance to beekeepers.  Also access the Apis Information Resource Center , which contains archived articles, listing of  posts on blogs, web sites, and links to related materials.  .

Thursday 1 July 2010

CATCH THE BUZZ - Emergency Assistance, with some strings...

CATCH THE BUZZ

 

Emergency Assistance for Honey bee Operations, including but not limited to, colony collapse disorder (CCD), earthquake, floods, hurricane, tidal surges, tornado, excessive winds, volcanic eruption and wildfires.

Long, but worth the read…


 The "Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008" authorized up to $50 million in a calendar year for the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) to provide emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish that have losses due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions, including losses due to blizzards and wildfires, as determined by the Secretary. ELAP covers losses occurring on or after Jan. 1, 2008 and before Oct. 1, 2011 that are not covered under other Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance Payment programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill. The other programs are the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE).


 A national payment factor may be applied to ELAP payments if the funding availability of $50 million is exceeded in a calendar year.


Eligible Honey bees

Eligible honeybees include bees housed in a managed hive and used for honey production, pollination or honeybee breeding. Eligible honeybees do not include wild, feral honeybees, leaf cutter bees or other bee species that are not used for producing honey, pollinating or breeding honeybees.


Eligible Honey bee Losses

 ELAP covers the loss of honeybee colonies in excess of normal mortality, honeybee hives, and purchased or produced honeybee feed that was damaged and was intended as feed for eligible honeybees, including additional feed purchased above normal quantities to sustain honeybees for a short time period until additional feed becomes available.

 

To be eligible for ELAP payments, honeybee colony, hive and feed losses must be:

…due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition;

… incurred by an eligible honeybee producer in the county where the eligible adverse weather or loss condition occurred.


 Eligible Adverse Weather and Loss Conditions

In order to meet eligibility requirements for ELAP benefits for honeybee colony, hive and feed losses, the losses must be due to the direct result of an eligible adverse weather or loss condition, including but not limited to, colony collapse disorder (CCD), earthquake, floods, hurricane, tidal surges, tornado, excessive winds, volcanic eruption and wildfires.


 Eligible Producer

To be eligible for honeybee losses, the producer must meet the Risk Management Purchase Requirement (RMPR) and have an interest and risk in an eligible honeybee colony:

…being maintained for producing honey, pollinating, or breeding bees for commercial use as part of a farming operation on the beginning date of the eligible adverse weather or loss condition;

…that  is physically located in the county where the eligible adverse weather or eligible loss condition occurred on the beginning date of the eligible adverse weather or loss condition;

…for which the producer had an eligible honeybee loss.


 Honeybee Colony Loss Payments

 ELAP compensates eligible honeybee producers for eligible honeybee colony losses that occur in excess of normal mortality because of an eligible adverse weather or loss condition during the calendar year in which benefits are requested. FSA has established a normal mortality rate for honeybee colony losses of 17.5 percent. Payments for honeybee colony losses are based on the average fair market value of honeybee colonies in the calendar year in which the loss occurs, as established by FSA. For 2008 and 2009 honeybee colony losses, FSA has established an average fair market value of $60 per honeybee colony.


2008 and 2009 ELAP payments for honeybee colony losses will be based on 60 percent of the result of multiplying:


 number of honeybee colonies lost in excess of normal mortality (17.5 percent) due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition; times


 $60, average fair market value per honeybee colony.


 

Required Documentation for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

To be eligible for honeybee colony losses due to CCD, the honeybee producer must provide proof of honeybee colony losses because of CCD, including but not limited to the following documentation:

…for 2008 and 2009 calendar year losses, a self-certification that the loss of honeybees was because of CCD and documented by the existence of at least 3 of the 5 symptoms of CCD, as identified by FSA;

… for 2010 calendar year losses, third party certification that the loss of honeybees was because of the existence of at least 3 of the 5 symptoms of CCD, as identified by FSA;

… proof of beginning and ending inventory of honeybee colonies;

…proof of good management practices.


 Honeybee Hive Loss Payments

Payments for honeybee hive losses are based on the average fair market value of honeybee hives in the calendar year in which the loss occurs, as established by FSA. For 2008 and 2009 honeybee hive losses, FSA has established an average fair market value of $200 per honeybee hive. The 2008 and 2009 ELAP payments for honeybee hive losses will be based on 60 percent of the result of multiplying:

… number of honeybee hives lost due to an eligible adverse weather or loss condition, times;

…$200, average fair market value per honeybee hive.


 Honeybee Feed Loss Payments

Payments for honeybee feed losses are based on 60 percent of the actual cost of purchased or harvested feed that was intended as feed for honeybees and was damaged because of an eligible adverse weather or loss condition. This includes additional feed purchased above normal quantities to sustain the honeybees for a short time period until additional feed becomes available.


Risk Management Purchase Requirement (RMPR)

To be eligible for ELAP, honeybee producers who have a risk in honey production for the purpose of producing honey for commercial use as part of a farming operation, must for every commodity on every farm in which the producer has an interest for the relevant program year:

…in the case of an "insurable commodity," obtain catastrophic coverage or better under a policy or plan of insurance administered under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (FCIA), except this obligation will not include crop insurance pilot programs so designated by the Risk Management Agency (RMA) or forage crops intended for grazing;

 …in the case of a "noninsurable commodity" obtain the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage by filing the required paperwork and paying the administrative fee by the applicable State application closing date, except that this requirement will not include forage on grazing land.


 Producers are required to obtain a policy or plan of insurance equal to at least the catastrophic (CAT) level of coverage or have NAP coverage for each crop planted or intended to be planted for harvest on the whole farm, excluding grazing. Eligible farmers and ranchers who meet the definition of "Socially Disadvantaged," "Limited Resource," or "Beginning Farmer or Rancher" do not have to meet this requirement.


 Honeybee Exception

For 2008 and 2009, NAP coverage was not available for loss of honeybee colonies or hives. Therefore, a honeybee producer does not have to meet the risk management purchase requirement to be eligible for 2008 and 2009 honeybee losses, if the producer:


 …does not have any other crop planted or intended to be planted for harvest on the whole farm, excluding grazing;

…has a risk in a honeybee pollination or breeding operation; and

 …does not produce honey for commercial use.


 Honeybee producers meeting this criteria do not have to pay a buy-in fee equal to the applicable NAP service fee or catastrophic risk protection plan fee to become eligible for ELAP payments.


 2008 Exception

 Due to the lateness of the Farm Bill, producers were allowed to "buy-in" to the ELAP program for 2008 by paying fees equivalent to the NAP service fee or catastrophic risk protection plan coverage fee by Sept. 16, 2008. For 2008, if a producer who is otherwise ineligible because of the purchase requirement and did not meet the buy-in deadline of Sept. 16, 2008, still may be eligible for ELAP if the producer paid the applicable fee no later than May 18, 2009, provided that the producer agreed to buy crop insurance or NAP for the next year for all of their crops, except for forage on grazing land.

 

2009 Exception

For 2009, the risk management protection requirement was waived for insurable crops where sales closing dates for crop insurance coverage occurred before Aug. 14, 2008, if the buy-in fee was paid by Jan. 12, 2009.


 Payment Eligibility and Limitations

The amount of any ELAP payment a honeybee producer is eligible to receive may be reduced by an amount received by the producer for the same or similar loss from any other disaster assistance program.


 2008 Program Year

No person, as defined and determined under the provisions in 7 CFR part 1400 in effect for 2008, may receive more than $100,000 total in payments under ELAP, Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), and Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE), combined. Also, in applying the limitation on average adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2008, an individual or entity is ineligible for payment under ELAP if the individual's or entity's average AGI for 2005, 2006 and 2007 exceeds $2.5 million under the provisions in 7 CFR part 1400 in effect for 2008 unless 75 percent or more of their income was from farming, ranching or forestry.


 

2009 and Subsequent Program Years

For 2009 and subsequent program years, no person or legal entity, excluding a joint venture or general partnership, may receive directly or indirectly, more than $100,000 total in payments under ELAP, LFP, LIP, and SURE combined. For 2009-11, the average AGI limitation relating to limits on payments for persons or legal entities, excluding joint ventures and general partnerships, with certain levels of average AGI will apply. Specifically, for 2009-11, a person or legal entity with an average adjusted gross nonfarm income, as defined in 7 CFR Part 1400 that exceeds $500,000 will not be eligible to receive ELAP payments. Direct attribution provisions also apply to ELAP for 2009 and subsequent years. Under direct attribution, any payment to a legal entity also will be considered for payment limitation purposes to be a payment to persons or legal entities with an interest in the legal entity or in a sub-entity.


 

Applying for ELAP

To apply for ELAP benefits, producers who suffered honeybee losses should submit a notice of loss to the local FSA service center that maintains the farm records for their business. To be eligible for 2008 and 2009 calendar year losses, the notice of loss must be provided to FSA by no later than May 5, 2010. To be eligible for losses that occurred in 2010 and subsequent year losses, the producer must provide a notice of loss to FSA the earlier of:

 …30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent to the producer or

 …30 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the loss occurred.


 Sign-up

In addition to submitting a notice of loss, producers must file an application for payment at local FSA service centers. ELAP sign-up began Sept. 14, 2009, for eligible honeybee losses suffered during 2008 and 2009 due to eligible adverse weather or loss conditions. For 2008 losses, sign-up ended Dec. 10, 2009, and for 2009 losses, sign-up ended Feb. 1, 2010; however, late-filed applications for 2008 and 2009 losses will be accepted through May 5, 2010. For 2010 and subsequent year losses, sign-up will end no later than 30 calendar days after the end of the calendar year in which the honeybee loss occurred.

 

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