CATCH THE BUZZ - Marla Spivak Receives MacArther Fellow Award

CATCH THE BUZZ

Congratulations Marla Spivak!

23 New MacArthur Fellows Announced

Out of the Blue — $500,000 — No Strings

September 28, 2010

 

 (Chicago, IL) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 23 new MacArthur Fellows for 2010. Working across a broad spectrum of endeavors, the Fellows include a stone carver, a quantum astrophysicist, a jazz pianist, a high school physics teacher, a marine biologist, a theater director, an American historian, a fiction writer, an economist, and a computer security scientist. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.

The recipients just learned, through a phone call out of the blue from the Foundation, that they will each receive $500,000 in “no strings attached” support over the next five years. MacArthur Fellowships come without stipulations and reporting requirements and offer Fellows unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create, and explore. The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors. The work of MacArthur Fellows knows neither boundaries nor the constraints of age, place, and endeavor.

“This group of Fellows, along with the more than 800 who have come before, reflects the tremendous breadth of creativity among us,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci. “They are explorers and risk takers, contributing to their fields and to society in innovative, impactful ways. They provide us all with inspiration and hope for the future.”

Among the recipients this year are:

·         a type designer crafting letterforms of unequaled elegance and precision that span the migration of text from the printed page to computer screens (Matthew Carter);

·         a biomedical animator illuminating cellular and molecular processes for a wide range of audiences through scientifically accurate and aesthetically rich animations (Drew Berry);

·         a sign language linguist focusing on the unique structure and evolution of sign languages and how they differ from spoken languages and each other (Carol Padden);

·         a population geneticist mining DNA sequence data for insights into key questions about the mechanisms of evolution, origins of genetic diversity, and patterns of population migration (Carlos D. Bustamante);

·         a sculptor transforming her signature medium of marble into intricate, seemingly weightless works of art (Elizabeth Turk);

·         a public high school physics teacher instilling passion for the physical sciences in young men and women through an innovative curriculum that integrates applied physics, engineering, and robotics (Amir Abo-Shaeer);

·         an American historian disentangling the interracial bloodlines of two distinct founding families to shed fresh light on our colonial past (Annette Gordon-Reed);

·         a fiction writer drawing readers, through spare and understated storytelling, into compelling explorations of her characters’ struggles in both China and the United States (Yiyun Li);

·         a computer security scientist pealing back the deep interactions among software, hardware, and networks to decrease the vulnerability of computer systems and networks to remote attack (Dawn Song); and

·         an entomologist protecting one of the world’s most important pollinators — honey bees — from decimation by disease (Marla Spivak).

For additional biographical information, video interviews, and downloadable photographs, meet the 2010 MacArthur Fellows »

“There is something palpable about these new MacArthur Fellows, about their character as explorers and pioneers at the cutting edge. These are women and men improving, protecting, and making our world a better place for us all. This program was designed for such people — designed to provide an extra measure of freedom, visibility, and opportunity,” said Daniel J. Socolow, Director of the MacArthur Fellows Program.

The inaugural class of MacArthur Fellows was named in 1981. Including this year’s Fellows, 828 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82 at the time of their selection, have been named MacArthur Fellows since the inception of the program thirty years ago.

The selection process begins with formal nominations. Hundreds of anonymous nominators assist the Foundation in identifying people to be considered for a MacArthur Fellowship. Nominations are accepted only from invited nominators, a list that is constantly renewed throughout the year. They are chosen from many fields and challenged to identify people who demonstrate exceptional creativity and promise. A Selection Committee of roughly a dozen members, who also serve anonymously, meets regularly to review files, narrow the list, and make final recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The number of Fellows selected each year is not fixed; typically, it varies between 20 and 25.

---

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - GMO Corn Pesticides Found In Stream Water

CATCH THE BUZZ

GMO Pesticides Released Into Environment

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Cary Institute aquatic ecologist Dr. Emma Rosi-Marshall and colleagues report that streams throughout the Midwestern Corn Belt are receiving insecticidal proteins that originate from adjacent genetically modified crops. The protein enters streams through runoff and when corn leaves, stalks, and plant parts are washed into stream channels.

Genetically-modified plants are a mainstay of large-scale agriculture in the American Midwest, where corn is a dominant crop. In 2009, more than 85% of U.S. corn crops were genetically modified to repel pests and/or resist herbicide exposure. Corn engineered to release an insecticide that wards off the European corn borer, commonly referred to as Bt corn, comprised 63% of crops. The tissue of these plants has been modified to express insecticidal proteins, one of which is commonly known as Cry1Ab.

Following an assessment of 217 stream sites in Indiana, the paper's authors found dissolved Cry1Ab proteins from Bt corn present in stream water at nearly a quarter of the sites, including headwater streams. Eighty-six percent of the sampled sites contained corn leaves, husks, stalks, or cobs in their channels; at 13% of these sites corn byproducts contained detectable Cry1Ab proteins. The study was conducted six months after crop harvest, indicating that the insecticidal proteins in crop byproducts can persist in the landscape.

Using these data, U.S. Department of Agriculture land cover data, and GIS modeling, the authors found that all of the stream sites with detectable Cry1Ab insecticidal proteins were located within 500 meters of a corn field. Furthermore, given current agricultural land use patterns, 91% percent of the streams and rivers throughout Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana —some 159,000 miles of waterways—are also located within 500 meters of corn fields.

Rosi-Marshall comments, "Our research adds to the growing body of evidence that corn crop byproducts can be dispersed throughout a stream network, and that the compounds associated with genetically-modified crops, such as insecticidal proteins, can enter nearby water bodies."

After corn crops are harvested, a common agricultural practice is to leave discarded plant material on the fields. This "no-till" form of agriculture minimizes soil erosion, but it also sets the stage for corn byproducts to enter nearby stream channels.

Rosi-Marshall concludes, "The tight linkage between corn fields and streams warrants further research into how corn byproducts, including Cr1Ab insecticidal proteins, potentially impact non-target ecosystems, such as streams and wetlands." These corn byproducts may alter the health of freshwaters. Ultimately, streams that originate in the Corn Belt drain into the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.

---

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - Bees From Australia may be Banned

 

CATCH THE BUZZ

Australian Bees Supposedly Banned From U.S. 

An Editorial:

The Almond Board today sent the message below  to their handlers. We do not yet have confirmation from USDA APHIS and are awaiting official word. But if honey bee importation from Australia is halted, as we have felt it should be from the beginning, the push for bees from somewhere else will intensify. Mention has been made of bees from Mexico or from Canada. The negotiations and dealing to make either of those work will be interesting to watch.

 

If African bees from Mexico are allowed to come to the U.S., will they cause problems in orchards? Will they come as colonies and return, or as packages and simply stay here like the bees from OZ?

 

Would Canada allow U. S. bees to venture north, as honey producers, pollinators or simply as queens in return for the chance at California’s Gold? Would they bring colonies down early in the season…like next month…to overwinter in preparation for spring?

 

But would any of them actually want to come to Almond country and take the CCD gamble?

But the biggest question of all...Will there be enough U.S. bees next spring to meet the needs of the Almond Industry?

 

These scenarios bring out the good, the bad and the ugly side of all of this. Please stay tuned, the outcome will affect your beekeeping and honey packing business this season.

 

From The Almond Board to their Handlers:

We received a heads up that USDA’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will be halting the importation of all honey bees from Australia. The ban will take effect the date the Federal Register Notice appears, which should be in the next 2 weeks.

 

APHIS reconsidered the potential risk that imported Australian honey bees may pose of introducing new pests and diseases to honey bees in the U.S. Based on the continuing spread of a non-native bee (Apis cerana) in Australia and the uncertainties about what new viral diseases it may be spreading among bee populations in Australia, APHIS believes honey bee imports from Australia pose an unacceptable risk of introducing new diseases in the United States.

 

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

 

 

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010

---

Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010 Posted: 20 Sep 2010 05:00 AM PDT The next regular monthly meeting of the Central Beekeepers Alliance will be held on October 12th at the Agricultural Research Centre on the Lincoln Road. Tuesday, 12 October 2010 Central Beekeepers Alliance Meeting Agricultural Research Centre, Fredericton, NB 7:30 p.m. New beekeepers and "interested others" are welcome to join us, to learn more about beekeeping, chat with other beekeepers, and find out more about how to keep honeybees. Central Beekeepers Meet 12 October 2010 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.

You are subscribed to email updates from Central Beekeepers Alliance To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

CATCH THE BUZZ - Antibiotics Found In Honey, Again...

WINTERING WEBINAR

Our next webinar will have a slightly different format than those you’ve seen in the past. Get comfortable because it will be two hours long. The first hour will focus on overwintering bees. We will discuss location (urban, rural), pests and predators, feeding, temperature extremes, as well as much more. This discussion features  Michael Palmer, a commercial beekeeper in northern Vermont, to help us with the northern climates, and Harry Fulton, retired State Apiarist from Mississippi, who will bring the southern perspective. To fill in the bits and pieces, Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine will be joining us. That is the first hour. The second hour will be a panel discussion of sorts on all things beekeeping. We have had numerous requests for just an Q;& A session. With this panel, there is not a question they won't be able to answer.

This Webinar is brought to you courtesy of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Overwintering bees and Panel Discussion
Date: Sept 21, 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00PM EST
Space is limited. Registration is free so reserve your Webinar seat now at: For more information and registration Click Here

 

CATCH THE BUZZ

By Alan Harman

  

Two international honey brands are claimed to have been found with antibiotic levels well above legal limits.

   India’s Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) says Australia’s Capilano Honey Ltd.’s Capilano Pure and Natural Honey brand had three antibiotics detected, while Switzerland-based Narimpex AG’s Nectaflor Natural Blossom Honey brand had five antibiotics.

   The Press Trust of India news agency reports Capilano denies its honey contains higher level of antibiotics than the prescribed standards and suggests the sample may have been counterfeit.

   A Capilano statement says its own test results on the batches of honey identified by the dates on the packaging of the product identified in reports, show no detection of the residues alleged to be in the honey.

   “The company had found counterfeit products previously in Thailand and Indonesia where it had been copied to the extent that it was neither Capilano honey, nor even a product from Australia,” Capilano Managing Director Roger Masters said.

   “Recently, Capilano objected to trademark applications commenced in India to register a look-alike name Capilona.”

   CSE, a public interest research and advocacy organization based in New Delhi, says its pollution monitoring lab tested 12 branded honey samples for six antibiotics and found antibiotics in 11 samples. The tested samples were bought randomly from various markets in Delhi in July 2009. Ten were Indian brands and two were imported brands.

   The six antibiotics that PML looked for were oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, erythromycin, enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin.

   The CSE says Capilano’s sample had 150.8 micrograms per kg of oxytetracycline, 15 times more than the 10 micrograms per kg set by the India Export Inspection Council.

   The sample also had 3.6 micrograms per kg of chloramphenicol, compared to the 0.3 micrograms per kg set by the council.

   The test also found 144.8 micrograms per kg of enrofloxacin, for which the council does not set a limit.

   Narimpex’s sample returned 112 micrograms per kg for oxytetracycline; 3.7 micrograms per kg for chloramphenicol; 614.2 micrograms per kg for ampicillin; 56.1 micrograms per kg for enrofloxacin; and 280.3 micrograms per kg for erythromycin.

   The CSE says the leading Indian honey producers - Dabur, Baidyanath, Patanjali Ayurveda, Khadi, Himalaya – all had two to four antibiotics in their products, much above the stipulated standards.

   But CSE director Sunita Narain says in a statement what is even worse and shows the regulatory double-standards is that the two foreign brands tested by CSE – from Australia and Switzerland – had high levels of antibiotics and would certainly be illegal in their own countries.

   “It is clear that foreign companies are taking advantage of the lack of regulations in India,” Narain says. “After all, if our government does not care about the health of its people, why should these companies care?

   “We have standards for antibiotic contamination in the honey we export. Government even tests and certifies that exported honey meets health and safety regulations. But we do not have any standards for domestic honey. This is clearly unacceptable.”

   “The Capilano Pure & Natural Honey sample was found to contain three antibiotics and was non-compliant with the EIC export standards as well as some standards imposed in Australia itself,” the CSE statement says.

   “The fact that more than one antibiotic was found in the samples indicates the prevalent practice is to collect honey from different sources and then blend them before packing and distributing for sale. This brings into question the issue of traceability of honey.”

   Oxytetracycline was found in 50% of the samples in the range of 27 to 250 micrograms per kg.

   Chloramphenicol, banned by the EU, was found in 25% of the samples with levels nine to 15 times higher than the 0.3 micrograms per kg standard fixed by the EIC.

   Ampicillin was found in 67% of the samples at a concentration of 10 to 614 micrograms per kg. CSE says there is no standard for ampicillin in honey in any country because it is not supposed to be used in beekeeping. It is, therefore, an unauthorized or illegal substance in honey.

   Similarly, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin, which do not have any standards, are being illegally used.

   The results of the tests on the Indian brands were not a shock. The European Union in June banned Indian honey from entering any of its 27 member countries because consignments were found to be contaminated with antibiotics and heavy metals.

   The CSE says the business of honey collection has changed – from small producers to large cartels of honey producers contracting small producers and pushing for high productivity and profits.

   “The business is no longer that of health,” the CSE says. “Besides the presence of the contaminants, investigations by CSE have also exposed the murky underbelly of the international honey trade, where fraud, deceit and illegal trade practices rule the roost.”

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter Quality Top Bar Hives by

Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - CCD PILOT SURVEY SUMMARY

 

Our next webinar will have a slightly different format than those you’ve seen in the past. Get comfortable because it will be two hours long. The first hour will focus on overwintering bees. We will discuss location (urban, rural), pests and predators, feeding, temperature extremes, as well as much more. This discussion features  Michael Palmer, a commercial beekeeper in northern Vermont, to help us with the northern climates, and Harry Fulton, retired State Apiarist from Mississippi, who will bring the southern perspective. To fill in the bits and pieces, Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine will be joining us. That is the first hour. The second hour will be a panel discussion of sorts on all things beekeeping. We have had numerous requests for just an Q;& A session. With this panel, there is not a question they won't be able to answer .

This Webinar is brought to you courtesy of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Overwintering bees and Panel Discussion
Date: Sept 21, 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00PM EST
Space is limited. Registration is free so reserve your Webinar seat now at: For more information and registration Click Here

 CATCH THE BUZZ

The National Honey Bee Disease and Pest Survey:

2009 – 2010 Pilot Study Summary Report

 ROBYN ROSE USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service   

JERRY HAYES Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Plant Industry

JEFF PETTIS, KAREN RENNICH, NATHAN RICE, DAWN LOPEZ, JAY EVANS, AND VIC LEVI , USDA Agricultural Research Service

DENNIS VANENGELSDORP, MICHAEL ANDEE, NISHIT PATEL , Pennsylvania State University

Executive summary

This pilot study was conducted to 1) validate and trouble shoot the sample collection process we proposed to use for a national survey effort, 2) assess the infrastructures related to shipping, storing and analyzing the specimens, and 3) gather baseline data for a broader survey of honey bee pests and pathogens that was initiated in 2010.  The participating states were California, Florida, and Hawaii and a total of 87 samples were collected. 

We found that our collection protocol worked well, and found that shipping lives bees is a good and viable alternative to collecting and shipping bees on dry ice; however, the rate of surviving bees decreases dramatically with transit times longer than 5 days. 

 In all, samples from 13 different organisms with known associations with managed honey bees were examined.  We found three viruses, Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV) and Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) in all surveyed states.  Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV) and Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) were found in both California and Florida, but not in Hawaii.  Slow Paralysis Virus (SPV) was not found in any samples.  While N. ceranae was ubiquitous in all samples, N. apis was notably absent, none being detected in any samples.   Tracheal mites and Tropilaelaps mites were also not found in any samples. Varroa mites were found in all states, and were found particularly abundantly in some Hawaii samples. 

This survey was not designed to be comprehensive representation of the country, and the results should not be interpreted to mean the absence of certain pathogens in the US or in any one particular state.    

Introduction

A pilot survey of honey bee pests and diseases was funded in 2009 by the USDA Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and was concluded in 2010.  This survey was conducted in an attempt to document which bee diseases and parasites of honey bees are currently present in the U.S., and to examine all samples for Tropilaelaps, a parasitic mite not thought to be in the U.S.   This pilot survey was initiated to validate and trouble shoot the sample collection process, assess the infrastructures related to shipping, storing and analyzing the specimens, and to gather baseline data for a broader survey of honey bee pests and pathogens that was initiated in 2010. The three states surveyed by this limited effort were California, Hawaii and Florida and a total of 87 apiaries, representing 696 colonies were sampled.  

California, Florida and Hawaii were chosen because they represent high-risk areas that have many potential ports of entry, long growing seasons, and diverse agricultural crops.  Twenty-five samples were collected from different voluntary apiaries throughout Florida, and fourteen samples from Hawaii.  Forty eight samples were collected from California, twenty seven from hives originating in that state and twenty one from migratory beekeepers who were in California under pollination contracts or other reasons.

Coordination of this survey is in collaboration with USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Lab (BRL) in Beltsville, MD, Pennsylvania State University (PSU), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and USDA APHIS.  

 Survey Description

Live samples taken in the field were sent to USDA BRL and immediately frozen at -800C upon arrival.  The frozen samples were held until molecular analysis was conducted.  Molecular testing of the samples was focused on identifying the following viruses, and pathogens:

1. Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV)

2. Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV)

3. Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)

4. Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV)

5. Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV)

6. Slow Paralysis Virus (SPV)

7. Trypanosome sp.

8. Nosema ceranae

9. Nosema apis

The samples taken at the apiaries and preserved in alcohol were later inspected using microscopic analysis at Pennsylvania State University and USDA BRL to:

1. Quantify Nosema spores

2. Quantify Tracheal Mites loads

3. Detect Tropilaelaps Mites

4. Quantify Varroa Mite loads

Beekeepers participating in this survey were provided with a summary report on the average apiary level Nosema, tracheal mites, and Varroa loads in addition to the presence or absence of

Tropilaelaps.  This report was also furnished to each state-level apiary specialist. A separate report that presented the results from the molecular analysis of the sampled bees was distributed to the participating beekeepers and state-level apiary specialists. This report provided the participant with a positive or negative result for the six bee viruses targeted, the two Nosema species targeted, and the presence or absence of Trypanosome in the sampled apiary.

Part of the survey included a visual inspection of the hives before sampling; therefore, the presence of the following symptoms, pests and brood diseases was also recorded, but not analyzed, at the apiaries for each sample taken:

1. American Foul Brood

2. Black Shiny Bees

3. Chalkbrood

4. Deformed Wing Virus

5. European Foul Brood

6. Parasitic Mite Syndrome

7. Sac Brood

8. Small Hive Beetle Adults/Larvae

9. Wax Moth Adults/Larvae

Evaluation of sampling protocol

Live bees were shipped via the U.S. Postal service from each apiary to Beltsville, MD for molecular testing.  In each live bee ‘kit’ was a petri dish that contained both a small amount of water and some hard “queen” candy for food for the bees. This kit contained approximately 12000 live adult bees at sampling time. The percentage of bees lost in transit was directly affected by the length of time samples were in transit.  There was a noticeable decline in the percentage of live bees surviving in sampling boxes when they took 5 days or longer to arrive.  It is not known whether this was due to temperatures experienced during shipping or a lack of food or water or a combination of all three variables. Survivability ranged from 90 – 100% after only 2 days in the mail, to  0 – less than 20% after 6 days in the mail.

Samples were drawn from south, central and northern California, and south, central northern and panhandle area of Florida.

Average Varroa load in all bees sampled was just over 2 mites/hundred bees, but the range was from 0 – 19 mites/100 bees. Nosema ceranae spore counts averaged just over a half million spores/bee, but ranged from 0 – over 4 million spores/bee.  Only moderate levels of IAPV, KBV, ABPV CBPV were found, buy average levels of DWV, Nosema ceranae and especially Trypansomes sp. Were elevated. No tracheal mites or tropilaelaps mites were found in any samples.

Conclusions

The sample protocol developed worked well and the shipping and storage methods were sufficiently robust to justify the initiation of a national effort. The sample size and sampling effort were not robust enough to make any categorical statements about the absence of parasites in the US.  So, while no Tropilaelaps mites were found in these efforts, neither were honey bee tracheal mites nor Nosema apis, both of which are known to be present.

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

FREE -  Kelley Bees Modern Beekeeping Monthly Newsletter

Quality Top Bar Hives by Gold Star Honeybees - good for you, good for your bees, good for the planet.  Check us out at www.goldstarhoneybees.com.

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.

Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!

 

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - Dr. Norm Gary and The History Channel's SuperHuman's Show

 

Our next webinar will have a slightly different format than those you’ve seen in the past. Get comfortable because it will be two hours long. The first hour will focus on overwintering bees. We will discuss location (urban, rural), pests and predators, feeding, temperature extremes, as well as much more. This discussion features  Michael Palmer, a commercial beekeeper in northern Vermont, to help us with the northern climates, and Harry Fulton, retired State Apiarist from Mississippi, who will bring the southern perspective. To fill in the bits and pieces, Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine will be joining us. That is the first hour. The second hour will be a panel discussion of sorts on all things beekeeping. We have had numerous requests for just an Q;& A session. With this panel, there is not a question they won't be able to ans wer.

This Webinar is brought to you courtesy of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm

Overwintering bees and Panel Discussion
Date: Sept 21, 2010
Time: 6:00-8:00PM EST
Space is limited. Registration is free so reserve your Webinar seat now at: For more information and registration Click Here

CATCH THE BUZZ

 

THIS ‘BEE SUIT’ SUITS HIM FINE; APICULTURIST NORMAN GARY ON HISTORY CHANNEL SEPT. 16 AS ‘HUMAN BEE HIVE’

 

By Kathy Keatley Garvey, Communications Specialist, Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, kegarvey@ucdavis.edu 

When honey bee expert Norman Gary “suits up,” don’t expect a standard-issued bee suit.

 

It’s not an “ordinary” bee suit. And what he does is not “ordinary.”

 

Norman Gary, a retired University of California, Davis entomology professor, wears his bees—thousands of them.

 

And that suits him just fine. To him, bees are not only a science (study of apiculture), but an adventure.

 

Gary, 76, who retired in 1994 from UC Davis after a 32-year academic career, will appear Thursday, Sept. 16 on a History Channel show wearing 75,000 bees. The show, part of Stan Lee’s “Super Humans,” is scheduled to be broadcast at 10 p.m., Pacific Time (Channel 64 for local Comcast viewers).

 

Host-presenter Daniel Browning Smith has billed him as “the human bee hive” and will explore bee behavior and the science behind the bees.

 

A crew from England filmed Gary in mid-May at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, at Rick Schubert’s Bee Happy Apiaries in Vacaville-Winters and then in a UC Davis open field where the 75,000 bees clustered his entire body.

 

“That’s about 20 pounds, depending upon how much honey or sugar syrup they have consumed,” Gary said.  “A hungry bee weighs approximately 90 mg and within a minute of active ingestion she can increase her weight to 150 mgs!” 

 

Norman Gary knows bees. And he knows their behavior.

 

As a beekeeper, he’s kept bees for 62 years and as a researcher, he’s studied them for more than three decades. He’s published more 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and four book chapters.

 

But he is also a bee wrangler. He trains bees to perform action scenes in movies, television shows and commercials. His credits over the last 35 years include 18 films, including “Fried Green Tomatoes”; more than 70 television shows, including the Johnny Carson and Jay Leno shows; six commercials, and hundreds of live Thriller Bee Shows in the Western states.

 

Gary estimates he has performed the bee cluster stunt at least 500 times over the past 35 years. He remembers 54 performances at the California State Fair alone.

 

The History Channel episode may be his last professionally staged bee-cluster stunt, he said. However, he will continue to serve as a bee consultant to video producers and has just written a beginning beekeeping book, “The Honey Bee Hobbyist,” to be published in early December by Bow Tie Press. Norm’s book will be reviewed in Bee Culture magazine when it comes out.

 

“Bees are trainable, if you ask them to perform behaviors that are in their natural behavioral repertoire,” Gary said. For the program, the Director wanted a close up of what happens when a bee stings. So Kim Flottum, who was also covering the story volunteered a finger to take the sting. Of course the first time was a ‘test’ to see how it looked, setting up the scene for the second, and final take. Look for this incredible act of bravery during the show.

 

For the shoot, Gary borrowed New World Carniolan bees from Schubert, whose bee stock originated with bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the Laidlaw facility.  “Bees are not inclined to sting if they are well fed—happy and content—and are ‘under the influence’ of powerful synthetic queen bee odors—pheromones—which tend to pacify them,” Gary said.

A feature length, behind the scenes article on how this show was made will appear in the November issue of Bee Culture. So watch the show on Thursday, and look for the story next month. 

 

Bees are attracted to pheromones and they cluster on drops of pheromones he places on himself.  While at UC Davis, he formulated a pheromone solution that is very effective in controlling bee behavior.

 

“Bees wrangled by this procedure have no inclination to sting,” he said.  “Stinging behavior occurs naturally near the hive in defense of the entire colony not for the individual bee, because it dies within hours after stinging.  Using this approach I have has as many as a million bees clustered on six people simultaneously “

 

Gary once trained bees to fly into his mouth to collect food from a small sponge saturated with his patented artificial nectar.  He holds the Guinness World record (109 bees inside his closed mouth for 10 seconds) for the stunt. 

 

“Most people fear bees,” Gary acknowledged. “They think bees ‘want’ to sting them. Wrong!  They sting only when the nest or colony is attacked or disturbed or when they are trapped in a physical situation where they are crushed.”

 

Sometimes, with the heavy weight of the bees on his body, he’ll receive one or two stings per cluster stunt. Sometimes none.

 

Gary, who began hobby beekeeping at age 15 in Florida, went on to earn a doctorate in apiculture at Cornell University in 1959. During his career, he has worn many hats, including hobby beekeeper, commercial beekeeper, deputy apiary inspector in New York, honey bee research scientist and entomology professor, and adult beekeeping education teacher, and author.

 

Known internationally for his bee research, Gary was the first to document reproductive behavior of honey bees on film and the first to discover queen bee sex attractant pheromones. He invented a magnetic retrieval capture/recapture system for studying the foraging activities of bees, documenting the distribution and flight range in the field. His other studies revolved around honey bee pollination of agricultural crops, stinging and defensive behavior, and the effects of pesticides on foraging activities, among dozens of others.

 

Today his life centers around music and bees. He has played music professionally for more than 50 years and for nine years has led a Dixieland band, appropriately known as the Beez Kneez Jazz Band, recording two CDs.  He has performed more than 30 years in the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, the world’s largest jazz festival.

 

His instruments include the “B-flat clarinet,” which he plays when he’s covered with bees.

 

“I’m still very active in bees and music,” Gary said. “It’s a good life.” (Editor’s Note: His website is at www.normangary.com. For more information on the History Channel, see http://www.history.com/shows/stan-lees-superhumans/episodes/episode -guide#slide-2.)

 

More photos on the UC Davis Entomology website at http://entomology.ucdavis.edu/news/normangarybeewrangler.html

 

Build an entire bee hive with just a table saw. Go to Garreson Publishing. Books by Peter Sieling.

Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here

Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better surviv al, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.  

Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

Check out the Biggest Honey Show there is this fall at www.honeyshow.co.uk

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company. Read an EXCLUSIVE CHAPTER from Tom Seeley’s new book Honey Bee Democracy, only on Bee Culture’s web page Here!