Wednesday 20 October 2010

CATCH THE BUZZ - African Honey Bees In Georgia

CATCH THE BUZZ

African Honey Bees Found In Georgia

Georgia Dept Of Ag Offers Good Advice For This Event....

Africanized honeybees (AHB) – sometimes called “killer bees” – became established in Texas in 1990 and have spread to other states, now including Georgia.

 

The Africanized honeybee is related to our state’s familiar honeybee (the European honeybee) that produces honey and pollinates our crops.  The two types of bees look the same and their behavior is similar in some respects.  Each bee can sting only once, and there is no difference between Africanized honeybee venom and that of a European honeybee.  However, Africanized honeybees are less predictable and more aggressive than European honeybees.  They are more likely to defend a greater area around their nest, respond faster and in greater numbers than European honeybees. 

 

In other words, you’re more likely to get stung around Africanized honeybees than European ones, but learning about AHB and taking certain precautions can lower your risk of being stung.

 

Tips to remember:

 

Africanized Honeybees

  • Are very defensive of their nest
  • Respond quickly and sting in large numbers
  • Can sense a threat from people or animals 50 feet or more from nest
  • Sense vibrations from power equipment 100 feet or more from nest
  • Will pursue an enemy ¼ mile or more
  • Swarm frequently to establish new nests
  • Nest in small cavities and sheltered areas

 

Nest sites include empty boxes, cans, buckets, or other containers; old tires; infrequently used vehicles; lumber piles; holes and cavities in fences, trees, or the ground; sheds, garages, and other outbuildings; and low decks or spaces under buildings. 

 

General Precautions

  • Be careful wherever bees may be found.
  • Listen for buzzing indicating a nest or swarm of bees.
  • Use care when entering sheds or outbuildings where bees may nest.
  • Examine work area before using lawn mowers, weed cutters, and other power equipment.
  • Examine areas before tying up or penning pets or livestock.
  • Be alert when participating in all outdoor sports and activities.
  • Don’t disturb a nest or swarm – contact a pest control company or your local Cooperative Extension office.
  • Teach children to respect all bees.
  • Check with a doctor about bee sting kits and procedures if sensitive to bee stings.
  • Remove possible nest sites around home, and seal openings larger than 1/8” in walls and around chimneys and plumbing.

 

As a general rule, stay away from all honeybee swarms and colonies.  If you encounter bees, get away quickly.  If you get stung, try to protect your face and eyes as much as possible and run away from the area.  Take shelter in a car or building.  Hiding in water or thick brush does not offer enough protection.  Do not stand and swat at the bees; this will only cause them to sting.

 

What to Do if Stung

  • First, go quickly to a safe area.
  • Scrape – do not pull – stingers from skin as soon as possible.  The stinger pumps out most of the venom during the first minute.  Pulling the stinger out will likely cause more venom to be injected into the skin.
  • Wash sting area with soap and water like any other wound.
  • Apply ice pack for a few minutes to relieve pain and swelling.
  • Seek medical attention if breathing is troubled, if stung numerous times, or if allergic to bee stings.

 

Don’t Forget!

Hives of European honeybees managed by beekeepers play an important part in our lives.  These bees are necessary for the pollination of many crops.  One-third of our diet relies on honeybee pollination.

 

If European honeybees were eliminated in an area, Africanized honeybees would quickly fill the gap.

 

Finally, people can coexist with the Africanized honeybee by learning about the bee and its habits, supporting beekeeping efforts, and taking a few precautions.


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

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 Is 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

 

 

CATCH THE BUZZ - Old Age, Memory, And Honey Bees

CATCH THE BUZZ

Old bees' memory fades; mirrors recall of mammals

A study published Oct. 19 in the open access journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE, shows that not just human memories fade. Scientists from Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences examined how aging impacts the ability of honey bees to find their way home.

While bees are typically impressive navigators, able to wend their way home through complex landscapes after visits to flowers far removed from their nests, the study reveals that aging impairs the bees' ability to extinguish the memory of an unsuitable nest site even after the colony has settled in a new home.

"From previous studies, we knew that old bees are characterized by poor learning when trained to floral odors in the laboratory," says Gro Amdam, an associate professor in the School of Life Sciences in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "So, we wanted to test whether aging also affects learning behavior that is important for a bee's survival in the wild."

A bee is very well-trained as a forager after three to four days of flight time, Amdam says. Whereas mature bees have piloted their way to and from the hive for five to 11 days and old bees have had more than two weeks of flight time.

To test how old bees adapt to a changed home location, researchers trained bees to a new nest box while their former nest was closed off. Groups composed of mature and old bees were given several days in which to learn the new home location and to extinguish the bees' memory of their unusable former nest box.

The scientists then disassembled the bees' new home and forced groups of mixed-age bees to choose between three alternative nest locations, including the former nest box. Old bees with symptoms of senescence preferentially oriented toward the former nest site, despite the experience that should have told them that it was unusable.

"Although many old bees fail in learning tasks, we also discovered that a few still perform with excellence," explains Daniel Münch, lead author of the study and a senior life sciences researcher in Norway.

The scientists believe that their findings with bees offer a new means to model and understand the variability found in brain function between individuals; where some individuals' memories remain intact, while others' learning behavior becomes inflexible with age.


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

 

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

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 Is 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