CATCH THE BUZZ - Assistance Available, for some

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CATCH THE BUZZ

USDA Announces Implementation of Livestock Disaster Assistance Programs. Beginning Today, Producers May Sign Up to Participate in these Programs

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2009 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that producers may begin applying for benefits under the provisions of the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP). These permanent disaster programs, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, replace previous ad-hoc disaster assistance programs and are funded through the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund.

"President Obama and I are committed to meeting the needs of those producers who have suffered devastating losses from natural disasters," said Vilsack. "These programs ensure that producers who have suffered agriculture losses receive the critical disaster assistance needed to remain financially solvent and help them continue on in their operations."

 Eligible livestock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine. For losses due to drought, qualifying drought ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor located at www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html.

 ELAP provides 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. ELAP assistance is for losses not covered under other Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill, specifically LFP, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE). ELAP is being implemented to fill in the gap and provide assistance under other conditions determined to be appropriate.

 For both programs, producers must have suffered losses that occurred on or after Jan. 1, 2008, and before Oct. 1, 2011. There is a total $100,000 limitation per crop year that applies to payments received under ELAP, LFP, LIP or SURE. For the 2008 crop year, the $100,000 limitation is per "person" as defined and determined under payment limitation rules in effect for 2008. For crop years 2009 through 2011, the $100,000 limitation applies to payments received, both directly and indirectly, by a person or legal entity. Furthermore, individuals or entities are ineligible for payment under ELAP or LFP for 2008 if their average Adjusted Gross Income for 2005, 2006 and 2007 exceeds $2.5 million. For 2009 through 2011, an average adjusted gross nonfarm income limitation of $500,000 applies and is determined using the three taxable years that precede the most immediately preceding complete taxable ye ar (for 2009, the applicable years are 2005, 2006 and 2007).

 For more information or to apply for ELAP or LFP and other USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance programs, please visit your FSA county office or www.fsa.usda.gov.

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CATCH THE BUZZ - MORE ABOUT VSH BEES

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CATCH THE BUZZ

ARS News Service, Agricultural Research Service, USDA

www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr  

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

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Honey bees are now fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) efforts to develop bees with a genetic trait that allows them to more easily find the mites and toss them out of the broodnest.

The parasitic Varroa mite attacks the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., by feeding on its hemolymph, which is the combination of blood and fluid inside a bee. Colonies can be weakened or killed, depending on the severity of the infestation. Most colonies eventually die from varroa infestation if left untreated.

 Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a genetic trait of the honey bee that allows it to remove mite-infested pupae from the capped brood-developing bees that are sealed inside cells of the comb with a protective layer of wax. The mites are sometimes difficult for the bees to locate, since they attack the bee brood while these developing bees are inside the capped cells.

 ARS scientists at the agency's Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have developed honey bees with high expression of the VSH trait. Honey bees are naturally hygienic, and they often remove diseased brood from their nests. VSH is a specific form of nest cleaning focused on removing varroa-infested pupae. The VSH honey bees are quite aggressive in their pursuit of the mites. The bees gang up, chew and cut through the cap, lift out the infected brood and their mites, and discard them from the broodnest.

 See this activity in the attached video link here:

 http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/bees/index.htm 

This hygiene kills the frail mite offspring, which greatly reduces the lifetime reproductive output of the mother mite. The mother mite may survive the ordeal and try to reproduce in brood again, only to undergo similar treatment by the bees.

 To test the varroa resistance of VSH bees, the Baton Rouge team conducted field trials using 40 colonies with varying levels of VSH.

 Mite population growth was significantly lower in VSH and hybrid colonies than in bee colonies without VSH. Hybrid colonies had half the VSH genes normally found in pure VSH bees, but they still retained significant varroa resistance. Simpler ways for bee breeders to measure VSH behavior in colonies were also developed in this study.

This research was published in the Journal of Apicultural Research and Bee World.

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CATCH THE BUZZ - PESTICIDES

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 Neonicotinoids cause bees to forage less and produce fewer offspring

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 British environmental organizations are again demand a halt to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides after a new report asserts the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid damages the health and life cycle of bees.

   Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust – says the unexplained collapse in Britain's bee population is being exacerbated by a group of widely used systemic pesticides called neonicotinoids already banned in much of the European Union.

   Buglife says the use of neonicotinoids is already restricted for use in much of Europe including France and Germany after beekeepers claimed the chemical was killing honey bees.

   The Soil Association, says while this is unlikely to explain Colony Collapse Disorder in the honey bee, it could be a key contributory factor and may well be part of the cause for widespread declines in wild bee populations.

  The Buglife report also finds the process for approving crop pesticides is inadequate for assessing risks to bees and other wildlife.

   The report was presented to Michael Jacobs, the government’s special advisor on environmental issues at a bee summit in London today (Wednesday).

   Scientific evidence in the report shows that bees eating nectar and pollen contaminated with imidacloprid (the commonest neonicotinoid) then forage less and produce fewer offspring.

    The current approvals process for pesticides assess risks to non-target species and either attempts to reduce risk or prevents use of high risk chemicals. However, Buglife says it is clear from its study the process is inadequate regarding risks to bees as it fails to properly test for a range of sub-lethal affects and potential poisoning routes that are likely to affect bee populations in the UK countryside.

   Buglife, the Soil Association, Pesticides Action Network and Bumblebee Conservation Trust are calling for the suspension of all UK approvals for products containing neonicotinoids that are used outdoors and a review of all neonicotinoid approvals.

   In addition they are demanding more comprehensive methodologies for assessing the effects pesticides on non-target invertebrates are incorporated into approval procedures.

   “Other countries have already introduced bans to prevent neonicotinoids from harming bees,” Buglife CEO Matt Shardlow says. “This is the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence yet and it has revealed the disturbing amount damage these poisons can cause to bees.”

 The entire report, 50+ pages, can be read at

http://www.buglife.org.uk/Resources/Buglife/Neonicotinoid%20insecticides%20report.pdf

 Buglife is the first organization in Europe devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. Its aim is to halt the extinction of invertebrate species and to achieve sustainable populations of invertebrates.

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Central Beekeepers Alliance : Bogdanov’s Book of Honey

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Bogdanov’s Book of Honey Posted: 07 Sep 2009 06:44 PM PDT Stefan Bogdanov, recently retired after 26 years at the Swiss Bee Research Centre, has kindly made his Book of Honey available online. Chapters in the book include the following: A Short History of Honey Honey Elaboration and Harvest Honey Technology Physical Properties of Honey Honey Compostion Honey Types Honey for Nutrition and Health External Application of Honey Honey Control Honey Trade The Book of Honey is presented in PDF format, readable with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader (available from http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/, if it is not already installed on your computer). At the same site, you’ll also find a new book by Surrendra Joshi about honey in Nepal, and a variety of other publications on which Stefan Bogdanov collaborated: Honey Authenticity: A Review by Stefan Bogdanov and Peter Martin Minerals in Honey: Environmental, Geographical and Botanical Aspects by Stefan Bogdanov, Max Haldimann, Werner Luginbuehl and Peter Gallmann (with permission of IBRA) Classification of Honeydew and Blossom Honeys by Discriminant Analysis by Stefan Bogdanov and Michael Gfeller HMF, Invertase and Diastase Activity of Swiss and Imported Honey – Analysis with Logistic Regression by Michael Gfeller and Stefan Bogdanov Bogdanov’s Book of Honey comes from the Central Beekeepers Alliance of New Brunswick, Canada. For more information on Honey Bees and Beekeeping, please: * Visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com * Subscribe to our RSS feed * Get free updates by e-mail

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Central Beekeepers Alliance : Could bee stings lead to a cure for cancer?

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Could bee stings lead to a cure for cancer? Posted: 05 Sep 2009 03:07 AM PDT Could bee stings hold a future cure for cancer? Apitherapy practitioners have known for centuries that bee venom has anti-arthritic properties. Now it seems likely that it may be put to other good uses in the human body — although the research is still in early days yet. ScienceDaily (Aug. 31, 2009) reports: When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees. In mice, nanobees delivered the bee toxin melittin to tumors while protecting other tissues from the toxin’s destructive power. The mice’s tumors stopped growing or shrank. An abstract of the research report is available at the Journal of Clincial Investigation website, and a detailed article aimed at the general public –‘Nanobees’ Zap Tumors With Real Bee Venom — is posted on the website of the Discovery Channel. Could bee stings lead to a cure for cancer? comes from the Central Beekeepers Alliance of New Brunswick, Canada. For more information on Honey Bees and Beekeeping, please: * Visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com * Subscribe to our RSS feed * Get free updates by e-mail

“Chemical Warfare” Not Working for Many Canadian Beekeepers Posted: 03 Sep 2009 07:23 PM PDT For the third straight year, beekeepers in Alberta, Canada’s largest honey-producing province, are struggling to bounce back from unexpectedly high winterkill. And the story is much the same all over Canada. Traditional chemical controls for Varroa are failing to keep the pest below economic thresholds, as the mites build up resistance, and the weakened colonies are more vulnerable to Nosema and other disease. Beekeepers are desperate to find new weapons to keep their colonies alive. As the Edmonton Journal reports (Bugs, fungus attacking Alberta’s bees: Keepers say chemical warfare not working): [Alberta] Provincial apiculturist Medhat Nasr said while beekeepers expected losses due to the failure of pest control, they were still taken by surprise by the extent of the problem. “It was fast, and losses were far above their expectations.” The effects of Varroa mites and Nosema, combined with a long winter, played a major role in losses, according to a new report from Alberta Agriculture. Emergency approval last fall of a one-time use of Apivar, a chemical product popular in other countries but not approved here, had some effect on the varroa mite, but new treatments are “desperately needed,” says the report. Also, traditional antibiotic treatments did not effectively control the new strain of nosema, which gives the bees a form of diarrhea. Even colonies that survived the winter were severely weakened by the two pests, the report says. Colony Collapse Disorder, which has so greatly affected bee populations in the United States, is not a factor in Canada — including New Brunswick — according to apiculturists, but many Canadian beekeepers have seen their colonies strugglel under the combination of weather factors, pests and diseases as is the case in Alberta. “Chemical Warfare” Not Working for Many Canadian Beekeepers comes from the Central Beekeepers Alliance of New Brunswick, Canada. For more information on Honey Bees and Beekeeping, please: * Visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com * Subscribe to our RSS feed * Get free updates by e-mail

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CATCH THE BUZZ - HFCS Isn't Dangerous?

 

 

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping Celebrate UrbanBees with Bee Culture and thedailygreen.com For details, visit www.thedailygreen.com/bee-photos. CATCH THE BUZZ HFCS Not Dangerous When Even Slightly Heated, Says Corn Refiner’s Association By Jessica Halliday Food Navigator.com USA Find out What’s New At Mann Lake right Here Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More. Storage standards and temperature control for HFCS mean human health is not at risk from the formation of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), the Corn Refiners Association asserts, which also refutes suggestions that the toxin could be a factor in honeybee colony collapse disorder. In a new study by published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, USDA researchers measured HMF levels in samples of HFCS over a 35 day time frame, at temperatures of 31.5, 40.0, 49.0 and 68.8ºc. Study leader LeBlanc and team saw that HMF levels increased steadily with temperature, and that there was a dramatic jump at 49 ºc – a finding they said is important for commercial beekeepers, for manufacturers of HFCS, and for purposes of food storage. But the CRN has called the study "flawed", and emphasized that its members have safety measures and best practices in place. Dr John White of White Technical Research, a consultant whose clients include the CRN, told FoodNavigator.com that there are well-established and widely-available industry storage standards for HFCS: for HFCS 55 the temperature standard is between 75ºF and 86 ºF (23.9 ºC to 30 ºC), and for HFCS 42 between 95ºF and 106 ºF (35 ºC to 41.1 ºC). Moreover, the standards specify use of containers made with stainless steel or mild steel coated with stainless steel material. “Clearly LeBlanc used extreme conditions aimed at maximising HMF formation which contradicted both temperature and vessel composition specifications. It should be noted that any syrup source subjected to such harsh treatment would produce elevated levels of HMF,” White said, on behalf of the Corn Refiners Association. No danger to bees or humans The CRA and White say the risk of HMF to humans presented by the new study are also over-egged. They say that a 2000 study by Janzowski et al discounts HMF as posing a serious health risk to humans. The new study also suggested that the formation of HMF could be a factor in the decline in honey bee populations, known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). It leant on a study published in 1966 by Bailey to support claims that the toxin that causes gut ulceration and dysentery-like symptoms in bees. HFCS is given to bees to stimulate brood rearing and boost honey production. But according to White, properly stored HFCS would not pose a risk for honeybees. He cites a study by Jachimowicz et al, published in 1975, which saw that concentrations of up to 3mg HMF per 100g of solution was harmless for bees. This would mean that the base HMF level established by LeBlanc, of 30 parts per million (ppm) is also harmless. “Honeybee producers clearly violate published storage recommendations when they expose HFCS to excessive temperatures and store it for prolonged periods in unapproved containers.” Nor was HFCS cited as a potential cause of CCD published this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; rather, ribosomal RNA degradation was seen to be the likely cause. FoodNavigator’s article on the original study is available here http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Researchers-warn-of-toxin-increase-in-heated-HFCS References Apidologie 1975; 6:121-143 “Problems of invert sugar as food for honeybees” Authors: Jachimowicz, T; El Sherbiny, G. Journal of Agriculture and Food Science 2009, 57, 736907376 DOI: 10.1021/jf9014526 Formation of hydroxymethylfurfural in domestic high fructose corn syrup and its toxicity to the honey bee (Apis mellifera) Authors: LeBlanc, B; Eggleston, G; Sammataro, D; Cornett, C; Dufault, R; Deeby, T; St Cyr, E. Food Chemical Toxicology 2000; 38:801-809 “5-Hydroxymethylfurfural: assessment of mutagenicity, DNA-damaging potential and reactivity toward cellular glutathione” Janzowski, C; Glaab, B; Samimi, E; Schlatter, J; Eisenbrand, G. 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 - HFCS DANGEROUS?

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HFCS Potentially Dangerous When Even Slightly Heated

From Eureka Alert

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Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears in the current issue of ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, could also help keep the substance out of soft drinks and dozens of other human foods that contain HFCS. The substance, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), forms mainly from heating fructose.

In the new study, Blaise LeBlanc and Gillian Eggleston and colleagues note HFCS's ubiquitous usage as a sweetener in beverages and processed foods. Some commercial beekeepers also feed it to bees to increase reproduction and honey production. When exposed to warm temperatures, HFCS can form HMF and kill honeybees. Some researchers believe that HMF may be a factor in Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious disease that has killed at least one-third of the honeybee population in the United States.

The scientists measured levels of HMF in HFCS products from different manufacturers over a period of 35 days at different temperatures. As temperatures rose, levels of HMF increased steadily. Levels jumped dramatically at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. "The data are important for commercial beekeepers, for manufacturers of HFCS, and for purposes of food storage. Because HFCS is incorporated as a sweetener in many processed foods, the data from this study are important for human health as well," the report states. It adds that studies have linked HMF to DNA damage in humans. In addition, HMF breaks down in the body to other substances potentially more harmful than HMF.

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