Dear Subscribers,

We are getting some afternoon thunder showers, which are most welcome.  However, conditions are so dry that even after our recent tropical storm event, dumping close to five inches of rain, a record-setting drought continues in this .  Honey flows in this part of the world are now pretty much over and we wait until the fall in North Central Florida, which some times can give us substantial honey flows.

I have a couple of speaking engagements this summer and hope to see some readers there.   I will be in Lumberton, NC for the July 12 meeting of the North Carolina Beekeepers Association in Lumberton, NC   and the Betterbee field day on August 4 in Greenwich, New York

I also may be traveling to Nicaragua in August as part of Farmer to Farmer program.  A colleague, John Gamache, has also been to the country to look at conditions first hand.  We are considering a longer-term project in the country if possible.  Those active in the Florida State Beekeepers Association and Master Beekeepers trained by Jamie Ellis at the University of Florida are also becoming more engaged in the region.  Look for a major event in the Caribbean with Florida participation.  There have already been visits by member Bo Sterk, who published an article in the Australasian Beekeeper about beekeeping in Haiti.  Finally, there is an initiative to d organize an association in Jamaica to be affiliated with  the State Association.  Expect to see some reporting of all this at the next convention in Tampa, Novem ber 1-4, 2012.

Other Florida news includes a revamping of the Florida Bee Inspection program with departure of Jerry Hayes, now employed by Monsanto via Beeologics.  Long-time inspector David Westervelt has taken over and will be part of a major effort in the state, dubbed “beekeeper protection.”  A so-called “cottage food” law has now been passed that will allow small-scale beekeepers to market their honey directly and beekeeping has now been formally designated an “agricultural enterprise,” meaning it now comes under the “right to farm act.”

Two newsletters from the pen of Dr. Eric Mussen deserve further consideration.  The March-April edition of From the UC Apiaries discusses among other things the carbon footprint of honey.  I also wrote about that in a previous article in the 2008 volume of Bee Culture.  Now it's been taken to another level and there's actually a calculator available

In the May-June issue, Dr. Mussen takes on a hotter topic, which has recently been discussed on Internet sites concerning neonicotinoids and their effects on honey bees.  He references the latest Xerces society's report on this.   The conclusion: “There is no direct link demonstrated between neonicotinoids and the honey bee syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). However, recent research suggests that neonicotinoids may make honey bees more susceptible to parasites and pathogens, including the intestinal parasite Nosema, which has been implicated as one causative factor in CCD.”

Unfortunately, some bloggers and media outlets have not taken this to heart, and a recent study in the Journal of Insectology by a Harvard group that directly links the new class of pesticides to CCD has further inflamed the issue.  The Harvard name carries a lot of weight and this is probably the reason for all the media attention, but it appears to have been overblown and not realistic.

A beekeeper-researcher in California (Randy Oliver) has written: “A recent press release by the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health claims that one of their researchers has found that Colony Collapse Disorder was caused by a common insecticide used on corn.  As an informed beekeeper and environmentalist, I feel that this study calls for standard scientific scrutiny to see whether their claims actually have merit.”

Many agree with one blogger's assessment that this study has lots of problems and is “sloppy science,” especially when it is revealed the bees were given the pesticide in high fructose corn syrup.”

Also the role of genetic engineering and use of neonicotinoids is being confused, especially in corn.  This does not help when beekeepers and others are looking for solutions to perceived problems.

All this  appears to have gotten EPA's attention, however, and so we could see some major reshuffling of the labeling requirements for new chemicals.  The Canadians are also getting into action, notifying "...registrants, pesticide regulatory officials and the Canadian public of Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s (PMRA) decision  to initiate a re-evaluation, under section 16 of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA), of the  nitro-guanidine neonicotinoid insecticides, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, and their associated  products registered in Canada. ”

Dr. Mussen also looks at the role of epigenetics.  Again, something I wrote about in Bee Culture in 2008.Now new information has come to light based on study of pseudoscorpions exposed to antibiotics, particularly tetracycline.  Low sperm count might also be a problem in honey bees and other organisms exposed to broa d sprectrum antiobiotics, includinghumans?  Yikes!


Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla