Happy Valentine's day.  Every year it's more difficult to miss this date.  The stores are crammed with increasing amounts of paraphernalia seeking to sell “love” it seems.

February here was warm even for this part of the country.  Days approaching 80 degrees F.  My allergies flared up way early as the pollen flew.  Then the bottom dropped out with  two  nights in the low 20s.  Now it's warming back into the 70s again.  I'm glad  I'm not a plant trying to figure all this out.  And then there's the lack of rain; lots of ponds drying up and the  fire risk seems to increase evey  day.  The red “swamp” maples Acer rubrum popped, may  be drought stressed, so the pollen flow the bees need may be affected.  And the there are plenty of honey bees flying, consuming  their food and raising brood before mid February.  This may indeed be a year when beekeepers, like Caesar, should “beware the Ides of March,” and get their feeding materials ready.

Apparently La Niña is waning and maybe we'll get back into a more “normal” pattern, whatever that might be.  The forecasters don't know which way the weather is going.  I shouldn't  complain too much I guess.  It certainly has not been a good time to be a honey bee or a human in central Europe.

March 15 also traditionally marks the beginning of the citrus bloom in Florida.  Will the bees be behind or ahead of the  blossoms?  Only time will tell.  The citrus is waning in the Sunshine State as a nectar source due to greening, which now has been found in Texas.  Arizona and California could be next.  When that happens U.S. Citrus honey may be an endangered sweet.

I am just back from Tallahassee, where the Florida legislature met early in late January instead of March, due to redistricting.  It looks like it will be a good session for beekeepers, annoyed at local governmental efforts to ban and restrict beekeeping.  Instead, this will be turned over to state regulators, who everyone hopes will be more sympathetic to beekeepers.   You can see the information about this on the Florida State Beekeepers home page, including the full text of the two bills that appear to be “sailing” through through with minimal opposition.  Other items linked to the site include videos, press releases and an article I wrote for the QualityCities newsletter on keeping bees in the urban landscape.

Unfortunately, Florida's Chief Apiarist, Jerry Hayes, was poached by Monsanto, via Beeologics; here's his explanation  posted to Bee-L:

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December 20, 2011 1:46:37 PM EST

'I just wanted to give you an early heads up before you heard it from someplace else. I will be leaving the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and shifting over to private industry around the first of February. As you know Monsanto purchased Beeologics, the company that is developing RNAi products for honey bee disease control. They needed a honey bee person to see if this technology can be improved and brought to help honey bees and their keepers.

"In visiting with the people from Monsanto over the last couple months I am convinced that they have the best of intentions to do their best to help the beekeeping industry. In the past the beekeeping industry was kept at arm’s length by Ag Chem. I believe this changes things. There is a commitment to include Beekeepers and not exclude them as has been done by others in the past.

"I am ready to field any comments , questions or suggestions as I have already been called Darth Vader."

So Florida is searching for a replacement.

Many articles in the press continue to stress CCD as a cause of disappearing honey bees.  Here  are Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk's comments on historic bee losses and CCD posted on Bee-L: Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:13:04 -0500

“Both the 1970s and 2006+ events were blamed on everything anyone could imagine, although due to the Cold War, in the 70s nuclear radiation was a suspect, while  in the 2000s, cell phones were blamed.  As occurs now, there were those  researchers and beekeepers who were sure it was pesticides,  and Bill Wilson's team was able to induce a winter decline with low level  pesticides.

“I'm still convinced its contagious.  Other stress factors such as
nutrition, cool wet weather,  possibly even agri-chemicals may act as  triggers.

“My guess is that Nosema ceranae, Kashmir virus, and the IIV all came to us as a group from Apis ceranae.  Camazine found the first Kashmir in a sample  of IIV from the Asian bee, and he found IIV in varroa in hives from a major  collapse in the NE of the USA in the 90s.  Latest I've heard, Nosema ceranae has now been shown to be in the NE states as far back as the 80s, maybe even longer.”

The press is having a ball blaming losses on a new bizarre reason, phorid flies that turn honey bees into zombies. Sounds like the making of a new television horror series.

And then there's dust from corn seeding, a new wrinkle on the neonicotinoid pesticide angle.

Here's the most recent development on CCD. Maybe, but it's difficult to come up with a cure (patented or not) when the cause hasn't been nailed down.

The Canadian Association of Professional  Apiculturists has published an analysis of 2011 colony losses in that country.

A Catch  The Buzz discusses the new USDA Hardiness  Calendar:

"Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map have shifted in many areas. The new map is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a longer and more recent time period; the new map uses data measured at weather stations during the 30-year period 1976-2005. In contrast, the 1990 map was based on temperature data from only a 13-year period of 1974-1986.

“Some of the changes in the zones, however, are a result of new, more sophisticated methods for mapping zones between weather stations. These include algorithms that considered for the first time such factors as changes in elevation, nearness to large bodies of water, and position on the terrain, such as valley bottoms and ridge tops. Also, the new map used temperature data from many more stations than did the 1990 map.

These advances greatly improved the accuracy and detail of the map, especially in mountainous regions of the western United States. In some cases, advances resulted in changes to cooler, rather than warmer, zones.
While about 80 million American gardeners, as well as those who grow and breed plants, are the largest users of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, many others need this hardiness zone information. For example, the USDA Risk Management Agency uses the USDA plant hardiness zone designations to set some crop insurance standards. Scientists use the plant hardiness zones as a data layer in many research models such as modeling the spread of exotic weeds and insects.”  Here's  an interesting comparison between 1990 and 2006.

Too bad I published the 1990 version in my book, one of the very few references to it  in the beekeeping literature.  It should be  on every beekeeper's wall.  Amazon.com reports, 197 copies were sold between December 12, 2011 and February 5, 2012.  Hot spots were Las Vegas, Nevada and Portland, Oregon, each selling sixteen copies.

Selected links from Publish2.com for February 2012 include: more analysis  of the  Beeologics purchase by Monsanto, Monsanto also being sued by organic gardeners,  re-opening of Brother Adam's  breeding station, more analysis of CCD losses, metylation experiment by a high school student and others.

Last  month I wrote: “Karlina Davitt describes how to build a beeyard bench...”   That name should have been Katharina Davitt.

Phil Ewing asks if there isn't an insurance scam going on with honey bees  and  insurance rates.  Don Aman,Yakima, WA doesn't trust Monsanto and lists reasons why.  Dr. Majid Katme, Islamic Medical Association/UK writes about  Muslim concerns over GMO- contaminated pollen.  Marvin Rhodes, Scottsdale, KY says his grandson has found on way to control small hive beetle.  Jerry Bromenshenk, Montana is a fan of western boots for both snakes and beekeeping.  John Miller,  Gackle, ND discusses the North Dakota Beekeepers Association's research program, which provides significant funding to the state so that a fund of $100,000 is achieved.  He asks other states to take  up the challenge.

Editor Flottum embarks on an “almond odessey” this pollinating season, making the rounds of beekeepers,  brokers and breeders in The Bear Republic (California).  Read his  notes from the field to be posted on his blog.  He also is fan of varietal honey.  Read what it is and how to make a crop of this most special kind of sweet.

New items for the beekeeper are Ed Simon's Bee Equipment Essentials , David Heaf's  Bee Friendly Beekeeper and Tammy Horn's Beeconomy: What Women and Bees Can Teach  Us About Local  Trade and the Global  Market, and the Ball Red Books series.  Look at the whole punch tool for   producing queens.,  the package  shaker box, the most efficient way to make a package bees.

Kathy  Summers in her new column, “It's Summers Time,” gives  us a word about honey shows, especially the UK's National Honey Show.


Clarence Collison and Audrey Sheridan take a closer look at Chalkbrood.  Read about this fungus and its intricate life style.

Steve Sheppard provides a report from the Managed  Pollinator (CAP), Coordinated Agricultural Project on introducing diversity into the U.S. bee population.  Read about efforts by him, Sue Cobey and others in this arena.

Roy Henderson gives his thoughts on improving local genetic diversity in small-scale operations.  Read what he thinks about costs and benefits.

Jennifer Berry tells the story of Rossman Apiaries.  Read about Fred Rossman's father, Joe, and his trials of developing a queen and package bee business.

Ross Conrad describes honey plants in the northeast. Read his analysis from  dandelion to goldenrod.

Larry Connor continues his beekeeping instructor's guide. He focuses  on the bee nest and the colony's reproductive cyle.

Jim Tew writes about observation hives.  Read all (and there are  many) the factors involved in managing these smaller-than-normal nests.

Dan Purvis describes some of the challenges  of small-scale commercial  queen rearing.

Lady Spirit Moon of travels to Italy and then to France to visit John Kefuss, as part of a learning experience in an effort to sponsor an African project in Senegal.

Rick Hall publishes a number of pictures to make one's  own  bee vacuum aparatus.  Read how to create this neat device using two five-gallon buckets.

Ann Harman urges beekeepers to plan a bee school.  Read her tips on teaching including two sentences that are indispensable. “I don't know.” and “I'll find out.”

Judith Adamson implores folks to be “observant  beekeepers.”  This is based  on the experiences of Mike Stephanos of Walnut Creek, CA described  in her book Backyard Beekeepers of the Bay Area.

Ed Colby goes to Mexico. He visits  with  beekeepers in an ejido in Yucatan state, and discusses a number of issues, including organic versus  GMO pollen contaminated honey.  Read how he got along with Don Juan and the beautiful Yazmin, who had just returned from Apimondia in Argentina!



Sincerely,


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