Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ocba - Re: [ocba] A science based look at this spring's almond pollination...

ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] A science based look at this spring's almond pollination...
  • Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 12:10:38 -0400 (EDT)

I would add that the USDA/EPA released a report today that is worth reading.  In my opinion, it says:"Worry about pests (varroa) and disease (virus transmitted by varroa), genetics(queens), nutrition, and pesticides (farmers not following labels).

 

Key findings include:

Parasites and Disease Present Risks to Honey Bees:

The parasitic Varroa mite is recognized as the major factor underlying colony loss in the U.S. and other countries. There is widespread resistance to the chemicals beekeepers use to control mites within the hive. New virus species have been found in the U.S. and several of these have been associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Increased Genetic Diversity is Needed:

U.S. honeybee colonies need increased genetic diversity. Genetic variation improves bees thermoregulation (the ability to keep body temperature steady even if the surrounding environment is different), disease resistance and worker productivity.
Honey bee breeding should emphasize traits such as hygienic behavior that confer improved resistance to Varroa mites and diseases (such as American foulbrood).
Poor Nutrition Among Honey Bee Colonies:

Nutrition has a major impact on individual bee and colony longevity. A nutrition-poor diet can make bees more susceptible to harm from disease and parasites. Bees need better forage and a variety of plants to support colony health.
Federal and state partners should consider actions affecting land management to maximize available nutritional forage to promote and enhance good bee health and to protect bees by keeping them away from pesticide-treated fields.
There is a Need for Improved Collaboration and Information Sharing:

Best Management Practices associated with bees and pesticide use, exist, but are not widely or systematically followed by members of the crop-producing industry. There is a need for informed and coordinated communication between growers and beekeepers and effective collaboration between stakeholders on practices to protect bees from pesticides.
Beekeepers emphasized the need for accurate and timely bee kill incident reporting, monitoring, and enforcement.

 


On May 2, 2013 at 10:32 AM Blair Christian <blair.christian AT gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> There is a lot going on in the media, in public policy, and in
> scientific publications about bees right now.  I'm not here to change
> your mind, but would like point you towards what I find to be unbiased
> data by a beekeeper that tells a convincing story about the spring
> 2013 bee losses and almond pollination shortages in the media.  The
> data used are publicly available for you to examine and critique (it's
> great if you disagree with the data and draw a different conclusion).
> It wasn't peer reviewed, but cites a lot of peer reviewed work.  The
> author is Randy Oliver, who is a beekeeper-scientist, whose focus is
> on clear, transparent communication useful to serious beekeepers.
> He's not an academic, and doesn't want to be one as far as I can tell;
> but has been invited to sit of various scientific review boards and
> discloses any industry interests on his website.  He runs his own well
> designed (in a statistical sense) bee experiments, with controls, big
> n's, and clear protocols.  He also has monthly columns in at least one
> of the bee journals.  With that in mind, I invite you to read and
> discuss his take on the spring 2013 almond pollination:
>
> "What Happened to the Bees This Spring?" by Randy Oliver
> https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzxus2rq3XxPR0ZmTWZMV1h0NTQ/edit?usp=sharing
>
> Best,
> Blair
> _________________________________________
> ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
> Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/

 




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page