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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com>
  • To: Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com>, Orange County Bees <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>, NaturalBeesinNC AT yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] A science based look at this spring's almond pollination...
  • Date: Thu, 2 May 2013 14:43:55 -0400

Thanks for sharing...I got it sent to me from someone else as well, but just curious. I need some help/insight. Any insight to whom they are referring to when they say "stakeholders"?

Report on the National Stakeholders Conference on Honey Bee Health

Do they mean themselves...or should "stakeholders" really mean US beekeepers? I have a stake in it. Just say'n! ;-)

AND:

This is odd its from page 3 of the report (that i have not read yet)
 
"Disclaimer:
This is a report presenting the proceedings of a stakeholder conference organized 
and conducted by members of the National Honey Bee Health Stakeholder 
Conference Steering Committee on October 15-17, 2012 in Alexandria, VA. The 
views expressed in this report are those of the presenters and participants and do 
not necessarily represent the policies or positions of the Department of Agriculture 
(USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), or the United States
Government (USG)."

* Interesting disclaimer...especially since they are also the ones who formed this "steering committee".

"the CCD Steering Committee was formed 
with the charge to help coordinate a federal response to address this problem. The CCD 
Steering Committee consists of scientists from the Department of Agriculture‟s (USDA)
Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA),
Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Natural Resources Conservation 
Service (NRCS), Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), the National Agricultural 
Statistics Service (NASS), and also includes scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Just say'n...seem odd. I now have my weekend reading filled thanks to this and Blair's shared doc.

marty


On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 12:10 PM, Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com> wrote:

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
> _________________________________________
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--
Marty Hanks
Just Bee, Apiaries
 
 Home of the Orange County Honey Project.
"Created by Artisans....Bottled by Humans"



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