BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Peter Detchon <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:03:41 +0800
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (28 lines)
Allen said "Monoculture is starving our bees."

And maybe fungicides are too. 

I wasn't at the Orlando meeting worse luck, but did attend the California State Beekeepers Association meeting in October. A very interesting point that I noted there was how many previously hard hit (CCD?) beekeepers claimed now to have the best bees they had ever had. Most if not all, seemed to be feeding protein feeds intensively, presumably commercially produced bee feeds and no doubt all of those would have significant (proteinase-inhibitor deactivated) soy flour content, (50% or more).
I couldn't help but link that observation to the research paper demonstrating the inhibitory impact of very commonly and widespread used fungicides on the prebiota in Bee bread. 

Seems obvious to me that if these fungi are inhibited in digesting the cellulose wall of pollens in bee bread, then you could easily have the situation of a hive well stocked with pollen stores, yet bees that are starving to death through lack of digestible protein. There follows a whole cascade of scenarios where secondary influences (mites, viruses, bacteria, in-hive chems, pesticides, stress etc) could then cause the demise of those bees and the hive. Supplementary feeding with digestible protein would overcome that...and maybe already has for many who have taken the supplementary feeding route. There is no doubt as Allen has pointed out, that soy flour, appropriately modified, is a very valuable feedstuff for bees. Here the terminology used by the processor is "Debittered soy flour". Others describe "Toasted" soy flour. In short, heat treatment has been used to deactivate the proteinase-inhibitors, which thereafter allows the enzymes which metabolise (digest) the protein, to work.

The research on fungicide inhibition of bee bread biota was presented at the CSBA meeting by Dr. Gloria deGrand Hoffman. Maybe she presented in Orlando too? There were many other excellent presentations, but for me this was the the one which really stood out in view of its likely significance.

And then I read in Ted's posting today, that a commonly used fungicide was the third most commonly detected pesticide in hives after the 2 beekeeper applied miticides! (Work of James Frazier and Jamie Ellis presented in Orlando). Also link that to the Dennis VanEngelsdorp data that most of the beekeepers he surveyed felt that their bees had died of starvation! Is this the missing link? Seems like too much of a coincidence to not be taken very seriously.

Perhaps the indirect impact of pesticides is more damaging to bees than the direct impact.

PeterD
Western Australia



             ***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html

Access BEE-L directly at:
http://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?A0=BEE-L

ATOM RSS1 RSS2