FILENAME:  OCTAPIS.91
 
 
            Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter
    Apis--Apicultural Information and Issues (ISSN 0889-3764)
                Volume 9, Number 10, October 1991
 
                        REGISTRATION FEES
 
     The Honey Bee Technical Council, an advisory body to
Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner, Bob Crawford, met
September 24.  A proposal to institute registration fees by the
Division of Plant Industry's Apiary Bureau was brought before the
group.
     Proposed fees would be charged on a sliding scale based on the
number of colonies a beekeeper manages.  The suggested rates are as
follows:
 
Number of Colonies                        Fee
 
1 - 19                                    $10
20 - 199                                  $20
200 - 499                                 $30
500 - 999                                 $40
1,000 - 1,999                             $50
2,000 - 4,999                             $60
5,000 - 9,999                             $75
10,000 and above                          $100
 
These would be payable each year; there would be a penalty not to
exceed $10 per year for late registration certificates, those
renewed after the anniversary date.  It is estimated that the sum
total of these fees would constitute less than 20% of the Apiary
Bureau's expenses.  In addition to this registration fee,
beekeepers asking the Apiary Bureau for special inspections
(tracheal or Varroa mite certifications and others) would also be
charged specifically for these services, not to exceed the actual
cost of the service.
     There was considerable discussion about the proposed
registration fee.  Concerns were raised about the sliding scale and
the mechanism by which the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services might raise the fees in the future.  The Council finally
tabled the issue until its next meeting which will probably take
place in November.  Whether or not the Honey Bee Technical Council
decides to support this legislation, there seems little doubt it
will be proposed in the upcoming legislative session.
     Payment of registration fees represents a radical shift in
Florida's apiary inspection situation.  The concept is consistent,
however, with what is happening around the nation (see the article
in last month's APIS) and the recent budgetary crisis.  Should a
ground swell of opposition to these "user fees" develop, the
Florida beekeeping industry would risk degrading, if not losing,
its bee inspecting effort.  It is imperative, therefore, that
beekeepers contact their legislators about bee inspection issues
soon.
     If you are not receiving information on meetings of the Honey
Bee Technical Council and missed the September 24 event, you can
ask to be placed on the mailing list.  Write to Mr. Laurence Cutts,
Apiary Bureau, Division of Plant Industry, P.O. Box 1269,
Gainesville 32606, ph 904/372-3505, Ext. 128.
 
                       CHINESE BEEKEEPING
 
     Beekeeping in the world's most populous nation has always held
a fascination for many.  Mr. Horace Bell, recently returned from
China, reported on his three-week journey at the Honey Bee
Technical Council Meeting.  The typical Chinese beekeeper,
according to Mr. Bell, is well informed, manages from 70 to 100
colonies, lives in a tent near the colonies and has four employees.
Migratory beekeeping also exists.  Five to six beekeepers often
join forces; the government trucks their colonies to the rail line
where they are placed on cars and accompanied by the beekeepers,
tent and all, to another location.
     Most beekeepers are producing royal jelly in China for which
there is a huge market.  Some 1,000 metric tons are collected each
year, Mr. Bell said.  Beekeepers manipulate their colonies each day
and the bees are very gentle (no smoke or veils are used!).  Bees
are also fed every day and 125 grafted cells are put in each colony
for jelly production.
     Virtually all honey bees seen by Mr. Bell were European (Apis
mellifera); he was able to find only two colonies of Apis cerana,
the Asian relative of the European honey bee.  According to Mr.
Bell's observations, the reason so few Apis cerana bees are used is
that their production is less than European bees.  He understood,
however, that cerana is found more in subtropical areas where
Varroa might be more problematic.  Varroa mites are present in
China, but beekeepers use "herbal remedies" to keep populations low
in European bees; cerana bees are inherently resistant to the mite.
Mr. Bell was unable to determine which remedies are being used, but
he collected evidence that several formulations of fluvalinate,
used elsewhere in the world for Varroa control, have found their
way to China.
     Dr. Jim Tew, who also went to China on the same tour with Mr.
Bell, also sent me an official report on the beekeeping situation.
According to this document, in 1989, 7,350,000 colonies of honey
bees made 189,000 tons of honey, 800 tons of royal jelly and 800
tons of marketable bee collected pollen.  Product processing has
grown since the 1970s to 400 factories.  These market over 100
kinds of medicines and food products.  A national Research
Apicultural Institute employing some 130 scientists is helping
China upgrade its beekeeping.  There are four national bee
journals, a national Chinese apicultural association with 27
branches and 40 specialized queen rearing facilities.  China's
beekeeping industry has definitely made impressive strides in the
last 10 years.  The country is looking forward to hosting the 34th
International Apicultural Congress in 1994.
 
                         ABRC IN TUCSON
 
     The warm winds of Tucson, Arizona welcomed participants to the
annual American Bee Research Conference (ABRC), October 7 and 8.
This meeting continues to bring together beekeepers, scientists and
others to share ideas about honey bee research.  The full
proceedings of the conference in the form of compiled abstracts of
papers presented will be published in the American Bee Journal, but
here are a few interesting items I picked up while attending.
     Dr. Martha Gilliam of the Tucson bee laboratory provided a
description of her efforts to identify enzymes particular to
certain strains of the disease.  Three specific enzymes are now
being looked at carefully in order to develop a testing kit.
     As a follow up, Boris Yakobson from Israel provided an
interesting sketch of a large chalkbrood epidemic in Israel.  The
country has 800 beekeepers keeping 80,000 hives; 70% of the
beekeeping is commercial in nature.  Israeli beekeepers manage
European bees (Apis mellifera ligustica) and try to keep the feral
colonies of overdefensive Apis mellifera syriaca bees at bay by
constantly requeening.  Average honey production is 35 kilos (77
pounds); 2/3 from citrus.
     Chalkbrood was first identified in Israel in 1984, becoming
epidemic in 1989 when 20% of colonies suffered serious damage.  All
apiaries were infested by 1990.  Possible causes of this problem
include stresses caused by:  a new strain of the causative fungus
(Ascosphaera apis), a rise in nosema levels coupled with increased
use of fumagillin, a large-scale change in the genetic makeup of
colonies (some 45,000 queens were brought from Australia for
requeening purposes), effects of Varroa infestation and treatment
for the mite, mixed infections of sacbrood and chalkbrood.
Although they are searching for chemical control, the Israelis have
as yet found no effective way to curb this infestation.
     Detecting Varroa mites more efficiently was addressed by Dr.
Clarence Collison and colleagues at Mississippi State and
Pennsylvania State Universities.  This research showed that ether
roll sampling for Varroa is extremely variable.  At least 1,000
bees must be sampled in order to pick up low infestation levels.
Dr. Tom Webster at Kentucky State University did a study to
determine if it would be effective to use cheaper vegetable oil
instead of more expensive ether on bees emerging from comb.  He
used newly emerged bees to bias the sample toward the most infested
part of a colony, the brood comb.  The vegetable oil did dislodge
mites.  In addition more were detected in the newly emerged bee
sample, but this necessarily made it a two-step process (first
combs of emerging brood are removed, then the new bees are rolled
in oil).  Finally, he found that Apistan (R) plastic strips were
far more sensitive in finding low infestations.  Unfortunately, the
latter method uses pesticides in a colony and is expensive.
     Are destung bees suicidal?  That question, asked by L.G. Schen
and Dr. Justin Schmidt at the Tucson bee lab, was answered by a
resounding yes.  It seems that bees without stingers pursue those
identified as enemies farther from the hive than do those which
have retained their stings.  In other words, they become expendable
and are the leading vanguard of the colony's defense efforts.
     Given the need to develop and maintain breeding stock, Dr.
John Harbo of the Louisiana bee lab provided information on how to
effectively manage laying workers to conserve genetic mutant
markers.  Because drones are haploid and show the markers, it makes
sense that maintaining drone populations developed by laying
workers is a good strategy.  It also is a way to ensure drone
rearing for purposes of instrumental insemination.
     New information on the African honey bee also emerged at the
ABRC meeting.   Dr. Bill McKenna, an immunologist, from Harlingen,
Texas provided insight into the search for an antivenom for bee
stings.  None has been found yet, but it is being investigated for
the main components of bee venom:  mellitin, phospholipase and
hyaluronidase.  He also indicated that there will probably be an
increase in allergic reactions to stings as more and more persons
come in contact with African bees.  Killing bees using diesel fuel
does not work as well as soapy water according to Dr. Bill Wilson
of the Weslaco bee lab.  And any detergent will not do--Dr. Wilson
suggested the brand names Dawn (R), Dove (R), Palmolive (R) or any
of that same type were the best.  Drs. Justin Schmidt and Heyward
Spangler from the Tucson bee lab did a number of tests in Costa
Rica to see if an African bee attack can be stopped.  They were
able to reduce attacks by up to 80%, but this is certainly not
sufficient considering the physical number of bees that might be
involved.
     Dr. Orley Taylor from the University of Kansas and colleagues
presented data to show that in northern Mexico the paternity of
African bees is rapidly increasing at the expense of that of
European bees.  This was discovered by studying frequencies of
different forms of malic dehydrogenase (MDH) and hexokinase (HK)
found in the bee populations.  The sizes of worker bees and worker
cells in combs also declines as these frequencies change.
Fortunately, according to Dr. Taylor, the rate of loss is
influenced by density and distribution of a managed European
population, and the outcome should change as the bees approach
their climatic limits in the United States.
     Trapping technology continues to evolve according to Dr.
Justin Schmidt and Steve Thoenes of the Tucson bee lab.  The paper
pulp trap now has a counterpart which accepts standard frames.  In
one test, there was no significant difference in attracting swarms
between the two types.  Traps should be placed at least 3 yards
above the ground, and the more out of the way the better for
passersby.  Effectiveness of traps is definitely increased using
pheromone lure, a combination of geraniol, citral and nerolic acid.
The latter ingredient is difficult to find, but is so effective
it's worth the extra effort and cost, Dr. Schmidt said.
 
             LEADERSHIP PROGRAM APPLICATIONS SOUGHT
 
     Across the nation there is a recognition that good leadership
does not come without some training in this complex subject.  The
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is now
soliciting applications/nominations for persons in agricultural
industry who might be good candidates as leaders.  Those selected
for this program would be provided expense-paid training in a
number of different areas in the hope they would bring a better
brand of leadership back to their community and/or industry.
     Ideal candidates should be 25 to 45 years of age and have
demonstrated strong leadership potential.  They must be legal U.S.
Citizens and residents of Florida for at least one year prior to
the December 14 closing date.  If you are interested in this
concept and think you might qualify, contact me or the Florida
State Beekeepers Association's Secretary-Treasurer, Ms. Eloise
Cutts 2237 NW 16th Ave., Gainesville, FL 32605, Ph 904/378-7719.
 
 
          FLORIDA STATE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION MEETING
 
     The Florida State Beekeepers meeting is still scheduled for
November 7-9 in Gainesville at the Hilton.  If you have not made
plans to attend, now is the time.  There no doubt will be in-depth
discussions on the proposed inspection fees mentioned above.  In
addition, there should be information concerning the certification
meeting which will take place October 24-27 in St. Louis, MO as
discussed in last month's Apis.  For more information, contact
Eloise Cutts, whose address and telephone number appear above.
 
                        MORE BUDGET BLUES
 
     Last month I discussed the very real budgetary crisis at the
Department of Entomology/Nematology.  It is a university and
education-wide phenomenon as well.  Recently, Dr. John Lombardi,
President of the University, sent an open letter stating that
layoffs were beginning and asking all to, "Please help our
legislators and our governor understand that Floridians do not want
to live in America's first third-world state."  The numbers
provided by the President for the $55 million recently cut from the
University's budget include reduction of 338 faculty and 309
support staff, along with $19 million in supplies, expenses and
equipment and $4.5 million in library resources, student aid and
other services.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
Malcolm T. Sanford
0740 IFAS, Bldg 970
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0740
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143
FAX: 904-392-0190
BITNET Address: MTS@IFASGNV
INTERNET Address: [log in to unmask]