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Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter
Apis--Apicultural Information and Issues (ISSN 0889-3764)
Volume 14, Number 5, May 1996
Copyright (c) 1996 M.T. Sanford "All Rights Reserved"
HIGH HONEY PRICES--THE FALLOUT
What appears to be shaping up as a world honey shortage, in
addition to the Chinese antidumping suit effectively pursued by
the beekeeping industry, are providing beekeepers with the best
honey prices in a very long time. This has led to dislocations,
however, as producers and packers change their business practices
in response. For packers it has meant shorter contractual
periods and shifts in inventory acquisition strategy. For
producers, it has resulted in a return to honey as the principle
enterprise in the beekeeping operation. For everyone, it will
probably mean more economic adulteration (See August 1994 APIS).
Perhaps the most significant fallout from all this is a
sudden shortage of colonies for commercial pollination. Mr.
Laurence Cutts, Florida's chief bee inspector, reports a
reduction in the number of pollinating units being sent to the
northeast. This season, only 6,000 hives made the journey, far
less than the traditional 35 to 40,000 of past years. In
addition, no Florida bees were shipped this season to California
for the almond bloom.
There is little question that it is more profitable to let
bees stay on a honey flow than move them into far more risky
pollination endeavors. The traditionally low commercial
pollination prices simply don't measure up to the potential of a
honey-producing colony at today's prices. The scarcity is
apparently hitting northeastern blueberry growers hard and will
affect other crops in that area as well. Even Florida
watermelons, attractive for commercial pollinators in most
seasons, could be affected. Although blooming after most nectar
flows, the lateness of this year's nectar season means that many
colonies may not be available early enough to pollinate those
first and most-profitable watermelon blooms.
AMERICAN FOULBROOD ON THE INCREASE?
In the rush to make increase in colonies, another result of
high honey prices seems to be a rise in the incidence of American
foulbrood (AFB). Almost eliminated from Florida apiaries last
year, according to Mr. Cutts, the disease has resurged.
Complacency appears to be the culprit, as beekeepers have failed
to preventatively treat and manage their colonies to control this
disease.
All beekeepers in Florida are required to register with the
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (see
November 1992 APIS). This provides for an annual AFB inspection.
Many beekeepers also feed the antibiotic Terramycin(R) on a
preventative basis (see September 1994 APIS). If the disease is
found, the colony is required by law to be destroyed along with
the bees and honey by burning, the most effective way to destroy
reservoirs of infectious bacterium. The state inspection service
provides a small remuneration for colonies it destroys.
Because the bacterium produces spores that can survive for
many years in hostile environments, there is more danger of
spreading AFB than other bee diseases. This is especially true
because the spores can survive in honey. Although robbing bees
do spread the spores, it is probable that careless beekeepers are
more responsible for outbreaks of the disease. Constant
vigilance is the key, but the recent focus on making increase to
take advantage of higher prices may have distracted beekeepers,
allowing AFB to again become epidemic.
Given this set of circumstances, it is instructive to see
how Florida's disease control program compares with some others.
Recently, Mr. Nick Wallingford, president of the National
Beekeepers' Association of New Zealand, provided some information
on the Internet concerning that country's activities in
eliminating AFB.
According to Mr. Wallingford, there is evidence that AFB,
caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus larvae, will not
develop unless more than 500,000 spores are fed to a honey bee
colony. [Editor's note: Other information suggests that
resistance to this disease is quite variable and can be selected
for by breeding programs (See July 1993, January 1995, April 1995
APIS)]. Mr. Wallingford quotes one author as saying that three
possible states exist for a honey bee colony containing B. larvae
spores:
*The numbers of spores brought into the colony are insufficient
to infect honey bee larvae. As a result, they are not able to
reproduce. The spores which are present will eventually be
eliminated from the colony. These colonies are defined as not
having AFB, but as being contaminated with B. larvae spores.
*Adult honey bees are able to detect diseased larvae before they
exhibit any visual symptoms of AFB. They may remove these larvae
so that the colony will not appear to be diseased when inspected.
[Editor's note: This is the basis for selection programs that
emphasize "hygienic" bees.] Because larvae are being affected by
the pathogen and B. larvae spores are being produced, the colony
is considered to have a non-clinical case of AFB.
*Where there are larvae or pupae in a honey bee colony exhibiting
visual symptoms of the disease, the colony is defined as having a
clinical case of American foulbrood.
Elimination of AFB has never been achieved on a national
scale in New Zealand, according to Mr. Wallingford. It is
possible, however, for the following reasons:
*New Zealand has a relatively small population of the species
that is affected by the disease. There are currently just under
300,000 registered beehives in the country. There are also an
unknown, but nevertheless small number of unregistered beehives,
and an unknown number of feral honey bee colonies. [Editor's
note: Feral or wild honey bee colonies can be reservoirs for the
disease. A recent colony found in a bait hive in Florida had
AFB. Most reported cases occur in managed colonies.] The total
number of colonies of honey bees is believed to be no greater
than 400,000 in New Zealand, far fewer than other animal
populations for which disease control programs were carried out.
*New Zealand is an isolated geographic area that receives no
natural introductions of honey bees from outside its borders.
Imports of honey bees and honey bee products into New Zealand are
also restricted by agricultural quarantine measures. This makes
the continual introduction of further B. larvae into the country
unlikely.
*B. larvae has a low infectivity compared to many other
pathogens. By destroying beehives with clinical cases of
American foulbrood, carrying out proper and periodic inspections,
and taking care with the transfer of beekeeping materials between
hives, it is possible to reduce the concentration of spores below
the level where they can become infective. As a result, the
occurrence of AFB in beehives can be eliminated, even though
spores of the causative organism can persist for long periods of
time.
*There are a number of reported cases of New Zealand beekeepers
successfully eliminating AFB from their beehives. If these
beekeepers can do this, it is possible for others to do the same.
The goal of the New Zealand program, Mr. Wallingford
concludes, is to reduce the reported incidence of AFB annually by
an average of 10 percent of the first year's reported incidence,
over the first five-year term of the strategy, and down to 0.1
percent by the end of the second term (the year 2006). The three
keys to the success of this program are adequate inspection,
proper diagnosis and the elimination of clinical cases, exactly
the conditions found in Florida last year.
Given the Florida experience, New Zealand's program is
theoretically possible. Maintaining the low AFB level once it
has been achieved, however, will no doubt be the greater
challenge.
ROYAL JELLY--A HEALTH HAZARD?
The April Apis Melbourne (see March 1996 APIS), from
Australia, carried a story that caught my attention. ANOTHER
DEATH FROM ROYAL JELLY, quoted from Foodmonitor, Vol. 1, No. 4,
January/February, 1996, by Des Sibraa, General Editor:
"In September 1995 we published a report of the Coroner's inquest
into the death of a twelve-year-old Cooma girl from an allergic
reaction to royal jelly. In the report we indicated that royal
jelly is a food standardised by the Food Standards Code, Standard
K2, and is required by the Code to carry the warning statement:
'Warning -- not recommended for asthmatics or allergy sufferers
as it can cause severe allergic reactions'. We also indicated
that more than one year after the code was amended to require the
warning statement a small survey indicated that there were no
packages of royal jelly on sale which carried the required
warning statement.
"In January 1996 it was reported that there had been a
further death from royal jelly. A twenty-three year old woman was
reported to have died in Hornsby Hospital after the consumption
of royal jelly. Investigations revealed that the royal jelly had
been purchased in Hornsby and did not have the warning statement
as required by the Food Standards Code. The New South Wales
Department of Health has now taken action to enforce the warning
statement requirement and inspectors have been instructed to seek
the co-operation of sellers by requesting that they remove from
sale all product which does not have the warning statement until
they place overstickers on the packages. If there if no co-
operation the product is to be seized. The penalty provided for
the sale of packages which do not contain the warning statement
is $5,000 or six months' imprisonment or both fine and
imprisonment. Perhaps if a little enforcement by prosecution for
this offence had been taken when we reported this deficiency the
life of the latest victim might have been saved. We will be
interested to hear, and will publish, any explanation by the
Department of Health of their failure to enforce the code. A
further survey revealed that in February 1996 there are still
packages of royal jelly on sale without the warning statement."
Recently, there have also been news stories about allergy to
other bee-produced/collected products. Indiscriminate use of
these materials is sometimes promoted by those with vested
interests in apitherapy. As the cases above show, however,
discretion is advised (see February 1994 APIS).
"BEE AWARE" UPDATED
The expert systems folks at the Pennsylvania State
University have been busy. They are now releasing a major update
to their "Bee Aware" program. This software is especially
designed to help beekeepers identify and manage honey bee
diseases, parasites and predators through the use of general
information, specific diagnoses and a comprehensive list of
references. The program is available for DOS and Macintosh. The
new version is also available in CD-ROM (DOS format only). The
advantage of the latter technology is that full-color graphics
can be used to support the program, as well as the line drawings
currently distributed on standard disk.
Mr. Stan Kain did a nice review of the "Bee Aware" program
in the second issue of BEE BIZ magazine, No. 2, Feb. 1996 (see
December 1995 APIS). His evaluation of the program concludes:
"While Penn State University developed the program to assist
agricultural advisors in assisting beekeepers, the program has
something for just about everyone. Veteran beekeepers can always
use a 'second opinion.' Novice hobbyists will find 'Bee Aware' a
reliable tool to both study beekeeping problems and to evaluate
the well-being of their bee colonies. Commercial beekeepers can
certainly use the pesticide information to assist in placement of
colonies in areas where spraying may occur. Of course, everyone
can use some help in keeping up on mite problems, too."
"Bee Aware" on disk costs $35 for either Macintosh or DOS.
The upgrade is available to registered users for $5. The CD-ROM
version for DOS costs $50. For further information, contact Jan
McClure at 814/863-0604. To order send check to Penn State
University, Department of Entomology, Attention: Roxie, 501 Ag.
Sciences and Industries Bldg., University Park, PA 16802. The
World Wide Web URL for Bee Aware is:
http://http://server.age.psu.edu/esdg/beeaware.html
Sincerely,
Malcolm T. Sanford
Bldg 970, Box 110620
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143
FAX: 904-392-0190
BITNET Address: MTS@IFASGNV; INTERNET Address:
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APIS on the World Wide Web--
http://gnv.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm
Copyright (c) M.T. Sanford 1996 "All Rights Reserved"
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