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            Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter
    Apis--Apicultural Information and Issues (ISSN 0889-3764)
               Volume 13, Number 12 December 1995
 
                      TAKING STOCK IN 1995
 
      It's the time of year to pause and reflect what 1995 has
wrought.  This issue concludes APIS' thirteenth year, the 155th
edition to be printed under this title.  In the December 1994
issue, I reported that the newsletter was available on the World
Wide Web.  I didn't realize what that meant at the time, but the
results have been dramatic.
 
     If you contact the November 1995 issue through the APIS home
page on the World Wide Web, for example, several things not be
accessible to someone reading the paper version.  Much of the
information referenced in previous issues is available simply by
"pointing" to highlighted text.  This is true for articles on DNA
research at the University of Florida, published as early as 1990,
as well as previous information on pollination presented this year
in the July and October issues.  And the paper on vine pollination
I gave at the Florida Agricultural Conference and Trade Show
(FACTS), currently available in print from Citrus and Vegetable
Magazine and IFAS' Gulf Coast REC, is itself accessible directly
from the same issue.  Metamorphosing like the bees themselves, from
egg to larva, pupa and adult, APIS is transforming itself from a
collection of discrete four-page issues to a single publication
filled with integrating electronic links.
 
     The year 1994 ended ominously with the tidings of a new bee
disease.  Parasitic mite syndrome was officially named and its
reporting was to be included in routine diagnosis by the Beltsville
Bee Laboratory (See December 1994 APIS).  In January, 1995, I
discussed the concept of honey bee breeding programs and how they
might be carried out, and in April analyzed recent discussions and
educational products on queen rearing.  Perhaps the most popular
article in 1995 was titled "Fluvalinate--Use It Right or Lose It"
(February).  It was picked up and used by many association
newsletters in the United States, Australia and Canada.  This is
another consequence of APIS on the Web.  It has become an
international resource of some significance.
 
     This year commercial pollination got respect.  In March, I
devoted almost the whole issue to practical considerations of this
enterprise, and in July urged beekeepers to become pollination
consultants rather than simply honey bee purveyors.  In the same
issue pollination resources were listed, as well as an analysis of
the controversy about pheromonal attractants.  Finally, in October
I described an innovative stable pollination service being
developed in France.
 
     Varroa continued to get a good amount of attention in 1995.
In June, I related research on population dynamics, and in August,
the problems found in sampling Varroa mite populations.  The same
month I wrote about differing reproductive rates found in these
mites in various parts of the world.
 
     Other articles featured in 1995 included those on the National
Honey Board (February, March, June, September), minerals in bee
food (May), background for honey legislation (June), and how to
locate queens (September).  The year ended with an entire issue
dedicated to the African honey bee's potential impact on Florida
regulation and this insect's migration westward into California.
 
                     HOW TO GET APIS ONLINE
 
     The first question I am invariably asked about APIS on the
world wide web, is how to get to it.  It is becoming easier, but
still requires certain knowledge and equipment.  As a minimum, one
must have a 386 or 486 personal computer running Windows 3.1 or a
Macintosh equivalent, and a 14.4 baud modem that transforms
computer talk through the phone line.  Internet access and a
program called a "browser" are also essential.  These latter two
items are usually available from any commercial "online" service
(America Online, Compuserv, Prodigy or the like).  Local Internet
providers are also becoming common.
 
     Confused by all the above "computerese?".  Fortunately, the
University of Florida through the Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) Cooperative Extension Service has just
implemented a traveling course called "Agriculture and the Internet
Computer Workshop."  Co-sponsored by IFAS and a number of
commercial organizations, the training session focuses on
developing skills to access agricultural information using the
Internet.  No previous computer background is required.
 
     The course will be held in Orange (Dec. 1), Hillsborough (Dec.
8), St. Lucie (Jan. 12), Escambia (Jan. 19), Brevard (Jan. 26),
Baker (Feb. 2), Alachua (Feb. 9), Collier (Feb. 16), Manatee (Mar.
15), Palm Beach (Mar. 29), Lee (Apr. 5) and Duval (Apr.12)
counties.  Registration fee is $45.00.  There is a limit of 30
participants per session.  For further information, contact your
local county extension office or Carol-Ann Courtney, Office of
Conferences, Box 110750, Gainesville, FL 32611-0750, ph 904/392-
5930, FAX 904/392-9734.
 
                      Bee Biz--LAUNCH ISSUE
 
     There's a new kid on the block.  "Fifty years among the bees
and among beekeepers, and with a great number of bee journals at my
disposal, have taught me clearly that the need for all kinds of
information was not being met in the field of commercial
beekeeping."  This are the words of R. Borneck, president of
Apimondia, as he welcomes the premier issue of Bee Biz, a quarterly
international magazine for commercial beekeepers.  Born at
Apimondia in Lausanne, Switzerland, the launch issue is a polyglot
of international information not found elsewhere.
 
     The editor, Matthew J. Allan, discusses the rationale for
publishing this quarterly magazine in his editorial.  "Apart from
geographical differences and differing management techniques,
commercial beekeepers around the world have similar challenges and
concerns.  For example two great migrations are forcing beekeepers
to learn to change--the Africanised bee through the Americas, and
the spread of Varroa across the continents.  The unexpected havoc
caused by a simple move of Cape bees out of their natural habitat
carried lessons far beyond South Africa and international trade is
linked in complex ways.  The presence of an apparently innocuous
virus in New Zealand has restricted bee exports: the import duty to
be levied on Chinese honey by the United States will impact on
importers and exporters in countless other countries."
 
      Bee Biz has chosen editors from Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom.
These all have a wide range of experience and contacts at many
levels.  The overriding theme of the magazine, according to the
editor is:  "We want to report on successful strategies and
innovations."  The first issue does this well with contributions on
honey liquefying technology,  pollination and African bees in
Texas, bee viruses present throughout the world, a successful bee
business in Britain, conquering back pain, and queen rearing using
Apis mellifera scutellata in South Africa.  There is a also a
report from drought-stricken Australia and what the new information
technology (Internet) has to do with beekeeping.  The editor
encourages readers everywhere to "comment, contribute or criticise"
to their nearest editor or directly to him (41 George St.,
Eastleigh, Hampshire SO50 9BT, UK, tel: + 1703 617969).  The U.S.
editor is Joe Moffett, RR3, Box 1760 Cushing, OK 74023, ph 405/372-
6338.
 
     Bee Biz subscriptions are US $20.00, and available in the U.S.
from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Rt. 1, Box 135, Moravian Falls, NC
28654, ph 910/921-3640, FAX 910/921-2681.  For information on
subscriptions in other countries, contact Northern Bee Books, Scout
Bottom Farm, Mytholmoroyd, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 5JS,
UK, tel: + 1422 882751  FAX + 1422 886751.
 
             ADOPTING TECHNOLOGY--WHY? AND WHY NOT?
 
     A recent discussion "thread" on the Internet got my attention.
It had to do with grease (vegetable oil) patties for tracheal mite
control (see October 1994 APIS).   This prompted one person to
suggest spraying vegetable oil on the bee cluster as a treatment.
This is not a new idea. It has even been touted in advertisements
in beekeeping publications as a treatment for Varroa as well.  It
got me thinking, however, about Andrew Matheson's article in the
new Bee Biz magazine, "What Makes You Change Your Mind?"
 
     Mr. Matheson is current Director of the International Bee
Research Association.  He's seen firsthand how information is
processed by the beekeeping community.  "What are the factors which
encourage commercial beekeepers to adopt new techniques that come
out of scientific research?" he asks.  And "why do beekeepers often
ignore what seems to be sensible and practical information which
can save them money?"
 
     The examples used by Mr. Matheson are adopting vegetable oil
patties in tracheal mite control, while not employing fumagillin
as nosema treatment.  The speed with which U.S. beekeepers have
taken to using the patties is amazing, he says; they were even used
before much research was published.  And when it was, according to
Mr. Matheson, results were mixed.  One concept was that tracheal
mites caused winter loss, however some studies showed only a
"strong correlation," but not statistically significant results.
[Editor's note:  for a more thorough analysis of the tracheal mite
situation, see June 1991 and April 1993 APIS.]  The discovery that
oil might be important in tracheal mite control only occurred by
accident, according to Mr. Matheson, and was first published in a
1987 mite study.  It wasn't until 1991 that a beekeeping journal
published similar results:  the oil treatment worked impressively
in a limited trial; there was no statistical analysis, nor was the
mechanism for such control explained.  [Editor's note:  For results
from a later study, see October 1994 APIS.]
 
     For nosema, on the other hand, the importance of control,
especially in cold climates is clear, Mr. Matheson says.  And many
studies have shown reduction in honey production, as well as
increase in queen supersedure and winter loss, because of this
parasite.  Recommendations to use fumagillin, based on sound
research under practical conditions, are strong (see July 1994
APIS).  However, many beekeepers don't use fumagillin routinely.
Nosema remains a forgotten disease, Mr. Matheson concludes,
especially with new and more headline-grabbing pests around.
 
     Reasons for using grease patties, according to Mr. Matheson,
include worries about excessive winter loss attributed to tracheal
mites.  In addition, feeding vegetable oil-based patties was
already part of normal management to administer Terramycin (R) for
foulbrood control see September 1994 APIS).  [Editor's note:  Dr.
Roger Morse now recommends this technology almost without
reservation in the November 1995 Bee Culture, p. 617.]
 
     Nosema can also cause winter loss, but is not perceived as a
"smoking gun" by beekeepers, according to Mr. Matheson.  It is a
disease without symptoms or an obvious bottom-line effect.
Treating is expensive and there's more at stake, even if hard
evidence suggests it's a profitable course of action.
 
     Taking on new technology proposed by science is risky,
according to Mr. Matheson (see January 1989 APIS).  There is a
financial risk and one's reputation and credibility are on the
line, all depending on the work of "people in white coats."
Beekeepers must believe there is a need and be convinced a new
technique is profitable.  It's one thing to know something, he
concludes, but another to believe enough to put it into action.
 
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: [log in to unmask]
APIS on the World Wide Web--
http://gnv.ifas.ufl.edu/~entweb/apis/apis.htm