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From:
Robin Dartington <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:51:01 +0100
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Recent
discussion on the major underlying causes for decline in western honeybees gave
some support for the theory that if only varroa mites could be eliminated from
hives then bees might go back to coping more or less with declining forage and low-level
exposure to pesticides. 
A lecture
by a Bee Inspector this spring reported  that
the 2013 survey by Bee Inspectors of UK apiaries for 14 pathogens had found
that 70% had DWV virus, 50% nosema, 1.5% EFB, 0.2% AFB  (low levels of AFB are due to always burning,
never treating). Colonies with DWV were half size, colonies with nosema were
normal size. 
The
Inspector said studies of the effects when varroa arrives are ongoing in the Hawaiian islands where varroa is sweeping across. Various
strains of DWV are found where varroa has not arrived with little effect on
bees. After varroa, one particular strain becomes dominant, which is the strain
in UK.  This suggests that varroa ‘farm’ DWV,
inadvertently or as part of a survival strategy.  Does anyone know if these studies have been
published? 
When varroa
first arrived in UK,
colonies survived with 12,000 mites.  Now UK Bee Inspectors recommend keeping the
level below 1,000 – which requires a summer treatment as well as winter dribbling of oxalic acid. 
We all know
the problems of using treatments effectively within the active season – time,
weather, honey contamination, large colonies.
Should we
not now recognise that the whole approach of using poisons cannot be effective
if it is necessary to maintain very low levels of mites?  Intermittent poisoning results in a saw tooth
level of infestation, slow rise  to 1000
mites, sudden drop to 100, slow rebuild back to 1000 – and so an average
persistent level of 500.
Should the
priority not switch to researching mites not bees. What we need is to make the
hive inhospitable to mites so that they cannot reproduce and live healthily.  
Do varroa have
any predators? ‘Bigger fleas have smaller fleas, on their backs to bite them’.  Any smaller mites around?  
What about searching
for vulnerabilities in the mite life cycle?  They must sense a pheromone emitted by fully-grown bee larvae asking to
be capped, which tells varroa when to dive into the cells. Could that pheromone
be masked in a way that bees still cap cells but mites miss getting the
message?
Or could
that pheromone be used to trap mites in artificial brood combs that are already
artificially capped over (so bees do not waste effort capping them) but with
space for mites to still dive in to immerse themselves in poisoned artificial
brood food at the bottom of the cells.  
Or how does
a male mite find his sisters to mate with in the cells?  Another pheromone?  Could that pheromone be swamped out by
maintaining a high constant level of a similar but artificial pheromone that
has no meaning for bees so does not disturb bee activities?  
Efforts
have been made to find funghi that kill mites but so far no way seems to have
been found to maintain such funghi constantly in a hive. What research is
already ongoing into other ways to make a hive inhospitable?  
How can
Bee-L use its influence to promote more research in the direction of stopping a
hive being so comfortable a hotel for varroa? 
 
Robin            


________________________________
 From: littlewolfbees apis mellifera <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Sunday, 15 June 2014, 18:45
Subject: [BEE-L] The effects of sublethal neonicotinoid exposure on brain state and behaviour of honey bee workers
 

Any comments out there on the below?

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/research/new_directions/projects/2014/bees/sr9282.htm#.U5oF-dg6Mo4.gmail

Walter
littlewolfapiaries.com

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