At the meeting last week, we discussed concerns about honey - as articulated
by at least one person on Bee-L. So far, we've heard questions about this
from a relatively few people. Its something that needs to be addressed, but
it is not something that the group thought likely to prove to be a problem.
I am going out on a limb here, and I will provide my own opinion on this
issue. Remember, its my opinion and I may be wrong - but I don't worry about
consuming honey. I'm still eating honey. I say this after 30 some years of
looking at chemicals and other things in bees, wax, and honey. We've seen
everything for toxic metals like lead and cadmium to industrial chemicals like
solvents and even some chem warfare agents.
Disease:
If the CCD is a disease pathogen, it should be host-specific to bees and
pose no threat to mammals or people. Cases of a pathogen that is host specific
to an insect affecting higher animals are so rare as to be almost
non-existent. And it goes both ways. Just as we aren't made ill by foul brood
bacteria; bees aren't susceptible to human anthrax.
That said, there is at least one soil fungi that kills grasshoppers and when
concentrated (by researchers trying to create a new microbial pesticide) it
produced a chemical at levels toxic to rats. But, that scenario would
normally not occur in nature.
Chemicals:
If the CCD is chemical induced, then we're looking at a chemical produced by
a disease (e.g., fungi and aflotoxins), a chemical used on crops (e.g.,
pesticides), a chemical from other environmental sources (e.g., pollution), or a
chemical being used in beehives by beekeepers. Or chemicals from any or all
of these sources.
But remember, the dose to a bee inside a hive is far different from the dose
to humans consuming honey, simply because we are huge in size compared to
bees. The difference in dose needed to harm a human compared to that kills
bees usually differs by many orders of magnitude. And if we are talking about
sublethal doses to bees, the affective chemical concentration drops even more.
And, at this time of year, the colonies are pulled down to one or two
stories - basically brood boxes -- any honey in those boxes isn't being harvested.
Also, except in the very worst CCD cases, we usually find a queen and young
bees left in the box -- so they are still alive, even if most of the old bees
have left. In the worst cases, a few bees and the queen are found dead in
the box -- but I suspect this is because the population was so decimated that
they just can't thermo-regulate, cover brood, etc.
Whether the old, vanished, bees die of chemical poisoning or of
illness/exposure to the elements is unknown, but I'd lean towards the latter
explanation. Our own work shows that bees respond behaviorally to many chemicals at
levels far below those toxic to humans, and toxic to the bees themselves.
Personally, I think if a chemical(s) are involved, it/they are acting as a
repellant, driving bees, beetles, and moths out of the boxes.
It seems to dissipate in a few weeks, and then bees are able to re-establish
on the combs. If any remaining nectar or honey was toxic to bees, it should
continue to be toxic - but it doesn't appear to be a continuing concern to
the bees themselves.
None of this means that if a chemical is involved in the outflux of bees
from the brood boxes, that the chemical is necessarily ending up in honey or
that it is toxic to either bees or people.
So, I'm still eating honey. Now remember, honey can harbor non-bee related
organisms like botulism in small amounts, which is why we don't recommend
honey consumption by infants or young children - their immune systems are not
fully developed/functional. So, a bit of common sense prevails.
Finally, even in the worst chemical contamination of honey - and we've seen
some over the last three decades, the amount of honey consumed by a person is
still a small part of their total diet, and most honey is blended,
consolidated from many hives, beeyards, and beekeepers. All of that means that any
toxic material is diluted so much as to be almost non-existent. And packers
like Sioux Bee routinely analyze honey and will reject contaminated product.
That said, hobby beekeepers with one or two hives should be smart about
where they keep their hives. We've seen honey and pollen from backyards near
smelters with high levels of toxic metals, especially in the pollen. If you
have hives in such a location and your brood keeps dying, don't eat the pollen.
Hope this helps -- and I emphasize, its my own opinion, not that of anyone
else.
Jerry
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