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Date: | Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:06:39 -0400 |
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Bob
The equipment is still pricey. I've run 50 continuously recording
colonies for 5 years on the east coast. Problem with getting USDA to fund, or
even most of the foundations, etc. - this is very basic research; they tend to
put their money into applied research like how to control varroa.
I've been looking at these posts. I'm not sure that there is an answer to
Joe's original question. I do have some data that pertains. In one
year's trials, where I had colonies at sites exposed to toxic metals from a
smelter - apiaries at several distances downwind from the smokestack, we had
our control apiaries at the farthest distance.
We also had a severe drought. The colonies exposed to the highest levels
of toxic metals lost brood, and eventually tended to switch to nectar
harvesting, since brood levels and need for pollen decreased.
The really interesting results were with the controls, that got an extra
stress from the drought - the irrigation district shut off the water to
alfalfa fields. Those colonies conserved their food stores by adjusting the
amount of brood in each hive. Unlike the 'smelter' yards, where brood was
killed, the remaining brood at the control apiary was healthy, but it appeared
that there was a reduction of the amount of brood in each hive via a
combination of reduced egg-laying plus some removal of brood. It appeared that
the colonies somehow anticipated the consequences of continued brood
rearing in the face of reduced forage and adjusted accordingly to keep the bee
population levels small enough to avoid starvation.
Jerry
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