On 20 Jun 2003 at 18:07, Karen D. Oland wrote:
> I can think of several ways for the maps to be "spotty" in the sourwood
> areas, yet still not require falsification by inspectors.
(snip)
> Those who move to sourwood here never leave their bees over winter
(snip)
>I would assume the same is true
> of
> migratory beekeepers in the SC area.
Karen brings up some interesting points that indicate the dangers of simplistic
interpretation of the maps. There are so many variables in the input.
More info could be added here. One of the first problems though, is the definition
of "migratory." These migratories in the sourwood area, are not the big, bad tractor-
trailer load guys that some love to hate. Sourwood doesn't interest the big guys.
These "migratories" are part timers who load some hives on a pickup or a utility
trailer and move two or three or four counties over to the sourwood. While sourwood
honey is famous and high-priced, it is not a large crop and it is notoriously
unreliable. Furthermore there is a lot more sold than produced. Whenever big
packers get involved and large quantities are marketed, it's unlikely to be real
sourwood.
Not only are the sourwood areas poor places to keep bees year-round, they are
quite inhospitable to afrobeetles who might stay over, in the limited number of hives
that do remain year around. There are few places with deep sandy soils that
afrobeetles like. Most areas have thin, rocky and very acid clay soils. The winters
are similar to northern winters, more and more so as one moves to higher
elevations. Remember that this beetle is tropical to semi-tropical in its origin.
In areas where the afrobeetle does not find favorable conditions, it may die out
between seasons. Or it may show up only in the warm season. Or it may show up
only in the honey house. A beekeeper may have bees in three or four counties, but
the only county that shows a positive find for the beetle on the map is the one where
his extracting is done.
That's not to say that information cannot be garnered from the maps. Only that
interpretations must have additional data to be valid.
The afrobeetle was present in South Carolina in abundance along the
southeastern coast by 1996, and probably present at least a couple years before
that. Samples were provided to Clemson in 1997 and they could not identify them.
The beetle was finally identified from the northeastern coast of Florida in 1998.
Judging by the oldest known areas of presence, the most likely site of introduction
to the US was one of three ports: Charleston, Beaufort (SC) or Savannah.
Looking at the maps
http://www.ceris.purdue.edu/napis/pests/shb/imap/usaall.html (Click on the states
for more detail) ....one can see that the beetle is "established" in the strip along the
coast from South Carolina to Florida, and includes much of the west coast of Florida
as well. This is the area where the environment best suits the beetle. It is similar to
its native environment.
The early part of its spread was in the prime melon growing area of South
Carolina. This is the same area where the beetle is still most problematic for SC
beekeepers.
There have been three theories that I've heard about the introduction at one of
these ports. 1. That the beetle arrived in pollen used as supplements for bee feed. I
think this one highly unlikely since pollen feeding is not a normal management
technique here in SC which has some of the best pollen sources in the world. 2.
That it arrived in a feral swarm on the ship. Again only remotely possible. Most
shipping is now done in containers where bees would probably suffocate, and ships
crews will exterminate exposed swarms. 3. The beetles arrived on fruit. This is what
I believe the most likely scenario.
It is interesting that the first quick spread of the beetle was throughout the
southern counties of South Carolina where watermelons and cantaloupes grow, and
one can't help but wonder if there is an association, particularly for cantaloupes. At
least the environment is suitable, with long hot summers, and deep sandy soils.
This melon pollination is not very attractive to the big, bad migratory beekeepers,
as it is only one long-blooming crop per season; it is during hot weather when bees
suffer if not given special care; and it is during the bloom of major honey plants in
northern areas. So most of the pollination is done by local beekeepers.
There is little doubt that these local beekeepers aided in the spread of the
afrobeetle. When it first got the attention of the inspectors, at least three or four
years after it was first seen by beekeepers, it was at the pollination sites for
watermelons and cantaloupes. But movement by beekeepers is rarely more than
one county over. And the beetles have been observed to fly freely. So it's likely that
the movement of beetles inland was mainly by beekeeper movement, and I think
the movement along the coast was mainly by flight, since there is little movement
by beekeepers in this direction. Both movements happened rapidly, within a couple
season this entire belt now marked "established" had the afrobeetle.
I believe that my first occasion of afrobeetles flew in. I can think of no other
explanation, as no bees nor supers were moved in the area to the best of my
knowledge. A known infection was already present about 15 miles away. My second
infection was probably from bees moved by another beekeeper from this southern
SC melon belt to near me.
I know of one case of a beekeeper from the piedmont, who was doing pollination
in the melon belt at that time. Interestingly his home county back on the piedmont is
still marked "not found."
As to the three Pee Dee (northeastern) counties where the long-range migratories
are, and which are also marked "not found," I have seen afrobeetles in all three
counties and reported this to the state inspector. But he apparently has not seen
them himself, thus has not marked them in the map. At any rate, the beetles are at
very low levels and remain so, with the most common sighting being at the
extraction facility. Whether they remain at low levels because the area is
inhospitable to them, or because of control efforts by beekeepers I cannot say,
though I lean toward the latter.
One of the first findings of the afrobeetle in the Pee Dee was in Florence County,
where a hive owned by a hobbyist, that had been established from a package, was
found to have them. I believe the hive was killed, but the beetle quickly showed up
in other spots around the area.
As noted before, the beetle flies freely; the range of an adult most often quoted to
me is 15 miles. Since the beetle can have several generations in the warm season,
this could easily become a hundred or more miles per year.
As to interpretation of the maps, it would be wise to reserve judgement on many
points until we've had more experience of the beetle. I am learning more about it all
the time. Some beekeepers seem to already know it all, but I am reminded that I
knew everything there is to know about child rearing until I became a father....
The most useful thing to be gained from the maps, I think is over the long term.
The maps can identify the areas where the beetle continues to show up, which are
areas that have an environment hospitable to the beetles.
I think that for the southeast, at least up to the Piedmont, you can *probably*
assume that counties where the beetle is "not found" actually have the beetle. But it
is either just starting; or because of environmental conditions, or because of alert
beekeepers who institute control measures, the beetle stays at low levels. I have
indicated three such counties where this is true.
Another anomoly: I note that in eastern North Carolina, the biggest cucumber
growning county is still marked "not found" despite the fact that a number of North
Carolina beekeepers "migrate" there for pollination. Why? North Carolina
beekeepers tend to be concentrated in the center third of the state (where most of
the afrobeetles are...hmmm...wonder if there's a connection...) and some "migrate"
to the mountains for sourwood, a few to the coastal plain for cukes.
I also *think* that you will find other counties outside the "hospitable" zone in the
southeast, where the beetle has been introduced, and found, yet it will not become
established unless beekeepers allow it to thrive in the extraction facility. The
environment is not hospitable to the beetle and it will remain at very low levels or
die out entirely. I expect most of the northern sites to be this way.
In the debate over the big, evil migratory vs. the small, saintly, local beekeeper, it
has been claimed that the hobbyist is more likely to know what's going on in his
hives, because he has them open every time he turns around. While this may be
true in a few cases, I doubt that its generally true. Some new hobbyists may have
the hive open frequently during their first year or two, but that wears off. My own
experience was that I didn't open my first hive at all for the first season, because I
was afraid of them.
There are some (mostly) new beekeepers that tend to be clustered in the outer
suburbs that are part of a beekeeper association, tend to read widely, and are up-to-
date on what's happening in their hives. There are a lot more, at least in the
southeast, who are not joiners, and are into bees because their father or grandfather
was, who rarely open a hive except to "rob" it, catch what swarms they can, and
generally have a "laisse-faire" attitude about the bees. Many of these were weeded
out by varroa, but some have come back. Many, upon seeing the afrobeetle, would
not recognize what it is, and certainly would not do anything to control it.
I have a friend who is such a beekeeper. He is a small produce grower. When
varroa came around, he lost all his bees, but didn't know why. So he caught more
swarms. I've told him about varroa, but as far as I know he still does not treat for it.
If you tried to pull the frames from his hives, they would fall apart. Yet he has
managed to keep several hives alive, year after year, since the loss from varroa.
While he may be a source of infection for other beekeepers, from AFB, varroa,
and afrobeetle, yet he may well be also performing a service to the rest of the
community, because he is (probably unintentionally) selecting for superior genetics
in his bees. It remains to be seen what effect the beetle will have on him.
I believe he needs us, and we need him. I think the bee list would be a kinder,
gentler place if we all kept that in mind.
Dave Green SC USA
The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
|
