Shropshire Beekeepers' Association

 

 

Newsletter : March 2008

1.      Editor's Notes

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.” (Attrib. Einstein)

It is just over two years ago that I filled a space in this Newsletter by including, without comment, that quotation. It was frequently turning up in Newsletters and other sources. The other day I saw a publisher’s leaflet in my local bookshop advertising another book about the threats to bees that was introduced by the same claim. This time it lodged in my mind and the more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed, for several reasons.

First, in what context would Einstein, the great genius of physics, be commenting on a biological/environmental issue that would have been remote at that time? Einstein died in 1955 and, given the stimulus his work had given to the production of atomic weapons, more people would have been looking for reassurance from him about the future of a world threatened by “the bomb” than would have been worrying about bees.

Secondly, why would the loss of ‘the bee’ have such a catastrophic effect? We naturally focus on the honeybee, which is, of course, having a difficult time at the moment. However, there are some 20,000 species of bee world-wide, many of them not at all threatened by the enemies of the honeybee. There are also many other insects that serve as pollinators, some of them more efficiently than honeybees. The likelihood of all bees being wiped out seems negligible, barring some catastrophe that nothing on the planet could survive, and the history of the natural world seems to suggest that if the honeybee were not around then other insects would move in to take over its niche.

Thirdly, much of the world depends on cereal crops for its food needs. What part does the bee play in pollination here? And what is ‘natural’, for example, about 20,000 colonies of bees being transported to California to pollinate almonds?

With these questions in mind I decided to track down Einstein’s statement to see if I could understand it better. The only problem was that the comment does not appear to have surfaced until some time in the mid 1990s and no one can produce a definitive reference to it in any of Einstein’s written or spoken observations. It now seems that it was coined as a phrase to capture public imagination in a campaign by the French Beekeepers’ Union to get their government to take bee-health seriously. Adding Einstein’s name to it was clearly an effective way to get attention. And it worked!

None of the above should be read as a lack of concern for the plight of the honeybee. It faces serious threats and we have a responsibility to fight for its future. If nothing else, we must all become better beekeepers.

2.      February Meeting Report

There was a large turn out for the February meeting, which was evidence of the concern members feel about the ongoing threat from varroa. We were due to hear from one of the foremost researchers into varroa control about the current state of knowledge on this vital topic. Unfortunately he did not arrive! At the time of writing I have no information about why this was so. In the event, Brian Goodwin yet again saved the day and stepped in to talk us through the onward march of varroa and what we can currently do to stem it. Members shared their experience of various methods and the necessity of good husbandry was a common thread running through everything. Despite the difficulties, Brian urged us, with a new season about to begin, to be “cheerful and confident”!

3.      March Meeting

The next meeting is on Wednesday 13th March (7.30 p.m. Shirehall), when the speaker will be Celia Davis who will be speaking about ‘Nuclei’. Past talks to our Association on, for example, ‘Gardening for Bees’ (2003) and ‘Drone Behaviour’ (2005) have been packed with interesting and original information. By way of introduction, her ‘Notes for Beginners’, printed in this month’s Warwickshire Beekeeper Newsletter, are copied below (courtesy BEES)

March is when the season really starts for the beekeeper, but it is a treacherous month for the bees. Keep an eye on the food situation in the hives and be prepared to feed. You can use syrup (2lb white sugar to 1 pint of water) or fondant, but do not let them starve. All those new frames should be fitted with foundation by now and, at the beginning of the month, mouse guards must be removed so that valuable pollen loads are not lost. A little later, it is usually possible to carry out the first “Spring” inspection. Choose a still, sunny day when the temperature is 60°F or more and make sure that you have everything you may need to hand before you start. Light the smoker and open each hive in turn. It is a good idea to slip a clean floor under each, although if you are using mesh floors, there should be little debris. The bees may still have propolised the mesh and a good clean and scrub is to be recommended. Apart from noting the food situation ask yourself questions as you look through each hive:

• Is the queen present and laying? There is no need to search for her as long as you see eggs.
• Does the queen have sufficient laying space? If the brood combs are clogged with stores take 1 or 2 out and replace them with frames of empty comb either side of the brood nest. They can be used to feed other colonies now or later but make sure there is no disease in the hive.
• Does the brood look healthy and is it building up well? Look at the condition and health of the unsealed and sealed brood.
• Does the colony need a super? Consider putting a super on if the colony is strong. The build-up to swarming often starts much earlier than we realise and crowded bees are much more likely to swarm.
• Try to put a super of drawn comb on first but, if you only have foundation, it may be necessary to leave the queen excluder out for a few days so that the bees will move up. When you put the excluder back, ensure that the queen is in the brood box.

4.      Problems for French Beekeepers (Bill Buchanan, Market Drayton)

I was in France recently, and in our local newspaper, the Charente Libre, I found an article on beekeepers. This is a précis.

It appears that the French government has recently approved an insecticide marketed as ‘Cruiser’. The French minister of agriculture, Michel Barnier said, “The substance will be approved for a year”. However the president of UNAF [the National Union of French Beekeepers] Henri Clement said,” Beekeeping has already fought against the insecticides ‘Gaucho’ and ‘Regent’ and we cannot accept an irresponsible decision to introduce Cruiser into the environment”. Beekeepers in France say that Cruiser has the same ingredient [Thiaimethoxam] as the other two insecticides allegedly responsible for abnormally high numbers of deaths of bees in France before their use was prohibited by the French government.

Mr. Clement said, “Cruiser, the new pesticide, is a systemic neurotoxic substance which attacks the nervous system of bees, disturbing their navigation back to the hive. In Italy, where Cruiser was authorised last year, its use”, he maintained, “caused the disappearance of 40,000 colonies, where Thiamethoxam [the active ingredient in Cruiser] was found in dead bees.

French winter losses for the season 2006/7 have been slightly better after the suspension of ‘Gaucho’ and ‘Regent’; and production was 18,000 tons in 2007 against 20,000 tons in 2006 and averaging 33,000 tons for the preceding ten years.

French beekeepers are also fighting the hairy wasp - an Asiatic hornet which eats bees. Nests have been noted in France for the last 4 to 5 years, spreading from the South West. Five hornets are apparently able to eat an entire colony of bees!

I looked at “Cruiser” on the internet. It is a neonicotinoid seed treatment manufactured by Syngenta, an American company marketing throughout the world. It is promoted as an insecticide for all sorts of crops - sunflowers, beetroot, maize etc.

5.      This and That - Western RBI Report for 2007 Part 2  (Dave Sutton)

When bees are stressed and frustrated by long periods of confinement, many more of the less common conditions that afflict them begin to flare up extremely readily. We Inspectors began to see instances of Nosema and Dysentery, together with Acute bee Paralysis Virus (APV) and Chronic bee Paralysis Virus (CPV - which is not thought to be linked with varroa) much more frequently, as well as bees damaged by the now familiar deformed wing virus (DWV - which is associated with varroa). In one apiary that I attended there were 80 colonies affected, each one with piles of dead and decomposing bees outside the entrances. In another apiary120 colonies were similarly afflicted. Samples were taken and the initial laboratory results showed that heavy infections of Nosema, coupled with these paralysis viruses were responsible. Further investigations are being undertaken to discover whether this Nosema is the strain Nosema apis (well known in our bees for a long time), or the much more virulent and insidious twin strain Nosema ceranae – newly reported in this country. This strain has been known to be present on the Continent for a while now, and is apparently responsible for recent huge losses of bees, principally in Spain. It has also been linked by some researchers to occurrences of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in America. No visible symptoms of this condition are apparent in colonies. Infected adult bees can die within 12 days and can easily carry burdens of 20million infectious spores, or more, per individual. Very sick bees!

The laboratory at CSL York now has now developed the definitive assay that can differentiate between these two versions of Nosema. Unfortunately this can only be done conclusively by molecular diagnostics. N. ceranae cannot be distinguished using just microscopy, so it is not a job for us amateur microscopists at the kitchen table, as it is with ‘ordinary’ Nosema at present! However, the good news is that apparently both these types of Nosema can be readily controlled by the use of Fumagillin (Fumidal B), an antibiotic that is well known to the majority of beekeepers and which is often used, sometimes routinely, to control the effects of N. apis. Experienced beekeepers in your branches will be familiar with the methods and can give advice on how to treat. Should you suspect that you have a form of Nosema then a microscopical examination of the bees’ gut is required to confirm that the disease is present. Sample at least 30 bees for a statistical chance of identifying it. You won’t be able to identify the strain (you may have both) but treat with Fumidal B anyway. It is also important to get these colonies onto clean comb using the Bailey Comb Change or Shook Swarm procedure and to sterilise all associated boxes and equipment by fumigating with Acetic acid. N.B. this acid is very corrosive, so be careful and please seek advice if you are at all unsure how to undertake this process.

Our inspection team managed to inspect 460 apiaries and 2028 individual colonies of bees throughout the Western Region (figures to end of August). Of these, 27 apiaries were found to contain colonies infected with European Foulbrood (EFB). They were located in Avon, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and West Midlands. Just 3 apiaries with colonies infected with American Foulbrood (AFB) were discovered – in apiaries in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and in Cheshire. All foulbrood-infected stocks were dealt with according to the current National Bee Unit (NBU) protocols and within the timescales required. Where possible in the cases of EFB, the Shook Swarm method was employed in order to save the both the bees and as much equipment as possible for the beekeepers who were involved. In a few instances we used Oxytetracyclene (OTC) antibiotics, though we are increasingly moving away from dosing with drugs. In all these cases of disease, every contact colony and apiary within the vulnerable area was inspected and all possible links, sometimes to distant places were followed up, happily without any further discoveries in our region.

Once again, please remember that the Foulbroods are natural diseases of bees and have been around forever (Aristotle was writing about them in 300BC). There is simply no disgrace in having them - the disgrace is not doing anything about it! - and the law requires that you notify. Please seek the free advice and willing help of your Bee Inspector if you are at all unsure about any unfamiliar or abnormal condition that you may spot in your hives. We are quite happy to attend any amount of false alarms rather than miss one instance of disease that could easily transmit to your fellow beekeepers in the neighbourhood.

6.      Winter Visitors (Graham Roberson)

[Graham sent this query in just after the last edition had been sent out so it is appearing rather later than had been intended. Since the, of course, we have had some very good weather with quite a lot of pollen in evidence. However, this puzzle relates to a point in the season when hardly anything was happening so the mystery remains. Any answers? Ed.]

A couple of weeks ago (mid January), on one of the very few days this winter we have had with more than 10 minutes of sunshine, I went across to check my bees. I was far enough away from the house that with a bit of effort I could not hear my wife shouting across the field that she wanted to do the weekly shop in Welshpool, so keeping my head down and my back to the lane, busied myself with the task of repairing the barbed wire fences that were supposed to keep the sheep away from the hives, but with a thick winter coat barbed wire holds no terror for them at all. I don’t know why, but these sheep like to lie clustered around the hive stands and the only way they can get there is to push the fences over.

After a couple of hours of herculean effort and muttering choice words about mint sauce I finished the repairs and sat down to watch my bees. I think that they thought it was a Bank Holiday and lots of them were clustered on the outside of the hive and many more winging off in all directions. It was the returning bees that caught my attention for amongst the ones coming home empty handed were quite a few carrying pollen - not a lot, but enough to have made the journey worthwhile. Most of it was a very dark brown, the colour of the Filbert nuts that you can buy at Christmas, and some was a very pale greeny yellow. With the exception of Winter Flowering Cherries and Snowdrops I have nothing else in flower and I have not seen any bees on either of these. I have checked my book on pollen colours and also had a look on the Web but to no avail, I am sure that this is not a Mid Wales phenomenon and if anybody has any suggestions as to what they have been visiting I can cross it off the list (very long list) of things I don't know about beekeeping!

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