News from the world of beekeeping – Items of potential interest 18 April 2019

First, the WSU team received a combined $200,000 from the Washington State Tree Fruit Research Commission and the Almond Board of California to purchase three 20-foot cargo containers, which will be retrofitted with equipment to control the internal temperatures and atmospheric gasses.

Next, the team took those grants and leveraged them to receive a $500,000 USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) grant that will start in August, when the refrigerated containers will be up and running.

“Our preliminary research has been really promising related to the benefits of using refrigeration storage at different times of the year, so this is an expansion to help save the bees on a large scale,” said Brandon Hopkins . . .

To continue reading: https://news.wsu.edu/2019/04/10/wsu-use-new-refrigerators-study-help-save-honey-bees/

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Response of adult honey bees treated in larval stage with prochloraz to infection with Nosema ceranae

Uros Glavinic, Tanja Tesovnik, Jevrosima Stevanovic , Minja Zorc, Ivanka Cizelj, Zoran Stanimirovic, Mojca Narat

Among numerous factors that contribute to honey bee colony losses and problems in beekeeping, pesticides and Nosema ceranae have been often reported. In contrast to insecticides, whose effects on bees have been widely studied, fungicides did not attract considerable attention. Prochloraz, an imidazole fungicide widely used in agriculture, was detected in honey and pollen stored inside hives and has been already proven to . . .

To continue reading: https://peerj.com/articles/6325/

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Improved Honeybee Germline Transformation

Ari Yasunaga

Otte et al (2018) build upon their previous work (Schulte et al. 2014) in this new publication and demonstrate a twofold improved efficiency at generating transgenic honeybees using the piggyBac transposon system.

The inability to generate high transformation rates has been a significant hurdle for functional genetic studies in honeybees. A lack of reliable genetic tools has hindered genome manipulation in honeybees and limited research to genomic studies, until Schulte et al (2014) introduced a robust tool using . . .

To continue reading: https://igtrcn.org/improved-honeybee-germline-transformation/

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Pesticide cocktail can harm honey bees

University of California – San Diego

A recently approved pesticide growing in popularity around the world was developed as a “bee safe” product, designed to kill a broad spectrum of insect pests but not harm pollinators.

A series of tests conducted over several years by scientists at the University of California San Diego focused on better investigating the effects of this chemical. They have shown for the first time that Sivanto, developed by Bayer CropScience AG and first registered for commercial use in 2014, could in fact pose a range of threats to honey bees depending on seasonality, bee age and use in combination with common chemicals such as fungicides.

The study, led by former UC San Diego postdoctoral fellow Simone Tosi, now at ANSES, University Paris Est, and Biological Sciences Professor James Nieh, is published April 10 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Pesticides are a leading health threat to bees. After years of growing concerns about systemic toxic pesticides such as neonicotinoids and their harm on pollinators, Sivanto was developed as a next-generation product.

Sivanto’s “bee safe” classification allows it to be used on blooming crops with actively foraging bees. Currently, pesticides are approved for widespread use with only limited testing. Perhaps most importantly, the interactions between . . .

To continue reading: https://phys.org/news/2019-04-pesticide-cocktail-honey-bees.html

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Pollinators existed long before flowers, new research suggests

Kay Vandette

Which came first, the flower or the pollinator?

The mutually beneficial relationship between angiosperms (flowering plants) and pollinating insects is the result of millions of years of coevolution.

Angiosperms evolved special adaptations to attract pollinators, who in turn became masters at gathering nectar and spreading pollen.

But as far as which came first, a new study is shedding insight on some of the Earth’s earliest pollinators which evolved long before flowers started blooming.

The research, published in the journal Gondwana Research, shows that early insects likely first pollinated gymnosperms like conifers until . . .

To continue reading: https://www.earth.com/news/pollinators-existed-long-before-flowers/

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Pollinator Garden

In our pollinator garden, we focus on planting appropriate and diverse native plants, providing water, and using herbicides carefully (if at all) to attract, support, and protect native pollinators. Native plants have naturally adapted to grow well in the areas where they are found and often have a specialized relationship with the pollinators that are also native to that area. Although some plants rely on wind or water, almost 90% of plant species require the help of pollinators, such as …

To continue reading: https://rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu/gardens/pollinator-garden/

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UNH research: 14 wild bee species native to New England on the decline

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found a dramatic decline of 14 wild bee species that are important across the Northeast for the pollination of major local crops like apples, blueberries and cranberries.

“We know that wild bees are greatly at risk and not doing well worldwide,” Sandra Rehan, assistant professor of biological sciences, said in a UNH news release.

“This status assessment of wild bees shines a light on the exact species in decline, beside the well-documented bumble bees,” she said. “Because these species are major players in crop pollination, it raises concerns . . .

To continue reading: https://www.unionleader.com/news/animals/unh-research-wild-bee-species-native-to-new-england-on/article_e7dfa5ae-8bd5-51de-bf98-5ff2b11e7bab.html

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Nature Matters: Wild Pollinator Count to help scientists count bees in Australia

Deborah Bower

If your superpowers included communicating through dance, making honey from scratch and pollinating plants – I might also crown you ‘The Bee’s Knees’. Brimming with usefulness, honey bees (scientifically known as Apis mellifera) are just one of around 2000 species of bees inhabiting Australia. Honey bees were introduced in the 1820s to provide us with honey, bee’s wax and pollination and we still use these services today.

A range of crops rely on bees for pollination. . . .

To continue reading: https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/6030900/you-can-help-us-count-bee-numbers/

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Can Local Wildflower Project Help Save The Bees?

Beth Milligan

If the Farmland Pollinator Protection Project is successful, it will offer some of the region’s fields two benefits for the price of one.

It will bolster habitat for bees, a population that’s been under stress lately, while at the same time create acres of dazzling wildflowers that bloom throughout the spring and summer.

As Patrick Sullivan writes in this week’s Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker, the Grand Traverse region was selected for the five-year project, overseen by the American Farmland Trust and to be implemented by the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Kaiser & Associates, and Michigan State University Department of Entomology.

Here’s how it works: First, MSU researchers conducted studies to determine . . .

To continue reading: https://www.traverseticker.com/news/can-local-wildflower-project-help-save-the-bees/

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Interaction Of Pollinators And Pests Effects Plant Evolution

Ari Raven

More beautiful flowers evolve due to Brassica Rapa plants pollinated by bumblebees. However, this evolution is undermined if caterpillar attacks the plant simultaneously. While the bees pollinating them less productively, the plants progressively self-pollinate. In a greenhouse advancement experiment, scientists have portrayed that how much the impact of pollinators and pests impact each other.

In Mother Nature, plants interplay with a wide gamut of organisms propelling the advancement of their particular attributes. While pollinators impact floral characteristics and reproduction, herbivorous insects magnify the plant’s defense phenomena. Presently botanists at the University of Zurich have probed the way . . .

To continue reading: http://canyontribune.com/2019/04/15/interaction-of-pollinators-and-pests-effects-plant-evolution/

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Decrease in population of honey bees may affect food production

ISLAMABAD – Scientists on Monday warned that alarming decrease in the population of honey bees may result in reduction of food production in the country.

Bees, known as the most important pollinator of food crops, mainly responsible for pollinating one third of the food we consume, are dying because of deforestation, excessive use of pesticides, water contamination, and harmful emissions.

Dr Rashid Mehmood, Director, Honey Bee Research Institute (HBRI), while addressing four-day advance training workshop at NARC emphasized on tree conservation and planting new trees to save bees.

Due to deforestation of Kekar (Vachellia nilotica, gum Arabic tree) and Bair (Ziziphus mauritiana) in the whole Potohar belt and many areas in Punjab, the per box honey production has been reduced to half. . . .

To continue reading: https://nation.com.pk/16-Apr-2019/decrease-in-population-of-honey-bees-may-affect-food-production

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Building a Bee-Friendly Campus

Bees are considered the world’s most important pollinator of food crops. In fact, it’s estimated that one-third of the food we consume each day relies on pollination, mainly by bees.

Knowing that, advocates from various sectors in the Stony Brook community are working hard to help promote a safe environment for these critical agricultural workers, primarily by declining to use neonicotinoids . . .

To continue reading: https://news.stonybrook.edu/oncampus/building-a-bee-friendly-campus/

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New app helps track butterfly habitat

Willie Vogt

Farmers and landowners invest in a lot of features and changes to improve the land they farm. One area that’s gained greater attention is putting land not used for farming to use in creating a safe space for pollinators. The next step may be sharing that investment news with others.

“HabiTally is a free mobile app that farmers can use to map their pollinator habitat,” says Linda Dudenhoeffer, business strategy, Bayer. “This app is being developed with The Climate Corporation and with Iowa State University.” . . .

To continue reading: https://www.farmprogress.com/crops/new-app-helps-track-butterfly-habitat?NL=FP-013&Issue=FP-013_20190416_FP-013_53&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_5_3&utm

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Spring, Interrupted

Lissa Harris

With the planetary climate steadily warming because of carbon emissions, it’s no surprise that spring is coming earlier to the Northeast. For decades, the timing of the early signs of spring has been shifting ever so slightly earlier: the first migrating birds, the first blooms on apple trees. Spring now regularly arrives a week or two earlier than it did a few decades ago.

If all climate change did was move the spring back, most living creatures could probably adjust to the shift. But there’s a deeper problem: The signs of spring are slowly drifting out of phase with one another, disrupting evolutionary relationships that have taken millennia to develop.

The study of the timing of biological phenomena as the seasons unfold is called “phenology”—literally, from the Greek, phaino, “to show,” and –logia, “study.” Phenologists track how different signs of the seasons are changing, and look for evidence to explain which cues in the environment are triggering them. For instance, some plants rely on lengthening days to tell them when leaves and buds should emerge. Others are coaxed into bloom by warmer weather.

As anyone with apple trees knows, blooming at the wrong time can be a danger . . .

To continue reading: https://therivernewsroom.com/2019/03/13/spring-interrupted/

FROM CATCH THE BUZZ:

SENTINEL APIARY PROGRAM – FIND OUT HOW YOU ARE DOING, AND HOW EVERYBODY ELSE IS DOING. IT’S THE WAVE OF THE FUTURE. SIGN UP TODAY!!

Bee Informed Partnership:

Sentinel Apiary Program: Calling all beekeepers!

What is the Sentinel Apiary Program?

The Sentinel Apiary Program is a colony health monitoring program that helps inform beekeeper management decisions, while simultaneously providing the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP, www.beeinformed.org) with some of our most valuable data. Beekeepers enrolled in the Sentinel Apiary Program monitor 4 or 8 colonies in one apiary for 6 months. Each month, participating beekeepers take a sample of about 300 bees from each Sentinel colony. They . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-sentinel-apiary-program-find-out-how-you-are-doing-and-how-everybody-else-is-doing-its-the-wave-of-the-future-sign-up-today/

PROPOLIS POWER-UP: HOW BEEKEEPERS CAN ENCOURAGE RESIN DEPOSITS FOR BETTER HIVE HEALTH

Andrew Porterfield

In a new study published recently in the Journal of Economic Entomology, three researches—Cynthia Hodges, master beekeeper and co-owner of Hodges Honey Apiaries in Dunwoody, Georgia; Keith Delaplane, Ph.D., entomology professor at the University of Georgia; and Berry Brosi, Ph.D., associate professor of environmental science at Emory University in Atlanta—looked at four different ways to enhance propolis growth in bee hives. The team found that three surface modifications . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-propolis-power-up-how-beekeepers-can-encourage-resin-deposits-for-better-hive-health/

AGRICULTURAL CENSUS SHOWS AG OF THE MIDDLE CONTINUES TO SHRINK

“The 2017 Census of Agriculture puts hard data behind what American farmers and farmer advocates have known for some time – if we don’t invest in beginning farmers and the advancement of our family farms, and if we don’t put checks on increasing consolidation in agriculture, we’re going to be at risk of losing the ag of the middle entirely,” said Juli Obudzinski, NSAC Interim Policy Director. “Seventy five percent of all agricultural sales are now coming from just five percent of operations. The total number of farms is down nationwide, while the average size of farms continues to increase. We can’t sit idly by while . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-agricultural-census-shows-ag-of-the-middle-continues-to-shrink/

CITRUS GREENING HAS FLORIDA CITRUS CROP DOWN 86% THIS YEAR

Scott Powers

A decade of ravages by citrus greening has left Florida with only the hard-core of committed growers, less than a third as many as 10 years ago, and more research is desperately needed to keep them in business, an industry leader told the Florida Senate Committee on Agriculture Monday.

“To say that the past 10 years have been difficult is probably the understatement of the presentation, and certainly the most challenging in the history of the state of Florida in growers,” said Michael Sparks . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-citrus-greening-has-florida-citrus-crop-down-86-this-year/

MANUKA PLANT SAMPLES FROM 1769 STILL HIGH QUALITY AND EASY TO ID

Alan Harman

Robust oil gland linings in historical mānuka samples collected during one of Captain James Cook’s voyages to New Zealand 250 years ago serve as chemical time capsules, linking them to modern mānuka varieties.

They could lead to new varieties with commercial potential for high-value mānuka honey.

Botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, aboard HMS Endeavour, collected several mānuka samples around New Zealand in 1769, but they did not record the individual collecting sites.

They took the samples back to Britain for botanical classification, where they were assigned the Latin name Leptospermum scoparium.

The samples were then stored in the British Museum, but most were returned home in the 1890s and are in the herbarium collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum and Te Papa.

New Zealand Plant & Food Research Institute chemist Nigel Perry and his team now have shown . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-manuka-plant-samples-from-1769-still-high-quality-and-easy-to-id/

A KEY OBSERVATION WAS THAT ORCHARDS FARE BEST WHEN THEY HAVE A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF BEES FLYING IN FROM NATURAL HABITATS

Jan Suszkiw

Honey bees aren’t the only pollinators of apple flowers: bumble bees, sweat bees, mason bees and many other species do, too—and the more the better, according to findings of a study recently published in the journal Science.

A Cornell University-led team that included Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists found that apple orchards with diverse bee species yield more, high-quality fruit than orchards with fewer, closely related bee species. However, that production benefit hinged on . . .

To continue reading: https://www.beeculture.com/catch-the-buzz-a-key-observation-was-that-orchards-fare-best-when-they-have-a-diverse-community-of-bees-flying-in-from-natural-habitats/