========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 10:37:30 +0100 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Nikola Kezic Subject: Honeydew / honey Honeydew honey Does anybody know how to differentiate (chemically, physically, organoleptically, etc.) fir honeydew honey (Abies alba), from spruce honeydew honey (Picea abies). If these two kinds of honey are mixed, does exist any method for proofing amount of one in another. Does exist literature or official methods for determining honeydew honey sources. Prof. Dr. Nikola Kezic Department for apiculture, Faculty of Agriculture University of Zagreb, the Republic of Croatia. Phone: ..385 .1 235 777 /4074 Fax: ..385.1 215 300 E-mail:Nikola.Kezic@public.srce.hr ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 14:40:42 +0100 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Kerstin Malmborg Subject: Re: Too Quiet In-Reply-To: <199412280341.AA03246@goliat.dc.luth.se> from "Joanne9803@AOL.COM" at Dec 27, 94 10:40:55 pm > > Hi Dave > > Like Hugo, I think there is still hope. I suffer from paranoia each winter > fully expecting the worst. Instead of knocking on the hive, which my father > advised me not to do for the same reasons Hugo mentioned, I have instead > resorted to a reliable Littman Cardiology II stethoscope, which I have found > to be useful for more than just on my regular job. The 'scope has been so > successful that I have even managed to listen in on quite a few intimate > conversations that actually go on between the bees as they while away those > long, quiet winter days and nights. And I come away from the hive feeling > much better...give it a try. > Joanne Hulbert > joanne9803@aol.com > If you haven't got a stethoscope, you can use an ordinary plastic hore - put one end throgh the entrance and the other end to your ear... Regards / Kerstin.Malmborg@dc.luth.se ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 09:28:40 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick 546-2588 Subject: Happy New Year (bees AOK) Well, we went visiting yesterday and on the way, we went to a few beeyards at around noon. There is about 5 inches of snow on the ground and the temps are running about -20 at nite to -5 in the day. Celcius of course. At this time of year here (near Calgary), it seems to me that the sun rises at about 8 AM and goes only about 16 degrees above the horizon (at winter solstice) before retreating to set in the southwest around 4:30 PM. (I really should pay better attention). The variation between yards and hives was interesting. There was a light breeze that was more obvious in some spots than others. This year we wrapped, using several schemes, seeing as we expanded and ran out of our normal wraps. 1. Our normal wrap is a plastic/kodel quilt (R7) that goes around four hives crowded together on a forklift pallet (two facing east, two west). Inner covers are used and the summer lid left off. Upper ventillation is available through a slot in the front of the inner cover that matches a hole through the quilt, and is restricted by a 1 inch bore hole in a 5 inch square piece of plywood screwed over the opening. At least R20 insulation is piled on top, and covered with a piece of plywood. 2. This year we also used packs consisting of two rows of ten hives each -- back to back -- facing east and west -- and covered with 6 mil plastic. R20 insulation was piled on the lids under the plastic and the whole mess was pulled tight and fastened with lath strips -- once again screwed on (using 1 5/8 inch drywall screws and a cordless drill) along the bottom, just above the entrance. I never use entrance reducers during winter, the wrap covers the entrance quite well. There was some variation in (2) A few had the hives crowded together (no summer lids) Others had the summer lids still on resulting in gap between hives. All (2 and 3) used a 1 inch auger hole three inches up from the bottom of the upper brood chamber as a vent/flight hole. The wrap was held tight aginst the hive at each vent as in (1). 2b. Some of (2) also had R7 insulation on the vertical surfaces. 3. We also had several single rows of 10 with summer lids wrapped as in (2), but facing south. What we saw: Generally, there wasn't a lot of flight in the more exposed yards. The four packs (1) -- with the higher vents (above the cluster) had less entrance activity than the ones with auger holes, although a few were cleaning out from the wide open bottom (floor) entrance a bit as we watched, and live bees were often visible in the vents. In the warmer yards there was some flight for cleansing, but on overall average most bees flying were lost -- on average there was very little flight. In one sheltered yard (2b) there were several hives very active and one even with a small cluster outside the vent. Active bees were seen in 75% of the entrances there. The rows (3) were in sheltered yard. They had noticable more flight and entrance activity than four packs (1) in this yard. Several hives were taking short cleansing flights. In rows, end hives did not seem any more likely to be active than centre (warmer) hives. I'm running out of time now and getting a little bored writing this, but may well resume later and also report on relative sucess, so to those interested: save this somewhere so you will understand what I'm talking about in future. Also please ask questions, if interested, because it is hard to anticipate what people would like to know, and what is not obvious and needs explanation/discussion. If anyone is wondering - I'll also eventually follow up on some matters we discussed earlier and haven't gotten around to summarising, etc. W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 403 546 2588 Email: dicka@CUUG.AB.CA ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 19:30:26 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "James D. Satterfield" Subject: making foundation I'm a hobby beekeeper with two to four colonies which I have maintained for about 10 years here in Georgia USA at Canton, about 80 km north of Atlanta. We're having difficult times in Georgia with the problems of mites...the old "disappearing phenonenon". I've been reading the messages on BEE-L related to mites and medication with much interest. Many thanks to all who contribute. Some years ago I visited a wonderful apiary in South Moulton, England where the heather honey had to be extracted by pressing it out. They had their own foundation "mill" and seemed to be quite self-sufficient. This gave me inspiration for the following. I am in the process of "reinventing the wheel" as I tinker around trying to make my own foundation. I have decided to go to "destructive extraction" by pressing or rolling the honey out of the combs then using the wax to make my foundation. I can sell the excess wax, use it to make candles, etc. I realize that I am sacrificing honey production for the wax, but I really prefer to wax in a small strip of foundation each year than deal with the extractor and sticky combs. Besides, I like beeswax! My brother has a business of making rubber stamps. Actually the stamps are now made of a polymer that hardens under UV light. He has made me a set of "stamps" for foundation, and I'm trying to mold the beeswax into foundation by pressing thin, warm sheets. I have already tried pouring melted wax on one of the "stamps" which gave a good impression of the comb pattern on one side only. I folded the sheet to get impressions on both sides. A preliminary test late in the summer showed that the bees would indeed draw out this foundation. I have a problem in getting thin sheets of beeswax. I've tried pouring melted wax out on the top of hot water and letting it cool. I can get sheets of wax, but they're about 3x too thick. I've tried warming the wax and using a rolling pin to roll it out between sheets of clingwrap. That offers some promise. Are any of you "hobby beekeepers" making your own foundation?? If you are and if you have any suggestions or techniques you would share, I'd like to hear from you. If you are doing "destructive extraction", I would enjoy hearing of your method. I don't have a press of any sort, but this last year I used a mesh bag to hold the combs then a squeeze/wring action to get the honey out. I think some type of rollers to feed the bag through might work well in forcing the honey out. I'd like to learn of your experiences. It may be desirable to reply to me privately if questions such as these generate much response; ie, is this a "beeswax uses" type of solicitation??? (I did enjoy reading the beeswax-use responses!) Why try to make foundation when I could undoubtedly buy it much cheaper, especially if time is considered??? It's the challenge...will the bees use it well?? Many thanks to all. ----------------------------------------------------- | James D. Satterfield | biojdsx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu | | P.O. Box 2243 | biojdsx@gsumvs1. | | Decatur, GA 30031 USA | Telephone 404 378-8917 | ----------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 19:33:45 -0500 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "James D. Satterfield" Subject: Bee-killing Wasp For the first time this last summer, I observed bee-killing wasps working my two honeybee colonies at Canton, GA USA. Canton is about 80 km north of Atlanta, GA. The wasps appear to be the "bee wolf", *Philanthus ventrilabris*. I made the following observations, and I would be happy to hear from others who have watched this species at work. There were at least five wasps involved though seldom were there more than three at the colonies. Occasionally if a wasp was hunting around a colony and another wasp approached, a "chase" would ensue. One of the wasps was about 2/3 the size of the others, but appeared to have the same markings and coloration. The wasps would fly in front and to the side of the colonies, perhaps 20-50 cm from the hive entrance. Honeybees were taken on the wing as well as when resting on the hive or ground near the hive. Worker bees were taken most often, though I did observe drones being taken also. When the wasp took a bee, they would fall to the ground with the wasp apparently stinging the prey. The wasp then flew, carrying the bee, up to a twig on a nearby shrub or tree. There did not appear to be a single, consistent place where a particular wasp would go to eat its prey. The wasps often flew to a twig only about two meters above the ground; hence, it was easy to make observations from within 15 cm of the wasp as it ate the bee. The wasp would hang by a hind leg as it ate the bee, eating the bee from the ventral surface and eating only the insides. The exoskeleton and wings would fall away leaving the wasp with the head of the bee. The wasp appeared to roll the head around in its front and middle pair of legs, then it flew away with the head. There is a lilac bush about 30 meters southwest of the hives, on the other side of my house. I observed three of the wasps at one time, and two at another time, at the base of the lilac bush where the bark had been removed from the trunk. The bark had apparently been chewed off for the scar was located to the inside of the lilac bush and was surrounded by other trunks. The damaged to the bark could not have been done by the lawn mower or other yard tools. I speculate that it was removed by the wasps. There were also two or three small wasps ("Yellow jacket" type) at the bark scar also. I assume that the wasps were getting sap from the lilac bush, or perhaps could have been chewing bark to be used for nest building. I haven't tried to look up any extensive information on the nesting habits of the "bee wolves", though one reference stated that they are solitary, ground-nesting wasps. I wanted to collect some specimens of the wasp for a friend who teaches classes on beekeeping at a local college. I took an aerosol can of "Choke and Carbuerator Cleaner" and sprayed the wasps on the lilac bush. It "did them in" nicely after which I pinned and labeled them. Large stinger! I certainly don't want to get zapped by one! :) These are some of my observations and thoughts. If you can offer me any of your insight, I would appreciate it very much. ----------------------------------------------------- | James D. Satterfield | biojdsx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu | | P.O. Box 2243 | biojdsx@gsumvs1. | | Decatur, GA 30031 USA | Telephone 404 378-8917 | ----------------------------------------------------- ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 20:40:31 -0400 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Bill Morrison Subject: Unsubscribe I wish to unsubscribe until further notice. Thanks. W. J. Morrison wjmorr@ark.ship.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 20:55:38 -0800 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: "Paul Cronshaw, D.C." Subject: Plastic Foundation Happy New Year to all on the Bee List. I had a few days of holiday to show my children how to build frames and install Permadent foundation. This plastic foundation is *much* easier to install than wired foundation on a wiring jig. Are beekeepers slowing making the transition to the plastic foundation? What are some of your experiences (pro and con) with this type of foundation? Paul Cronshaw DC cronshaw@rain.org ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 2 Jan 1995 23:07:44 -0700 Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Allen Dick 546-2588 Subject: Re: Plastic Foundation In-Reply-To: <9501030454.AA25964@cuugnet.cuug.ab.ca> W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK Rural Route One, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 403 546 2588 Email: dicka@CUUG.AB.CA On Mon, 2 Jan 1995, Paul Cronshaw, D.C. wrote: > Happy New Year to all on the Bee List. You too! > I had a few days of holiday to show my children how to build frames and > install Permadent foundation. This plastic foundation is *much* easier to > install than wired foundation on a wiring jig. > > Are beekeepers slowing making the transition to the plastic foundation? > What are some of your experiences (pro and con) with this type of > foundation? Guilty as charged. I will mend my ways. I have seen the light :) Duragilt is OK, but we're starting to think in terms of the solid plastic stuff. It's proven. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 3 Jan 1995 11:56:22 +0000 Reply-To: IBRA@cardiff.ac.uk Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology From: Dr Pamela Munn Subject: no subject (file transmission) ========================================= B-MAIL A monthly newsletter on issues and events in the bee world, provided by IBRA, the world information service for bee science and beekeeping. **Jan 1995** ========================================= NATIVE HONEY BEE RACES For many beekeepers in Europe the bee they want to keep is the one originally found in their area (before human-assisted movements, at least) and there are a number of groups devoted to conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera, the dark European bee. Here in the UK the British Isles Bee Breeders' Association (BIBBA) is very active in this field, producing publications and videos and running training courses and conferences. BIBBA has been in operation for 30 years and aims to conserve, restore, study, select and improve the 'native and near native honey bees of Britain and Ireland'. Actually they are primarily in favour of 'pure race breeding', as they blame imports of foreign bees for the production of 'mongrel' bee colonies with undesirable characteristics. They then go on to say that A. m. mellifera is the bee most suited to the British climate, it still exists in a pure state, and can be distinguished from 'mongrel' bees and other races. Their current programme involves the formation of local groups to find, select and breed these native bees. Other groups working to propagate A. m. mellifera exist in Austria, Brittany (France), Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The Norwegian group has recently launched a publicity campaign, complete with a very attractive poster, calling for action. "We fear that time is running out for the black European bee. Most geographical sub-races are already lost, and the rest are too few or might be affected by other races. In Scandinavia we don't even know what we have, related to silvarum, lehzeni, or if it can be described as a special Nordic branch". They are calling for letters to be written to the Norwegian minister of agriculture, and are holding a conference on the Norwegian black bee area project on 8-9 September 1995. In Germany a group was formed in November to promote conservation of the black bee: the Gemeinschaft zum Erhalt der Dunklen Biene (GEDB), or community for the conservation of the dark European bee, and plans to work for its reintroduction, improvement and spread. Of course such an idea is controversial in Germany. The well-coordinated national bee breeding programme is based on propagation of Carniolan bees, and even at the inaugural meeting of GEDB a representative of the German Beekeepers' Association (DIB) spoke against the (re)introduction of dark bees. The Carniolan breeding programme in Germany is based on the use of isolated mating apiaries and morphometrics to check racial 'purity', though the problems inherent in this approach were highlighted by Robin Moritz in his paper 'The limitations of biometric control on pure race breeding in Apis mellifera' (Journal of Apicultural Research 30(2): 54-59 (1991), with subsequent discussion by F Ruttner and Dr Moritz on pp113-115). New techniques can give us new insights into the concept of honey bee 'races'. Data on the frequencies of enzyme electromorphs and results of mitochondrial DNA restriction mapping can be used to confirm, or dispute, the indications from morphometric analysis. This has been done, for instance, for the 'pure' population of Apis mellifera ligustica in the honey bee sanctuary of Kangaroo Island in South Australia (Oldroyd et al., Journal of Apicultural Research 31: 141-148 (1992)). The subject is discussed further in 'New approaches to honey bee taxonomy' by Ben Oldroyd (Bee World 74(3): 105-107 (1993)). Contacts: Brittany: Association Abeille-Noire Bretonne, Kerchere, F-29242, France. Germany: Secretary, GEDB, Ostlandstrasse 1, D-24247 Mielkendorf, Germany. Norway: Nils j Drivdal, Prosjekleder, Reinavlsomradet for Ded Brune Bia, Lovikgt 13, 4400 Flekkefjord, Norway. UK: Albert Knight, BIBBA Secretary, 11 Thomson Drive, Codnor, DE4 9RU, UK. CONSERVING EUROPE'S BEES The programme for this important meeting is looking really good, and we expect a good attendance from throughout Europe and further afield. For your convenience the second announcement and booking form is included at the end of this edition of B.mail. COMPARATIVE FORAGING STRATEGIES IN SOLITARY AND SOCIAL BEES This meeting was featured in the last edition of B.mail, and full details are now available from form Dr Robin Wootton, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4PS. Phone (+44) 1392-263753, fax 1392-263700, e.mail r.j.wootton@cen.exeter.ac.uk. The provisional programme includes papers on: Influence of pollen viability on foraging behaviour in bumble bees. Effect of bee foraging strategies on gene flow in white clover. Foraging responses to sexual harassment in a solitary bee. Foraging of an anthophorid in the arid Sinai mountains. Physiological constraints on foraging in solitary and social bees. Limitations to flight performance in bumble bees. The use of stable isotopes to determine energetic costs of freely foraging bees. Bombus vs. Apis: a comparison of foraging behaviour on oilseed rape. Comparison of honey bees and bumble bees foraging on borage. Foraging by Apis and Bombus on raspberries. WAXING LYRICAL ON INTERNET As historic moments go, according to the New York Times, this one was closer to 'Watson, come here!' than to another Saturday night at the movies. The first movie to be transmitted on Internet was 'Wax: or the discovery of television among the bees', an 85-minute cult piece about a beekeeper who ends up being kept by his bees. Reviews of this 'surreal landscape imagined by a cyberpunk novelist' range from 'A witty, psychedelic cult favourite' through the neutral 'Like no film you've ever seen' to the less than complimentary 'Authentically peculiar'. The event itself, though, was described as 'The future of SF film, if not of cinema'. In this case output from an ordinary video player was fed into the producer's computer, converted to digital form and pushed straight out to Internet. No doubt it's but a foretaste of a huge number of simultaneous video channels but remember, bees did it first. Andrew Matheson Director NOW HERE IS THE SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND BOOKING FORM FOR CONSERVING EUROPE'S BEES The International Bee Research Association and Linnean Society of London are holding this symposium on 6-7 April 1995 at the Linnean Society rooms, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, UK. WHY BEE CONSERVATION? Bees have an important place in agriculture and in preserving wild habitats. * They often have highly specialized relationships with native floras, so play vital roles in maintaining natural vegetation. * Bees are particularly suitable for environmental monitoring purposes, because of their diverse nesting strategies and specific host plant relationships. * Both social bees such as bumble bees and solitary bees are actual or potential pollinators of crops. Changes in land use in Europe have made bee conservation an increasingly important issue as the nesting sites and food plants for bees are destroyed by increasing monocultures: more than 400 bee species from north of the Alps appear in Red Data lists. Although non- Apis bees are vital in maintaining native floras, our understanding of pollination ecology at the community level is growing faster than our knowledge of bee taxonomy, and with the consequent backlog of data analysis pollination botanists are ill-served by the current state of bee systematics in the Palaearctic. This two-day scientific meeting will concentrate on bee conservation in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, but will also consider the Americas and other areas with important lessons for others about bee conservation. The symposium builds on a rising tide of interest in scientific circles, if not political ones, about the importance of this issue. In 1991, STOA (Scientific and Technical Options Assessment, European Parliament) commissioned a review on the impact of changing beekeeping practice and land use in Europe on crop and wild flower pollination, which was published in IBRA's technical journal Bee World. Following this review, the EC funded a workshop in Brussels to discuss these issues and the findings of the meeting point clearly to the need for bee conservation: * Agriculture in the EU needs bees to pollinate most of its crops. * Intensive agriculture provides an inhospitable environment for bees. * Habitat management for bee conservation is necessary. Delegates at the workshop expressed considerable interest in setting up a collaborative European research programme into the problems of habitat management and the potential of set-aside for bees: this hasn't happened but we will be using this symposium to launch a network as part of FAO's ESCORENA programme. Last December, IBRA held a symposium in Cambridge on bee forage and conservation and this year published the book Forage for bees in an agricultural landscape, which discusses the importance of forage and nesting sites in bee conservation. 'Conserving Europe's bees' will be a meeting of major importance in promoting scientific debate and collaboration on this important subject. THURSDAY 6 APRIL 1995 Habitats for bees; Dr Paul Westrich, Institut f|r Wildbienenkunde, T|bingen, Germany. Dr Paul Westrich, T|bingen: Considering the ecological needs of our native bees: the problems of partial habitats. Dr Matthias Klemm, Consultant biologist, T|bingen: Cliffbanks, sand pits and levees as substitutes for threatened or destroyed riverine habitats. Dr Mike Edwards, Private consultant (formerly Natural History Museum), Midhurst, UK: Optimizing habitats for bees in the United Kingdom. Dr Chris Saure, Zoologische Institut, Freie Universitdt, Berlin: Urban habitats for bees: the example of the city of Berlin. Grappling with bee diversity; Chris O'Toole, Curatorial Officer, Hope Entomological Collections, University of Oxford, UK. Professor Amots Dafni, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel, and Professor Avi Schmida, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel: (Threats to bee diversity in Mediterranean Israel: the case of Bombus terrestris versus the rest). Professor Charles Michener, Snow Entomological Museum, University of Kansas, USA: (PCAM: a case study of getting to grips with bee diversity). Keynote speaker. Chris O'Toole, UK: Bee systematics: the continuing crisis and some possible cures. Dr Theodora Petanidou, Department of Ecology, University of Thessaloniki, Greece: Co-evolution of native bee faunas and floras in changing Mediterranean communities. Evening Informal mixer. FRIDAY 7 APRIL 1995 Do plants need bees?; Professor Ingrid Williams, Group Leader, Insect- Plant Interactions, Entomology and Nematology Department, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, UK. Dr Sarah Corbet, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK: (Are native bees more important pollinators than honey bees?) Dr Manja Kwak, Department of Plant Biology, University of Groningen, Netherlands: (Importance of native pollinators to native plant conservation). Dr Ken Richards, Research Leader, Agriculture Canada Crop Sciences Section, Lethbridge Research Station: (Bees compared as pollinators of legume crops). Professor Ingrid Williams, UK: Comparing bee-mediated gene flow in crop plants. Dr Pat Willmer, Department of Biology, University of St Andrew's, UK: (Physiological constraints on bee foraging) Competition in bee-plant and bee-bee interactions; Dr Stephen Buchmann, Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS, Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA. Dr Stephen Buchmann, USA: Competition for pollen and nectar between honey bees and native bees in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Dr Evan Sugden, University of Kentucky, USA: Towards an ecological perspective of beekeeping. Dr David Roubik, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama: On long-term trends of bee populations and their interpretation. Dr Robinn Thorpe, University of California, Davis, USA: Resource overlap among native and introduced bees in California. Poster papers and exhibits There will be limited space for poster papers and exhibits and demonstrations relating to the theme of the conference, but these must be notified in advance. Please contact Andrew Matheson, Director, International Bee Research Association, 18 North Road, Cardiff CF1 3DY, UK. Fax (+44) 1222- 665522. E.mail: ibra@cardiff.ac.uk. REGISTRATION FORM * I wish to attend Conserving Europe's bees on 6-7 April 1995. * I wish to attend the symposium for one day only: ........... April 1995. Name ............................................................................... .. Address .............................................................................. Telephone(+44) 171-4