The bald eagle appeared on Independence Day, The Fourth of July, in a nearby rice field. What a fitting sight of the national symbol on the holiday commemorating the 1776 declaration of the founding of the United States of America! The next day the adult eagle with snow white head and tail dove into the Peace Farm lake adjacent to our queen bee evaluation yard to catch a fish. Bald eagles are recovering from near local extinction in the South. We have been seeing them in the area for the past four years, but this is the first time we have seen one on our farm. The eagles declined drastically in decades past largely as a result of their absorbing insecticides and environmental chemicals through their diet. Now we have honey bees declining in numbers, and insecticides and environmental chemicals are suspected as contributing to their decline. Just as chemicals are stored in fat tissue of eagles, chemicals are stored in the beeswax comb of bee hives. The loss of either eagles or honey bees can serve as indicators of the health of the environment. The recovery of their populations is a measure of the resiliency of each species. When they are restored, they will be considered a success for our conservation efforts. Meanwhile, the eagles and honey bees tell much about the condition of the environment.
In the photo we see a non-chemical approach to controlling parasitic Varroa mites, dusting the hive with powdered sugar. The sugar causes the mites to lose their grip on the bees as well as encouraging the bees to preen and remove mites. Other Integrated Pest Management measures that can be considered safer for the honey bees and the environment include the use of resistant honey bee stocks, screened bottom boards, removable drone combs, vegetable oil patties, and the use of less-harsh agents like organic acids and thymol for Varroa control. Diligent beekeepers and chemical users are making conditions safer for eagles and honey bees.
--Richard
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could not fully understand, what you put sugar on the bees and what ?How to deal with in this way are bee varoa?
ReplyDeletethanks
This method of treating for Varroa mites is known as the Dowda method. Powdered sugar is poured over the frames and brushed off the top bars so that it falls through the hive. The bees are covered with powdered sugar. The bees remove a considerable number of the adult mites from their bodies as they clean the sugar off of each other. Since this method of Varroa control uses no chemicals, it may be used while honey supers are in place during a nectar flow. We used powdered sugar recently to reduce the mites in one of our honey production bee yards where we found an abundance of mites in one hive. This method of Varroa control is one tool to be used with other Integrated Pest Management techniques. Good luck in your efforts to control Varroa, the great killer of honey bees.
ReplyDelete--Richard
Richard, just wondering if thie scenario sounds familiar. I had a good sized colony 3 boxes high, bottom and part of second were a mix of brood and honey, and top was all honey, earlier in the summer I had another 6 inch super on top which was filled up nicely by our friends. Then on an afternoon in late August, I suited up to have a look and begin the process of downsizing, removing honey and consolidating the hive for the winter. As I approached the hives, I realized there was no sound, in fact there was not one bee, and there was not one dead bee either. Every bee was gone. Our neighbours' daughter used to spend a lot of time in our backyard with the bees and fruit trees, she had been in the yard the day before I and reported seeing what looked like a happy busy hive. I have just stumbled upon your blog,, it is very great and really impressive. Keep up the good work,,, and please tell me what you think.
ReplyDeleteIt appears to me that the late August colony loss resulted from Varroa mites. For a more in-depth explanation go to my December 1, 2012 post, "What Happened to the Hive?" It's located at: http://peacebeefarm.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-happened-to-hive.html
ReplyDeleteI hope that this is helpful. Best wishes.
--Richard