Pax Vobiscum

Beekeepers are science people. Everyday, they practice applied honey bee biology. Successful beekeepers apply both the craft of beekeeping passed down for generations by those who handled bees and the science of honey bee health. The science is our understanding of the life cycle and nature of honey bees and their pests and pathogens based upon observations and experiments. Our understanding of the science is not fixed; it changes as more observations are made and new experiments are designed, conducted, and repeated. Successful American beekeepers adjust their beekeeping practices to help their bees survive the adverse effects of viruses vectored by two invasive parasitic mite species that arrived in the mid-1980s and an invasive hive-scavenger beetle introduced in the late-1990s. Those who do not take measures to combat these invasive species see their bee colonies die. As colonies decline before dying, they spread pests and pathogens to other hives.

 

Beekeepers, and the public at large, are continuing to cope with Covid-19 virus, which continues to mutate into new variants. Now, within two years of Covid’s introduction into the human population, the U.S. has confirmed over 800,000 deaths. Individuals who do not take precautions to avoid the virus are likely to acquire a deadly disease. Fortunately, we have learned much about the nature of the novel Covid-19 virus and how it is passed between people via aerosol droplets. We have effective vaccinations, and we know that we can greatly limit the spread of Covid by wearing masks, sanitizing hands, and keeping a distance between people. Just as we can protect our bee colonies by controlling the parasitic mites and their vectored viruses, we can protect ourselves, our families, and our community by taking measures to prevent the spread of the Covid virus. Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by the Covid virus. I look forward to meeting beekeepers at our training events in the coming year. The Underhill family of Peace Bee Farm wish everyone: Peace be with you.

--Richard

Clover Honey

Throughout the spring, bees have been visiting flowering trees and plants to collect nectar and pollen to gather food for their colonies. Nectar from spring flowers makes for delightful, mild-flavored honey. Bees, like the one in today’s photo, make a surplus of honey from clover if there is a large population of forager-aged bees in the hive. Clover, the world’s greatest source of nectar for honey, is a legume which secretes nectar freely when temperatures are between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Beekeepers maximize their honey production by encouraging the build-up of the colonies to a maximum six weeks prior to the major nectar flows. Beekeepers are challenged to maintain their hives at such large populations, which are often on the verge of swarming. Once a hive has swarmed, it holds too few bees to make a harvestable surplus of honey. Beekeepers enjoy taking advantage of springtime swarming to add colonies to their bee yards. Captured swarms make up for winter colony losses as well as increasing one’s hive count. This year saw plenty of seasonal springtime swarming; we shook a number of swarms from tree limbs, and we captured several colonies of bees in swarm traps. Swarms captured in Arkansas before the Fourth of July have enough time to build honeycombs in their new hives for the queen to have cells to lay eggs and for the bees to store honey for the upcoming winter if the beekeeper provides the hive with supplemental feeding. However, swarms hived after the Fourth of July do not have enough time to build combs in their hive, and usually perish over winter. It is, therefore, better to combine these late-season swarms with existing colonies.

The Covid-19 pandemic is forcing everyone to make significant changes in their daily activities to protect each other as the virus spreads. The local library is providing online entertainment and information for young children through their Family Nature Club. You may watch Mary Spears Polk interview me at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=264340481462017.

--Richard

Toad Suck Daze

Toad Suck Daze is a social gathering held every spring in Conway, Arkansas, a state that has its share of towns with names reflecting a rich pioneer history. There’s Oil Trough, Fifty-Six, and Greasy Corner. Conway has its Toad Suck, a landing on the Arkansas River where the river makes a sharp bend from west to south. There are several speculations as to the origin of the region’s name, but a favorite involves rugged rivermen stopping at area taverns and sucking tankards of ale till their bellies swelled up like toads. Typically, crowds gather at Conway for Toad Suck Daze, a festival with live toad races, music and singing on the old court house grounds, and street vendors selling foods and crafts. Local beekeepers have tables filled with honey. This year’s Toad Suck event was interrupted by the world-wide spread of the deadly Corvid-19 virus with its necessary social distancing requirement which rendered the public event impossible. In response, aviators from the Lollie Bottoms Pilots Association conducted an airplane parade over the city for people to share an event while remaining personally separated. Today’s photo is the Bulldog Flight Formation Group passing over the city. When a virus enters a vulnerable population, it is likely to spread unchecked. With humans having no natural immunity to the virus, or vaccine, the virus spread exponentially.

Honey bee colonies experienced massive losses since the introduction of parasitic mites in the mid-1980s. The Varroa mite is especially harmful to bees because it vectors numerous viruses. One way that Varroa mites are spread between honey bee colonies is by having hives in close proximity. Separating hives, like separating people, helps reduce the spread of viruses. An interesting study of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus describes a mechanism that the virus employs giving it a reproductive advantage, https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/deadly-virus-turns-honey-bees-trojan-horses. Jon Zawislak states, “There’s a fascinating and frightening arms race between bees and viruses. The biologist in me thinks “Wow!” but the beekeeper in me cringes.”

--Richard