BEE NEWS & VIEWS

MDAC
P.O. BOX 5207
MS. STATE, MS 39762

Beekeeper's Association Newsletter
HARRY R. FULTON, Editor
November 2006

Dear Beekeepers,

A couple in their nineties visits their doctor and he tells them they’re physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember. Later that night while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. “Want anything while I’m in the kitchen?” he asks. “Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?” “Sure.” “Don’t you think you should write it down so you can remember it?” she asks. “No, I can remember that!” “Well, I’d like some strawberries on top too. Maybe you should write it down, so’s not to forget it?” He says, “I can remember two things. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries.” “I’d also like whipped cream. I’m certain you’ll forget all this, write it down?” she says. Irritated, he says “I don’t need to, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream – I got it, for goodness sakes!” Then he toddles into the kitchen. After 20 minutes, the old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment. “Where’s my toast?”

Well, I’ve related this story to lead to telling you that I’ve begin to show my age too. Even though I’m not ninety, I must start writing things down and take good notes at meetings like our recent MBA convention; that is when I have time! I regret to say, I don’t remember all the good information that was related by the speakers and during the side-line discussions.
For those of you who missed it too bad!! Well, not exactly, I do remember a few good points. It was the best attended meeting, I can recall in 30 years, with approximately 120 people attending and not counting a few banquet guests. Probably one of the most informative sessions, at least for beginner beekeepers, was the “Mistakes Hobby Beekeepers Make” on Saturday morning. I even learned a few things (If I could only remember them). So, to give you a treat for Christmas, I have asked the speakers to write them down so I can put them in the December newsletter.

Another presentation that was intriguing was given by Ms. Audrey Berry, who works under Dr. Collison at MSU. She reported on the results of some preliminary laboratory tests she is doing which involves the effects of BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) on small hive beetles. She has done a little initial testing using a BT strain Tenebrionus, Cry 3 toxin. From her studies she was able to conclude that the bacteria was ingested and passed through SHB larvae after which it would grow on a cultured medium. Even though she could not demonstrate that this strain of BT will effectively kill SHB larvae, she is encouraged that other strains and even higher doses of BT (Tenebrionus strain) could prove effective. She is trying to obtain another strain of BT which according to literature reviewed shows activity against Nitidulids, the family classification of insects to which SHB belongs. We want to wish her great success. If her work is successful, it could be the beginning of a great success story in controlling small hive beetle.

Another interesting point about small hive beetles was mentioned by Dr. Ellis. It is the “prisons” which bees create thereby confining the beetles to small cracks and crevices. The bees which do this have been found to be the same age as those assigned guard duty at the entrance. It could help explain why weaker colonies are prone to destruction by SHB. If a hive is weak because of disease, queenlessness, mites or is simply a small nuc or swarm, then the bees normally doing guard duty must be pulled away to do tasks which seem more important to the survival of the hive such as nursing brood and gathering food or water. The beetles are then not under guard in prison and quickly lay eggs and subdue the colony. It backs up the observation that strong colonies have less beetle problems. You can usually see some beetles in strong hives, but for some reason (possibly the above) they hardly every overtake the hive.

Dr. DeGuzman in her presentation showed where Russian bees have fewer SHB’s than other tested races.

A copy of the minutes and financial report for the State meeting are available upon request. I’ll be glad to snail mail or email them. Enclosed is an application for renewal of this monthly newsletter, “Bee News & Views”, along with MBA membership. Please understand that regardless of whether you join MBA, you need to send the form back with $5.00 to pay for the postage to receive the newsletter. We do, however, want everyone to join MBA.

We especially thank Jerry Latner of Dadant and Sons and Earl King of Walter T. Kelley & Sons for being at our meeting and for bringing much needed supplies to some of us with no charge for shipping!!

Mississippi State Fair

The State Fair was again a big success thanks to all those good folks in the Central Mississippi Beekeeper’s Association. The number of entries in the honey contest was up some this year. I encourage others to make it a priority to enter the honey contests at the State Fair and the MBA Convention next year.

The President’s Report

Honey bee tracheal mites, Acarpais woodi (Rennie), are noxious internal parasites of honey bees. Upon entering a bee through the spiracular opening, they crawl down into the tracheae of the prothorax, where they complete their full cycle of development. This results in the shortened lifespan of the infected bee, and at high colony infestation levels, total colony collapse. Bees are predominately infected in the first days of adult life, but normally become less susceptible with age. Despite some misconceptions, tracheal mites are not just a threat to worker bees; research shows that queen and drones are also impacted by the parasites.

A survey was conducted to determine the quality of honey bee queens in Ontario (Nasr et al. 2000). In this survey, queens were examined for tracheal mite infestation, Nosema infection and sperm numbers. To determine the rate of tracheal mite invasion of queen bees during the pre-mating period, virgin queens were confined to mating nuclei furnished with mite infested worker bees for 2, 4, 7 and 10 days. The queens were then allowed mating flights. Once egg laying began, queens were collected and examined for mite infestation and sperm counts were taken. High levels of infestation with tracheal mites were found, however sperm counts were not significantly affected by tracheal mite infestation.

The susceptibility of queen bees to tracheal mites seems to decline with the increasing age of the bee (Pettis et al. 1989). It was observed that ten-day old queens were invaded by 1.0 mites per queen, while queens one day of age averaged 6.5 mites. Laying queens removed from mite-infested colonies during requeening had an A. woodi incidence rate of 30.6%. Newly mated queens obtained from mating nuclei infested with A. woodi had an incidence rate of 14.3%. Additionally, queens stored in queen banks prior to shipment may be subject to further mite pressure, as it has been found that tracheal mites are able to move through wire screening from infested to uninfested workers during food exchange. Migrating mites show a preference for bees younger than 5 days of age. Thus, if queens cannot become infested after 6-10 days of age, the time they spend in the mating nuclei is critical to interactions between queens and mites. A queen that is not infested 5 days after emergence could remain mite-free for the remainder of her life.

Finally, a comparison made of the infested trachea of worker bees and queens from the same beeyard revealed heavier melanization (darkening of tissue) of queen trachea than of worker. This may indicate that the queen tracheae are more densely populated by mites. Perhaps the longer life span of queens allows for multiple generations of mites in the same host (Pettis et al. 1987).

Prevalence of tracheal mites within castes of honey bees showed a significant bias towards drones in contrast to workers (Royce and Rossignol 1990). In a sample of both managed and feral colonies, drones had a 50% higher incidence of infestation (33.5±8 vs. 21±6 percent per colony). Mite load was also correlated with sex, with twice as many mites per bee in drones as in workers (8±9 vs. 3±5 mites per honey bee). Because drones tend to drift from colony to colony much more than workers, they may play a major role in intercolony transmission of mites, as well as serving as a reservoir for the parasites within a hive. Another possibility may be that drones act as a ‘sink’ for the colony mite population. When they are driven from the colony at the end of the active season, the expulsion may dramatically lower the mite load of the colony.

Tracheal mite resistance is based chiefly on the ability of individual bees to effectively groom mites off of themselves as they move from bee to bee. Worker bees bred for mite resistance have fewer mites than susceptible stock in studies of both natural and controlled exposure to tracheal mites (Villa and Danka 2005). However, drones and queens of resistant stock do not maintain this advantage over susceptible lines. Bioassays were used to compare the propensity of tracheal mites to infest queens, drones and workers from resistant and susceptible colonies. Workers from resistant colonies had significantly lower infestations than workers from susceptible colonies, as expected, but queens and drones did not express resistant behavior. Infestation did not differ between resistant and susceptible queens when young queens were confined simultaneously in infested colonies, or caged individually with groups of 5-20 workers from infested colonies. When young drones and workers from both types of colonies were caged with infested workers, resistant workers had lower infestation than susceptible, but resistant drones had higher infestation than susceptible drones. Drones and queens appear to lack the ability to groom mites off of their bodies. Therefore, beekeepers should avoid exposing drones and queens to tracheal mites.

Nasr, M.E., G.E. Wilson, J. Tam and D. McRory 2000. Invasion of tracheal mites into honey bee queens during the pre-mating period. Am. Bee J. 140: 829-830.

Pettis, J.S., A. Dietz and F.A. Eischen 1989. Incidence rates of Acarapis woodi (Rennie) in queen honey bees of various ages. Apidologie 20: 69-75.

Pettis, J.S., W.T. Wilson, F.A. Eischen and A. Suarez 1987. Distribution of Acarapis woodi among rustic and modern honey bee hives in northeast Mexico. Am. Bee J. 127(12): 849.

Royce, L.A. and P.A. Rossignol 1990. Sex bias in tracheal mite infestation of honey bees. Am. Bee J. 130(12): 809.

Villa, J.D. and R.G. Danka 2005. Caste, sex and strain of honey bees (Apis mellifera) affect infestation with tracheal mites (Acarapis woodi). Exp. Appl. Acarol. 37(3-4): 157-164.

Clarence Collison
November 2006

From Walter T. Kelley Company ---Alive and Well!

Although there has been some buzz about the Kelley Company, we want our customers and friends to know we are alive and well and will be continuing ‘business as usual’. For those of you not familiar with The Kelley Com-pany, here is a bit of background. The founders of the company, Walter and Ida Babin Kelley began their business in Houma, Louisiana in 1924. They moved to Paducah, Kentucky in 1934 and then to Clarkson, Kentucky in 1952, where the business continues today. After Mrs. Kelley’s death in 1978, Walter Kelley made public their desire to have the legacy of their life’s work continue to benefit Grayson County and its residents after their passing. The Grayson County Hospital Foundation was named as the sole benefactor of their estate. However, the business and assets were to be placed in a 20-year operating Trust to begin immediately after the death of the remaining spouse.

Upon the death of Walter T. Kelley in 1986, the Trust was established, according to the Kelley’s’ will and wishes. That trust expired on September 4, 2006, with the Hospital Foundation assuming full ownership as the Kelley’s had intended. Despite rumors to the contrary, the new owners have no plans to sell the company. To the contrary, their goal is to continue and build upon what the Kelley’s began. They have appointed a new CEO, Mr. Tom Oller, a local resident with more than 33 years of manufacturing and management experience. Sarah Manion will remain the company’s President and Earl King will remain as Vice-President. These three, working with the five-member Board of Directors hope to make slow and positive changes that will benefit the Hospital Foundation, Kelley employees and the beekeeping industry. The transition can only be good news and good medicine for all concerned. The team has plans to expand the company and, at the same time, continue the proud tradition of Walter and Ida Kelley of providing the same quality products and fast, efficient, dependable service that has kept The Kelley Company in business more than eighty years.

We welcome you to visit our plant, tour our facility and become a partner in keeping the Kelley Company alive and well, far into the future.

Loss of Two Beekeepers

It is with regret that I relate the deaths of two beekeepers in Mississippi. J. W. (Honeybee) Hendrix of West Point and Delbert (Del) Sparks of Jackson. Both in times past have been leaders of the bee industry. Mr. Honeybee, being 95 at his death, has not been active in MBA for a number of years. He was a pioneer beekeeper and an active participant in the early years of MBA. Before his death, he contributed a “History of Hendrix Apiaries” for the book entitled History of Beekeeping in Mississippi, which is now being edited for publication. His many years of providing packaged bees and queens to beekeepers throughout Mississippi and the U. S. will be remembered for years to come.

Del Sparks was an instrumental leader of the Central Mississippi Beekeepers Association and MBA having served in various official capacities in both organizations. He was well known for his “Whipped-Cream Honey”, which sold out at the state fair each year.

Let’s all pray for the families and close friends of these two respected beekeepers.

Until next month,

Harry R. Fulton
Secretary/Treasurer