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Bee Trouble Back in the 1930's when my great grandmother kept bees in rural Mississippi things were pretty simple. The bees did their job by making lots of honey and the beekeeper did his by keeping mice, skunks and other large pests out of the hives. But today with the introduction of various insects and diseases that plague honey bees it's the smaller pests and the ones you can't see that are doing the most harm. In addition, the rampant use of pesticides by agriculture as well as home owners kills billions of healthy honey bees every growing season in the United States. Butterflies, native bees and the birds that consume them are also poisoned at an alarming rate. The following issues are making keeping bees increasingly challenging throughout the world and putting our agricultural industry in great jeapardy.
Varoa Mites The most troublesome pest to come along has been the varoa mite. It is about the size of a pin head but does an amazing amount of damage to the bees if allowed to proliferate in the hive. Most beekeepers have resorted to stronger and stronger chemicals to kill the little beasts because they develop a resistance to each one that is introduced. I have refused to fight the battle with chemicals as the thought of putting insecticides into what amounts to my kitchen pantry really bothers me. I choose instead to use screened bottom boards which allow the mites to fall out of the hive. In addition I use a special foundation in my hives that is similar to what the bees would manufacture themselves in the wild. This smaller size foundation makes it more difficult for the mites to reproduce. These measures have worked wonderfully so far but I do have organic controls for dealing with the mites if their levels get too high and the bees start to suffer. But just as on the rest of the farm, I don't treat for things that are not causing problems. It is a philosophy that's served me well over the years. So you can be assured that my honey is completely natural and my beeswax is free of chemicals.
Colony Colapse Disorder (CCD)
This rather new probem first showed up sporatically in the Southeast United States several years ago. Since then it has spread to most of the country and is causing huge losses of bee hives from coast to coast. Researchers are frantically looking for the cause but as yet have found nothing that can account for it. The bees seem to leave the hive in the morning and not return leaving the beekeeper perplexed as to what happened to them. It is supposed that they die in the field or become dissoriented and can not find their way back. This problem is serious and is one that bears watching closely. Intense research in being conducted by our own Dr. Tarpy at North Carolina State University as well as many others.
Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) There has been a lot of bad press lately about africanized honey bees. It is true that they have arrived in some of the southern states and some parts of California but their advancment is being closely watched by beekeepers there. Here in North Carolina we have not had a problem yet but we are on the lookout and must remain vigilant. AHB's don't look very much different from regular honey bees and in fact in order to get a positve identification, they have to be killed and examined under a microscope. One reason to suspect a hive is AHB is their behavior. They tend to be more protecive of their hives and to that end will follow an 'intruder' for up to half a mile from the hive. They also sting with greater frequency than regular honey bees. On the plus side, AHBs seem to be resistant to the Varoa mite and are great honey producers. It is these qualities that have beekeepers encouraged. The goal is to breed the aggresiveness out and the resistance to mites in. Experiments are ongoing. |
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