De
Dr. Delfinado~Baker's address is ioenvirommental Bee Laboratory, Bldg. 476, BARC~East, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA. ;:
Margaret Nixon asks me to tell you that since she published the preliminary world maps of honeybee diseases and parasites in Bee World 63, No. I, Sne has now 1962, she received many new records and amendments from readers. published these reports, together with two new mans of V. jacobseni and qT. clareae in Bee World 64, No. 3, 1983.
stimulus for this survey of honeybee diseases and parasites of the enquiries sent to IBPA requested information about the disease position world-wide. The country concerned was about to cormence but wished te importing honey, prevent any possibility of disease being spread to their own heekeening industry. While trying to find an answer to their found Nixon that information about the distribution of bee enquiry, Margaret diseases throughout the world had not been brought together. The
arose
initial
when one
A detailed distribution map for India by Dr. K.N. Kshirsagar has already been published (Bee World 63, No. 4, 162-164, 1962 » We very much hope that
individuals in other countries will produce similar detailed distribution for their own countries, and send them to IBRA.
maps
Please continue to send reports of honeybee diseases and parasites to Information Officer for Tropital Apiculture, Dr. Nicola Bradbear, who is continuing with the monitoring of bee diseases, and will publish updated maps as new information becomes available. the
new
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BEE-EATERS
familiar sight to
readers mist be that of a brightly coloured and blue green bird, perching in an uoright position on an exposed branch, and then meking a sudden and rapid flight to catch insects before returning to its lookout branch. such birds sre of course “xnown as Bee-eaters, but a recent article by Dr. C.H. Fry, a world authority on Gee-eaters, points out thet although these birds do eat bees, they also eat vast numbers of other insects, some of which are pests harmful to bees, such as insect beewolves (Philantims spp.) and hornets (Vespa spp.) and so they can actually benefit peckeepers. A
some
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Birds of the Boe-eater family are highly distinctive, and their nearest "bird relatives" are the kingfishers. There arc 21 species of bee-eaters, five of which are particularly weil ‘mown and heve traditionally been regarded as pests by beekeepers. These are the Duropean Bee-eater, the Bluc-cheeked the Blue-tailed Bee-eater and the Little Green Bee-eater, which Bee-eater, are found in Europe, Africa or Asia, and the Rainbowbird, which is found in
Australia.
Airborne insects form the major pert of all bee-eater diets, however not all of the insect's body is digestible, and several times each day the bee-eater has to regurgitate a pellet containing the indigestible xemains. By analysing pellets collected from underneath the roosts and lcok-out perches of bee-eaters, the scientist can identify what the bird has been feeding on. As Dr. Fry points out, it is unnecessary and highly undesirable to kill birds for the purpose of research into their diet. For exauple, using this method it has been shown that one African snecies of bee~eater feeds mainly on flying
ants,
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