BEE Magazine by Sarah Judge

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January 2012

THE MAGAZINE OF EUROPEAN BEEKEEPING

DARK HONEY

Discover its Illness-fighting Agents

COLONY COLLAPSE Why are Honey Bees Disappearing? KILLER BEES

Special Report

DID YOU KNOW?

FUN FACTS

About Bees

aces F n a e Hum z i n g Reco rder o n s i a c D Bees lapse l o C y ung t n S o l o g n C Bei d i o v oney A H o k t r a How of D s t fi e cipe h Ben e t l R a e e H Sauc y e n Ho BBQ port e R s Bee Killer acts F n u F

6-7

Star

4-5

ping e e k e t Be

03 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > START BEEKEEPING

START BEEKEEPING Buzz Up! The phenomenal attention honey bees have received over the past year due to Colony Collapse Disorder has, indeed, garnered a huge influx of people to the ranks of “I want to learn more about beekeeping.” If that’s you, I want to encourage you to follow up on that urge right now because this is the perfect time of year to get started keeping bees. The very first thing you need to decide is ... Do I have the time required to be a responsible caretaker of my bees? Having bees in the backyard is no different than being responsible for any other animal, whether a pet cat or dog, or farm animals like chickens or horses. They need basic care ... food, water, shelter, preventative health care, protection from the elements, each other, pests and diseases, vandals and any other unnecessary stress in their lives. That takes time, some money, and energy. You must have all three if you want any animal in your life.

During the summer the work slows down as the colony grows in size by itself (one hopes), collects its crop of honey and pretty much takes care of itself, with only a little help from you by adding room as needed, preventing little problems from becoming bigger problems, making timely harvests, and checking up to ensure all is as it should be. Just like the garden.

“Now Is the Perfect Time to Start Beekeeping. It Takes As Much Time to Keep Bees as to Keep a Garden”

How much time will it take is probably the most often asked question? For two hives in your back yard, on your roof top or at a friend’s farm my answer is to figure that it will take more time than you need to properly care for your cat, but less time than needed to take good care of your dog. Dogs need attention everyday, several times a day. Not so with cats. Bees ... well, a good way to look at the seasonal requirements beekeeping will require is much like looking at the seasonal requirements your garden requires.

First-time Beekeeping, Through the Seasons

Come late summer or autumn, you gather the rest of the bounty of your bees, again check for health issues and prepare the colony for winter. Your garden, too, offers much of it’s bounty in the fall, (but like bees, provides all summer long if you take the time to harvest). Like hives, gardens need attention after frost, to weed and remove residue removal, prepare soil, and put bedding down for the winter.

If that sort of schedule fits your lifestyle then perhaps keeping bees is for you. There’s more of course... how much room you need, whether your neighbors will like your hobby, what equipment to buy, what kind of bees to buy (like dogs and tomatoes, there are different kinds of bees and one’s just right for you), how to harvest and process honey, and how to deal with those allimportant health issues I mentioned. But they are all doable if you have the time, the energy and the desire to become a very special person ... a beekeeper. For a good start get a copy of a beekeeping magazine. Contact all of the beekeeping suppliers who advertise and have them send you their catalogs so you know what equipment is available, how much it will cost, and what postage costs will be.

by Kim Flottum

You will be busy in the spring getting your colony off to a good start for the season ... feeding if needed, adding room, re-queening perhaps, starting new colonies from “splits,” packages or nucs, taking care of any health issues, and generally getting your colony up to speed and ready for the summer ahead.

Emerald Bee in Garden

04 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > FACIAL RECOGNITION IN BEES

BEES CAN RECOGNIZE HUMAN FACES Honeybees may look pretty much all alike to us. But it seems we may not look all alike to them. A study has found that they can learn to recognize human faces in photos, and remember them for at least two days.

of Experimental Biology, Dyer and two colleagues presented honeybees with photos of human faces taken from a standard human psychology test. The photos had similar lighting, background colors and sizes and included only the face and neck to avoid having the insects make judgments based on the

The findings toss new uncertainty into a long-studied question that some scientists considered largely settled, the researchers say: how humans themselves recognize faces. The results also may help lead to better face-recognition software, developed through study of the insect brain, the scientists added. Many researchers traditionally believed facial recognition required a large brain, and possibly a specialized area of that organ dedicated to processing face information. The bee finding casts doubt on that, said Adrian G. Dyer, the lead researcher in the study. He recalls that when he made the discovery, it startled him so much that he called out to a colleague, telling her to come quickly because “no one’s going to believe it—and bring a camera!” Dyer said that to his knowledge, the finding is the first time an invertebrate has shown ability to recognize faces of other species. But not all bees were up to the task: some flunked it, he said, although this seemed due more to a failure to grasp how the experiment worked than to poor facial recognition specifically. In any case, some humans also can’t recognize faces, Dyer noted; the condition is called prosopagnosia. In the bee study, reported in the Dec. 15 issue of the Journal

Bees are capable of recognizing human faces, study finds

05 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > FACIAL RECOGNITION IN BEES

clothing. In some cases, the people in the pictures themselves looked similar. The researchers, with Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, tried to train the bees to realize that a photo of one man had a drop of a sugary liquid next to it. Different photos came with a drop of bitter liquid instead. A few bees apparently failed to realize that they should pay attention to the photos at all. But five bees learned to fly toward the photo horizontally in such a way that they could get a good look at it, Dyer reported. In fact, these bees tended to hover a few centimeters in front of the image for a while before deciding where to land. The bees learned to distinguish the correct face from the wrong one with better than 80 percent accuracy, even when the faces were similar, and regardless of where the photos were

“This is evidence that face recognition requires neither a specialised neuronal circuitry nor a fundamentally advanced nervous system”

placed, the researchers found. Also, just like humans, the bees performed worse when the faces were flipped upside-down. “This is evidence that face recognition requires neither a specialised neuronal [brain] circuitry nor a fundamentally advanced nervous system,” the researchers wrote, noting that the test they used was one for which even humans have some difficulty. Moreover, “Two bees tested two days after the initial training retained the information in long-term memory,” they wrote. One scored about 94 percent on the first day and 79 percent two days later; the second bee’s score dropped from about 87 to 76 percent during the same time frame. The researchers also checked whether bees performed better for faces that humans judged as being more different. This seemed to be the case, they found, but the result didn’t reach statistical significance. The bees probably don’t understand what a human face is, Dyer said in an email. “To the bees the faces were spatial patterns (or strange looking flowers),” he added. Bees are famous for their pattern-recognition abilities, which scientists believe evolved in order to discriminate among flowers. As social insects, they can also tell apart their hivemates. But the new study shows that they can recognize human faces better than some humans can—with one-ten thousandth of the brain cells. This raises the question of how bees recognize faces, and

if so, whether they do it differently from the way we do it, Dyer and colleagues wrote. Studies suggest small children recognize faces by picking out specific features that are easy to recognize, whereas adults see the interrelationships among facial features. Bees seem to show aspects of both strategies depending on the study, the researchers added. The findings cast doubt on the belief among some researchers that the human brain has a specialized area for face recognition, Dyer and colleagues said. Neuroscientists point to an area called the fusiform gyrus, which tends to show increased activity during face-viewing, as serving this purpose. But the bee finding suggests “the human brain may not need to have a visual area specific for the recognition of faces,” Dyer and colleagues wrote. That may be helpful to researchers who develop facerecognition technologies to be used for security at airports and other locations, Dyer noted. The United States is investing heavily in such systems, but they still make many mistakes. Already, the way that bees navigate is being used to design “autonomous aircraft that can fly in remote areas without the need for radio contact or satellite navigation,” Dyer wrote in the email. “We show that the miniature brain can definitely recognize faces, and if in the future we can work out the mechanisms by which this is achieved,” this might suggest ideas for improved face recognition technologies. Dyer said that if bees can learn to recognize humans in photos, then they reasonably might also be able to recognize real-life faces. On the other hand, he remarked, this probably isn’t the explanation for an adage popular in some parts of the world—that you shouldn’t kill a bee because its nestmates will remember and come after you. Francis Ratnieks of Sheffield University in Sheffield, U.K., says that apparent bee revenge attacks of this sort actually occur because a torn-off stinger releases chemicals that signal alarm to nearby hivemates. Says Dyer, “bees don’t normally go around looking at faces.”

06 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > COLONY COLLAPSE

COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER Why are Honey Bees disappearing?

Over the Years, the United States Beekeeping industry has faced obstacles to healthy bee management—from arthropod pests to pathogenic diseases. Now a new problem, “colony collapse disorder” (CCD), threatens the industry. This disorder has gained considerable national and international attention.

What is Colony Collapse Disorder? Bee colonies affected by colony collapse disorder (CCD) can appear healthy as few as three weeks prior to collapse, but then the adult bees disappear from the colonies--hence the historic nickname, “disappearing disease.” The disappearing bees leave behind a box full of honey, pollen, capped brood, a queen, and maybe a few worker bees. Beekeepers report that in colonies with CCD, dead bees are not found in the hive or on the ground outside of the colonies. Instead, the adult bees simply disappear. The final symptom is that small hive beetles, wax moths, and other nearby honey bees ignore the empty hive, even though the hive contains foodstuffs on which they ordinarily feed. The Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC) is the current clearing house for CCDbased information produced by the CCD Working Group. Composed of scientists, beekeepers, industry, and government officials, the CCD Working Group has defined the symptoms of CCD colonies as follows:

Collapsing Colonies

An insufficient number of bees to maintain the amount of brood in the colony

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A workforce composed largely of younger adult bees The presence of a queen The cluster’s reluctance to consume food provided to them by the beekeeper

Collapsed Colonies

Complete absence of adult bees in colonies, with few or no dead bees in or around colonies

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The presence of capped brood The presence of food stores, both honey and bee bread, that are not robbed by other bees or typical colony pests, such as small hive beetles or wax moths. If robbed, the robbing is delayed by a number of days

CCD is threatening the beekeeping industry

07 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > COLONY COLLAPSE / AVOID BEING STUNG

What causes CCD? CCD may not be a new disorder. Over the past fifty to sixty years, many colonies have died in connection with symptoms similar to those of CCD. In older literature, the symptoms were blamed on disorders called spring dwindle disease, fall dwindle disease, autumn collapse, May disease, and disappearing disease. These historic occurrences may not share a common cause with modern-day CCD, but they do share its symptoms. The cause of CCD is currently under investigation. At this point, almost every possible and realistic cause remains a possibility. The following list of leading candidates--in no particular order--is not comprehensive and may change as new information becomes available. Such changes could result in the addition or exclusion of any of the following potential causes.

f f f f f f f f f f

Traditional bee pests and diseases. Style of feeding bees and type of bee food Bee management Queen source Chemical use in bee colonies Chemical toxins in the environment. Genetically modified crops Varroa mites and associated pathogens Nutritional fitness Undiscovered or new pests and diseases

Many scientists believe that CCD is caused by some combination of the factors above. For example, some dead bees showing CCD symptoms have had elevated levels of normally-benign pathogens in their bodies, possibly indicating a compromised immune system. In theory, any stress or combination of stresses--such as chemicals, genetic bottlenecks, or varroa--can suppress a bee’s immune system. Considering synergistic effects as a potential cause of CCD makes the disorder increasingly more difficult to study.

HOW TO AVOID

BEING STUNG Put simply, the best way to prevent an allergic reaction is to avoid being stung. Here are a few tips:

Hire a trained exterminator to treat any known nests in the immediate area; periodic surveillance for further infestation should be performed.

Avoid looking or smelling like a flower. Do not wear brightly colored clothing or flowery prints, or perfumes or other scents that will attract insects.

Always wear shoes when walking outside, particularly on grass.

Wear pants, long-sleeved shirts, gloves, close-toed shoes and socks when working outdoors.

Use caution when working around bushes, shrubs, trees and trash cans.

f Always check food and drinks (especially open

cans of soda or drinks with straws) before consuming, especially at pools and picnics, where yellow jackets are known to be present.

Keep an insecticide, approved for the use on stinging insects, available should treatment of a nest be necessary.

08 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > DARK HONEY

HEALTH BENEFITS OF DARK HONEY Studies show higher antioxidant count than light honey

Champaign, Ill. — Honey bees pollinate the crops we eat and provide honey. Where they forage for nectar now has gained nutritional importance: What they eat determines the level of antioxidants in honey, according to new research. In a study that analyzed 19 samples of honey from 14 different floral sources, University of Illinois scientists found that honey made from nectar collected from Illinois buckwheat flowers packs 20 times the antioxidant punch as that produced by bees that lap up California sage. Clover, perhaps the most common plant source tapped by honey bees, scored in the middle of the rankings. Antioxidants, substances that slow the oxidation of other substances, counter the toxic effects of free radicals, which can cause DNA damage that can lead to age-related problems such as arthritis, strokes and cancer. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that are usually reactive or unstable. In an article to be published in the Journal of Apicultural Research, the researchers say darker honey has less water and more antioxidants than light-colored honey. The co-authors of the study -- funded by the Illinois ValueAdded Research Program and National Honey Board -- were May Berenbaum, head of the University of Illinois entomology department; Gene E. Robinson, director of the U. of I. bee research facility; and plant biology graduate student Steven M. Frankel. “Not all honeys are the same,” said Berenbaum, who also is a researcher in the U. of I. Functional Foods for Health

program. “The antioxidant content of buckwheat honey compares favorably, pretty much bite for bite, with the ascorbic acid-related antioxidant content of tomatoes. Gram for gram, antioxidants in buckwheat honey equal that of fruits and vegetables such as sweet corn or tomatoes. It packs the antioxidant power of Vitamin C in a tomato, but most people who would be willing to eat an entire tomato would balk at eating the equivalent of a tomato’s weight-worth of honey.” Honey could be a supplemental source for antioxidants, the researchers concluded, noting that many fruits and vegetables often include other desirable sources for antioxidants. Although honey can’t replace fruits and vegetables in the diet as a source of antioxidants, it has a lot to offer as a replacement for table sugar, which has little value other than as a sweetener, Berenbaum said. Depending on the floral source, honey varies widely in color, water composition and sugar, ash, nitrogen and metal content. The U. of I. researchers gathered and analyzed honeys produced in 1994 and 1995. The findings could impact the beekeeping industry, which has been growing nationwide, mostly as a hobby, Robinson said. “Bees are essential for pollinating many of the crops that we grow for food and fiber. The estimated value of bee pollination in America alone is $10 billion per year,” he said. “Now, honey may also take on extra importance as there may be health issues to add to the equation. Not all nectars are created equal, thus not all honeys are created equal.”

by Jim Barlow

09 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > BBQ HONEY SAUCE RECIPE

BARBEQUE HONEY SAUCE RECIPE “ Simple and sweet, this sauce is fantastic for ribs! ” Serving Size Makes enough to baste 3 to 4 pounds worth.

Nutritional Information (per serving) Calories: 168 Total Fat: 0.1g Cholesterol: 0mg

Ingredients • 1 cup honey • 1/4 cup molasses • 3 tablespoons ketchup • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/2 teaspoon paprika • 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger • 1 tablespoon seasoned salt • 1 tablespoon meat tenderizer • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano • 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic • 1/4 cup steak sauce • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce • 1 tablespoon prepared mustard • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Directions In a medium bowl, stir together the honey, molasses, ketchup, cinnamon, paprika, ginger, seasoned salt, meat tenderizer, ground black pepper, salt, oregano, garlic, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and brown sugar until well blended. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

10 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > KILLER BEES

KILLER BEES Special Report

Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) - also called Africanized bees or killer bees - are descendants of southern African bees imported in 1956 by Brazilian scientists attempting to breed a honey bee better adapted to the South American tropics. When some of these bees escaped quarantine in 1957, they began breeding with local Brazilian honey bees, quickly multiplying and extended their range throughout South and Central America at a rate greater than 200 miles per year. In the past decade, AHB began invading North America. Africanized bees acquired the name killer bees because they will viciously attack people and animals who unwittingly stray into their territory, often resulting in serious injury or death. It is not necessary to disturb the hive itself to initiate an AHB attack. In fact, Africanized bees have been know to respond viciously to mundane occurrences, including noises or even vibrations from vehicles, equipment and pedestrians. Though their venom is no more potent than native honey bees, Africanized bees attack in far greater numbers and pursue perceived enemies for greater distances. Once disturbed, colonies may remain agitated for 24 hours, attacking people and animals within a range of a quarter mile from the hive.

Bee Invasion? Africanized bees proliferate because they are less discriminating in their choice of nests than native bees, utilizing a variety of natural and man-made objects , including hollow trees, walls, porches, sheds, attics, utility boxes, garbage containers and abandoned vehicles. They also tend to swarm more often than other honey bees. The first swarm of Africanized bees was detected in the U.S. in October, 1990 when they were captured in a baited trap at the border town of Hidalgo, Texas. AHB colonies were first reported in Arizona and New Mexico in 1993 and in California in October, 1994. Within a year, more than 8,000 square miles of Imperial, Riverside and northeastern San Diego counties were declared officially colonized by Africanized Bees. To date, more than 100 counties in Texas, 6 in New Mexico, 14 in Arizona, 1 in Nevada, and 3 counties in California have reported Africanized honey bees. AHB continue the northward expansion of their territories by swarming, the process by which bee colonies replicate.

In May of 1991, Jesus Diaz became the first person to be attacked by AHB in the U.S. while mowing a lawn in the border city of Brownsville, Texas. Diaz suffered 18 stings and was treated at a local hospital. On July 15, 1993, 82-year-old Lino Lopez became the first person to die in the U.S. from Africanized honey bee stings. He was stung more than 40 times while trying to remove a colony from a wall in an abandoned building on his ranch near Harlingen, Texas. Arizonaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first human fatality from Africanized Bees occurred in October, 1993 when 88-year-old Apache Junction woman disturbed a large Africanized honey bee colony in an abandoned building on her property and was stung numerous times. Although such fatalities are alarming, Africanized Bees probably present the greatest danger in the U.S. to American beekeeping and American agriculture in general. AHBs often enter European colonies to mingle and mate with them. Such mating results in more hybrid bees having African genes and tendencies dominating over European ones. An entire colony may suddenly take on aggressive and short-tempered behavior.

AHB Facts

Are slightly smaller than the European honey bee, but only an expert can tell them apart

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Defend their hive more rapidly than the European honey bee Usually sting in greater numbers Are less selective about where they nest Swarm more often than European honey bees Do not have stronger venom than the European honey bee Each bee can only sting one time; females die after stinging Eat nectar and pollen and make honey Are not native to the U.S.; they came from Africa

11 > BEE MAGAZINE > JANUARY 2012 > FUN FACTS

DID YOU KNOW?

12 Fun Facts about Bees 1

Bees maintain a temperature of 92-93 degrees Fahrenheit in their central brood nest regardless of whether the outside temperature is 110 or -40 degrees.

Honeybees are almost the only bees with hairy compound eyes.

Honeybees produce beeswax from eight paired glands on the underside of their abdomen.

The brain of a worker honeybee is about a cubic millimeter but has the densest neuropile tissue of any animal.

Honeybees must consume about 17-20 pounds of honey to be able to biochemically produce each pound of beeswax.

A populous colony may contain 40,000 to 60,000 bees during the late spring or early summer.

Honeybees can fly over 8 miles from their nest in search of food. Usually, however, they fly one or two miles away from their hive to forage on flowers.

Honeybees are entirely herbivorous when they forage nectar and pollen but can cannibalize their own brood when stressed.

Worker honeybees live for about 4 weeks in spring or summer but up to 6 weeks during the winter.

THE MAGAZINE OF EUROPEAN BEEKEEPING

Honey is 80% sugars and 20% water.

Honey has been used for millennia as a topical dressing for wounds since microbes cannot live in it. It also produces hydrogen peroxide. Honey has even been used to embalm bodies such as that of Alexander the Great. Honeybees fly at 15 miles per hour.

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THE MAGAZINE OF EUROPEAN BEEKEEPING

January 2012 Edition