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Re: bees with disease

In a message dated 98-03-23 23:46:25 EST, medium.kyootie@internetMCI.com
writes:

<<  do you think that eventually the european bees will develop any resistance
 to the mites and the other thing that are afflicting them?>>

    This seems to be exactly what happened in some parts of central Asia,
where the varroa mites have been present for over a century. Some of these
bees have been imported and have been in quarantine for a year on an island.
Now they have finished the observation period and will be taken to the Batan
Rouge bee lab for breeding.

    We hope they can pass on whatever resistance they have to their offspring
and help to develop resistance in the present American stocks. It will be a
few years before we know if we succeed.

    The africanized bee also has some resistance. It has spread over much of
Texas, and parts of New Mexico, Arizona, and California.  The africanized bee
is much maligned, but offers some real genetic possibilities.

<< I really miss the honeybees that used to be around.>> 

   I notice there are almost no bees in this area, except where I put them.
And that includes almost all bee, not just honeybees.

    We are trying to save a crop in a peach orchard right now.  The early
blooms and buds were frozen badly (22 degrees), but we found enough good
pistils and stamens in the later buds to offer some hope, so we put 140 hives
in.

   In the past few days, I've spent a lot of time looking at peach blossoms.
In all that time, I have seen not a single bumblebee queen, only one carpenter
bee, and perhaps a half dozen solitary bees. Of course I've seen thousands of
honeybees.

   We have our work cut out, not just to save our honeybees, but ALL our bees.

    I have to laugh at those who talk about "attracting bees."  Peaches are
favored flowers for all bees. If a peach orchard can't attract them, neither
can a gardener. You can't attract what isn't there. Better to attract a
beekeeper.....

   We've got to be more actively involved in pollination. Learn the symtoms of
inadequate pollination in your veggies and fruits. It really is quite obvious,
but lots of growers will blame every other factor for what is really
pollination problems.

   Get beehives and learn to manage them. Get or make mason bee nesting
blocks. Buy stock, if necessary. Set up a couple bumblebee houses.

   Make sure you don't poison your pollinators. Never spray insecticide on a
blooming crop, without knowing what pollinators are working on those blossoms,
and the hours they work, so you can spray accordingly. 
 
    Yes I miss the bees that aren't there anymore.  And so does wildlife.

    Around my bee yards, the hollies and other shrubs hang heavy with berries.
Out in the open woods, far away from my bees, the shrubs are mostly barren.
Dewberries, blackberries and wild plums are usually laden with fruit, but far
away from my bees, the berries are shriveled tokens, and the wild plum
blossoms drop off.

   Look at the pollination page below, and get involved.  Please.

Pollinator@aol.com     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
The Pollination Scene:  http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html

Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop    (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
http://users.aol.com/SweetnessL/sweetlit.htm
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