The Buzz Newsletter

April 2004

 

 

Page 10

Hello from Northeast Iowa!

Tim Laughlin asked me to submit a bit of information about honey production and marketing of honey. All of the above are challenging subjects with many variables entering into the picture because of different types of operations, locals, weather conditions, agriculture methods and even the individual likes and dislikes of the beekeeping family.

Our role has been that of a producer-packer with approximately 1,000 colonies. This requires us to divide our time between production and marketing which at times demand equal attention. We do over winter the majority of our colonies but do take an amount south to cover winter loss.

Over wintering was reasonably sustained here in northeast Iowa until the tracheal mite arrival. In this article I will not go into detail on over wintering programs but emphasize that the building blocks for the production year start in the proceeding fall with proper feeding, treatment for mites, afb, nosema, and last but not least proper packing. Glen Stanley has clarified the necessity of these practices in a very practical manner in the past.

Tracheal mite infestation has been a major problem in our area from the early 90's contributing heavily to over winter loss and impaired production. We have been fortunate enough to have had the Weslaco Bee Lab, Baton Rouge Bee Lab and the Iowa Inspection Program when it was active involved in detection and research in this area. Observations have been that cool and shady summer locations along with long cold winters contribute to tracheal mite increase. However, a lack of general domestic bee resistance is probably the largest negative factor. Tracheal mite resistance is given to a recessive gene making it difficult to achieve sustainability within a particular line of bees.

Nationally tracheal mite infestations are widespread with hotspots that are probably environmentally driven in susceptible stock.

We have been involved as the northern cooperator with the Baton Rouge Bee Lab's Russian Bee Program which originated with stock from the Primorsky area of Siberia. The program's original emphasis was with varroa resistance, however, the Russian bees have also proven to have a high level of tracheal mite resistance within selected lines. Given where they originated from in Siberia they are also excellent over wintering bees.

As a producer-packer I am hopeful that through genetics our industry will be able to overcome our utter dependence on compounds. This will help ensure the quality and integrity of honey as we deal with our mite problems.

Manley Bigalk