The Buzz Newsletter

February 2006

 

 

Page 12

Dordt College Update

Last month in “the Buzz” we reprinted an article about a grant Dordt College had received from the National Science Foundation. The following e-mail was sent to me by Dr, Edward Geels outlining the project. The basic project is to treat bees on small cell foundation with copper gluconate and monitor the effect on Varroa mite development. At the AHPA meeting in Houston, I met the salesman from Jost Chemical Company who handles copper gluconate. He provided me with a study done in France using copper gluconate for mite control. I’ll report on the study next month.

Here is the e-mail which is being reprinted with Dr Geels permission.

Phil,
This should be a 5 year project if I keep teaching that long. I will be 66 in a couple weeks and have been teaching at Dordt College for 41 years now. I'm familiar with the Lusbys (and Allan) from their postings on the Organic Beekeepers list but they are not the only ones going to small cell. There is a fairly large group of people doing it including several commercial honey producers. The demand is large enough that Dadants are now going to offer not only 4.9 wax foundation but I've heard that they now also have the wired version available. The present commercial cell size is actually an artificial size which began with U. Baudoux in Belgium who proposed in 1891 to increase the size of cells so as to increase the size of the bees reared in these cells. His theory was that these larger bees would be healthier, have more capacity to carry nectar and also because of increased tongue length would be able also to forage on flowers whose nectar was out of reach of the shorter tongue of the smaller bees. Professor Baudoux documents these changes in both bee size and cell size with a paper on the influence of cell size in 1933 [Baudoux, U. (1933) The influence of cell size. Bee World, XIV, 37-41.] I also have other references in my research proposal to the increase in cell size which began in Europe about 1900 and spread to the U.S. by the 30's to 50's. Feral bees which have been isolated from commercial beekeepers can still be found in remote areas with this small cell size and they also survive of course without any chemical treatments even though there are some of the varroa mites present in their hives. I will try to keep in touch and let you know how its going.
Ed

P.S. The copper ion seems to be a systemic poison which doesn't affect the bees as several of my references suggest (I'm not completely convinced about that however which is why I'm trying the research on that aspect) but does have a negative biological effect on the metabolism of the mites. Several bee suppliers sell a product called "Bee Healthy" which contains copper as well as other ingredients. I'm sure Dee Lusby wouldn't approve of that however. I've notice that when I treat new supers with the wood preservative copper naphthenate it does seem to keep the mites down for a while but the bees cover up the wood on the inside with propolis and the effect soon diminishes. Copper gluconate is also available in pharmacies as a human food supplement so in small amounts apparently it is not harmful and as a biochemist I know that the copper ion is present as a co-factor for several enzymes.

Dr. Edwin J. Geels
Professor of Chemistry
Dordt College
712-722-6284

Submitted by Phil Ebert

IT'S TIME TO DO WHAT?

Just because it's winter don't think you can sit back and hibernate waiting for spring and the bees and flowers to take off. You need to be making preparations for the new honey season, NOW.

NOW, is the time to be melting all those frames you took out of your hives last summer/fall and need to get cleaned up/repaired. It's also time to get new frames made, hive bodies made or repaired and painted, ready to go when needed. It's still too early to get foundation shipped, but you can make a note of what you nedd when it warms up. It's not time to install foundation yet, but get everything located so you don't have to spend time hunting when that time comes. Foundation or drawn comb will shatter if handled and moved at winter temps.

NOW is the time to get out and check the weight of your colonies and get food on them if they need it. Wait for an above freezing day when the bees are out on a cleansing flight and go check to see how many are alive and how many need more stores to survive till something blooms. Actually last month was perfect temps for that, but many of the colonies that were heavy enough last month now need fed. More colonies starve to death between now and dandelion bloom than die from other causes all winter.

NOW is the time to get feed to your colonies if they need it. Sugar/water in a 1 to 1 ratio or high fructose corn syrup in a 4 to 1 ratio with water is even better (cheaper). If you have honey to feed the bees, DO NOT dilute it with any water. It will cause dysentary in the bees. You can throw the undisolved sugar on the top bars in the hives if necessary. It's not the best way, but it will help them survive.

NOW is the time to order packages or queens if you need them for this coming summer. Don't wait till April/May to think about this as it will be TOO late to get anything soon enough to help you.

March is when you can order foundation and start installing it when it's warm. Most bee supply places won't ship till it's warm enough, but you can certainly contact them in March and place your order.

Make a friend of another beekeeper and call them when you have questions. I did. It helps.

Submitted by Margaret Hala