Coromandel Life Spring/Holiday 2013 - page 24

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COROMANDEL LIFE
SPRING 2013
THESE
BEE
THE
FACTS
BEE Fact #1
In March 2011 there were 3,251
registered beekeepers, 23,395 apiaries and 388,369
beehives in NZ
BEE Fact #2
August was Bee Aware Month!
BEE Fact #3
Bees don’t sting when they’re away
from the hive unless they find it necessary, that is as
a defensive action, not aggressive
BEE Fact #4
Don’t swat a bee away, simply walk
away to avoid them. Walk around a tree or in a zigzag
as they can only fly in a straight line
BEE Fact #5
Perfume will attract bees to you
BEE Fact #6
Celebrity free range cook, Annabel
Langbein, is an ambassador for bees, supporting
the NBA by using her profile to draw attention to the
importance and plight of bees
BEE Fact #7
You can donate to the NBA during
August to help raise funds for more research. Go to
BEE Fact #8
All species of Apis (bees) in the world
have had their honey gathered by indigenous peoples
for consumption
BEE Fact #9
In 1911, a bee culturist estimated that
bees fly 48,000 miles to gather the nectar needed to
produce the honey for a colony
BEE Fact #10
The honey of only 2 species of bee:
Apis mellifera and Apis cerana have been harvested
for commercial purposes
BEE Fact #11
Only female bees sting. The stinger is
part of the reproductive organ but only queens lay
eggs
BEE Fact#12
The act of stinging is the death knell
for some species as the barbs on the sting tear away
part of the abdomen when the bee tries to fly away
after stinging
BEE Fact #13
During winter reduced numbers of
bees cluster into a ball to conserve warmth and
remain in the hive feeding on stored honey and pollen
Paul and Angela Berry of Sancturary Honey specialize in organic honeys, so that means
hives near wild places or organic farms. Above, honey combs out of the hive. Below right, a
simple smoker helps sedate bees long enough for the beekeepers to work with the frames
TROUBLE IN THE AIR
Sadly the news for the honey bee worldwide is not good while NZ is
faring better than most. However, in 2000 the industry was challenged by
the invasion of the Varroa mite.
According to Paul Berry, “Varroa is an ever present threat to the health
and viability of beekeepers everywhere. Chemical treatments used by
conventional beekeepers build up toxic residue in honey and facilitate the
development of mite resistance. These treatments are failing here as they
did in the Netherlands where beekeepers were forced to revert to organic
practices.” Paul says the only truly viable long term solution is organic
Varroa treatment.
On a positive note though, beekeepers have become more informed and
cautious about monitoring for a wide range of potential biosecurity risks;
European Foulbrood disease,
Nosema ceranae
, new viruses, mites and
Africanised Honey Bee.
PESTICIDES/HERBICIDES/FUNGICIDES
The disastrous decline in honey bee numbers across the world has been
linked to the use of pesticides sprayed on crops, gardens and those used
within the hive.
Besides the pesticides used to control the mite, traces of systemic
pesticides have also been detected in nectar and pollen. While
concentrations are very small, they are believed to be poisoning bees and
other beneficial insects. Adding to the toxic overload, pesticides used to
coat seeds of flowering crops and herbicides sprayed on “bee friendly”
flowering weeds are directly impacting the bee and its pollen.
Marla Spivak states, “We overuse pesticides… We’re trying to get rid of
all the little pesty things that bother us, but in the process we’re killing off
beneficial insects and microbes. We’re past the tipping point and bees
are the ones telling us we’ve gone too far.”
Marla implores, “Pay very careful attention to pesticide use, and ask
questions before you grab the bottle. Do I really need this? What’s in this
stuff? Does this kill bees?”
While there is no monitoring of pesticide use in NZ, other countries are
actively working to reduce theirs. We urgently need to address this issue
in our country or risk destroying such an important element of our food
production.
The worldwide uproar over the spread of GMO seeds includes concerns
for the survival of bees. The “poison” within the genetically modified
seeds may cause problems as the alteration is passed into the plant itself,
including the pollen. Down the road, these GMO crops (manipulated to be
resistant to herbicides), promote excessive spraying of weeds including
valuable flowering types which are a food for bees.
Bees that ate pollen contaminated with fungicides, designed to kill fungus
– not insects – on crops such as apples, were found to be three times as
likely to be infected by parasites. Warning messages on pesticide labels
to advise farmers to avoid spraying when pollinating bees are busy are
not included in the instructions on fungicides.
In relation to a disastrous phenomenon referred to as ‘Colony Collapse’
van Engelsdorp says, “It’s a complicated problem. I think it’s fair to say
that we’re making incremental steps in understanding that bees are being
challenged by a whole bunch of things. We’ve mentioned insecticides.
There’s a lot of evidence now that suggests fungicides, too, may be
playing a role in habitat loss. So we’re seeing that it’s a complex network
of problems, which means the solution is also going to be complex.”
Solutions may be expensive and difficult to find, but find them we must
for our precious pollinators to be preserved.
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