Deadly Bee Mite may have Reached Manoa Honey Farm

A bee mite that could pose a serious threat to Hawai'i's honey bee industry and has been a worldwide problem for years may have been discovered at a bee farm in Manoa last week, the state Department of Agriculture said in a news release yesterday.
The news release said varroa mites might have been discovered after abandoned hives from Makiki Heights were relocated to the property last week.

Varroa mites were detected on bees in three of the abandoned hives on April 6 by the beekeeper and reported to the HDOA.

Appearance Of Bee Mite Poses Threat To Hawaii Industry

HONOLULU -- Hawaii was the last place on Earth to be free of a pest that attacks honeybees, but now that pest has arrived and scientists worry its presence will have a global impact on Hawaii's bee and honey industry.

The varroa mite has been discovered on honeybees in Makiki and Manoa on April 6.

Is New Pesticide Less Than Bee-nign?

Hackenberg, who has supplied beehives to Jasper Wyman & Son and other Maine wild blueberry growers since the 1960s, suspects neo-nicotinoids may have triggered “colony collapse disorder” and the mass abandonment of hundreds of thousands of bee colonies around the country this winter.

The insecticides, increasingly used to treat agricultural crops ranging from corn to wheat, are favored because they isolate specific pests.

Neonicotinoids and Bees page 2 of pdf

Chemists working for pesticide manufacturing companies try to stay at least one step ahead of targeted pests on what some have called, derogatorily, the “pesticide treadmill.”
New products developed for pest control must be novel enough to avoid established biochemistries of resistance in crop pests. New products must
also be safe for use in the environment. A new class of insecticides, called “neonicotinoids,” appeared to many to fit the bill.

Neonicotinoids (Assail, Admire): Mites and Resistance

Assail 70 WP (acetamiprid) has been registered for use on various crops since 2002. On grapes, it can be used for management of leafhoppers; on pome fruit (apples, crabapples and pears) it is registered for use against aphids, tentiform leafminer, leafhoppers, codling moth, and pear psylla. Assail is in the same chemical family as Admire (imidacloprid): the neonicotinoids (sometimes referred to as chloronicotinoids).

Mites

There is evidence in some studies in the U.S. and in British Columbia of increased numbers of mites with the use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Although I have not completed an exhaustive literature review yet, I would be happy to provide a review of what I have gathered or the references themselves to anyone interested. I think it is important to point out that negative results are sometimes not reported (or not noticed). Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Vineland have not yet documented increased mite egg production or predatory mite decreases in small plot field trials of Assail.

Probably the most sensible reaction to the mite issue is to recognize that there is some need for concern but that should go along with the caution that there are many possible reasons for mite outbreaks, so one should be careful in assigning blame for mite problems to any one cause. In all cases, keep a close eye on mite numbers through regular monitoring as a normal part of vineyard and orchard management.

The Neonicotinoids

A revolutionary group of insecticides hit the U. S. market during the early nineties. This group is known as the neonicotinoids and presently includes brand names such as Admire, Provado, Platinum, Actara, and Assail manufactured by, Bayer, Syngenta and Cerexagri. These insecticides are labeled on many crops, including fruits, vegetables, turf and ornamentals and some row crops. A wide range of pests is controlled including some of the most crop limiting that we have. This list includes the silverleaf whitefly, Colorado potato beetle, many species of aphids and, many thrips, weevils, psyllids, leafhoppers, etc. The products are environmentally friendly and are in EPA's Reduced Risk category.

Stewardship of neonicotinoids: A project to support proactive IRM for a key group of
aphicides

Given these concerns and the adaptable nature of this pest, the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK is funding a Sustainable Arable LINK
programme project entitled Stewardship of neonicotinoid insecticides: The potential of
natural populations of Myzus persicae to evolve resistance. The industrial partners are the
British Potato Council, the British Beet Research Organisation, Bayer CropScience and
Syngenta. The project is coordinated by Rothamsted Research, with major field inputs from
ADAS and regulatory aspects are addressed by DEFRA Pesticide Safety Directorate.
The project started in April 2004 and is now in its third year, running until March 2007. The
key aim is to investigate the risks of resistance to neonicotinoids developing in this species
before it reaches damaging levels and to proactively provide inputs to ensure effective
resistance management. The study has four main objectives: (1) A detailed characterisation
of M. persicae clones already showing some variation in response to neonicotinoids, (2)
Structured monitoring of field populations, (3) A study of operational factors influencing the
expression and selection of resistance and (4) The development and dissemination of
resistance management recommendations. Laboratory resistant clones show a consistent
pattern of cross-resistance across all the neonicotinoids tested.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor gene family of the honey bee, Apis mellifera

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) mediate fast cholinergic synaptic transmission and play roles in many cognitive processes. They are under intense research as potential targets of drugs used to treat neurodegenerative diseases and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Invertebrate nAChRs are targets of anthelmintics as well as a major group of insecticides, the neonicotinoids. The honey bee, Apis mellifera, is one of the most beneficial insects worldwide, playing an important role in crop pollination, and is also a valuable model system for studies on social interaction, sensory processing, learning, and memory.

Bees On Their Knees

CURWOOD: It's Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. Something mysterious is killing the nation's honeybees and it's alarming scientists and beekeepers, who first noticed the strange die-off last year. Now the bizarre syndrome, which researchers have dubbed "Colony Collapse Disorder" has spread to nearly half the states and is responsible for killing as many as 90 percent of the hives in some places.

And there have been similar reports from Europe as well. The rapid die-offs here put more than a third of U.S. food crops in peril because without honeybees, many fruits, vegetables, and nut trees wouldn't get pollinated. Jerry Hayes is Chief of the Apiary Section at Florida's Department of Agriculture. We gave him a buzz on his cell phone in a research field outside of Gainesville.

Hi there Jerry—

HAYES: How are you doing Steve?

CURWOOD: Hey uh I think I can hear some bees. Are you wearing your protective hood and uniform now?

Keepers fear mystery bee illness

Some keepers, especially around London, say they have lost far more than the 10 per cent of colonies that usually die off during winter.

John Chapple, chairman of the London Beekeepers Association, lost all the bees in 30 out of the 40 hives he keeps in Acton, west London.

Mr Chapple said that a nearby club in Harrow had lost half of its hives and that the Pinner and Ruislip Beekeepers Association had lost 75 per cent.

Honeybees where are they? Bee-gone: Mystery has experts buzzing

While most reported cases of CCD have been from large, commercial beekeepers, some hobbyists also have experienced problems.

Duxbury says that hives from which the bees have disappeared have not been invaded by insect pests, which is unusual.

"When there's nobody home, no guard at the door, other insects will come in," Duxbury said. "Wax moths love to go into beehives, but they won't even go in."

According to Kim Fraser, president of the Rappahannock Area Beekeepers Association, losses in the area might not necessarily be from CCD, but they are larger than in past years. Fraser, who has never lost hives, lost four this year.

Ontario beekeepers to seek financial aid

Beekeepers in Ontario are gearing up to ask the provincial government for financial aid after unusually high losses of honeybees over the winter that they figure have already cost them more than $5-million.

Brent Halsall, president of the Ontario Beekeepers' Association, said yesterday he plans to send a letter "shortly" to Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky seeking funds to help pay for replacement bees and research to identify the cause or causes of the unusually high winter mortality rate.

French Beekeepers Brace for Asian Sting

The hornets are thought to have reached France in 2004 after stowing away on a cargo boat, said Claire Villemant, a lecturer at Paris' Natural History Museum....

...Since then, the hornets have been establishing themselves in their adopted country, concentrating mostly on building imposing nests.

It took until last summer for their numbers to start threatening honey production, said Henri Clement, president of the National Union for French Beekeeping. He said it was too early to give figures on the hornets' economic impact, but he is bracing for a tough summer.