Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious bee ailment that has led to the disappearance of millions of bees in the United States alone, “and in a worst-case scenario could be a threat to the food chain that humans depend on for life, has made its way to Utah,” according to a report yesterday in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Until recently, however, the state of Utah seemed to be successfully dodging CCD.

The Tribune story tells of commercial beekeeper Gary Dutson, whose family has kept bees for more than 70 years. He built up to 4000 hives last fall , then unexplained die-offs cost him half of the colonies. As a result, Dutson says he has had to sell of 500 acres of the family farm.

The replacement cost of the lost colonies is estimated at $130,000 USD, and Dutson says he has just barely enough hives to meet his pollination commitments to the Utah orchards. Any further losses may put him out of business.

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In a paper published in Environmental Microbiology, Professor Elke Genersch and colleagues in Berlin announce what’s been reported as a “major breakthrough” in honeybee pathology. A new understanding of how the bringing bee researchers one step closer to finding a way to prevent the spread of American Foulbrood disease (AFB), the only infectious disease which can kill entire colonies of bees.

American foulbrood (AFB) is a bacterial disease of honeybee larvae caused by the spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. Although AFB and its aetiological agent are described now for more than a century, the general and molecular pathogenesis of this notifiable disease is poorly understood.

The accepted view was that the bacteria germinate preferentially at either end of the gut of honey bee larvae, then make holes in the gut wall and enter the larval organ cavity. The organ cavity was believed to be the primary place where the bacteria grew and multiplied.

What the German research team learned is that the bacteria act to cause ABF infection in a completely different way than originally thought.

The disease-causing bacteria colonize the larval midgut and do most of their multiplying there — living from the food ingested by the honey bee larvae — until eventually the gut contains nothing but these pathogens. It is not until this point in the process that the bacteria ‘burst’ out of the gut into the organ cavity, killing the larvae.

“Now that we fully understand the way in which this disease works, we can start to look at ways of preventing the spread of infection” said Professor Genersch.

See also:
• Bees Disease: One Step Closer To A Cure
  ScienceDaily: 4 May 2008
• Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of the interactions between honeybee larvae and Paenibacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood of honeybees (Apis mellifera) (abstract).
  Dominique Yue, Marcel Nordhoff, Lothar H Wieler, Elke Genersch
  Institute for Bee Research, Friedrich-Engels-Str. 32, 16540 Hohen Neuendorf, Germany.

Thanks to CBA member Sterling Clark for spotting this item in Catch the Buzz.

Chris Maund, Integrated Pest Management Specialist (Entomologist) and Provincial Apiarist for New Brunswick, tells us that winter losses for the province’s beekeepers are significantly down from the last couple of years, averaging around 20-25% for colonies over-wintered outdoors and 15-20% for those indoors.

Please note that these are preliminary averages and the amounts may change as more people are able to inspect their hives.

Photo: Rick Atkinson

Yes, it’s been a wet week or 10 days, here in the St. John River Valley of New Brunswick!

A lot of farmers were flooded out, and we’ve yet to see how that situation might set back the crop pollination schedule and the demand for bees.

The River flooded to levels that well exceeded the height of the 2005 flood, but the water rose more slowly than in 1973 (the last “Big One”) and gave some time for people to take precautions. The river level seems to have been dropping in the Fredericton area overnight, and to have stabilized downstream in the Maugervlle / Sheffield area. The experts are saying the worst of the flooding is over, and evacuated families will soon be able to return home. Then, of course, comes the disheartening job of counting up the damage and cleaning up.

So far we’ve had no reports of bee hive losses, although not all beekeepers “got off easy” personally or as farmers — several of the Central Beekeepers live on the fertile agricultural land of the flood plain, and our sympathies are with those who have sustained damage to their homes and properties.

Our thoughts are with those who suffered losses in the flood, and this might be a good place to mention that the Canadian Red Cross has launched an appeal for funds to help the New Brunswick flood victims get back on their feet.

Canadians wishing to help people affected by flooding are encouraged to contribute by donating online, calling 1-800-418-1111 or contacting their local Red Cross office. Cheques should be made payable to the Canadian Red Cross, earmarked “Flood Appeal 2008” and mailed to the Canadian Red Cross National Office, 170 Metcalfe Street, Suite 300, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 2P2.

… and a Bit of Better Bee News

Early reports from the bee yards across the province are sounding pretty positive — for once, New Brunswick bees seem to have wintered over quite well, and now that the forage has started to bloom — and once the river water goes back down! — there’s a sense of cautious optimism that the 2008 season might turn out to be a good year for bees.

Here’s something light for a weekend…

Urban Honey is a 4-minute documentary video by student filmmaker Matt Fisher, about an unconventional San Francisco man who keeps bees in his urban backyard.

Jon Rolston originally wanted to raise chickens, but thought they might attract rats and rile up the neighbours… so he settled for a hive of bees. Rolston’s approach to apiculture, not to mention some of his beekeeping methods, may raise a few eyebrows among more experienced beekeepers, but the video itself is nicely crafted with some beautiful close-up shots of the backyard hive.

Enjoy!

Thanks to Michael Martine for spotting this video and sending in the link.