Apiary Inspectors of America. Danielle Downey Apiary Specialist Hawaii Department of Agriculture

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1 Apiary Inspectors of America Danielle Downey Apiary Specialist Hawaii Department of Agriculture

2 Topics Apiary Inspectors of America overview Beekeeping Industry in the USA Issues Africanized bee Honeybee Health threats Current Resolutions (3)

3 AIA: Non-profit, promote better beekeeping in North America State Apiarists, business reps, beekeepers Promote uniform and effective laws and regulations Cooperation between states Honey Bee health issues Accurate, helpful information for beekeeping and plant pollination

4 Executive & Apiarists among you Danielle Downey, President (Hawaii, Utah) Paul Cappy, Vice President (New York) Paul Polling, Secretary (West Virginia) Keith Tignor, Treasurer (Virginia) Don Hopkins, Past President (North Carolina) Jerry Hayes, Dennis VanEngelsdorp, Ed Levi Ken Rauscher, Mike Cooper, Dennis Barclift, Doug Warner, Laura Pottoroff, Julie van Meter

5 Annual Meeting January 6-9, 2011 in Greenbelt, MD Combined with other Honeybee/Beekeeping groups: AAPA, ABRC ABF, CAPA, AHPA

6 Worldwide Beekeeping 2 billion pounds of honey 50 billion hives More widespread than any other agriculture Last nomadic agriculture in USA

7 What is the most valuable thing we get from bees?

8 Thank the bees for breakfast! BEES No BEES Scientific American

9 Pollinators are important! 1 in 3 bites of food depends on bee pollination Annual US pollination value exceeds $15bil Production depends on pollinators no bees no crop Seeds and fruit in food chain: birds, bears, etc. Preserves habitat diversity Ensures healthy ecosystems

10 % Dependence on insects for pollination Annual Value of Pollinator Services ($ millions) FRUITS apples 100% $1, almonds 100% $ cranberries 100% $ cherries 90% $ peaches 60% $ avocados 100% $ grapefruit 80% $ blueberries 100% $ VEGETABLES onion 100% $ carrots 100% $ cauliflower 100% $ squash 90% $ FIELD CROPS alfalfa 100% $7, soybeans 10% $1, cotton 20% $1,072.14

11 Pollination benefits More fruit produced Larger, heavier fruit Better fruit symmetry Earlier fruit set More seeds produced

12 Status of Pollinators in North America, 2007 Report of National Research Council Wild pollinators are declining Bumble bees, butterflies, bats, hummingbirds Unknown causes Disease, parasites, pathogens, habitat loss, urbanization, pesticides, climate change

13 Industry Responds to Pollination Need Over 2 million colonies rented $150/hive

14 California Almonds 800K acres Farmers must have 1 colony per acre to obtain crop insurance

15 California almonds: Uses more than half of US colonies $75/hive California Almonds $150/hive Need is increasing. Almondboard.com

16 Honeybee Pollination Paths January-Feb Over 2 million colonies rented $150/hive

17 Growers rent honey bees for: Almond Apple Melons alfalfa seed plum/prune Avocado Blueberry Vegetable seed Pear Cucumber Sunflower Cranberry Kiwi Cherry Over 2 million colonies/year are rented in USA.

18 Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) (Not to scale)

19 What are Killer Bees? Sensationalism and fear is not necessary. Education and Awareness IS necessary.

20 Africanized honey bee- what is it? 40 strains of the honey bee, Apis mellifera Africanized honey bees (AHB) are temperamental relatives of the common honey bee Defend more intensively and with less provocation Released in Brazil (1956) and steadily move north

21 AHB movement

22 AIA Projects Winter Loss Survey Bee Informed Partnership (BIP) Honey Bee National Survey

23 Winter Loss Survey CCD prompted many questions about beekeeper losses Standardized survey began 2006/07 Snapshot in time (Oct-Apr), across variables of size of operation, primary production effort, location State Apiarists contacted beekeepers in each state, eventually online survey

24 Winter Loss Survey Average Winter losses: 06/07 32% 07/08 36% 08/09 29% 09/10 34% 10/11 30%

25 Winter Loss by State

26 Losses by Operation Size Operation Type Respondents Average Loss Mean Backyard (1-50) % Sideline (51-500) % Commercial (500+) %

27 Losses, stationary vs. moved Moved into Almonds? Respondents Average Loss Mean Total Colonies No % Yes %

28 Colony Collapse Disorder CCD Most bees missing Queen is normal Bees remaining are young, not foragers Insufficient bees to care for brood No obvious pathogens or parasite symptoms N. Rice

29 Sensational causes of CCD Cell Phones Rapture Terrorist Russian plot C. Vorsek

30 Scientific Hypotheses: Cause of CCD Parasites, mites, disease New pathogens or new strains of other pathogens Poor nutrition Low genetic diversity Weakened immune response Stress (eg moving bees for pollination) Chemical residues (in hive or in field) Any combination of these

31 Losses with CCD symptom Operation type Respondents % reporting condition % colonies lost with condition Backyard % 13.1% Sideline % 35.2% Commercial 88 80% 57.3% 28.9% repored this condition, average losses in these operations higher

32 What is an acceptable level of loss? 14.5%

33 Beekeeper cited cause for losses Starvation 32% (18% commercial) Weather 29% Weak in Fall 23% Mites 12% Queen 16% CCD 4% (20% commercial) Nosema 4% Pesticides 3% (21% commercial)

34 Winter Loss Results Moving colonies around did not increase losses, either not harmful or can be compensated for by management No comprehensive census of beekeepers exists, good effort, hard to extrapolate Number of honey producing colonies did not change (beekeeper compensation) Many unanswered questions

35 Winter Loss Survey BIP Winter Loss Survey moving into more robust epidemiological model Management practices in, results out Easy user interface (BIP) Dennis vanengelsdorp and team

36 National Honey Bee Survey (NHBS) Farm Bill Money Pilot year 09/10 California, Florida, Hawaii Validate methods, 87 samples Limited year 10/11 13 states AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, IN, MI, NY, PA, SD, TN, TX, WA 349 samples representing 2700 colonies 11/12 includes 33 states

37 NHBS samples collected From 25 beekeepers per state In single apiary of 10 or more colonies Sample combines 8 colonies Bees in alcohol Live bees Frame debris from tapping brood frame Visual inspection data

38 Samples analyzed for 11 viruses, pests and pathogens Apis cerana Tropilaelaps mite Slow Paralysis Virus DWV ABPV, IAPV, KBV, Nosema ceranae Tracheal mites Varroa mites

39 NHBS: No surprise detections Very good baseline data for parasite, pathogen levels Progress to establishing USA as apparently free of problems that could be brought in with trade Infusion of resources has allowed more contact with Apiary Programs

40 AIA Resolution: Africanized Bee USDA-ARS or USDA-APHIS declare it a pest to EHB and threat to human and animal health, so regulatory actions can be taken USDA-ARS develop a better (faster, cheaper, more certain) tool for conclusive identification AIA will learn, train and disseminate technique USDA-ARS, NASDA, USDA-APHIS-PPQ

41 Resolution: Honey Bee Imports Continue to keep boarders closed until science can identify the impact of viruses and other pathogens to beekeeping. Boarder closed last year to Australia Argentina, Brazil and Chile asking to import USDA-APHIS PPQ enter trade discussions with NAPPO, encouraging unilateral protection from pathogen introduction in North America Uniform arguments on acceptance of queens and packages into NAPPO member states USDA-ARS, NASDA, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, CAPA, AAPA

42 Resolution: Continuance NHBS US honey bee health is threatened by exotic pests Restrictions are warranted Baseline surveys of US Honey Bees necessary to adhere to policy and trade agreements Continue to fund and implement surveys begun in 2009 with State Cooperation

43 Resolution: Continuance HNBS USDA-ARS, NASDA, USDA-APHIS-PPQ U.S. Secretary of Agriculture NPB, Regional Plant Boards National Beekeeping Organizations

44 In conclusion D. vanengelsdorp

45 Support for Bees USDA- Federal Agriculture Research State Departments of Agriculture Beekeeping Organizations National Honey Board Pollinator Protection Campaigns Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Burt s Bees Cosmetics Concerned public

46 Partnerships American Beekeeping Federation American Honey Producers Association Western Apiculture Society Eastern Apiculture Society Heartland Beekeepers Association Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research & Extension Consortium State and Local Associations

47 Partnerships American Beekeeping Federation American Honey Producers Association Western Apiculture Society Eastern Apiculture Society Heartland Beekeepers Association Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research & Extension Consortium State and Local Associations National Plant Board

48 Beekeeping to harvest honey is a complex, dynamic, interrelationship of the living cycles of earth, micro-organisms, air, sun, rain, plants, flowers, bees and humans. As a beekeeper it is important to recognize, understand and acknowledge with respect and gratitude this elegant interplay that allows us to gather and share the natural delicacy we call honey. In fact there is very little else that compares to this romance. -Richard Spiegel, Volcano Island Honey

49 Thank you!