Beekeeping has turned into an apothecary’s dilemma. With all of the new issues effecting our honeybees one has to wonder what course of action to take in regards to protecting our bees. I wrote earlier that I am trying to distance myself from the use of miticides and other chemicals as I believe it destroys the long term survivability of our honeybees.
What options are on the table? First I would look to the field of genetics to help come up with a solution. With our ability to rapidly advance the process of evolution through planned selection of traits, I believe we can develop a better bee. Maybe not one that can rip the car door off of a burning wreck to rescue an infant but less dramatically be able to survive two or three seasons when invaded by a host of mites.
Gross!
I know some people may disdain the use of genetics when dabbling with the public’s food supply but I think a real absence of honeybees would be very detrimental to our nations food security. And with a rapid loss of food we can expect much more upheaval to follow. Civil war, mass starvation, roving gangs of angry motorcycle riders, and potato flavored ice cream. Maybe we would not have a Mayan 2012 apocalyptic disaster but not having a ready supply of fresh fruits and vegetables would make food shopping more expensive and our bodies less healthy. Hell we are fat asses now. Think what a steady diet of starches will do. We will all become like those hovering blobs in the movie Wall-E. I digress.
There are several scientists out their who are on the for front of developing honey bees that are not only resistant to the mites but also diseases such as American Foul Brood. Dr. Marla Spivak, for one, has helped develop the Minnesota Hygienic Italians. These honeybees are bred to exhibit a high degree of hygienic behavior that will prevent the development and spread of AFB and chalk-brood. This behavioral trait is comprised of two behaviors. The uncapping of diseased cells and then their removal of the pathogen found within the pupae, thereby eliminating the life cycle of the disease. These bees also exhibit a Varroa Specific Hygiene that targets the Varroa mite.
The USDA has also worked on producing a stronger honeybee with their breeding of honeybees Queens imported from the Primorsky Territory on Russia’s Pacific coast. The behavior associated with mite resistance is their ability to detect and remove mite-infested brood from a colony. When compared to existing domestic stock, the Russian honeybees showed much more hygienic behavior in association with the Varroa mite. Currently the USDA is making these queens available to commercial queen breeders around the country.
For the long term, I think this is our best bet for resuscitating apiculture in the United States and possibly around the world. The reliance on chemicals is only a band aide that more or less hides the problem. It may work for beekeepers in the short run but every time you put an Apistan strip in your hive you are making the mites stronger as they quickly adapt to the chemicals afflicting them. I am sure it is possible that even if the perfect bee was developed, which could throw mites off itself with ease, eventually a new mite would evolve to counter this trait. However in my very unprofessional layman’s opinion I think it would take a lot longer. And while that mite evolves the honeybees will be evolving right along with it.
Chemicals don’t show that kind of adaptability. Usually we end up developing another band-aid, further weakening our honeybees, or begin increasing the amount of chemical concentration to keep pace with the problem.
Hopefully the folks in the USDA with the lab coats and pocket protectors will save us.
JPB
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