Episode 19 of the podcast is up! Find it on Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts. This week, I have some news from the homestead, and then do a in depth review of the first 2 chapters of 'The Lives of Bees' by Thomas Seeley.
Homestea
Chappie cut his face and needed stitches. He wore a ‘comfy cone’ for 2 weeks and did really well! He is now free to hunt again, and sleep under the duvet.
More cold weather! But things are blooming so the overall soil temp must be rising. As soon as the night temps are above 55F, I have so much to do! It’s going to be rather hectic, I suspect.
I have a few things I can work on while I wait for better weather; mainly building things like new raised beds, chicken tractors, and basking enclosure for the reptiles.
Pink tongue skinks shipping is on hold until FedEx returns to normal and can guarantee overnight shipping again
Hive update:
Saturday, May 2nd
Warm, 60-67F, moderate-heavy wind
sunny/overcast
3-4pm
Hive #1 (Cerridwen):
Queen, eggs, brood
Queen in middle box (deep)
Less brood in lower box now (med)
Reversed boxes
Not much wax build up in top box (deep)
Brood pattern a bit spotty suddenly; why? Hygienic behaviour or laying issue?
No queen cups/signs of swarming
Some drones
Huge population
Wrap on
Hive #2 (Macha):
Queen, eggs, brood
Queen in upper box (deep)
Beautiful, full brood frames
Some drones
Candy board on
Wrap on
Consider reversing boxes at next inspection
HIve #3 (Sask Queen):
Queen, eggs, brood
Decent brood build up; still early days
Population looking good
Beautiful fat queen
Queen in lower box (deep)
Room to move up
Candy board on
Wrap on
Asian Giant Hornet (aka the ‘murder hornet’)
Much has been made in the news lately of this species being found in Washington state. But should we be worried?
Yes and no.
First, let’s address this ridiculous name of ‘murder hornets’. This was entirely created by the press. Previously, this species has only been referred to by its actual name: the Asian Giant Hornet (vespa mandarinia). It is true that this hornet can, and does, kill people. In Japan, 30-50 people per year die from hornet stings. Studies indicate that 50 or less stings can be fatal, usually due to subsequent kidney damage. To put these numbers in perspective, though, the CDC reported from 2000-2017, there were 1109 death from hornet, wasp, and/or bee stings; an average of 62 such deaths a year (interestingly, 80% of all fatalities were in men). So the number of hornet related deaths in Japan is relatively high but not completely out of the realm of what we currently see in the US for ALL stinging insects.
What we currently know: 2 individual hornets (not hornet nests) were found near Blaine, Washington, in late 2019 and were subsequently killed. Their point of origin isn’t known, though it’s suspected they came over with cargo on a ship (which is how we got Africanized bees and varroa). There was a hive of these hornets found in Nanaimo, Canada, in 2019 as well but genetic testing determined that this hive is not related to the 2 hornets found in Washington so we do know that they have not crossed the Canada-US border.
Now, there is a concern that these hornets could potentially become an invasive pest. So what is being done? Currently, there are teams working to set out traps, looking for queens and workers. Trapping any hornets will allow people to pinpoint any nest locations, allowing for eradication. Everything I read indicated that the next few years are critical in terms of getting ahead of this hornet becoming established, and there are people working on preventing this. Apparently, researchers are even investigating options such as heat-sensitive imaging to find the nests as the hornets will nest underground.
In terms of what damage these hornets could do; well, aside from being potentially fatal to people, they are vicious predators who can decimate a honey bee colony within about 90 minutes. They will hit the hive hard, chewing through the guard bees and foragers, and then stay within the hive for about a week or so while they eat their way through the brood. Then they move on. So, yes, IF the hornets spread through the US, they could pose a problem for honey bees but we’re not there yet! Remember, only two individual hornets were found in Washington State.
Speaking of, I’ve seen some people insisting that this timeline is wrong and the hornets have been here for a while because their neighbour had a nest, or somesuch. These people are probably mistaking the European hornet (vespa crabro) for the Asian hornet. The former does look similar but is much less aggressive and dangerous.
Credit to this National Geographic article for the information above.
Book review #3!
The Lives of Bees; The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild
By Thomas D. Seeley
About the author (from the book):
“Thomas D. Seeley is the Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University. He is the author of Following the Wild Bees, Honeybee Democracy, and Honeybee Ecology (all Princeton) as well as The Wisdom of the Hive. He lives in Ithaca, New York.”
Education:
A.B (summa cum laude) in Chemistry, Dartmouth College, 1974
Ph.D in Biology, Harvard University, 1978
One of his advisors at Harvard was the incredible author, naturalist, and biologist E.O.Wilson, who is considered a world expert in ants, and often called the ‘father of sociobiology’ and the ‘father of biodiversity’ (excuse me while I fangirl!!)
Book details:
Available as an Audiobook, hard cover, and kindle/e-book
Hardback is well made and designed; clear text, good pictures and diagrams
Great cover design
Hard cover price: $20-29.95 depending on vendor
Kindle is $19.47 on Amazon
Audiobook is $10.99 on Amazon or free if you have an Audible account
I’m going to break the book into chapters, and today I’ll be covering the preface, as well as chapters 1 and 2. There is a surprising amount to cover!
Preface
Seeley talks a little about his life long interest in honey bees
Notes that the focus throughout history is on their management in various man-made structures
Very little is known about their natural preferences for nest sites
He shares the story of seeing a swarm move into an old tree when he was 11 years old, and how that moment later came to his as an adult when he was pondering the nest sites of wild honey bee colonies
When faced with choosing his thesis focus, Seeley quickly chose the honey bee:
“What was it about the dark cavity in the black walnut tree near my parent’s house that attracted bees to make it their dwelling place?” (Preface, xiii.)
Chapter 1: Introduction
Each chapter opens with a quote.
‘We have never known what we were doing
Because we have never known what we were undoing.
We cannot know what we are doing until we know
What nature would be doing if we were doing nothing.’
-Wendell Berry, ‘Preserving Wildness’, 1987.
Seeley succinctly explains what this book is about:
“This book is about how colonies of the honey bee (apis mellifera) live in the wild. Its purpose is to provide a synthesis of what is known about how honey bee colonies function when they are not being managed by beekeepers for human purposes and instead are living on their own and in ways that favor their survival, their reproduction, and thus their success in contributing to the next generation of colonies.”
The colonies used for this study are those living in the wild in deciduous forests of the northeastern US.
Why is this important to know?
Honey bees used as model systems for biological studies including animal cognition, behavioural genetics, and social behaviour
Improves beekeeping
“Using nature as a guide for developing sustainable methods of agriculture.” (p.2)
Colony mortality rates of 40% in North America provided much impetus to study this little known subject matter
Discussion of genetic history of honey bees living in Northeastern US today:
Until mid-1800s, all honey bees in the US were descendants of those bees brought from Europe in the early 1600s
Primarily Apis mellifera mellifera Linnaeus (the dark European honey bee), which was the first to to be described taxonomically 360 years ago
A.m.m.Linnaeus lived throughout Northern Europe and was adapted to forested regions
Brought to North American by English and Swedish immigrants in the 1600s, swarmed, and became part of the local fauna, propagating in the wild
Current honey bees are no longer genetically pure descendants of this original European subspecies
In 1859, other subspecies of Apis mellifera were brought to the US
3 ‘most important’ all came from South and Central Europe:
A.m. ligustica (Italian honey bee)
A.m.carnica (Carniolan honey bee, from Slovenia)
A.m.caucasia (Caucasian honey bee, from Caucasus Mountains)
In 1987, A.m.scutellata (African honey bee) entered the US via Florida, and later the US-Mexico border, leading to ‘africanized’ colonies of honey bees.
What is the mix of subspecies represented genetically in the wild honey bee colonies of this study?
2 sample groups were used, each consisting of 32 sets of bees from 32 wild colonies, collected in 1977 and again in 2011
Both groups primarily descended from A.m.ligustica (Italian) and A.m.carnica (Carniolan)
Both groups also had genes from the dark European honey bee of the 1600s, and the Caucasian bee of the 1800s
The bees in the modern sample (2011) also had less than 1% of genes from two African species: A.m.scutellata and A.m.yemenetica
These Africanized genes likely came from Southern state queen rearers (FL, GA, AL, TX)
What does this genetic analysis tell us?
The arrival of African bees in the Southern states have had limited effect on the genetics of the wild colonies in Ithaca, NY.
The genes of the wild colonies are predominantly from honey bees native to Southern Europe, even though subspecies from Northern Europe reached the US 100 years before them. This could be due to the popularity of the Southern European subspecies, which are known for being docile and good honey producers.
Southern Europe has mild winters whereas Ithaca has long, cold winters, and yet these subspecies are thriving. Clearly, these honey bees have adapted over the past 400 years through natural selection.
Chapter 1 then closes with a brief summary of what to expect in the rest of the book, going chapter by chapter.
Chapter 2: Bees in the Forest, Still
‘Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.’
-Mark Twain, New York Journal, 1897
Area of study:
The Arnot Forest
Owned by Cornell University
17 square-km/6.6 square-miles
SW of Ithaca, NY
Finger Lakes region
Climate: similar to Northern Europe; short, hot and humid summers (<90F), and long, cold, snowy winter (temps often below 0F). Annual snowfall: 5ft+
Ecological history of area: turned agricultural by European settlers but eventually taken back over by hardwood tree species into full forest
Trees include chestnuts, maple, and ash; many of which are over 140 years old
Many plants that provide nectar and pollen source for bees
Other trees: cherry, basswood, tulip, chestnut, cucumber magnolia
Shrubs: common alder, pussy willow, staghorn sumac, spicebush, serviceberry, hawthorns, Northern shrub honeysuckle
Herbaceous plants: brambles, goldenrod, aster
Nearby farms, gardens, roadways, and ‘waste areas down in the valley’ (p.23), including: apple orchards, fields of buckwheat, hayfields seeded with white and sweet clover and alfalfa, boggy areas with cattails, jewelweed, purple loosestrife
Flower gardens: crocuses, milkweeds, dandelion, chicory, Japanese knotweed, and many herbs (including borage, catnip, and mint).
1978 Study
In 1978, with his friend and collaborator, Kirk Vischer, Seeley found 9 bee trees in the forests South and West sectors.
“The nine colonies that had been found were at most about one half of all colonies residing in this forest; hence there were 18 or more colonies living in this 17-square-kilometer (6.6 square mile) forest.” (p.33)
This means that in 1978, there was roughly 1 colony per square-km, or 2.5 colonies per square mile.
Method used to find nest sites: ‘Bee-lining’
Described in the 1949 book, ‘The Bee Hunter’ by George H. Edgell
Find clearing with flowers attractive to honey bees
Capture foraging bees in you ‘bee box’ (a small box with 2 chambers within)
Once you have about 6 bees in box, add a piece of old comb/beeswax filled with sugar syrup
Give the bees time to find and consume their fill of syrup, and then release them
Note direction in which they fly off
Wait for the return of bees until there is a steady back and forth of bees between their nest site and the bee box; this is their ‘bee line’, the most direct flight to home
“You determine the direction to their home by measuring their vanishing bearings with a magnetic compass, and you estimate the distance to their home by measuring the round trip times of half a dozen bees that you have labeled with paint marks.” p. 29
Start moving down the bee-line approximately 300-600ft (or 100-200 meters) at a time; releasing trapped bees after each move and noting their flight direction and time between feedings/return
Eventually, you’ll be able to follow the bee-line to the clearing of trees where the bee tree is located
This is a long process requiring a great deal of patience! Each move down the bee-line can take more than an hour!!
Wild colonies elsewhere:
There have been a number of studies attempting to collect data on wild honey bee colonies at sites in North America, Europe, and Australia, and Seeley discusses a few of these in this chapter. I’ve broken them down by date or the area of study for ease of reading.
1990 study:
In small port city of Oswego, in Northern New York state
Looking for Africanized bees and varroa mites
Area of 1.6km/1 mile from port
11 wild colonies found, and 1 manage colony
Thus 2.7 colonies per square-km, or 7 colonies per square mile
No Africanized bees or varroa found
Texas A&M University study:
From 1991 to 2001
Location: Welder Wildlife Refuge, a 31.2 square-km/12.2 square-mile nature preserve in Southern Texas
Aim: track Africanization of wild honey bee colonies within the refuge
Several times a year, for 11 years, biologists searched 6.25 square-km/2.4 square-mile study area in refuge; collecting samples of worker bees from each colony found
85% of colonies found in cavities of oak trees
Mitochondrial DNA of bees analyzed to determine maternal ancestry (mitochondrial DNA is passed almost exclusively from mother to offspring)
1991-1993: queen bees mainly descendants of several European subspecies; 68% A.m.ligustica and A.m.carnica (Southern Europe), 26% A.m.mellifera (Northern Europe), and 6% A.m.lamarckii (Northern Africa)
From 1993 onward, the queens became primary descendants of South African subspecies, A.m.scutellata
When the population was primarily European in origin, the wild colonies were numerous, approximately 9-10 colonies per square-km (24 per square-mile).
Poland study:
Apis mellifera is native here
Team from Kazimierz Wielki University
Studied wild colonies in area of lowlands of Northern Poland
68% agricultural, 27% forests
Focused on rural avenues; trees alongside country roads
Examined 15,115 large trees in 201 avenues
Searched along 142km/88 miles
Found 45 colonies
Density of 0.32 colonies per km, or 0.51 per mile
Estimate overall density of wild colonies: 0.10 colonies per square-km, or 0.26 per square-mile
Underestimate as did not search forested area
Also, colonies with very high nest entrances likely overlooked
Still valuable: demonstrates rural avenues are serving as a refuge for wild colonies
Beekeepers in this area maintain approximately 4.4 colonies per square-km or 11.4 colonies per square-mile.
German study:
University of Halle researchers
3 widely spaced sites chosen, spread North to South within Germany
2 sites were within National Parks (Muritz National Park and Harz National Park); 1 site was a rural spot in Bavaria
Team took an indirect approach based on genetic analysis to estimate the number of wild colonies
10 virgin queens released to conduct mating flights at each study area
Genes of the queens’ offspring then analyzed
This determined how many colonies produced drones that mated
Each queen mated with approximately 10-15 drones
Worker offspring of 10 queens = approximately 100-150 drones
Analysis = 24-32 colonies producing drones in the 3 study areas
Maths time! Assuming queens and drones fly 900 meters or 0.56 miles to mating area then the area in which these colonies were dispersed equals a circle with a radius of 1.8km or 1.1 miles, and an area of 10.2 square-km or 3.9 square miles.
The estimated average density of colonies for the 3 locations was 2.4-3.2 colonies per square-km or 6.2-8.2 colonies per square-mile.
Important note: some managed colonies might have been within the study areas so must consider this when looking at results
German Study #2:
University of Wurzburg team
Survey of wild colonies in largely undisturbed European Beech forests (in Central and S.W. Germany)
Study areas: 160 square-km (62 square-mile) Hainrich Forest; several clusters in 850 square-km (328 square-mile) biosphere reserve in Swabian Alb mountain range
No managed hives allowed in these locations
Method: bee-lining and inspecting known nesting cavities of the black woodpecker (largest woodpecker in Northern Europe), which are known for being suitable nesting sites for honey bees
Hainrich forest: 9 wild colonies located = 0.13 colonies per square-km or 0.34 per square-mile
Swabian Alb biosphere: 7 wild colonies located = 0.11 colonies per square-km or 0.28 per square-miles.
Australia:
European honey bee introduced in 1822
University of Sydney team
Used National Parks for their undisturbed habitats
No managed colonies allowed in areas chosen
3 parks all located in S.E. Australia: Barrington Tops National Park, Weddin Mountains National Park, Wyperfeld National Park
Method: drone sampling via collection of drones at congregation areas
2 locations selected for capture at each site
From genetics of drones, colony estimates were calculated: 0.4-1.5 colonies per square-km or 1.0-3.9 per square miles
Most recent study (2017):
Conducted by Robin Radcliffe of Cornell University
Area: 5.5 square-km (1.9 square-mile) area of the Shindagin Hollow State Forest in New York state
East of Arnot Forest
Method: bee-lining
5 colonies located = estimate of 1 colony per square-km or 2.5 per square-mile
Results almost identical to Seeley’s 1978 study, as well as his 2002 and 2011 surveys (to be discussed later)
What does this all mean? Why is this important?
Density of wild colonies varies greatly
General estimate in range of 1-3 colonies per square-km or 2.6-7.8 per square-miles
Density of wild colonies is low so we now know that nests are widely spaced apart
In Arnot forest specifically, the average distance between colonies is 0.87km or 0.54 miles
This means that wild colonies are much farther apart than managed colonies in our apiaries
The next big question: Have wild colonies been decimated by varroa?
Varroa destructor = nasty mite that parasitizes honey bees
Feeds on fat bodies
Introduces disease and viruses
See Episode 4 of my podcast for a detailed discussion of this pest and management
Originally from East Asia
Eventually host shifted from Apis cerana to Apis mellifera
Transmission from Russia to Europe to Paraguay to Brazil
Came to North America via 2 routes: Florida in the mid-1980s through either the smuggling of infested Brazilian queens or swarms of infested Africanized bess via vargo ships; and through Texas in the early-1990s when Africanized swarms crossed the US-Mexico border
Thomas Seeley first encountered this mite in his own colonies in June of 1994. By April 1995, only 2 of his original 19 colonies were alive (that’s an 89% mortality rate!). This led to Seeley wondering if the wild honey bee colonies were being similar decimated.
Dr Gerald Loper’s Study:
Published in ‘American Bee Journal’, 1997
Staff scientist at the USDA Honey Bee Research Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona
Long term study on a population of wild honey bees in the mountains of the Sonoran Desert
Starting in 1987, Loper located 247 nesting sites
Genetic analysis indicated all European subspecies with 68% having haplotype of A.m.mellifera (dark European honey bee)
Assessed winter survival rates each March
Checked in June for swarms
Collected samples of worker bees; inspected for tracheal mites before the introduction of varroa
Overall, this population was decimated by tracheal and varroa mites
In 1992 and 1993, before varroa, 120-160 colonies lived in the 247 nest sites
From 1994-1996, nearly every one of these colonies became infested with varroa, and only 12 colonies were alive by March 1996
In 1995, Africanized bees arrived and bred with the study bees, after which these colonies begin to recover somewhat
This study did not bode well for other wild colonies, and Seeley suspected that the colonies in the Arnot Forest were similarly struggling. He decided to find out for sure. In 2002, using the same methods as he had in his initial 1978 survey, Seeley conducted a 2nd census in the Arnot Forest. He looked for colonies for 117 hours over a period of 27 days, searching the Western half of the forest. He found 8 colonies; almost as many as in 1978 (when 9 colonies were found).
This was a positive result but begged the question: had these colonies not been exposed to varroa?
To answer this, Seeley used bait hives (set up high in trees) to capture swarms from these wild colonies. He used 8 frame, deep Langstroth hive bodies, as he needed a structured environment in which to monitor and test for varroa. Each hive was equipped with a screened bottom board, though which the mites would fall through and be unable to climb back up, and underneath this was a sticky-board that allowed him to conduct mite counts.
He ended up with 3 hives that he checked monthly to perform mite-drop counts, and discovered the following:
All 3 hives were infested with varroa
The population of mites was stable through late summer and fall, dropped over winter, and increased slowly and gradually over the next summer
All hives were doing well with strong populations, healthy brood, good honey production, and no signs of deformed wing virus or other known mite-transmitted disease
“By the end of the summer of 2004, it was clear that the Arnot Forest was well populated of wild honey bees, that these colonies were infested with Varroa mites, and that somehow these colonies were not dying from their mite infestations.” pg.56
This led to Seeley’s next question:
“How does the general biology of these wild colonies - nest structure, seasonal rhythms of growth and reproduction, food collection, defense mechanisms, life history, and still more - differ from what we see in colonies managed by beekeepers?” p.56
Chapters 5-10 will answer these questions.
Chapters 3-4 offers a review of the history of the relationship between honey bees and humans, which I will cover on the next episode!
Thanks so much for sticking with me! Stay safe, stay healthy, and self-isolate!
Remember, hug your hens and then wash your hands. Take care!