Subject: B-Mail_5/95

From: [email-masked] (Adam Finkelstein)
Date: 2 May 1995 18:05:53 GMT

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B-MAIL

A monthly newsletter on issues and events in the bee world, provided
by IBRA, the world information service for bee science and beekeeping.

>From Andrew Matheson, Director

**May 1995**

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CONSERVING EUROPE'S BEES

We had over 100 people at the scientific symposium of that name,
organized by IBRA and the Linnean Society of London and supported by
the European Commission DG12.  The gathering was characterized by a
high standard of presentations, both oral and poster papers, eager
discussion (it was very hard to close up the coffee breaks!), and a good
spirit of collaboration.

There will be a full review of the symposium by Rob Paxton in the next
Bee World, and early 1996 will see a book on bee conservation published
by IBRA, the Linnean Society and Academic Press.

BUT WHICH HABITATS?

Yes, we're all getting switched on to realising that bees need conserving,
and that conserving habitats is the key to protecting nesting sites and food
sources.  But is conserving habitats simply a matter of protecting land from
human interference?  Locking land up is good for some conservation
purposes, but for bee species the matter isn't that simple.   The session at
our meeting on 'Habitats for bees', convened by Paul Westrich, threw
some light on this.

Paul discussed the concept of partial habitats, making the point that nest
sites, pollen sources and building materials must be available in
combination within the home range of a female.  Some types of habitat
such as moors, heaths, inland dunes or unimproved meadows actually
contain all the resources a female needs for reproduction and the home
range of the bee does not exceed the habitat boundaries. Therefore
conservation and management of these habitat types are effective means
to protect the species inhabiting them.

But the entire habitat complex of a bee species very often consists of
several partial habitats, especially when each partial habitat contains only
one of the required resources. The nest site can lie several hundred
metres away from the foraging site and a completely different type of
habitat not used by the bee can divide them. Typical partial habitats are
cliffs, unstable slopes or rocks (nesting sites) and ruderal places or fens
(pollen collecting sites).

Intensive land use very often leads to the destruction of one partial habitat
and thus to the loss of either the nesting or the foraging site. As a
consequence the bee population depending on the resource provided by
this partial habitat is extinguished. Therefore protecting bees in many
cases requires more than conserving just one single site. It must always
give special attention to the whole range of activity and all the resources a
given species' needs.

A fascinating example of how urban areas can provide important habitats
for bees was given by Chris Saure.  I found this particularly interesting
partly because I love Berlin, but also because of the interplay between
political events and the natural habitats.

A big surprise to many first-time visitors is how green Berlin is (and how
flat; it has more canals than Venice).  Within Berlin 262 bee species have
so far been recorded; this comparatively high number is due to the
favourable conditions of the local climate, the light and sandy soil and the
large number of different habitat types. Berlin has many disturbed areas
and ruderal places like disused railways, abandoned airports, heaps of
rubble, roadsides and sand pits.

Ruderal areas are places which have been disturbed by human
intervention, but which are currently undisturbed or abandoned.  For bees
these are most beneficial in their early years, but as the habitats move
towards supporting a climax community fewer nest sites and food
resources are provided for bees.  The fascinating thing about Berlin is that
the dates can be determined very accurately for when land (such as
railway lines) became unused, making the sequence of recolonization by
plants and animals easier to study.

Ruderal areas can function as refugia and centres of dispersal for many
species and as stepping stones in the habitat network. These urban
habitats merit much more protection. But in the last few years many
valuable ruderal areas in Berlin have been destroyed by building houses
and industrial plants, due to the political and economic changes after
German reunification. Saure considers that it is imperative to protect the
most important habitats and develop management strategies to maintain
the species richness and prevent a further decline. The first nature
conservation area is already in the planning stages.

HONEY BEES AND NATIVE SPECIES

Where honey bees are an introduced species, beekeepers are concerned
about possible restrictions on their industry for conservation reasons.
Managers of conservation land in some countries are becoming more alert
to the possible impact of honey bees on native plant and animal species.

One study from New Zealand presented at our bee conservation meeting
gave honey bees a relatively clean report.  The authors, Vivian Butz Huryn
and Henrik Moller of the University of Otago, reported that although honey
bees in that country use a taxonomically rich array of native flora only a
small proportion of native plants are visited intensively.  It seems there is
little potential for disruption of specialized plant-pollinator relationships.

Introduced weeds are a problem in protected natural areas; do honey
bees add to their impact through pollination?  Though honey bees visit
many (43 percent) of these species, honey bees are probably effective
pollinators of few of them.

Another area of possible conflict is in the beech honeydew areas, where
bees remove much of what is a very rich food source for insects and birds.
The most intensive stocking of an area with honey bees could deplete
honeydew standing crop by up to 82 percent for brief periods, but average
colony densities would cause only a 13 percent decline.  Introduced social
wasps have been observed causing a decline of as much as 91-99
percent.

The biology of New Zealand's 40 or so species of native bees is poorly
understood, and any competitive effects of honey bees are not yet known.

Only 0.6 percent of managed honey bee colonies in New Zealand are kept
in protected natural areas.  The Department of Conservation, responsible
for managing these areas, has adopted a flexible strategy of allowing
beekeeping to continue while reserving the right to exclude if evidence
demonstrates a conflict between apiculture and conservation.  Butz Huryn
and Moller conclude that there is only a limited threat posed to
conservation by beekeeping in New Zealand.

AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TASMAN

This issue is also hot in Australia.  David Paton is looking at the effect of
honey bees in a national park in South Australia which during winter
contains up to 80% of the state's beehives.  Despite this high density of
honey bees, observations reported in the January 1995 'Australian
Beekeeper' showed that after honey bees stopped flying for the day there
was still nectar and pollen available.  One bird could obtain its daily
requirements by visiting only 10 inflorescences (of Banksia spp.) and 100
birds could feed per hectare.  It's fair to point out that in winter native bees
aren't active.

In the next issue of Bee World we will be publishing an excellent review by
Evan Sugden, Robbin Thorp and Stephen Buchmann of how beekeeping
in Australia has been challenged by concern about competition between
honey bees and native bees, and how it has responded to the issues
raised.

VARROA INVADING BROOD CELLS

There has been quite a bit of discussion lately about what triggers varroa
to enter a brood cell, and whether any chemical stimuli can be used to lure
these mites into a trap instead.

Some of the finest work on this subject has been done by a team at
Wageningen University in the Netherlands.  One member, Willem Boot,
has recently published his thesis entitled 'Invasion of varroa mites into
honey bee brood cells'; but in the European style this thesis is in fact a
collection of research papers that have been published or accepted by
peer-reviewed journals.  There are nine papers included, four published
between 1992 and 1994 and the remaining five in press with different
journals.  Being from a Dutch university, of course these papers are in
English (!).

I don't know if copies are available for sale anywhere, but IBRA members
can borrow this title from our library.

GET TO GLOUCESTER

Those of you lucky enough to be in Britain now that spring is here, can
make your way to Gloucester on 27 May.  IBRA will be holding its annual
day with the Gloucester beekeepers and Hartpury College, and a good
day will be enjoyed by the large crowd sure to attend.

It starts at 1030 at Hartpury College, which is on the A417 between
Gloucester and Ledbury.

BUMBLE BEES FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT

The registration form is now out for this enjoyable and informative
programme.  Here it is, and remember that wFrom valdis Tue May  2 05:37:36 1995
Date:         Mon, 1 May 1995 18:18:47 -0500
Reply-To: Discussion of Bee Biology <[email-masked]>
Sender: Discussion of Bee Biology <[email-masked]>
From: Doug Yanega <[email-masked]>
Subject:      Re: petting bees
To: Multiple recipients of list BEE-L <BEE-L@ALBNYVM1>

>When I was a teen, I was known as "the girl who picks up bees" because
>I was always toting around some bumblebee I'd picked up at the local
>spring.  (They would congregate on the mud to get water, and I found that
>if I put a little water on my finger, I could pick them up and keep them
>happily lapping up liquid while I toted them around and showed them off to
>friends.  A little sugar-water worked just as well on the honeybees.)
>Needless to say, I had a bit of a reputation as an eccentric...but aren't
>all bee folks?  ;-)

Another good trick is to learn how to sex bees and wasps on sight, and then
grab a male and hold it for folks to admire (or, more usually, retreat in
terror). It  gives you the opportunity to explain, in dramatic fashion,
that males can't sting (just don't try this with Cicada Killers - the males
posess a "pseudo-sting" which is quite painful, even if it isn't venomous).

        It's especially fun to do this with Orchid Bees in the tropics;
males (ONLY males) are attracted to volatile oils like menthol, eucalyptol,
methyl salicylate, and the like, so just about any mouthwash will do (or
menthol or wintergreen breath lozenges), and you can attract and grab these
large, brilliant metallic bees, which will occasionally be carrying an
orchid pollinium.

Doug Yanega      Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA     phone (217) 244-6817, fax (217) 333-4949
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82

-- 
______________________________________
Adam Finkelstein 
[email-masked]