We examined honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies pollinating almonds in California during February 2003 for Paenibacillus larvae subsp. Larvae, the causative organism of the virulent brood disease American foulbrood. Colonies originating from the Rocky Mountain area and California had significantly higher numbers (P < 0.05) of bacterial colony-forming units (CFUs) (408 and 324 per 30 adult bees, respectively) than colonies from the upper Midwest (1.28). Colonies from the northwestern, central, and southwestern United States had intermediate CFU or bacterial colony levels. Operations positive for P. larvae larvae were relatively uniform at approximately 70-80%, and no regional significant differences were found. Percentages of colonies with high CFUs (> or = 400 per 30 bees) differed significantly, with those from the Rocky Mountain region having 8.73% compared with those of the upper Midwest with 0%. The significance of CFU levels was evaluated by inoculating healthy colonies with diseased immatures and sampling adult bees. The number of CFUs detected per diseased immature was conservatively estimated to be approximately 399 CFUs per 30 adult bees. We defined this spore level as 1 disease equivalent. Based on this, 3.86% colonies in our survey had 1 or more disease equivalent number of P. larvae larvae CFUs. Operations with high P. larvae larvae spore levels in their colonies will likely observe American foulbrood if prophylaxis is not practiced diligently.

We were in the Andes looking for Feral colonies.(1) Wind-sculptured foot-high plants were all pointing in the same direction. We hadn't seen water for days, maybe weeks, I forget. It was not the kind of place to get lost in; things could get serious, real quick. What was dumbfounding was that everywhere we stopped and opened the VW's doors amd allowed the aroma of dirty beesuits, drying bees (we preserved many of our bee samples by drying them on the dash board), and four unwashed bodies to drift into the air stream; honey bees would show up.

I said a bad word-and meant it. The side of my neck felt like an overused pin cushion in a garment factory. Sweat had caused the cloth netting of my zippered Delphos-folding veil to stick to my neck and the bees were hammering me.

In case you haven't heard, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has renewed the Section 18 registration for coumaphos strips (CheckMite(R))-thankfully. The registration now requires that the strips must be pulled 14 days prior to supering for honey production and strips may not be used if comb honey is to be produced As they did last year, no tolerance for coumaphos was established-if you have trouble understanding this, read on, we'll try to explain.

In hindsight we should have seen it coming. This past summer small hive beetles created honey house problems for several Florida beekeepers, We all knew that beetles were in the area and that they could destroy, small colonies by overwhelming them, sometimes by sheer weight of numbers. Even large colonies appeared vulnerable, if they were disturbed, as in a colony inspection or honey palling But beekeepers were actively controlling these pests through permethrin ground drenches in the apiary and with coumaphos traps in the colony, Things sort of seemed under control. Then, along came a nice honey flow and things got a little out of control.

Populations of Varroa jacobsoni Oud. from three geographic regions of the United States were assayed for resistance to fluvalinate. A bioassay using a discriminating concentration estimated to cause approximately 80-90 % mortality in a fluvalinate-susceptible strain of V. jacobsoni was used to compare percent mortalities between locations. An average of 73.3 % mortality was seen in two additional operations in Texas, not significantly less than the susceptible strain. An average of 23.7 % mortality was found for mites tested in Florida that had originated from field control failures; Florida test mortality was significantly less than that of the susceptible strain. An average of 65.1 % mortality was found for mites tested in California, also significantly less than mortality of suscepti- ble mites. However, no field control failures were reported for the mites tested in California. © Inra/DIB/AGIB/Elsevier, Paris

Since its confirmed discovery in Florida in June 1998, the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida Murray) has spread to honey bee colonies (Apis mellifera) throughout the eastern U.S. and has been reported from several midwestern states. While it is most likely that the nature of beekeeping to migrate around the U.S. is mainly responsible for this spread, questions have arisen in the bee industry as to the control of the small hive beetle in the shipment of package bees from infested areas. In order to answer these questions, we undertook two large studies in the southeastern U.S. designed to test beetle control strategies in packages.

Truth be told, your senior author had a bad, I mean, um, er, an unscientific attitude towards this beetle. To be blunt, I didn't believe the severity of reports coining out of Florida.

Live adult Varroa jacobsoni from different geographic locations within and outside the U.S. were tested for resistance to the acaricide fluvalinate. Mites were exposed to technical grade fluvalinate using a glass vial technique similar to standard toxicological methods. A single concentration of fluvalinate causing approximately 80% mortality of susceptible mites was used. Mites from Texas showed no resistance to fluvalinate, with mortality ranging from 70.7% to 80.8% after 24 hours of exposure. Mites from migratory beekeeping operations tested in California showed moderate to no resistance to fluvalinate, ranging from 48.9% to 80.8% mortality. Mites tested in Florida showed moderate to high levels of resistance, with mortality ranging from 5.1% to 61.6% mortality. Mites tested in Mexico showed the greatest susceptibility of any location surveyed. Resistance in a Florida beekeeping operation was further confirmed by using a glass jar technique developed by Pettis where live bees with mites are placed in contact with small sections of Apistan((R)) strips. The current toxicological studies support previous field research which demonstrated failure of Apistan((R)) to provide anticipated control (> 90%), due to changes in varroa susceptibility to fluvalinate.