Sustainicum Baustein
Transcription
Sustainicum Baustein
Sustainicum Baustein - Bienen Table of Contents History of Honeybees................................................................................................................................. 2 Beekeeping in the course of time..................................................................................................... 2 Zeidlerei.................................................................................................................................. 2 Skeps until the 19th century................................................................................................... 3 Modern Beekeping..................................................................................................................3 Holistic Beekeeping ............................................................................................................... 4 Der Krainer Bauernstock – Bienenhaltung in Österreich........................................................ 6 Bees and Sustainability.............................................................................................................................. 7 Economic Aspects – Resources....................................................................................................... 7 Production of Wax and Royal Jelly ........................................................................................ 7 Climate in the Hive.................................................................................................................. 8 Ecological Aspects - Biodiversity...................................................................................................... 9 Ecosystem Services..............................................................................................................10 Societal Aspects - Honeybees as Eusocial Insects........................................................................12 Der Bien................................................................................................................................ 12 Facts and Figures.....................................................................................................................................15 Diseases and Challenges.........................................................................................................................16 Colony Collapse Disorder..................................................................................................... 16 Varroa....................................................................................................................................16 Neonicotinoids...................................................................................................................... 17 Bees in Relation to their Environment...................................................................................................... 18 Bees and their Products as Biomonitors...............................................................................19 The Role of the Beekeeper ..................................................................................................................... 21 Other Pollinators.......................................................................................................................................22 Further Info and Reading......................................................................................................................... 23 Sustainicum Honeybees 1 History of Honeybees Honeybees (apis mellifera) have been existing for about 30 Mio years. Some evidence for this can bee found in amber with enclosed bee-bodies. Mankind has been attracted to these animals for their products and has been hunting them for many thousands of years. Honey with its unique properties - the first sweetener known to man, and being a food that is neither plant nor animal – was worthwhile being harvested. Beekeeping was well established in Egypt already about 3000 b.c., where bees were kept in clay vases. In Greece bees were kept in straw baskets, the Celts used the bark of cork-oak trees. A wide variety of bee species exist. The dark or black honeybee (Apis Mellifera Mellifera) is endemic to the North of Europe, like the British Island, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia, the Baltic States and the Ukraine, whereas Apis Mellifera Carnica is the Carniolian bee has its home in the region of the Carniolian Alps, in Austria and Slovenia. Several other subspecies of Apis Mellifera exist. An artificial breed worth mentioning is the “Buckfast” bee, popular for her high productivity. She was developed by "Brother Adam", who was in charge of beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey in Great Britain in the 1920ies. Stingless Bee – Trigona Carbonaria (Melipona) Several subspecies of stingless bees exist, especially in Central and South America, although only a few of them produce honey on a scale such that they are farmed by humans. Meliponine honey is prized as a medicine in many African communities as well as in South America. The stingless bees Melipona beecheii and Melipona yucatanica were extensively cultured by the Maya for honey for thousands of years, and regarded as sacred. These bees are endangered due to massive deforestation, altered agricultural practices (especially insecticides), and changing beekeeping practices with the arrival of the Africanized honey bee in Central and South America, which produces much greater honey crops. Beekeeping in the course of time Some of the earliest evidence of gathering honey from wild colonies is from rock drawings, dating to around 13 000 BC. Gathering honey from wild bee colonies is usually done by subduing the bees with smoke and breaking open the tree or rocks where the colony is located, often resulting in the physical destruction of the nest location. Zeidlerei Honey gathering profession – The word comes from old German zeideln (cut honey). The Zeidlers cut the honeycomb entirely from wild bee colonies for the use of their honey and wax. The survival of the colony was of minor importance. These honey gatherers are documented from A.D. 959 onwards. The Beekeepers, 1568, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder Sustainicum Honeybees 2 Skeps until the 19th century During the medieval period abbeys and monasteries were centers of beekeeping, since beeswax was highly prized for candles and fermented honey was used to make alcoholic mead in areas of Europe where vines would not grow. Skeps made of straw were commonly used. Skeps are, so called, fixed comb hives in which the combs cannot be removed or manipulated for management or harvesting without permanently damaging the comb. Almost any hollow structure can be used for this purpose, such as a log gum, skep or a clay pot. Modern Beekeping Hive ManagementThe 18th and 19th centuries saw successive stages of a revolution in beekeeping, with advances over the destructive old skep-based beekeeping so that the bees no longer had to be killed to harvest the honey. Around 1850, Lorenzo Langstroth was the first person to make practical use of the discovery that there was a specific spatial measurement between the wax combs, later called the bee space, which bees do not block with wax, but keep as a free passage. Having determined this bee space (between 5 and 8 mm, or 1/4 to 3/8"), Langstroth then designed a series of wooden frames within a rectangular hive box, carefully maintaining the correct space between successive frames, and found that the bees would build parallel honeycombs in the box without bonding them to each other or to the hive walls. This enables the beekeeper to slide any frame out of the hive for inspection, without harming the bees or the comb, protecting the eggs, larvae and pupae contained within the cells. It also meant that combs containing honey could be gently removed and the honey extracted without destroying the comb. The emptied honey combs could then be returned to the bees intact for refilling. Langstroth's design for movable comb hives was seized upon by apiarists and inventors on both sides of the Atlantic and a wide range of moveable comb hives were designed and perfected in England, France, Germany and the United States. Classic designs evolved in each country: Dadant hives and Langstroth hives are still dominant in the USA. The differences in hive dimensions of these local designs are insignificant in comparison to the common factors in all these hives: they are all square or rectangular; they all use movable wooden frames; they all consist of a floor, brood-box, honey super, crown-board and roof. Hives have traditionally been constructed of cedar, pine, or cypress wood, but in recent years hives made from injection molded dense polystyrene have become increasingly important. Sustainicum Honeybees 3 Holistic Beekeeping (from http://www.themelissagarden.com/beekeeping.html and http://www.gaiabees.com/) Once we approach bee keeping in the context of the “Bien”, which represents the un-dividable entity of the hive, methods and hives will change accordingly. In the following, three alternative hive designs are shown: One-Room-Hive (Golden Hive) - Einraumbeute: One of the “bee-natural” hives is the “one-room-hive” (in German: “Einraumbeute”), which is also called the “golden hive”. It is designed to provide the best environment for the development of the “Bien” and to minimize necessary manipulation (more frequent opening of hives may result in a weakening of the “Bien”). Four different elements are part of the new design: The entire colony lives in one room (without multiple hives and frame levels) The hive comes with tall frames, sustaining the “Bien” and allowing the development of a large brood nest. The side window enables the bee keeper to receive information about the cycle/status of the “Bien” without having to open the hive. The dimensions of the one-room-hive are set according to the “golden mean”. It is a universal principle within all forming forces in nature and is found in art, architecture and ancient philosophy. It’s also called the “divine proportion”. The “Einraumbeute” was designed by Mellifera e.V., the German holistic bee keeper association, and provides an environment for bees that is closer to their natural gestalt. It gives the bees the space to build natural comb with greater depth than regular bee hives. The brood nest is a protected space, and honey can be received from the sides. This hive contains 20 frames and is not supered. The comb surface area equals the frames of two regular deep and one medium Langstroth hive bodies. It has the typical screened bottom board for varroa monitoring, and uses follower boards to support changing bee populations throughout the season. A wax cloth lays on top of the frames and provides further options for protection the inner climate of the “Bien”. “Weissenseifener Hängekorb” (Round Skep Hive) The “Weissenseifener Hängekorb” was designed by the German sculptor Guenther Mancke. The form and shape of the hive are created according to natural/wild bee hives. The “Bien” as “an organic interpretation of an individual” was the blueprint for the design. Already through his outer shape it reveals the nature of the bee colony – as if the egg shaped skep would be the outer shell or skin of this living being. The inner shape allows bees to unfold their own natural gestalt, in harmony with their instinctual life forces. The “Hängekorb” is made out of rye straw and has nine, half moon shaped arched, movable frames. Comb is built naturally and can be almost 2 feet deep. Supering is possible while fully protecting the integrity of the brood nest. The entrance is located at the bottom of the hive. Sustainicum Honeybees 4 Top Bar Hive It provides all the features of a natural comb bee hive. Top bars fully cover the upper opening of the hive, with initial comb guidance on the lower bar side. Top bar hives are used in many different cultures. We are introducing new versions of the top bar hive this coming year, which will use “bee-natural” hive proportions and will provide more space for larger comb creation. Top bar hives can be built easily from scratch with some basic materials. Another alternative hive design is the Warré hive or People's Hive (Ruche Populaire), developed by Abbe Warré in the mid 1900s. Identical boxes fitted with top-bars, but no frames. This hive has to be opened only once a year, for harvesting. Sustainicum Honeybees 5 Der Krainer Bauernstock – Bienenhaltung in Österreich In der Krain, einer Region in Slowenien, sind die traditionellen Beuten horizontal und aus Holz (Krainer/Kärntner Bauernstock). Wahrscheinlich gehen sie ursprünglich auf römische Horizontalbeuten zurück. Es hatte sich dort die Tradition entwickelt, dass die Vorderseite jeder Beute mit einem Bildmotiv aus der Bibel oder einem Volksmärchen bemalt wurde. Erstmals wird 1758 eine bemalte Beutenfront erwähnt, die eine Madonna zeigt. Zwischen 1750 und 1900 war diese Praxis in Slowenien sehr beliebt. Die Beuten wurden in einem speziellen Bienenhaus aufgestellt, dessen Dach nach hinten schräg ab fiel und nach vorne einen Überstand bildete, der die Stöcke schützte. Eine wichtige Rolle für die Verbreitung des Krainer Bauernstocks spielte Anton Janscha, der 1734 in der heutigen Krain geboren wurde. 1769 wurde er von der Kaiserin Maria Theresia zum kaiserlichen und königlichen Imker ernannt, mit der Aufgabe, in Wien auf dem Gebiet der Bienenhaltung zu lehren und zu beraten. Janscha verwendete die lokale Krainer Horizontalbeute aus Holz mit den folgenden Maßen: 79 cm lang, 32 bzw. 37 cm breit und 16 cm hoch. Er stellte die Beuten über- und nebeneinander in ein Bienenhaus. 1771 veröffentlichte er in deutscher Sprache ein Buch über das Bienenschwärmen. Bevor er weitere umfassende Bücher über die Bienenhaltung schreiben konnte, starb er 1773 an Typhus. 1775 brachte der Schüler und Assistent Janschas, Joseph Münzberg, ein weiteres Buch in deutscher Sprache heraus, das auf Janschas Erkenntnissen aufbaute. Als Folge gewannen Janschas Ideen und Praktiken großen Einfluss in den Ländern des deutschen Sprachraums. Auch Janscha modifizierte bereits die einfachen Holzbeuten. Seine Kästen hatten entfernbare Wände und miteinander verbundene Öffnungen, die verschließbar waren. So konnte Janscha den Schwarmtrieb dämpfen und höhere Honigerträge erzielen. Der Kärntner Bauernstock hatte ursprünglich eine Länge von 1 m, eine Breite von 60 cm und eine Höhe von 20 cm. Der heutige Bauernstock besteht aus einem Bodenbrett, welches nach vorn zu einem Flugbrett verlängert ist, zwei Seitenteilen, einem Stirnbrett und einem rückwertigen Brett. Ein hineingeschlagener Schwarm baut seinen Bau selbst in Naturbau. Ist eine größere Nachschau erforderlich, so wird der Stock auf den Kopf gestellt und das Bodenbrett, welches mit 4 Schrauben oder Nägeln festgehalten wird, abgenommen. Die Stirnbrettchen von alten Bauernstöcken sind mit wunderbaren Bildern, welche Landschaften, Tiere und Heiligenbilder darstellen, geschmückt (http://www.panjske-koncnice.si/page_2.html). Es gibt in Kärnten Bauernstöcke, die ein Alter von 100 Jahren und noch mehr aufweisen. Der Bauernstockimker hat mit seinen Bienen wenig Arbeit. Die Bienenzucht in Kärnten konnte man als volkstümlich bezeichnen, denn fast bei jedem Bauernhof fand man einen Bienenstand mit 50, 60, ja sogar 100 Bauernstöcken." (aus: Die Carnica in ihrer Heimat Kärten, Imkermeister Karl Schuchmann, Deutscher Imkerkalender 1955) Sustainicum Honeybees 6 Bees and Sustainability Exploring honeybees means understanding the environment more comprehensively, investigating the complexity of ecosystems, and get into system thinking. Sustainability can be described in its three pillars - economic, ecologic and social. Economic Aspects – Resources Bees manage building, heating and cooling, mobility, food, defense, medicine with only 3 ingredients: nectar, pollen, water. Collecting Nectar, Pollen and Water The foraging workers collect nectar from the nectaries of flowers. The nectar is drawn off from the nectaries by the long labium. It is pumped up and swallowed into the honey sac, a region of the gut from which it can be regurgitated on reaching the hive. Nectar is a watery sugar solution when collected, but it is processed by the house bees to whom it is passed. These workers repeatedly swallow it, mix it with enzymes and regurgitate it. The enzyme action and the evaporation of water result finally in its conversion to honey. Nectar contains very little protein, and the pollen collected by the foragers makes up this deficiency. Pollen is collected by combing off with the legs the grains which adhere to the bee's body after it has visited a flower. The pollen collected on the head, and removed by the front legs, is mixed with a little nectar and passed to the back legs which have combed pollen from the abdomen. The rows of bristles on the legs assist this combing action. The pollen press, in the joint between the tibia and tarsus of the hind legs, squeezes the pollen which is passed to it from the pollen comb of the opposite hind leg. The pollen and nectar paste is thus pushed by the press into the pollen basket on the tibia, where it is retained by the fringe of setae. All this may be done while the bee hovers in the air or while hanging from the flower. The forager returns to the hive with the two packs of pollen and pushes them off into an empty cell or into one with some pollen already in it. The younger house bees then break up the pollen masses and pack them down into the cell. When the cell is full it may be covered with a little nectar and sealed over. Both pollen and honey sealed in the store cells are eaten by the bees in the winter months when no other food is available. Water is collected and used to dilute the nectar with which the larvae are fed, but there is no evidence of water being stored. Propolis is a resinous substance that the bees collect from trees and sticky buds. They use it for sealing small cracks and gaps in the hive. Propolis is sticky at and above room temperature (20 °C), at lower temperatures, it becomes hard and very brittle. Depending upon its composition, propolis may show powerful local antibiotic and antifungal properties. Propolis is used to reinforce the structural stability of the hive, make the hive more defensible by sealing alternate entrances, prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive, and to inhibit bacterial growth, prevent putrefaction within the hive. Bees usually carry waste out of and away from the hive. However if a small lizard or mouse, for example, finds its way into the hive and dies there, bees may be unable to carry it out through the hive entrance. In that case, they would attempt instead to seal the carcass in propolis, essentially mummifying it and making it odorless and harmless. Production of Wax and Royal Jelly Wax The production of beeswax is essential to the bee colony. It is used to construct the combs in which the bees raise their brood and into which they store pollen and surplus honey for the winter. Worker bees, which live only around 35 days in the summer, develop special wax-producing glands on their abdomens (inner sides of the sternites of abdominal segments 4 to 7) and are most efficient at wax production during the 10th through the 16th days of their lives. From about day 18 Sustainicum Honeybees 7 until the end of its life, a bee's wax glands steadily decline. Bees consume honey (3-4 kilos of honey are need to produce 1/2 kilo of wax) causing the special wax-producing glands to convert the sugar into wax which is extruded through small pores. The wax appears as small flakes on the bees' abdomen. At this point the flakes are essentially transparent and only become white after being chewed. It is in the mastication process that salivary secretions are added to the wax to help soften it. This also accounts for its change in color. The exact process of how a bee transfers the wax scales from its abdomen to its mandibles was a mystery for years. It's now understood to be processed in either of two ways. Most of the activities in the hive are cooperative so it should be no surprise that other worker bees are willing to remove the wax scales from their neighbors and then chew them. The other method is for the same bee extruding the wax to process her own wax scales. This is done using one hind leg to move a wax scale to the first pair of legs (forelegs). A foreleg then makes the final transfer to the mandibles where it is masticated, and then applied to the comb being constructed or repaired. A honeycomb constructed from beeswax is nothing short of a triumph of engineering. It consists of hexagon shaped cylinders that fit naturally side-by-side. It has been proven by mathematicians that making the cells into hexagons is the most efficient shape. The smallest possible amount of wax is used to contain the highest volume of honey. It has also been shown to be one of the strongest possible shapes while using the least amount of material. Pigmentation in the wax can result in colors ranging from white, through shades of yellow, orange, and red all the way to brown. The color has no significance as to the quality of the wax. Formerly, wax was bleached using ionization, sulphuric acid, or hydrogen peroxide which resulted in the inclusion of toxic compounds. Bleaching has now been abandoned by reputable candle manufacturers and other suppliers of beeswax. Royal Jelly Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of larvae and adult queens. It is secreted from the glands in the hypopharynx of worker bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony. When worker bees decide to make a new queen, either because the old one is weakening, or was killed, they choose several small larvae and feed them with copious amounts of royal jelly in specially constructed queen cells. This type of feeding triggers the development of queen morphology, including the fully developed ovaries needed to lay eggs. Royal Jelly is rich in B vitamins, essential amino acids, unsaturated fats, natural sugars, and minerals such as iron, calcium, silicon, sulfur, and potassium. Climate in the Hive A colony constantly maintains climatic stability in order to survive. As it pushes into its food reserves, the colony, through its mass of bees,instinctively establishes climatic stability. It maintains an almost constant temperature (34, 35ºC for the central part of the cluster) while economising in the use of energy by the bees in their physiological and biological processes. The warmed air, being lighter, ascends and spreads out at the top of the colony where there isconstant and precise stabilisation of the optimal climate, while the heavy gas (stale; carbon dioxide laden) falls together with excess water vapour, condensing as it descends, especially near the entrance. A very well insulated crown board prevents condensation at the top.The colony constantly takes care of the regulation of its climate and controls the ascending anddescending currents of air.Heating this microclimate is achieved by muscular heat production (buzzing). The rate of expulsion of stale air and excess humidity, replaced by the incoming fresh, clean air that is soon warmed up is proportional to the ventilation activity of the cluster, for example, at times of strong nectar flow and the arrival of moist forage. Sustainicum Honeybees 8 In winter, when the colony has no brood, the bees pack themselves closely together to avoid the cold. In doing so they form a cluster that contracts and expands according to the outside temperature. In summer, when the temperature is higher and has reached an ideal level, the bees have to cool the hive atmosphere by evaporating water (vapour diffusion caused by ventilation). The air-conditioning of the hive applies to the relative humidity too, because the brood cannot tolerate desiccation. In this case the action of clustering of the bees and the evaporation of water allows them to maintain a satisfactory humidity. Stability of the climate inside the hive at the same time ensures the economy of physiological and biological energy production of the colony, which is fundamental and essential to its survival. Ecological Aspects - Biodiversity Pollination is one of the most important mechanisms in the maintenance and promotion of biodiversity and, in general, life on Earth. Many ecosystems, including many agro-ecosystems, depend on pollinator diversity to maintain overall biological diversity. Pollination also benefits society by increasing food security and improving livelihoods. Pollinators are extremely diverse, with more than 20,000 pollinating bee species and numerous other insect and vertebrate pollinators. Pollinators, and particularly honeybees are regarded as ecosystem providers. However, the assumption that pollination is a "free ecological service" is erroneous. It requires resources, such as refuges of natural vegetation. Where these are reduced or lost they become limiting, and adaptive management practices are required to sustain livelihoods. The conservation and sustainable use of pollinators intersect on a number of key issues. There are some 240,000 species of flowering plants described. To set seed, nearly all of the flowers must be pollinated. For most plants, specialized pollinators are needed to transfer the pollen between flowers. Honeybees are not the only groups of pollinators; they are found in diverse groups of the animal kingdom, including birds, bats, opossums, giraffes, reptiles, flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, wasps and other bees. Destruction of habitats and further extinction of specific species of plants threaten pollinator diversity. Also, the extinction of pollinator species threatens the existence of specialized plants that rely on them for pollination. The biodiversity of pollinators and plants are thus strongly linked. Pollinators provide an essential ecosystem service that results in the reproduction of many plants and hence benefit society by increasing food security and improving livelihoods. Plants set seed and fruit only after pollination, and plants depend on seeds for reproduction. Specialists estimate that two-thirds of the world's 3000 species of agricultural crops require animals for pollination. Pollinators can be considered guardians of biodiversity and life on Earth, contributing to food security and to the global economy. Pollination services are essential to global economy. One-third of the world’s crops demand pollination to set seeds and fruits, and the great majority of them are pollinated by many of the estimated 25,000 species of bees. (Convention on Biological Diversity http://www.cbd.int/) Pollen is virtually the only source a honeybee colony has for protein, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. Colonies that pollinate large monocultures—such as almonds—have a severe lack of variability in their diets. Just as one fruit or vegetable doesn’t satisfy all your nutritional needs, one type of pollen is not enough for the bees. Pollen from different flowers varies tremendously in both the quantity and quality of protein, the protein content can range from about 2 to 61% by dry weight. Furthermore, some protein may lack some of the amino acids necessary for proper growth and development. An example of a poor pollen source is the common dandelion, Taraxacum. Bees seem to love dandelions, and are often seen going from blossom to blossom in large numbers. But dandelions are missing some of the essential amino acids. Research has shown that a diet of pure dandelion pollen will hinder larval development in mason bees, prevent brood production in honey bees, and cause 100% larval rejection in bumble bees. In nature, monocultures do not pose a big problem. A bee would seldom—if ever—run into an Sustainicum Honeybees 9 endless monoculture of dandelions, and so they don’t cause a problem. But bees plunked down in the middle of acres and acres of a single crop will have a problem nourishing the next generation. And even if the young bees survive and mature, their immunity to diseases and parasites may be compromised. Just like any other animal, bees need healthy immune systems to survive, and healthy immune systems depend on proper nutrition. Ecosystem Services Ecosystems provide a wide range of services, including water purification, recycling of soil nutrients and pollination. Many attempts to estimate the value of pollinators as ecosystem service providers have been undertaken - naturally, from a anthropocentric perspective. Some contributions: Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung: In recent years the economic value of pollinationdependent crops has substantially increased around the world. As a team of researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), the Technical University of Dresden and the University of Freiburg headed by the UFZ wrote in an article entitled "Spatial and temporal trends of global pollination benefit" the value of ecological pollination services was around 200 billion US dollars in 1993 and rose to around 350 billion US dollars in 2009. For the first time, the researchers were also able to show in which regions of the world pollination plays a particularly important role and agriculture is furthermore particularly dependent upon the pollination carried out by animals. 5000 mile project: Ecosystem Services concern the free benefits humans derive from the natural world. Scientists have recently begun to evaluate their relative financial value to humankind, especially as ecosystems are modified and degrade and can no longer provide their original functions. A study by Cornell University in 2012 attributed insect pollination as contributing $29 billion annually to the U.S. farm income. European Commission, DG Health and Consumers: Pollination services are among the most crucial of the ecosystem goods and services provided by our natural environment. 84% of European crop plants rely, at least in part on pollination via insects, such as wild bees, honeybees and hoverflies (Williams 19941), in particular fruits, vegetables and fodder crops. Bees play an important role in this web by providing a service which has a significant economic impact and contributes to ensure food security. The estimated value of insect pollination for European agriculture is 22 billion Euros per annum (Gallai et al. 2009). [Compare: oil consumption in Europe in 2010 was 13.7 Mio barrels per day, at a price of 80$ per barrel makes 1.1 billion Dollars per day] However, indicators show a severe decrease in the populations of many pollinators such as honeybees, wild bees, butterflies, moths and flies (Biesmeijer et al. 20063 ; Potts et al. 20104). Habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution and pathogens are some of the potential factors behind this trend. Other drivers may be the disruption of pollination timing due to climate change and the spread of invasive insect species outcompeting native pollinators and invasive plants drawing native pollinators away from native plants. (http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/bees/pollination_biodiversity_en.htm) Handpollination Maoxian County in the Chinese province of Sichuan. In this region farmers have been forced to pollinate their apples and pears by hand because there are insufficient natural insect pollinators to ensure proper fruit set and thus a crop. These are high value crops that must be free of cosmetic defects to be marketable. To achieve this, the growers have resorting to spraying when there is the least hint of a problem. This has resulted in marketable material, but at the cost of having destroyed all the native pollinators in the region. There are beekeeping services but these individuals hesitate to Sustainicum Honeybees 10 locate their bees in the area because of the danger presented to their hives by the pesticide use strategies of the fruit producers. The result hand pollination by humans. This report comes from one county in a province that produces a little more than 1% of Chinese apples. Nonetheless, the province still produces some 409,000 metric tons of apples (in 2009). And this pollination problem is not an isolated case, but rather extends to other countries in the region such as Pakistan, India, and Nepal. Such a situation does not translate well into American agriculture especially considering labor wages. If we were to do so it would look like this: It takes twenty Chinese workers working for 10 hours to pollinate a half acre. Translated into an orchard in the United States where the workers were paid $9 per hour, it would cost the growers $3,600 in pollination services. This would probably double the cost of apples...... Sustainicum Honeybees 11 Societal Aspects - Honeybees as Eusocial Insects Certain traits characterizing eusocial insects: -Reproductive division of labor: the queen reproduces almost exclusively while other members of the colony specialize on different tasks. -Cooperative brood care: contrastingly to many different animals, social insects all tend the brood together indiscriminately of whose offspring it is. -In the ants and termites there are castes that carry out different functions necessary for the survival of the colony depending on the size or age of the insect they carry different functions Social insects are organized into different ‘castes’, these are characterized by specialized roles (queen, soldiers, workers and such). Usually there is a queen that produces a lot of offspring and apart from her, many other sterile daughters (workers) that depending on their age or structure carry out specific tasks in or around the colony. Social insects are able to communicate mainly through pheromones; bees are also able to communicate through elaborate ‘dances’ to convey the direction and distance of food sources and by sounds/vibrations that transmit over the wax structure in the nest. So far our knowledge.... Der Bien In the 19th century, the German beekeeper Johannes Mehring thoroughly observed his animals, and came up with the concept of looking at a colony of bees as one organism, one animal consisting of many bodies. In this organism, the queen is the female reproductive organ, the drones represent the male reproductive organ and the worker bees take the role of all the other organs and functions of a body. Lately, this idea is being picked up again by the honey bee researcher Jürgen Tautz. The entire colony together has developed characteristics and abilities that a single bee does not have. Honeybees in Europe live in colonies with up to 60.000 individuals. Most of them are female animals, the worker bees and the queen. In the summer, the colony hosts some drones, the male bees needed for mating queen bees. The entirety of all individuals, the brood nest made of wax and the larvae are seen as one organism, the Bien, that can be compared to a mammal in many respects. For example, although the bee itself is cold blooded, the group of bees manage to keep the temperature of the Bien at 35°C over long periods of time, similar to mammals. Castes of Bees Within the two sexes, there are 3 castes of bees within any colony: the queen, the drones, and the workers. The approximate breakdown by caste is (in the summer): * 1 queen * 100 - 300 drones * 26 - 40 thousand in-hive bees (young workers) * 13 - 40 thousand foragers (oldest workers). queen worker drone The brood, comprising of eggs and young is typically: * 5 - 7 thousand eggs * 7 - 11 thousand larvae * 16 - 24 thousand pupae. Sustainicum Honeybees 12 The queen can lay up to 2,000 eggs a day during the height of the laying season. She does not lay from November through January (in the cold season). All colonies are totally dependent on their queen, who is the only egg-layer. However, even the best queens live only a few years and one or two years longevity is the norm. She can choose whether or not to fertilize an egg as she lays it; if she does so, it develops into a female worker bee; if she lays an unfertilized egg it becomes a male drone. She decides which type of egg to lay depending on the size of the open brood cell she encounters on the comb. In a small worker cell, she lays a fertilized egg; if she finds a larger drone cell, she lays an unfertilized drone egg. All the time that the queen is fertile and laying eggs she produces a variety of pheromones, which control the behavior of the bees in the hive. These are commonly called queen substance, but there are various pheromones with different functions. As the queen ages, she begins to run out of stored sperm, and her pheromones begin to fail. Inevitably, the queen begins to falter, and the bees decide to replace her by creating a new queen from one of her worker eggs. They may do this because she has been damaged (lost a leg or an antenna), because she has run out of sperm and cannot lay fertilized eggs (has become a 'drone laying queen'), or because her pheromones have dwindled to where they cannot control all the bees in the hive. At this juncture, the bees produce one or more queen cells by modifying existing worker cells that contain a normal female egg. Design Food for Queens The honeybee queens and workers represent one of the most striking examples of environmentally controlled phenotypic polymorphism1. In spite of their identical clonal nature at the DNA level, they are strongly differentiated across a wide range of characteristics including anatomical and physiological differences, longevity of the queen, and reproductive capacity. Queens constitute the sexual caste and have large active ovaries, whereas workers have only rudimental inactive ovaries and are functionally sterile. The queen/worker developmental divide is controlled epigenetically by differential feeding with royal jelly; this appears to be due specifically to the protein royalactin. A female larva destined to become a queen is fed large quantities of royal jelly; this triggers a cascade of molecular events resulting in development into a queen. Reproduction - Swarming Swarming is the natural means of reproduction of honeybee colonies (Birth of single bees is not considered reproduction, because the “animal” is the Bien - with one queen, worker bees and drones - which is reproducing.) A new honeybee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the colony with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. In the prime swarm, about 60% of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen. This swarm can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees. Swarming is mainly a spring phenomenon, usually within a two- or three-week period depending on the locale, but occasional swarms can happen throughout the producing season. When the hive gets ready to swarm the queen lays eggs into the queen cups. New queens are raised and the hive may swarm as soon as the queen cells are capped and before the new virgin queens emerge from their queen cells. A laying queen is too heavy to fly long distances. Therefore, the workers will stop feeding her before the anticipated swarm date and the queen will stop laying eggs. Swarming creates an interruption in the brood cycle of the original colony. During the swarm preparation, scout bees will simply find a nearby location for the swarm to cluster. This 1 Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph. Polymorphism is common in nature; it is related to biodiversity, genetic variation and adaptation; it usually functions to retain variety of form in a population living in a varied environment. The most common example is sexual dimorphism, which occurs in many organisms. Sustainicum Honeybees 13 intermediate stop is not for permanent habitation and will normally leave within three days to a suitable location. It is from this temporary location – a nearby tree or bush - that the cluster will determine the final nest site after scout bees have visited several nest sites and communicated the properties of the location (size, quality, distance, etc) to the rest of the colony by dances. Scouts are sent out from the swarm to find suitable hollow trees or rock crevices. As soon as one is found, the entire swarm moves in. Within a matter of hours, they build new wax brood combs, using honey stores that the young bees have filled themselves with before leaving the old hive. Only young bees can secrete wax from special abdominal segments, and this is why swarms tend to contain more young bees. Documenta Kassel 2012, Skulptur mit Kopf aus einem Bienenschwarm von Pierre Huyghe Hive mind refers to the emergent property of apparent sentience that arises from the behaviors of a colony of individuals. Just as your neurons, without individual intelligence, interact as a unit to become a brain, so one can view a hive of bees or a colony of ants interacting as a unit to become a mind. The whole has behaviors, memories and characteristics that could not be predicted by studying an individual. Senses and Communication The senses of touch and smell, particularly through the antennae, are very important to bees in finding sources of food, in identifying members of their own colony, and sometimes in finding their way home. Their compound eyes are sensitive to certain groups of colors though color-blind to red. In the darkness of the hive they must depend on touch and smell to carry out their activities. They find their way to and from the hive by learning the landmarks in the vicinity and steering by the position of the sun. A bee which has found a rich source of food will return to the hive and execute a dance on the surface of the comb. It takes the form of a figure eight with a straight section in the middle. The length of the straight section is proportional to the distance of the flowers from the hive, and the angle it makes with the vertical represents the angle between the position of the sun, the hive and the source of food. In addition. the dancer may make waggling movements of her body on the straight section, which indicates distance. Some of the foraging bees in the hive follow the dance, touching the dancer with their antennae. From time to time the dancer stops and, regurgitating a little of the nectar she has collected from the flowers, she feeds the attentive workers. The dance pattern, the taste of the nectar and sometimes the scent of the flowers on the dancer's body enable the workers to find the feeding ground from which the dancer has just returned2. 2 Karl Ritter von Frisch (20 November 1886 – 12 June 1982) was an Austrian ethologist who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1973, along with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. His work centered on investigations of the sensory perceptions of the honey bee and he was one of the first to translate the meaning of the waggle dance. His theory was disputed by other scientists and greeted with skepticism at the time. Only recently was it definitively proved to be an accurate theoretical analysis. Sustainicum Honeybees 14 Facts and Figures For the wax-making bees to secrete wax, the ambient temperature in the hive has to be 33 to 36 °C. To produce their wax, bees must consume about eight times as much honey by mass. It is estimated that bees collectively fly 150,000 miles, roughly six times around the earth, to yield one pound of beeswax (530,000 km/kg). - ½ Kilo of honey needs – 4.5 Mio blossoms visited, 100 Apple blossoms fill a honey stomach - Number of Bees in a Hive (summer) - 60.000 - Average life span of a worker bee 4-6 weeks - Weight of a Bee – 130mg - Distance that bees fly - max. 5 km make sense – anything further consumes more than it yields. - Honeybees have 5 eyes, 2 sets of wings and 6 legs - A worker bee visits about 1,000 flowers each collection trip - In one day, a worker bee might visit as many as 10,000 flowers - The average worker bee makes 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime - A hive of bees would have to fly over 30,000 miles to bring you one kilo of honey - Flight speed is about 25 kilometres per hour (12 mph). - Normal wing beats are ca 250 cycles/second; buzzing wing beats are 400-500 cycles/second - A single hive can produce 15-30 kilos per fortnight on a strong nectar flow - Honeybees are the only insects to produce food for humans - Bees never sleep, but they do rest inside the hive - When a bee stings, it looses it’s stinger and dies - Pollinated fruit and vegetables seeds are up to 30% larger and have better germination rates than non-pollinated ones - Approx. 1/2 of the human diet is derived directly or indirectly from crops pollinated by bees - Honeycombs have six-sided cells - When bees take nectar back to the hive, they chew it, adding enzymes, then fan their wings to get the moisture out of it. When done, they seal the honey in the combs with wax. - Bees carry pollen on their hind legs in a pollen basket, or corbicula. - They can carry nearly their own weight in nectar and pollen. Honey production 2011 (FAO): Global - 1.6 Mio Tons in Europe 374 000 Tons in China 440 000 Tons Statistics FAO 2011, http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx See also Rothamsted Research Institute http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/pie/InsectBehaviour.html and the podcast: In search of lost bees: Radar Entomology at Rothamsted Research - Sustainicum Honeybees 15 Diseases and Challenges Colony Collapse Disorder In the last years, honeybees have been encountering a phenomenon called CCD (colony collapse disorder) resulting in losses of colonies, especially in the northern hemisphere. In CCD worker bees from a beehive abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle, May disease, autumn collapse, and fall dwindle disease), the syndrome was renamed colony collapse disorder in late 2006 in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honeybee colonies in North America at that time. European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, etc. A colony collapsed from CCD is generally characterized by all of these conditions occurring simultaneously: Presence of capped brood in abandoned colonies. Bees normally will not abandon a hive until the capped brood have all hatched. Presence of food stores, both honey and bee pollen: i. which are not immediately robbed by other bee ii. which when attacked by hive pests, the attack is noticeably delayed Presence of the queen bee. If no queen is present, the colony death is not considered CCD. Precursor symptoms that may arise before the final colony collapse are: Insufficient workforce to maintain the brood that is present Workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees The colony is reluctant to consume provided feed, such as sugar syrup and protein supplement. The cause of CCD is not yet fully understood, the mechanisms are still unknown. Proposed as causative agents: malnutrition, pathogens, immunodeficiencies, mites, fungus, pesticides, beekeeping practices (such as the use of antibiotics, or long-distance transportation of beehives) and electromagnetic radiation. Whether any single factor or a combination of factors (acting independently in different areas affected by CCD, or acting in tandem) is responsible is still unknown; however most recent information suggests a combination of factors is most likely. It is likewise still uncertain whether CCD is a genuinely new phenomenon as opposed to a known phenomenon that previously only had a minor impact. Varroa Varroa destructor is an external parasitic mite that attacks the honey bees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera. The disease caused by the mites is called varroatosis. Varroa destructor can only reproduce in a honey bee colony. It attaches to the body of the bee and weakens the bee by sucking hemolymph. In this process, RNA viruses such as the deformed wing virus (DWV) and acute bee paralysis virus spread to bees. A significant mite infestation will lead to the death of a honey bee colony, usually in the late autumn through early spring. The Varroa mite is the parasite with the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry. Sustainicum Honeybees 16 Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, is not the mite's natural host. In fact, the mite is native to Asia where it parasitizes another cavity-dwelling honey bee, Apis cerana (the eastern or Asian honey bee). Apis cerana is believed to have some natural defenses against the mite and consequently rarely is affected negatively by the mite. Only when colonies of A. mellifera were brought to Asia did people begin to realize how devastating the mites could be. Varroa's host shift did not occur instantly, as evidence suggests that it may have taken 50-100 years. Since that time, the mite has spread around the world and has become nearly-cosmopolitan in distribution. Those countries not hosting varroa mites maintain strict quarantine procedures to lessen the chance of an accidental importation of the mite. Varroa mite distribution in 2010. Red areas indicate establishment of Varroa destructor. Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis There are honey bees that have been parasitized by the Zombie Fly Apocephalus borealis. Flyparasitized honeybees become "ZomBees" showing the "zombie-like behavior" of leaving their hives at night on "a flight of the living dead." The Zombie Fly is native to most of North America. It has expanded its host range to include the non-native honey bee, the most important pollinator of agricultural crops and lays eggs inside of bees. http://dailyparasite.blogspot.be/2012/01/apocephalus-borealis.html Neonicotinoids Als Neonicotinoide oder Neonikotinoide wird eine Gruppe von hochwirksamen Insektiziden bezeichnet. Sie alle sind synthetisch hergestellte nikotinartige Wirkstoffe und wirken als Nervengift bei Insekten. Die Neonicotinoide sind systemische Insektizide, die als Kontakt- und auch als Fraßgift wirken können. Sie werden gut über die Wurzeln aufgenommen und in die Blätter transportiert, die dann vor beißenden und saugenden Insekten geschützt sind. Deshalb werden diese Stoffe auch als Saatgutbeizmittel verwendet. Da die Wirkstoffe in der Pflanze nur langsam abgebaut werden, hält die Wirkung längere Zeit an.Bei Insekten wirkt diese Stoffgruppe wie Acetylcholin am nikotinischen Acetylcholinrezeptor der Nervenzellen. Der Abbau durch das Enzym Acetylcholinesterase findet aber nicht statt. Durch den ausgelösten Dauerreiz wird die chemische Signalübertragung gestört. Some neonicotinoids commonly used as pesticides: Imidacloprid is one of the most used insecticides in the world for field and horticultural crops. It is often used as seed-dressing, especially for maize, sunflower, and canola. Names are 'Gaucho', 'Confidor', 'Chinook', 'Antarc' and 'Imprimo'. Imidacloprid is highly toxic to certain birds, bats, fish, amphibians and shrimps. Imidacloprid use has been linked to eggshell-thinning in birds, reduced egg production and reduced hatching success. The substance is acutely toxic to earthworms, one of the most important creatures in soils, and can leach through soil to contaminate ground water. Clothianidin: Names are Elado', 'Poncho - for corn and canola (rape seed) Because of their high persistence neonicotinoids can remain in the ground for several years. For Sustainicum Honeybees 17 Clothianidin, a half-life of up to five years was observed. Clothianidin is the successor to Imidacloprid and was launched on the American market in 2003 and in Germany in 2006. The EPA fact sheet states: "Clothianidin is highly toxic to honey bees on an acute basis (LD50>0.0439 µg/bee). The Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency PMRA states that "Clothianidin was determined to be highly toxic to the honey bee, Apis mellifera, on an acute oral basis with a LD50 of 0.00368 µg/bee" which is 1/10 of the quantity the US EPA cites. [dieses Verhältnis (Körpergewicht zu Menge an toxischem Material) umgerechnet auf einen Menschen (70kg) bedeutet dass 0,25mg toxisches Material einer LD50 Menge entsprechen.] Recent policy development in the EU: In February 2013, EFSA (European Food Safety Agency) acknowledges that three neonicotinoids are to be classified as toxic to bees. A ban of these substances for 2 years should be voted for on a European level on 25th of February 2013. As a reaction, Bayer und Syngenta – the main producers of pesticides containing these substances – threaten with massive lawsuits in case of prohibition of the substances. A study spreads fear for the loss of 50 000 jobs. Some European countries have partly banned the use of neonicotinoids as insecticides (Germany, Slowenia, France, Italy). Online petitions for a ban are ongoing in many European countries. In April 2013, the European Union voted to ban the world's most widely used insecticides. However, only three neonicotinoids will be suspended and only from flowering crops, on which bees feed. Neonicotinoids will still be used on winter crops, when bees are dormant, and in greenhouses. The ban is valid for two years, starting with January 2014. (http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-379_en.htm) Bees in Relation to their Environment Bees are in close relation to their immediate environment. They act as sustainable guardians of floral biodiversity since they are reliable pollinators and adaptable to almost any environmental condition. Pollination is a prerequisite to preserve floral biodiversity and consequently the diversity of food and the associated healthy and balanced nutrition. E.g. almost 100% of the natural Vitamin C production depends on pollination. Hence, honeybees are crucial actors in food production and stand at the very beginning of the food chain. Sustainable Cities – Pollinators Parks, recreation areas and private yards in the city provide a range of floral biodiversity, making the city an interesting habitat for honeybees. The presence of bees beneficially influences conservation of floral species, helps populating ecosystem niches and encourages city inhabitants to green their backyards and balconies, or even get their own bee-colony. The pollination as well as the products of bees are important environmental and economic factors in return. Moreover, joint cultivation of bee hives (schools, retirement homes, residential tract houses) can have a social impact in urban societies. However, introducing honeybees in the city might provoke strong reactions and citizens might be experiencing fear or discomfort towards the unknown suddenly appearing in their vicinity. Observing feelings of curiosity versus fear and the tension between longing for nature and the alienation from nature of city dwellers around the topic of urban honeybees is crucial. Keeping Bees in the City Urban apiculture is getting popular and city environments all over Europe are hosting growing numbers of bees. Bee-food is abundantly available; parks, recreation areas and private yards in the city provide a range of floral biodiversity. Sustainicum Honeybees 18 City honey is multi-floral due to the range of bee food available in the city, it tastes inimitably and supports honeybees by offering food diversity and an almost un-interrupted season of blossoms for the pollinators. However, unknown sources of pesticides in the urban environment, pollution by industry, traffic or domestic heating might be found back in the products of the hives with seasonal variation. City honey is said to be less polluted by pesticides than its rural counterpart. Pollution from industry, traffic or domestic heating might be found back in the products of the hives with seasonal variation. In rural environments, use of fertilizers and plant pesticides is common and contamination of bee products with pesticides has been widely documented and discussed. Especially pesticides like neonicotinoids have been reported to be detrimental to honeybees. Pesticides that are no longer used in agriculture can persist in the ecosystem and still be found back in the soil and plants years after their ban. On the other hand, insecticides, genetically modified crops or monoculture crops are generally not expected in the city, making urban environments presumably a healthy habitat for Apis Mellifera. Rural and Urban Perimetres As bees are known to function as natural bio-monitors, their honey and products can readily be used as bioindicator, giving information on quality of the habitat, quantities of available food, and impact of pollutants in a defined perimeter of the position of the hive . Bees seem to have a filtering effect after taking up contaminated nectar, because the amounts found in honey are 1000 times lower than the amounts found in the body of bees. Wax and pollen, on the other hand, wax seems to be a good monitor for contamination from pesticides and PAH as these are fat soluble. Bees and their Products as Biomonitors The honeybee reflects the condition of its environment and bee products (honey, wax, propolis) perform as biological indicator, giving information on quality of the habitat, quantities of available food, the environmental flora and impact of pollutants in the environment translating the topography (geography, vegetation, weather conditions, anthropogenic contamination) in a defined perimeter of the position of the hive. The simple and mobile application of bee colonies makes them a perfect tool as bees cover a perimeter of 20 - 30 km2, take a great number of samples and return to a fixed location. The idea of employing the bee as environmental monitor dates back to Svoboda who in 1935 felt that this insect could provide us with valuable data on environmental impact of certain industries. (Svoboda 1962) Investigations proved that pesticides in agro-ecosystems, metal and radionuclide pollution as well as the detection of pathogenic microorganisms can be accomplished by using bees (Gattaveccia, Girotti et al. 2002)(Crane 1999) Therefore, depending on the area in close proximity of the hive, traces of nearby land-use (urban, agriculture, forest, industry, air traffic) (Wäber 2011) can be monitored in the products of the bees. (Bogdanov 2006) E.g. the vicinity of industrial sites does have an influence on the concentrations of heavy metals. (Roman, Bartkowiak et al. 2007) The mineral content in honey can be used as indicator of environmental pollution (Anklam 1998)(Munoz and Palermo 2006). The seasonal variation can be monitored by time resolved collection of samples (Roman 2010) and honey bees are used as warning system for real time toxicity detection. (van der Schalie 2001) Besides heavy metals, polycyclic hydrocarbons are of environmental concern and are formed mainly as a result of pyrolytic processes, especially the incomplete combustion of organic materials during industrial and other human activities. E.g. Lambert reported that the PAH4 concentrations found in honey were significantly influenced by the landscape context for the investigated beehive samples. (Lambert 2012) In rural environments, use of fertilizers and plant pesticides is common and contamination of bee Sustainicum Honeybees 19 products with pesticides has been widely documented and discussed. (Chauzat and Faucon 2007) Especially pesticides like neonicothinoides have been reported to be detrimental to honeybees. Even sublethal dosages of imidacloprid were found to affect foraging behavior of bees. (Yang, Chuang et al. 2008). Pesticides that are no longer used in agriculture can persist in the ecosystem and still be found back in the soil and plants years after their ban. On the other hand, insecticides, genetically modified crops or monoculture crops are generally not expected in the city, making urban environments presumably a healthy habitat for Apis Mellifera. Nonetheless, little is documented about the use of pesticides in small gardens of garden plot holder as well as for plants on balconies and courtyards as there is no real control for the use of pesticides in the private environment. Solely garden plots in Vienna sum up to 7 km2 and urban agriculture is at present the fastest expanding element of agriculture transforming roofs, fences, walls, parking lots, roadsides, vacant lots and abandoned sites into productive fields and foraging grounds for urban honeybees. Scientific investigations on both organic compounds (pesticides, PAH) as well as heavy metals are planned in collaboration with Metropolia, the Helsinki City Environment Centre and the Finnish Environment Institute. The environmental monitoring capabilities of bees via the products of the hive are the scientific pivot of the project. Honey and beeswax will be monitored as primary products assessing waterand liposoluble compounds. The investigations are aimed at comparing urban and rural foraging fields for hives in the respective regions for the following purpose: • Temporal and spatial resolved monitoring of the chemical pollutants (Heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAK), pesticides) in urban bee products from different locations in Vienna and creation of urban temporal chemical landscapes. • Direct comparison of urban and rural environments as foraging fields using identical hives including time resolved monitoring of pollutants in bee products (honey, beeswax), monitoring the environment and conditions inside the hive and video monitoring of the bees. • Assessing the potential of isotopes (S, B, Pb) to both identify the provenance of honey as well as the provenance of pollution sources. Wax is a product precipitated by the bees’ wax glands, and is therefore a monitor of the bees’ conditions reflecting liposoluble pollutants. Honey is a product made by the bees from nectar collected in the fields, which is then worked by the bees, fermented and dehydrated, and deposited in the wax cells and monitor water soluble pollutants. Pollen is directly collected in the surroundings and stored without further processing. Sustainicum Honeybees 20 The Role of the Beekeeper Principles of Holistic Beekeeping (by Michael Thiele, excerpts) Interconnectedness There is no single bee – as there is no single human being. It’s a product of a limited world view. The single bee is only one individual part of the bigger entity of the entire bee hive. The “Bien” is what Jürgen Tautz calls an “organic interpretation of an individual”. Shift of Paradigms Bees are an indicator species, reflecting the health and status of our life environment as well as the interdependency and interconnectedness of all life on earth. Traditional beekeeping and farming understood and acknowledged the natural life forces of the bees. Modern beekeeping and farming practices have lost this ancient knowledge and this loss has taken its toll on the bees on multiple levels. “Bien” The concept of the “Bien” describes the un-dividable entity of the hive. The whole is one organism and the hive is more than the sum of the individual parts. Thousands of bees are integrated into a higher-order entity, one whose abilities far transcend those of the individual bee. “The consciousness of the beehive (not of the individual bees) is of a very high nature” (Rudolf Steiner). Their communication and networking capacities, non hierarchical decision processes and an understanding of service to the greater web of life, which the individual being (bee) is part of, are pointing to a higher level of development and awareness. And such, the bees are a vital part of human culture and an inspiration to the soul. Being in touch with the “Bien” also means to reach out to the flowering world. As bee-keepers we are also becoming “flower-keepers”. Comb The comb co-evolved with the bees as a part of the bee itself. Wax comb is the biggest inner organ of the “Bien”. Bees spend 90% of their life on the comb. They create the wax out of their own body – no other insect is able to do this. The comb is home, womb, pantry, (external) skeleton, sense organ, nerve system, memory organ and immune system. The “comb-wide-web” provides a means of communication on multiple levels: dance, vibration, chemical marking. The dance floor is marked with some bee pheromones and other still unknown substances. The comb is a controlled environment. As the interior milieu, it becomes part of the “Bien”. Therefore, it is essential to allow bees to build their own natural comb and to give them the freedom to express their instinctual life forces. Natural comb is essential when we want to support the bees in a time of ecological challenges. It is their birthright. It is easy to let bees build natural comb. Since bees build according to gravity, hives need to be leveled and frames need to provide some initial guidance, such as beads of wax across the top bar, or one-inch strips of bees wax foundation placed for the bees to start building from. Tapered frames may be used as well, since bees draw naturally comb from thin edges. Nest density – the landscape becomes the apiarium Following the movement of the “Bien”, swarms aim to settle further away from their mother colony. The natural distribution of nest sites vary according to climate and local flora. It is a natural instinct of the “Bien” to leave home and journey into the landscape. It not only reflects a consideration for forage, but it also serves the health of the bees by favoring vertical over horizontal transmission of so called pathogens. The former leads to a lower virulence of diseases where the latter leads to an unbalance of relationships, in particular within the symbiotic life between the “Bien” and it's microorganisms and parasites like varroa. Therefore the landscape shall become the apiarium again. Parallels between “Bien” and mammals There are interesting parallels between bees and mammals. Both have low reproduction rates in common. Mammals raise their offspring with mother’s milk and nursing bees use “sister’s milk,” which is produced in special glands. Wherein mammals provide a uterus, the brood nest of the bees has similar characteristics as a “social” uterus. Body temperatures are 36°C for humans and 35°C for bees, which is very close. Retention of nest scent and heat The hive is not an external dwelling of the “Bien”. When we open a bee hive, we are entering an ecological system, or even a being’s body. Heat, humidity, light, draft, the entire self awareness, the immune system and the sense of integrity of the “Bien” are challenged and affected! Johann Thür called the internal conditions “the element of life, the retention of nest scent and heat”, which are part of the immune system and important for it’s well being. See also: The Queen of the Sun, Taggart Siegel, 2010 - http://kat.ph/usearch/queen%20of%20the%20sun/ Sustainicum Honeybees 21 Other Pollinators Loss of wild pollinators serious threat to crop yields, study finds by Damian Carrington, The Guardian, Thursday 28 February 2013 13.59 EST Wild bees and other insects twice as effective as honeybees in producing seeds and fruit on crops The decline of wild bees and other pollinators may be an even more alarming threat to crop yields than the loss of honeybees, a worldwide study suggests, revealing the irreplaceable contribution of wild insects to global food production. Scientists studied the pollination of more than 40 crops in 600 fields across every populated continent and found wild pollinators were twice as effective as honeybees in producing seeds and fruit on crops including oilseed rape, coffee, onions, almonds, tomatoes and strawberries. Furthermore, trucking in managed honeybee hives did not replace wild pollination when that was lost, but only added to the pollination that took place. "It was astonishing; the result was so consistent and clear," said Lucas Garibaldi, at the National University in Río Negro, Argentina, who led the 46-strong scientific team. "We know wild insects are declining so we need to start focusing on them. Without such changes, the ongoing loss is destined to compromise agricultural yields worldwide." Pollination is needed for about three-quarters of global food crops. The decline of honeybee colonies due to disease and pesticides has prompted serious concern. Jason Tylianakis, at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, described them as "the species charged with protecting global food security". The new research shows for the first time the huge contribution of wild insects and shows honeybees cannot replace the wild insects lost as their habitat is destroyed. Garibaldi said relying on honeybees was a "highly risky strategy" because disease can sweep through single species, as has been seen with the varroa mite, and single species cannot adapt to environmental changes nearly as well as a group of wild pollinators. "The studies show conclusively that biodiversity has a direct measurable value for food production and that a few managed species cannot compensate for the biodiversity on which we depend," said Tylianakis, who was not part of the research team. Garibaldi's team, whose work was published in the journal Science on Thursday, warn: "Global degradation of natural services can undermine the ability of agriculture to meet the demands of the growing, increasingly affluent, human population." Garibaldi said: "Without wild pollination, you will not get the best yields and the best agricultural land already farmed, so it is very important to get the maximum yield." He added that, across the world, the yields of crops that needed pollination were rising significantly more slowly than crops that did not. Wild pollinators perform better than honeybees because they deploy a wider range of pollinating techniques, such as "buzz" pollination. They also visit more plants, meaning much more effective cross-pollination than honeybees, which tend to carry pollen from one flower to another on the same plant. A second new study published in Science on Thursday showed more than half the wild bee species were lost in the 20th century in the US. It made use of a remarkable record made of plants and pollinators at Carlinville, Illinois between 1888 and 1891 by entomologist Charles Robertson. Scientists combined that with data from 1971-72 and new data from 2009-10 to discover the changes in pollination seen over the century as widespread forest was reduced to the fragments that remain today. They found that half of the 109 bee species recorded by Robertson had been lost and there had been a serious degradation of the pollination provided by the remaining wild insects, with their ability to pollinate specific plants falling by more than half. There was an increasing mismatch between when plants flowered and when bees were active, a finding consistent with climate change, according to the researchers. Laura Burkle, at Washington University in Montana, who led the work, said: "There are two sides to this coin. These pollination systems are incredibly robust to environmental change, it is almost miraculous that they continue to pollinate given the land use changes. But the system is also incredibly compromised and further degradation will have serious impacts. Sustainicum Honeybees 22 Further Info and Reading COLOSS (prevention of COlony LOSSes) is a network of http://www.coloss.org/beebook Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (ANSES) in Sophia-Antipolis, France is a EU reference laboratory in the field of bee health designated by EU Commission in April 2011. http://www.anses.fr/index.htm. Melissa Study carried out by AGES - Forschungsergebnis Pestizide in Standorten in Oesterreich http://www.ages.at/ages/landwirtschaftliche - sachgebiete/bienen/forschung/melissa-2009-2012ergebnisse/), D. I. Stefan Mandl, Bienenwerkstatt Schwechat, published a Thingbuch on the protection of bees and their environment including demands for pesticide free nutrition or the protection of bees for future generations. http://www.bienenwerkstatt.eu/home/bienensterben.php Jürgen Tautz – Phänomen Honigbiene, Spektrum Verlag Thomas Seeley – Honeybee Democracy, Princeton A study on “Existing Scientific Evidence of the Effects of Neonicotinoid Pesticides on Bees” was published by DG Internal Policies of the European Commission http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/studiesdownload.html? file=79433&languageDocument=EN Markus Imhoof, director of the documentary „More than honey“ publishes bonus material of the movie online. http://youtu.be/jv-4rv0I4dw Information über Neonikotinoide der Europäischen Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/de/press/news/130116.htm a different view on pesticides by Syngenta, producer of the neonicotinoid Thiamethoxam http://www.syngenta.com/eame/plightofthebees/ Valuing pollination services to agriculture by Rachael Winfree, Brian J. Gross, Claire Kremen , Ecological Economics 2011 http://nature.berkeley.edu/kremenlab/Articles/Valuing%20Pollination%20Services%20to %20Agriculture.pdf Sustainicum Honeybees 23