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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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)
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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......
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 -
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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/
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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.
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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
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