jan-feb-2021

Honey bee foraging on borage in Michigan. Photo Credit: Anne Marie Fauvel, November 2020 Figure 2. Hygienic score trends for 12 different beekeepers in the BIP Tech Transfer Team Program since 2010. Each Bk# is a different operation and each bar of the same color represent that year’s average hygienic score. Note that 9 out of 12 beekeepers have seen their hygienic score trends increased over the past 10 years of participation in the BIP Tech Transfer Team Program. 2020 autumn regional Varroa levels increased considerably after queens started to shut down their egg laying activity and many of these colonies continued to decline even after applying Varroa control treatments. On the other hand, we observed fewer visible symptoms of viral infections than we would anticipate with such high Varroa loads. Overall, beekeepers who performed an early summer Varroa treatment did very well. Great Lakes Region – Dan Wyns, Field Specialist Most of the bees throughout the Great Lakes region were shipped to the southern U.S. for a couple of months or directly to California in preparation for 2021 almond pollination. Late-season colony conditions varied widely among operations, with successful Varroa control during summer and fall being a common thread among operations sending good numbers of healthy colonies into winter. Varroa infestation rates trended slightly higher all year with the most pronounced difference occurring in October in 2020 (2.8 percent versus 1 . 7 percent in October 201 9). The honey harvest reports were variable, with many beekeepers reporting average to below average crops despite good bee health. Poor yields were largely attributed to hot summer conditions and scarce rain throughout the season leading to nectar drying up from many plants. Some beekeepers were able to make up for poor summer honey with a good fall goldenrod flow. California – Matt Hoepfinger and Rob Snyder, Field Specialists We observed some EFB early in 2020, and perhaps as a result of the early communication to our member beekeepers, many acted quickly and overall there was less EFB incidence during the rest of the season. Similar to observations in other regions, the beekeepers who took action on mites in the summer had lower mites in the fall. In addition to the colony health inspections that field specialists perform throughout the year, every spring Northern California field specialists also conduct hygienic behavior testing for a number of commercial queen producers. Honey bee colonies with hygienic scores 95 percent and above have been shown to show significant resistance to American Foulbrood and Chalkbrood diseases and potentially lower Varroa loads. The hygienic score trends for a number of Tech Team beekeeper participants are generally increasing each year ( Figure 2 ). The queen producers then use the highest hygienic score colonies to breed from and produce the bulk of the year’s queens for the U.S. If you are interested in more information on hygienic 2 9 J A N U A R Y – F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1