Bee Syndicate

I dunno, Reuters is usually pretty reputable, covered it in Februrary and recently I've seen a few other pieces after some academics had a chance to check it out. I think AP did a piece on it as well:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-farming-honey-idUSKCN0VI172

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I'm assuming you're in New Zealand based on the username. You guys have been having issues with varroa showing up from what I heard. You see much of that at the apiary?

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Odd. That link isn't showing up just keep getting an error message. Anyway I just don't think that's accurate based on the literature I've read (these were physical books) from really reputable authors like Michael Bush with the practical beekeeper and from Dr. Wyatt Mangum with his books on topbar beekeeping. Both have been to Cuba and seen this phenomenon because although they haven't had much of anything in terms of imports the people of Cuba make locally synthesized pesticides that are often even more harmful than the old stuff like DEET and chlorodane to keep pests at bay. Also they've had varroa mites since the mid 90's so I just don't believe for one second that they don't have this issue down there. That's an extraordinary claim that is going to require equally extraordinary evidence. I was taking a peak during my lunch break with places like the dept of agriculture and it's scientific literature. They have a lot on apiary experiments and practices in Africa and Europe and Latin America but I didn't see anything that even implies resistance to this in Cuba or anywhere for that matter. Granted, that doesn't mean the literature isn't there but that's big news and would not be something obscure or hard to find if it was legitimate. Also, I have enormous respect for Jamie Dupree who is I think the AP's senior correspondent for all things political but the rest of the AP has been utter garbage since the early to mid 2000's as far as I'm concerned. More of that stuff with fake news and what have you.

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@wendell what a great question

I think the answer is well... politics.. mostly.
Cuba has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades from a trade standpoint. Commercial bees are being moved in and out of Cuba for pollination contracts like they are in most of the developed world and since Cuba is further isolated by 90 miles of water this is a pretty effective barrier against invasive species like the Varroa mite. and since the trade sanctions started in the 70s this predates most of the problems that have spread among the general bee population. this is much like Australia who has gone to great lengths to protect its ecosystem from invasive things and has managed to prevent (or at least delay) many of the world's bee afflictions from penetrating its borders. Only Cuba's success in this is likely far less intentional. Additionally Cuba is not trading in the modern pesticide market so although I am sure Cuban farmers still kill man pollinators each year as a result of agriculture related activities colonies of bees likely die off al at once as a result of exposure instead of colenys simply vanashing without a trace as is what happens with CCD. Speaking of aquaculture Cuba dosnt do alot of it this has alot to do with available suitable farm land and lack of support from the government. Cuba only produces like 20% of the food it needs so thy don't have the unfathomably expansive monocultures that we see in lots of the rest of the world especially like here in the US. These mass expanses of a single crop tend to starve out colonies of bees because food is only available when that crop is in bloom and this is often only a very short window of a few weeks.

So @jajone4 I think that the answers to this are there and it dosnt take alot of work to figure out why it is that bees are infact doing better in Cuba rather than this just being a piece of Cuban propaganda (which is an easy conclusion to jump to) but at the heart of it its not because things are better in Cuba it is because things are worse it just happens that the way things are worse in Cuba happens to be better for bees not because of any conservation effort in Cuba. I would bet that if we don't get a better hold on the pollinator situation here in the US as relations thaw with our communist neighbor to the south bees will likely face the same difficulties in the decades to come. Let's face it Cuba will make little effort to protect its self in this regard and hopefully the US will take caution in what it exports to the tiny island nation as we begin to trade again after 40 or so years of embargo.

As there is no one single thing that can be pointed to as the cause of CCD there are several reasons here that likely the reasons there is little or no CCD in Cuba.

@Ginga_NZ I would love to hear more about your time with the bees!

@wendell @jajone4 I hope I hit all the points and I am going to have to ake a look at that article later Im a bit pressed for time ATM but as always I Love the the interaction and the chance for some bee talk!

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I gotta admit that doesn't really make any sense to me. They've had confirmed cases of varroa there since the mid 90's so while yeah they've got a more isolated nation it wasn't enough to keep the mites and the viruses they bring. That's not including all the small hive beetles that showed up there in 2012. So again the isolation factor really doesn't matter in that case. Plus the previous authors I mentioned witnessed locals using harsh pesticides to keep pests at bay so while they don't use modern pesticides that only makes what they use more hazardous. Modern pesticides have to go through a lot more requirements to be legally used in the US. I can see the whole aspect of them dropping quick due to chemical exposure but the other factors with invasive pests or just minimal exposure . . . nah there's no way they're not having CCD. That's gonna require a significant amount of evidence to be even remotely credible.

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Yes Varroa is a huge problem almost destroyed the industry and has made it very difficult for hobby apiarists. The people I worked with treated the hives every 6 weeks with an organic thyme based treatment, it would effectively choke the varroa causing them to fall off and on to the ground through fine mesh.

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Absolutely more investigation will need to be done. One of the reasons that the decline of bees is so worrying beyond the whole food supply / chain thing is that bees a pretty resilient and that's one of the reasons that multiple factors are pointed at as the cause of CCD rather than being able to say that any one thing is the cause. Generally one hive can deal with any one factor fairly sufficiently its the mix of problems that seem to be hurting the bees so greatly. In the US for instance where about 1.7 million hives commercially managed hives go to California from across North America just for the almond pollination season that's like 2 billion bees. and a huge chunk of the commercially managed bee population. Then the bees are moved all around the country to service other crops like cranberries in ME and oranges in Florida Grapefruit in TX and all over the freaking place for all the food crops that need bees. during this continual journey the bees share all the wonderful afflictions that they have picked up along the way. spreading Verroa, SHB, and all the other stuff too. These sick bees also mix with the local populations of bees effectively and rapidly distributing all that crap all over.

If a hive has just has SHB its usually not a huge deal same with Verroa even with pesticide exposure (I don't mean directly spraying the hive of course) but bees come across a toxic field you will certainly lose a few bees but its not likely to collapse the colony. None of these things are any good for the bees but generally any one of them is not a game ender on its own.

I have no doubt that there is Verroa SHB and poor pesticide management in Cuba. I'm sure that Cuba has some amount of CCD as well I just can see how given Cuba's trade and agricultural situations how it is possible that the bees are not as in as much trouble as in other places. Absolutely more research needs to be done maybe CCD is as big of a problem in Cuba maybe not Maybe they can learn a few things from the bees there or maybe this is just poor reporting I hope it isn't. I hope that the bees in Cuba can help nail down a solution for bees everywhere.

you say?... Go on....

That's interesting. Never heard of thyme based treatment. I've used oxalic acid and it's done wonders for me. Are the mites actually dying when they fall off or are they falling into an oil pan underneath the screen mesh?

Fairly certain this is the right product

http://www.apivar.co.nz/

My understanding is that it chokes them, they fall onto the ground and die due to the cold.

Odd. I would have thought they would just crawl back into the hive.

Edit: I read the webpage a little. It says it involves a neurotoxin. I'm guessing, based off that factor, that the mites are paralyzed long enough to die of exposure once they fall off. Must have a long half life to pull that off. Interesting though. Is this pretty effective for you guys down there or are you guys still gathering data on its success?

I couldn't say sorry I just did it as a summer job, it was effective enough that it was the only treatment that they used.