What We Learned as Editors

Abstract

In assembling a book like this one, the editors often learn as much, or more, from the exercise than most people believe. Each of the chapters has taught us important lessons some of which include things like the immense value of propolis for bees. So we need to encourage production rather than grumble at the glue. The need for really good record keeping comes through in several chapters as does the value of these records when combined with similar data from other areas. While every modern beekeeper is likely anti-pesticides the wide ranging negative effects on bees come through loud and clear in several chapters. But where most focus is on simply the death of the insects, our contributors show that even “harmless” pesticides/fungicides are attacking everything from rearing quality queens to the nutritive value of the beebread produced in the hives and how “sub-lethal” doses alter larval development and survival. Speaking of larva neither of us knew that there are really two forms of American Foulbrood that attack our hives. One kills quickly and is often found, while the second type takes longer and may be unrecognized until it is too late. We learned how far Small Hive Beetle larva will travel to reach soil and how truly devastating these predators really are once they get into a hive. Then there is the material about the well-known Varroa mites, how they have become stronger and how they have become vectors that have increased the strength of specific viruses through a process in which viruses combined in the mite, or the cues used by the mite to infect the larva. On the positive side though we found out about the growing number of Honeybee strains that are fighting back against the mites (some we didn’t know about), we also learned about the new developments in honeybee cell cultures that will allow a closer better study of the viruses. Finally, we discovered aspects of venom allergies their frequency and risk factors for all us beekeepers. So there is a lot to learn here in these pages, for us and for you.