Florida bee massacre!

An estimate of 12 million bees died in Florida due to unknown causes! All the bees died within a mile-and-a-half radius from more than 800 different hives. No one knows for sure what killed them. "The fact that it was so widespread and so rapid, I think you can pretty much rule out disease," Bill Kern, a University of Florida entomologist, told Florida Today. "It happened essentially almost in one day. Usually diseases affect adults or the brood, you don’t have something that kills them both."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2044764/The-mysterious-honeybee-apocalypse-Up-12-million-bees-dead-dying-Florida-knows-why.html#ixzz1c1BTD1qu

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Contaminates of Honey

1) Antibiotic called chloramphenicol in honey

A. Sometimes given to bees to prevent disease because the antibiotic is used for treatment of infections however it can cause aplastic anemia

1. Aplastic anemia is when the bone marrow doesn’t make enough new blood cells.

B. In the early 2000s Chinese beekeepers began using animal-made antibiotics to fight a disease that was killing off millions of bee and Chloramphenicol was one of the antibiotics

2) Lead in honey

A. Lead found in honey in 2010 from India

1.European health authorities

B. Serious health threats

1.heavy metals accumulate in the organs and destroy. Lead never leaves the system

http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/food-matters/china-honey-contaminated-honey-lead-antibiotics.aspx

In the early 2000s Chinese beekeepers began using animal-made antibiotics to fight a disease that was killing off millions of bee and Chloramphenicol was one of the antibiotics. China’s beekeepers collect honey in lead-soldered drums. Because china can’t sell the honey to the U.S legally, it ships it to India and then forwards it to the U.S. and most of the big honey packers will knowingly buy the imported honey. Europe also banned honey from India.

http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/food-matters/china-honey-contaminated-honey-lead-antibiotics.aspx

So the lead just leaks in from the lead-soldered drums

3) Corn syrup in honey/mislabeled honey

Some people force feed their bees high fructose corn syrup and other sugars to give them energy to produce more honey. High fructose corn syrup, stops your brain from realizing you’re full because it cannot detect high fructose corn syrup.

Because china can’t sell the honey to the U.S legally, it ships it to India and then forwards it to the U.S. (mislabeled) and most of the big honey packers will knowingly buy the imported honey.

4) Transshipped honey

A. Honey that is sent to other countries, and from that country, to other countries

B. Because china can’t sell the honey to the U.S legally, it ships it to India and then forwards it to the U.S. and most of the big honey packers will knowingly buy the imported honey.

5) Foulbrood

A. A bacterium in the mid-gut of an infected larva.

1. European Foulbrood: Sometimes considered a stress disease meaning it usually can do more harm to an unhealthy stressed out colony. If an outbreak does occur it is controlled by oxytetracycline hydrochloride.

a. Oxytetracycline works by interfering the bacterias proteins production making it stop spreading. Ir also is effective against other infections and acne (Propionebacterium acne). However some strains of Foulbrood aren’t affected by the in and this chemical can leave residues in the honey. Side affets of Oxytetracycline can be gastrointestinal and photosensitive allergic reactions, damage in the calcium of the body, and erodtion of nasal cavities. It is especially bad for pregnant women and children under twelve.

2. American Foulbrood: Also known as AFB is cause by rod shaped bacterium spore, it is invisible to the naked eye and is the most dangerous of the bee brood strains. The spore germinates in the bowels of a three day old larvae (The spore don’t germinate in a larvae older than three days) and begins taking nourishment from its host. Then larvae then darkens and die. Eventually the bacterium will die too but not before its made millions of spores. A lavae that had died from AFB may contain a hundred million or more spores. It only affects the bee larvea.

B. In 1906 these two strains were both called foulbrood and were considered the same but upon further study scientist found that the two Bactria looked different. European and American Foulbrood are not named for where the disease originates but where they were scientifically investigated.

American Foulbrood

6) Bee Mites

Varroa destructor are mites that attack honey bees adult, larva, and pupa.

These mites are like giant mosquitoes that sucks hemolymph out of the bees.

Hemolymph is their blood. And the mites leave the wounds open for infections to get in the bees. To help the bees, you can put powder sugar on the bees. It will not hurt the bees but it increases their grooming habits. That amplify the effect of a screen that the mites can fall though but can’t get back to the bees.

Acarapis woodi attaches itself to the bees fuzz and works up to the bees breathing tube. Then multiply until the host is dead then they go to another bees then do it again. If they don’t find another host the mite will die.

Varroa mite on bee larva.





A Bee’s Life & the Love of Honey

1) Bee Dance

A. When a bee does the round dance it means that there is honey less than 100 yards from the hive. The round dance doesn't show exact location of where the flowers are. So they fly out in all directions looking for the flowers, not going any farther than 100 yards.

B. The tail-waggle run show the exact location of ware the flowers are. Depending haw many waggles they do is how far the flowers are from the hive. If they do 10 waggles the flowers are 100 yards away.If they do 7 waggles the flowers are 600 yards away.And if they do 4 waggles the flower are 1,000 yards away!

The round dance doesn't show exact location of where the flowers are. So they fly out in all directions looking for the flowers, not going any farther than 100 yards.

Demonstrations of Bee Dances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NtegAOQpSs&feature=fvwrel

2) Bi-products of Bees & Usefulness of Bees & Honey

A) Pollen

‘The fine granular or powdery substance produced by and discharged from the anther of a flower...

B) Bee’s Wax

C) Honey

Honey can be used on cuts and burns

D) Royal Jelly

A type of food that the bees create from their hypopharyngeal gland. The worker bees then feed the royal jelly to the larva.

Developing queen larvae surrounded by royal jelly

E) Propolis

‘ the sweet smelling resin used by the bees as a sealing compound in their hives...’ pg.71 “The Healing Power of Pollen”

During the time of Aristotle propolis was used to treat bad bruises and sprains. Propolis and petroleum jelly were mixed to treat wounds & skin diseases during the Boer War. Wounds that were healing slowly healed quicker with propolis. (pg. 73-74 The Healing Power of Pollen)

Propolis holds the hive together and seals it. It also protects the bees from disease and viruses. It kills bad bacteria and helps good bacteria in us. It is dark in color and has minerals and vitamins.

http://nuggetsofgold.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/bee-propolis-a-natural-antibiotic-that-combats-super-bugs-mrsa/

3) Types of Bees and their Jobs

Queen Bee: (female)

Lays eggs for the colony to grow.

Drones: (male)

Mate with queen bee. Sometimes used for food.

Worker Bees: (female)

House Bee

Cleans brood cells, attends queen, feed brood, caps cells, pack/process pollen, secrets wax to build comb, regulates temperature, receives & processes nectar changing it into honey.

The house bee also forages for nectar early in its life.

Winter Bee

Winter bees have a structure called “fat bodies” that allows them to survive the cold weather.

Our Invention/ Preventing Contamination of Honey & Hives

Laser for detecting contaminates in Honey. (a flash light thing)??
Laser shows different colors to show what is the contaminate. Ex: Red: lead, Green: Clean honey, Yellow: chloramphenicol …...


preventing Varroa destructor mites
Powder sugar is also a small food source. When the powder sugar is dusted on the bees they clean themselves and take the mites off too.

High Fructose Corn Syrup(HFCS) in Honey

A. Commercial bee keepers feed HFCS to their bees in the spring and fall to make sure they have enough food.

1.Increase honey production and reproduction.

B. HFCS is made from genetically modifred corn to increase fructose.

C. HFCS that is heated can form hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). HHMF can kill honeybees. HMF may be linked to Colony Collapse disorder that has killed about one thirdof the United States.HMF has been linked to DNA domage in people.

D. Raw honey “containsthe highest content of live enzymis of all foods.”

E. Raw honey contains, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, manganelse, calcium, pollen , & bee propolis.All of these help bees stay healthy.

Bibliography:

High Fructose Corn Syrup and Honey -- A Sneaky Relationship
August 31, 2007 JoLynn Braley

Foul brood
Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diseases_of_the_honey_bee#European_foulbrood Oct 10 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_foulbrood Oct 12 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varroa_destructor

Storey’s guide to keeping honey bees by:Malcom T. Sanford & Richard

The Life and Times of the HONEYBEE
By: Charles Micucci

The Healing Power of Pollen & Other Products from the Beehive
Maurice Hanssen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_jelly

Propolis is a natural antibiotic
http://nuggetsofgold.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/bee-propolis-a-natural-antibiotic-that-combats-super-bugs-mrsa/

Bees and Honey

About Bees

Workers live for six weeks, Drones live for 8 weeks and Queens live for 4 years.

Drones have no stinger.

Bees need more than one source of pollen if they don’t have variety in foods they will be malnutrition just like how humans need more than just one food group.

Problems with Honey

A problem with honey is that is crystallizes, air causes it to crystallize.

Cell phone signal wave’s causes bees to get lost.

Bees are potty trained so honey is sanitary. They won’t go to the bathroom in the hive.

Health benefits

Honey can be an antimicrobial preservative. It’s good against common food illnesses like E Coli.

It’s a good alternative sugar opposed to dietary sugar replacements even though honey is about one and a half times as sweet as regular sugar.

It can be used on skin injuries.

Byproducts from honey making process

Behaviors of Bees

Drones are forced to leave after their purposes are fulfilled.

Enemies to the Bees

Skunks, bears, wasps, hornets,

Researching honey.

Hi we are the team Kidz Around The Block for the First Lego League(FLL). The Theme for this year is Food Factor. We research a food and find a problem with the process from the ground and to your table then solve the problem. We are researching the process of honey.