Ashley Ralph

Natural medicine firm Nature’s Laboratory has received £180,000 to investigate how a natural antibiotic produced by bees can be used to help meet the worldwide crisis in antibiotic resistance.

By Lizzie Murphy
Sunday, 6th March 2022, 4:45 pm

Propolis is made from resins which the bees collect from trees and plants.

They take the resins back to the hive, process them through their enzymatic system and then combine them with wax.

They use propolis to seal up the hive against infection making the beehive one of the most sterile environments known to man.

The Whitby-based company, which received the funding from Innovate UK, has been researching the role of propolis as a medicine for over 30 years.

The grant will fund a two-year project working with Department of Pharmacological Engineering Science at the University of Bradford.

It will explore how science can be used to develop products locally that can make a real and lasting contribution to a global problem.

Chief executive James Fearnley, who has written two books on the subject, said: “I feel that our work has for years been like a candle burning in the bright sunlight – nobody recognised its light.

“But as the problem of antibiotic resistance has grown bigger and darker we are beginning to be seen as a real and potential help for what has seemed like an increasingly dangerous, global and insoluble problem.

“We have known about the anti-microbial activity of propolis since the 1940s and our own research in 1998 at University of Oxford confirmed this.

“During the last 30 years we have, with our university research colleagues in this country and round the world, published over 30 scientific reports about propolis and have made some remarkable discoveries.”

“Our most dramatic discovery came just over a year ago during the COVID lockdown in work we are funding at Leeds Becket University.“We discovered that if you combine propolis with antibiotics that have effectively stopped working (like penicillium) they start working again.

“Exactly why and how this works we are still working on but obviously the potential benefits of combining antibiotics and propolis are enormous,” he added.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/business/how-an-antibiotic-produced-by-bees-could-help-meet-the-worldwide-crisis-3597577

By David J. Bier
The H2A program provides work visas for seasonal or temporary foreign farm workers. In my paper on the program, I explained how complex the process already is, containing over 200 rules that farmers must follow to hire workers legally. Now the Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing to make it even more expensive and costly to hire legal farm workers in the midst of an unprecedented labor shortage and a dramatic increase in inflation, particularly in the United States and especially for food. It is also attacking a program designed to prevent illegal immigration, while Border Patrol is recording record arrests at the southern border.

Currently, all H‑2A workers, as well as any U.S. workers in comparable positions, must be paid the same Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR)—the H‑2A program’s minimum wage—but under the proposed regulation, several job types on farms will now have separate and higher AEWRs. The rule will both inflate the required wage rates and create a new massive administrative burden for all H‑2A farmers to separately track every activity of every employee—H‑2A and U.S. employees—on their farms to avoid violating these new wage rules. DOL also proposes to intentionally misclassify H‑2A workers into higher wage occupations if they perform any job duties that could fit under that job category.

In my paper, I explained how the AEWR already inflates H‑2A wages:
DOL adjusts the AEWR annually based on a survey and uniquely classifies overtime, hazard pay, bonuses, performance incentives, and all other payments as wages. This inflates the [required] base hourly rate before adding these types of extra compensation for the following year. This inflated average rate then applies to all workers, pricing out H‑2A and U.S. workers who had below‐average wages. When these workers drop out, the surveyed wage is artificially inflated even further. Many farmers feel these procedures put the AEWR on an upward escalator that becomes more disconnected from reality each year. The average AEWR has grown about twice the rate of inflation.…

The AEWR has other methodological problems. For instance, it is based on the average farm wage (which includes many high‐end outliers) rather than the median wage, nor does it include the cost of mandatory benefits provided to H‑2A workers and U.S. workers in similar jobs such as housing and transportation.

One purpose of the H‑2A program is to prevent a farm labor shortage, and it has failed. The most important reason why is that the AEWR is set much too high, so farmers cannot afford to hire enough workers. The results are lost productivity, higher prices, and illegal immigration.

How DOL Plans to Raise H‑2A Minimum Wages
Now DOL wants to make the AEWR even more problematic. The AEWR has so far been based on the regional average rate for field and livestock workers as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Labor Survey (FLS). The average of each state’s AEWR reached a record $15.03 in 2022. “Range” workers (e.g., sheepherders) have a special AEWR of $1,807.23/month in all states.

DOL now proposes to require separate wages for various specific types of farm work other than field and livestock positions. Farmers will have to pay higher wage rates if they want to hire workers who perform, for instance, construction tasks or truck driving. In addition, the USDA does not collect any data for Puerto Rico and Alaska, so they have always been subject only to the federal minimum wage. But DOL is now proposing to create new AEWRs using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) non‐farm survey, which will increase the AEWRs in Puerto Rico and Alaska substantially: 31 percent and 117 percent, respectively.

These new special AEWRs will be based on the average rate paid to all construction workers, tractor trailer drivers, etc., as recorded in the OEWS survey. In addition to having the same methodological issue as the FLS (e.g. including total compensation to estimate the average base wage rate), the OEWS adds a new problem: unlike the current FLS survey, it is the average for the occupation for non‐farm employers, not reflective of the wages for workers on farms. Thus, the switch to the OEWS fails to account for specific farm labor issues, contrary to the intent of the H‑2A program.

The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) notes that DOL is pointlessly trying to attract employed truck drivers away from jobs that are “full‐time, year‐round, come with benefits, and the drivers usually start their day at 7 am, and are done by 4 pm” to seasonal jobs on farms with many non‐driving tasks. If this works (which it won’t), the strategy will make the truck driver shortage in the United States worse—at a time when it is reaching catastrophic levels. DOL does not supply any evidence that these H‑2A workers are having an “adverse effect” on any U.S. workers, and there is none.

There is another problem. DOL claims that the FLS does not include data on farm workers that, for instance, drive trucks. But that is not completely true. The FLS says that activities like “trips to buy feed or deliver products to local market” do qualify as agricultural work and are included in the survey. Assuming that these workers do receive a higher wage, DOL is now double counting. The presence of truck drivers raises the overall wage for field workers, and now DOL plans to also require an even higher wage for truck drivers using OEWS data collected away from farms.

Read the rest of the article here: https://www.cato.org/blog/dol-plans-make-h-2a-program-too-expensive-many-farms-use?utm_source=social&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Cato%20Social%20Share

The new Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) regulations require that all entry-level drivers of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) receive training from a provider listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry.

Beginning February 7, 2022, to be eligible to take required skills or knowledge tests, commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants must have completed applicable entry-level driver training from a registered training provider. The FMCSA’s ELDT Applicability Fact Sheet is linked here.

ATA’s Vice President of Safety Policy, Dan Horvath has put together a document, linked here, including information regarding training requirements and some frequently asked questions.

ELDT EXCEPTIONS
From FMCSA – “ELDT EXCEPTIONS. The ELDT regulations do not apply to individuals that are not required to have a CDL as outlined in 49 CFR part 383, or for whom the state has waived the CDL skills test.”

From Final ELDT Rule, December 2016, under “1. Applicability of the ELDT Requirements”

“Under the NPRM, the following categories of drivers, who are currently excepted or may, at the State’s discretion, be excepted from CDL requirements, would also be excepted from the ELDT requirements: (1) Drivers excepted from the CDL requirements under § 383.3(c), (d), and (h), which includes individuals who operate CMVs for military purposes, farmers, firefighters, emergency response vehicle drivers and drivers removing snow and ice, and drivers of “covered farm vehicles”; (2) drivers applying for a restricted CDL under § 383.3 (e) through (g); and (3) veterans with military experience who meet the requirements and conditions of § 383.77.”

“FMCSA Response: The ELDT requirements established in today’s rule are aligned with the existing CDL requirements in part 383. The final rule does not create any new exceptions. Therefore, any individual who is currently excepted from taking a skills test in order to obtain a Class A or Class B CDL or a P or S endorsement would not be subject to the final rule.”

(A)Has not had more than one license;

(B) Has not had any license suspended, revoked, or canceled;

(C) Has not had any conviction for any type of motor vehicle for the disqualifying offenses contained in § 383.51(b);

(D) Has not had any conviction for any type of motor vehicle for serious traffic violations; and

(E)  Has not had any conviction for a violation of State or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control (other than a parking violation) arising in connection with any traffic accident, and has no record of an accident in which he/she was at fault.

(ii) Restricted CDLs shall have the same renewal cycle as unrestricted CDLs, but shall be limited to the seasonal period or periods as defined by the State of licensure, provided that the total number of calendar days in any 12-month period for which the restricted CDL is valid does not exceed 180. If a State elects to provide for more than one seasonal period, the restricted CDL is valid for commercial motor vehicle operation only during the currently approved season, and must be revalidated for each successive season. Only one seasonal period of validity may appear on the license document at a time. The good driving record must be confirmed prior to any renewal or revalidation.

(iii) Restricted CDL holders are limited to operating Group B and C vehicles, as described in subpart F of this part.

(iv) Restricted CDLs shall not be issued with any endorsements on the license document. Only the limited tank vehicle and hazardous materials endorsement privileges that the restricted CDL automatically confers and are described in paragraph (f)(3)(v) of this section are permitted.

(v) Restricted CDL holders may not drive vehicles carrying any placardable quantities of hazardous materials, except for diesel fuel in quantities of 3,785 liters (1,000 gallons) or less; liquid fertilizers (i.e., plant nutrients) in vehicles or implements of husbandry in total quantities of 11,355 liters (3,000 gallons) or less; and solid fertilizers (i.e., solid plant nutrients) that are not transported with any organic substance.

(vi) Restricted CDL holders may not hold an unrestricted CDL at the same time.

(vii) Restricted CDL holders may not operate a commercial motor vehicle beyond 241 kilometers (150 miles) from the place of business or the farm currently being served.

(h) Exception for drivers of “covered farm vehicles.” The rules in this part do not apply to a driver of a “covered farm vehicle,” as defined in § 390.5 of this chapter.

Entry Level Driver Training Exceptions.pdf (trucking.org)

Erie, Colorado, March 23, 2022 – The National Honey Board (NHB) has released its 2021 Annual Report in video format with highlights of positive consumer research, sustainability efforts, and marketing campaigns across retail, foodservice, consumer and ingredient verticals.

In 2021, U.S. consumers reported a significant increase in self-reported honey consumption, as well as positive perceptions of this all-natural sweetener. The increase, revealed in the National Honey Board Consumer Attitudes & Usage Study 2021, follows a pattern of growth for self-reported usage seen since 2019. Consumers who selected honey as their most preferred sweetener cited attributes like ‘natural,’ ‘good for the environment,’ ‘organic,’ ‘a source of antioxidants,’ and ‘flavorful.’ Data from the survey confirms the National Honey Board’s marketing campaign focusing on ‘good for me, good for the planet,’ continues to resonate with American consumers, who are interested in how honey promotes healthy honey bees.

The NHB’s wide ranging marketing program has resulted in a doubling of its return-on-Investment since 2012. According to a 2018 independent evaluation, “Driving the US Demand for Honey: Estimated Economic Impact of the National Honey Board,” for every dollar invested, the industry receives a benefit equal to $31. Marketing highlights include innovative programs like:

• 17 virtual summits presented to product developers at major CPG manufacturing organizations,
• the return of the Honey Saves Hives campaign which brought National Honey Month to life with national partnerships and key influencers,
• a seminar previewing some early nutrition research findings for retail dietitians representing some of the country’s largest grocery chains,
• partnerships with influencers and registered dietitians resulting in more than 250 million media impressions, and
• participation in the EPCOT® International Flower & Garden Festival, reaching millions of people in just four months.

To tell the story of honey’s unique journey as an ingredient crafted in nature, as well as by exploring the vital role of honey bees in pollination and global food supply, the NHB expanded its sustainability program with new, shorter videos that promote the role of beekeepers as the stewards of both the bees and the land. This campaign garnered more than 53 million impressions and outpaced all expectations for consumer engagement.

“While 2021 was a challenging year for the honey industry in many ways, the National Honey Board is pleased to see honey consumption in the United States continue to grow.” said Margaret Lombard, Chief Executive Officer. “Consumers are increasingly interested in where their food comes from and how the foods that they purchase impact the environment. Honey producers have a fantastic story to tell.”

In 2021, the NHB invested more than $700,000 in production research to support honey bee health. The NHB also continued its commitment to market and production research gathering key insights from 10 different studies, including Consumer Attitudes and Awareness, new product introductions, honey menu tracking & trends, ongoing nutrition research, and more.

ABOUT NATIONAL HONEY BOARD
The NHB is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that works to educate consumers about the benefits and uses for honey and honey products through research, marketing and promotional programs. The Board’s work, funded by an assessment on domestic and imported honey, is designed to increase the awareness and usage of honey by consumers, the foodservice industry and food manufacturers. The ten-member-Board, appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, represents producers (beekeepers), packers, importers and a marketing cooperative. For more information, visit www.honey.com.

###
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
For Media Inquiries and Press Information:
Jessica Schindler | jessica@nhb.org | (303) 776-2337

We are pleased to welcome:
Tom Sargeantson, Sunland Trading, Inc., New Canaan, CT (Importer Member, Reappointed)
Mindy Ryan Tharp, Barkman Honey, Hillsboro, KS (First Handler Member, New Appointee)
Jeff Caley, Dutch Gold Honey, Lancaster, PA (First Handler Alternate, New Appointee)
Matt Halbgewachs, Sweet River Honey, Driftwood, TX (Producer Member, New Appointee)
Darren Cox, Cox Honey of Utah, Mendon, UT (Producer Alternate, Reappointed)

The 10-member National Honey Board is composed of three first handler representatives, three importer representatives, three producer representatives, one marketing cooperative representative and their respective alternates.

We thank these new and returning members for working on behalf of the honey industry. Are you interested in serving on the National Honey Board or know someone who would be great? Please click here to apply. All board member nominations are made by qualified national organizations and selected by the USDA Secretary. For a list of current board members, click here. Please email questions to honey@nhb.org.

Hundreds of pounds of honeybees were set to ship from the Lower 48 to beekeepers across Alaska last weekend, but died in transit when the crates carrying them were left for hours on a hot tarmac in Atlanta.

Soldotna beekeeper Sarah McElrea said the loss is devastating. She runs Sarah’s Alaska Honey and also teaches classes and coordinates shipments of bees to beekeepers around Alaska.

On Sunday, she was waiting at the Anchorage airport for a shipment of 800 pounds of bees from a distributor in Sacramento, California. It was the first of two shipments that she had ordered on behalf of more than 300 Alaskan beekeepers.

“We had a load that was going to Fairbanks, and then we had somebody else that was going to distribute from Wasilla to Talkeetna,” she said. “And then we were going to do Anchorage and the Valley. And then our second one would’ve come in the following day, and we would’ve taken that one back down to the Peninsula to fulfill the rest of our orders.”

But the plan hit a snag when the bees were pushed from the original Delta flight. Instead, the airline rerouted them to Atlanta, where they were supposed to catch a direct flight to Anchorage.

When they didn’t make that flight, McElrea really started to worry. Honeybees don’t do well in extreme heat. McElrea asked that the bees be put in a cooler.

But the next day, the airline told her some bees had escaped from their crates and so Delta put them outside.

“I really panicked when they found they had moved them outside because the pheromones that those honeybees emit are attractive to other honeybees that are native to the area,” she said.

Sure enough, outside bees gathered around the crate, so it looked like more bees were escaping.

McElrea said Delta refused to put the shipment on the plane. So she turned to the internet for help.

“I got on Facebook and made a quick post to a page that is based in Georgia,” she said.

That’s how she connected with Atlanta beekeeper Edward Morgan. He went to the airport to take a look and found most of the bees in the shipment were already dead from the heat. McElrea said it was 80 degrees in Atlanta that day.

The only thing left to do was to rescue the survivors. Morgan called in reinforcements to open the crates and save whatever individual bees were left.

Gina Galucci with the Georgia Beekeepers Association was one of the dozen-plus volunteers that beelined for the airport. She told WABE’s Emily Wu Pearson Sunday that they understood the urgency of the situation.

“This is a disaster,” Galucci said. “So while we did mobilize very, very quickly, we did that because we know they’re going to die. And so the person who bought these bees is out a whole lot of money. So we’re going to try to help support with some donations toward that.”

McElrea said these last few days have been a nightmare. She’s scrambling to patch up the mess and hasn’t slept much.

She said the beekeeping business has never been about money for her. Still, she said it’s an incalculable loss.

She said her supplier in California is going to replace the shipment, which included $48,000 worth of bees. She’s also hoping for some sort of relief from the airline, though she understands that for many airlines, people ship live animals at their own risk.

But she’s grateful for the support from the Georgia beekeepers. Some took the few survivors back to their own apiaries.

“I will forever be grateful for anything that they were able to salvage,” she said. “They just assembled quickly and efficiency and really are the heroes in this scenario.”

And while this is the first time she’s experienced such a tragedy, she said it’s not the first time she’s heard of bees dying in transit.

Distributors know how much food to put in crates so the bees can travel safely within a reasonable timeframe. But that becomes complicated when there are delays or cancellations, particularly in extreme climates.

McElrea is coordinating with beekeepers in Seattle so that if there’s a problem with the next shipment, volunteers will be ready to intervene.

Catherine Salm with Delta Air Lines’ corporate communications said in an email Tuesday the airline is aware of the incident and is working to make sure something similar does not happen again.

“We have been in contact with the customer directly to apologize for the unfortunate situation,” she said.

McElrea wants people to know they can protect these important pollinators in their own backyards. She said gardeners should plant pollinator-friendly plants and avoid spraying toxic chemicals, like RoundUp. Importantly, they shouldn’t be afraid of honeybees, which only sting when they’re in danger.

“Being educated about honeybees is the first big step I think everyone should take on that can help them to just have a better understanding of how important they are as far as pollinators,” McElrea said. “And just such a fragile part of our ecosystem that we as humans are completely dependent on for our survival.”

Now, McElrea and other beekeepers from the Kenai Peninsula are waiting on the second shipment and the replacement, set to come in later this week.
WABE journalists Matt Pearson and Emily Wu Pearson contributed photographs and interviews from Atlanta.

https://www.ktoo.org/2022/04/27/millions-of-alaska-bound-honeybees-die-atlanta/

From left, LSU AgCenter entomologist Daniel Swale, USDA-ARS entomologist Michael Simone-Finstrom and AgCenter entomologist Nathan Lord examine bees at the USDA-ARS Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge on Jan. 24, 2022. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter

BATON ROUGE, La. — Viruses are one of many factors scientists believe are contributing to the collapse of honey bee colonies. Not only do the viruses kill bees; infections also can alter their eyesight and what foods they are attracted to, leaving their colonies with inadequate nutritional content.

Armed with a recently awarded U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant, LSU AgCenter researchers are working to learn more about how viruses affect bees’ vision and whether there are ways to help them recover from infections and return to normal foraging behavior.

AgCenter entomologist Daniel Swale is working on the project with fellow entomologists Nathan Lord, of the AgCenter; Michael Simone-Finstrom, of the USDA Agricultural Research Service Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge; and Troy Anderson, of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The $272,717 grant will fund their research through December 2023.

The scientists are focusing on the effects of two viruses: deformed wing virus, which causes bees to grow short, stubby wings unsuitable for flying, and Israeli acute paralysis virus, which causes neurological problems such as twitching and can kill bees within 24 to 48 hours of infection. The viruses are transmitted by mites.

In infected colonies, Swale and his colleagues have noticed bees returning with unusual food choices.

“They’re bringing back different pollens and different fats when they are infected with these viruses,” he said. “It turns out that these viruses migrate to their eyes, and when the bees are infected with deformed wing virus and IAPV, we get different attractions to different colors. It shifts the spectrum of attractiveness.”

They’ve also found evidence of physiological changes in infected bees’ eyes that interfere with vision. They can’t see colors correctly and end up bringing back pollens and fats they wouldn’t normally select.

“The eyes are one of the key components to successful foraging,” Swale said.

In the grant project, he wants to find out how to enhance bees’ immune response to viruses and whether it’s possible to help infected bees maintain their vision, which also could help them continue to forage properly.

Swale has previously studied physiological channels that transport potassium ions through insects’ bodies. He said they may represent an opportunity to help bees cope with the effects of viruses. For example, therapeutic products targeting the channels potentially could be developed after additional research.

“Potassium ion channels do seem to regulate the antiviral response system as well as reduce the amount of virus that reaches the eyes,” Swale said. “It looks like if we’re able to modulate the potassium channels in the correct way, we can restore visual acuity and visual performance in these bees.”

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1643645654417

The Executive Board of Apimondia voted unanimously this week to cancel the Apimondia Congress planned for September 2022 in Ufa Russia. We condemn the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Please know that we heard all your voices during these trying days.

We are looking forward to organising a great Apimondia Congress in Santiago Chile in 2023, when beekeepers and researchers from every nation will once again be able to meet. We may organise some Symposia prior to the Congress: please follow our website for updates.

We appreciate your continued support of Apimondia.

Sincerely,

Jeff Pettis
Apimondia President
www.apimondia.org

By Gary Hartley | Scientific American March 2022 Issue

Small flies’ extreme clamping feet let them walk on a flying bee

To wrangle a ride on their honeybee hosts, wingless parasitic flies need a truly phenomenal grasp. Now a new study reveals how Braula coeca manages to walk around on a flying bee while exhibiting what researchers say is the highest attachment force per body weight of any land-based insect ever measured.
This force relies on the parasite’s highly adapted feet, called tarsi, which are equipped with toothed claws. Each foot has a total of 28 teeth, or claw tips, which let the parasite lock onto sparse honeybee hairs during flight.

“The claws are unique, from what we know so far. Usually insects have claws with one tip only. A few species have two to three tips. But this species possesses comblike claws with several tips and deep interstices [gaps],” says Thies Büscher, a zoologist at Germany’s Kiel University and co-lead author of a recent study in Physiological Entomology.

The claws are complemented by soft lateral ridges and “stoppers” along the foot, letting the fly swiftly break its rigid grip with a simple twisting motion and detach from the hairs as it moves—a trait likely to be intriguing to researchers working in biology-influenced design, or biomimetics. The parasite’s feet also feature pads that firmly cling to smooth surfaces, such as the wax in beehives.

“Other strongly attaching animals either secrete strong glues or anchor with structures that damage the surface,” Büscher says. “Both solutions are more or less permanent and do not allow for fast detachment and locomotion.” But because B. coeca’s grasping mechanisms are purely mechanical, they could prove useful for both terrestrial and underwater robots.

“Attachment technology is a prominent domain within biomimetic research,” says Shoshanah Jacobs, an integrative biologist at the University of Guelph in Ontario, who was not involved in the research. Jacobs agrees with Büscher on the finding’s potential value but notes that designers working on attachment problems might not readily become aware of such discoveries in insect physiology.

“Biomimetic researchers grapple with the challenges of knowledge mobilization across disciplinary silos,” Jacobs says. “When we’ve figured out how to do this better, we may very well be opening a floodgate of innovation.”

This article was originally published with the title “Science in Images” in Scientific American 326, 3, 20-21 (March 2022)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0322-20

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/honeybee-parasites-have-record-breaking-clinginess/