How are the bees doing?

When the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) meets Jan. 9-13 at the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, Nev. for its 75th annual American Beekeeping Federation Conference & Tradeshow, the key concern is bee health.

Sadly, colony losses continue to take their toll.

Our nation's honey bee colonies are down slightly for operations with five or more colonies, according to statistics released Aug. 1, 2017 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In its news release, the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service noted that "Honey bee colonies for operations with five or more colonies in the United States on January 1, 2017 totaled 2.62 million colonies, down slightly from January 1, 2016. The number of colonies in the United States on April 1, 2017 was 2.89 million colonies. During 2016, honey bee colonies on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 were 2.62 million, 2.80 million, 3.18 million, and 3.03 million colonies, respectively."

Honey bee colony loss (for operations with five or more colonies) amounted to 362,000 colonies or 14 percent. "The number of colonies lost during the quarter of April through June 2017 was 226,000 colonies, or 8 percent," according to the USDA news release. "During the quarter of October through December 2016, colonies lost totaled 502,000  colonies, or 17 percent, the highest of any quarter in 2016. The quarter in 2016 with the lowest number of colonies lost was April through June, with 330,000  colonies lost, or 12 percent."

And again, no surprise: the No. 1 colony stressor was that dreaded varroa mite (Varroa destructor) and the viruses it can transmit. The parasitic mites suck the blood (hemolymph) from both the adults and developing brood, especially drone pupae.

The ABF conference will zero in on the varroa mite at several presentations on Thursday, Jan. 10:

• "Selecting for Behavioral Resistance to Varroa Destructor"--Krispn Given, Apiculture Specialist, Purdue University Department of Entomology, West Lafayette, Ind.
• "RNA Viruses and Varroa Mites: Temporal Variation in Honey Bee Pathogens Influences Patterns of Co-Infection"--Alex Burham, University of Vermont, Burllngton, Va.
• "Engaging Beekeepers with MiteCheck: Implementing a Nationwide Citizen Science Program for Monitoring and Comparing Varroa destructor Infestations"--Rebecca Masterman, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.

Overall, the diamond-anniversary conference will focus on educational sessions, social and networking activities "and lots of opportunities to learn about new products and services," according to ABF president Gene Brandi of Los Banos, a bee industry leader for four decades. He currently manages some 2000 colonies in central California with his son.

Morris Weaver of Montgomery, Texas, the 1975-76 ABF president, will deliver the keynote presentation on "The American Beekeeping Federation, Inc.: 75 Years Strong."

Attendees can choose from five track sessions: small scale beekeepers; serious sideliners; package bee and queen breeders; honey producers and packers; and commercial beekeepers. Registration also will take place at the door.

On Saturday, Jan. 13, Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, will present two honey-tasting workshops: "Taste and Evaluate Honey: Matching Flowers to Flavors."

This week is truly a gathering of bee scientists and beekeepers. In conjunction with the ABF conference, the American Bee Research Conference will take place Jan. 11-12 in Reno.  Marla Spivak, MacArthur Fellow and Distinguished McKnight University Professor, University of Minnesota, is the keynote speaker.

Most people avoid a hornet's nest.

Not environmental artist Ann Savageau; the retired UC Davis Department of Design professor creates art from hornet nest paper.

"I began using hornet nest paper back in Ann Arbor, Mich. in the early 1990s," said Savageau, who describes herself as "an environmental artist who creates mixed-media  sculpture and installations."

"Hornet's nests are common in that area," she said. "I am attracted to the beautiful colors and patterns."

Her art will be among works displayed at the UC Davis Design Museum's exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, set  Jan. 8-April 22 in Room 124 of Cruess Hall. The show is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is free.

The professor emerita, a member of the UC Davis faculty from 2003 to 2014 and now a full-time artist, says her work deals with the natural world, human culture, and their intersection.  "My current interests include  global warming and environmental destruction; consumer culture and  wasteful consumption; and artistic transformations of waste." Her Stanford anthropological training, her interest in the natural world,  and the many places she has lived are reflected in her art, which she has displayed in more than  80 exhibitions, both nationally and  internationally.

For the UC Davis exhibition, Savageau created a trilogy of wall pieces made from hornets' nest paper, and a set of sculptures made of wood etched into striking patterns by bark beetle larvae.

Savageau said she collected only unoccupied hornet nests in the Ann Arbor area, which she found on tree branches or lower in bushes. She has never been stung. "I collected the nests in late fall or winter, after some hard frosts, when the nests were empty (no life inside)," she said. "The queen leaves the nest and hibernates, under a log or some other protected place."

The nests she's collected range in size from a basketball to 30 inches in diameter.

The artistic process? "The paper on the nest is many layers deep," Savageau related. "I peel the paper off the nest—it comes off in irregular sizes and shapes.  Then I collage it onto foam core, matching the irregular pieces in such a way that they appear to be  one large sheet.  The pieces are usually no larger than four to six inches.  It's similar to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle." 

The artist, who holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and her master's degree in fine arts from Wayne State University, Detroit, taught at the University of Michigan Residential College, Ann Arbor, from 1978-2002 before joining the UC Davis faculty in 2003.   (See more of her work at http://annsavageau.com/)

"The colors and patterns of a hornet's nest are indeed exquisite," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis. "We have several hornet nests as part of our museum's collection, and one is huge--larger than a basketball." The  bald-faced hornet, Dolichoves pulamaculata, crafts the papery, egg-shaped nests by mixing wood fibers with saliva. The insect's name refers to the ivory-white markings on its face. Its thorax, legs and abdomen also have white markings.  

The hornet nest closes down in late fall or winter, Kimsey said, and the queen leaves to hibernate for the winter in such protected places as in hollow trees and fence posts, or under logs, bark or rock piles. In the spring, the queen emerges to begin building a nest, which eventually may contain some 400 to 700 workers. The nests are mottled gray with layered hexagonal combs.

The bald-faced hornets are considered important to the ecosystem in that they pollinate plants and prey upon many insect pests. They are, however, known for their highly defensive behavior in protecting their nests.

A reception heralding the opening of the Design Museum exhibition is set from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 11. Savageau will give a presentation on the exhibition at 6:30 p.m. in Room 256 of Cruess Hall.

 (Visit the Design Museum for map and parking information.)

Insects as art! The shapes, the colors...Bees, beetles, butterflies...

Capture images of the bees, create sculptures from beetle galleries, and depict insect motifs on clothing...

Don't miss the unique exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, set Jan. 8-April 22 at the UC Davis Design Museum in Room 124 of Cruess Hall, UC Davis campus.

Beginning at noon, Monday, Jan. 8, you can view the art-and-design installation that explores the connections between people and insects. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Hours are from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays, and from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays through April 22.

You'll see work by UC Davis Department of Design faculty and graduate students, as well as displays from the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

The Bohart Museum will showcase insect specimens from its collection, and images from celebrated insect photographer Alex Wild, curator of entomology at the University of Texas, Austin. Wild received his doctorate in entomology in from UC Davis in 2005, studying with major professor Phil Ward.

The Design Museum exhibition also ties in with the Bohart Museum's open house, “Bug Art @ the Bohart," from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 21 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.  This will overlap with the Design Museum's hours on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m., so visitors can explore both museums, said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator.

The Design Museum show explores the two sides of the relationship between people and insects, according to exhibition curator Adrienne McGraw, executive director of the Gateway Science Museum.  This includes how makers, designers, architects and artists draw upon nature's patterns to create materials and structures. The collaboration of humans and insects extends to the production of raw materials, such as silk (silkworms) and red dye (made from scale insects, cochineals).

“The inspiration we draw from the natural world is endless,” said  McGraw. “The challenge in the exhibit was focusing our story to the links between insects and textiles and forms. We selected key pieces from UC Davis' Joann C. Stabb Design Collection and works from collaborating artists, so the connection to insects could then be explored. Some of these relationships are centuries old, while other ways people are using insects and insect behavior is relatively new. What's exciting to me is to think about all the new products, designs, and technologies that are still to come as people continue to be inspired by insects. And what better place to encourage that than a university setting where so much creative work is already going on?”

The exhibition includes the work of several Department of Design faculty and graduate students, including professor emerita Ann Savageau and master-of-fine-art students Alicia Decker, Cory Wolffs and Lauren Kelly.

For the exhibition, Savageau created a trilogy of wall pieces made from hornet nest paper, and a set of sculptures made of wood etched into striking patterns by bark beetle larvae. The Bohart Museum open house on bark beetles featured her work last August.

Savageau describes herself as an environmental artist who creates mixed-media  sculpture and installations.  Her work deals with the natural world, human culture, and their intersection.  Her current interests include  global warming and environmental destruction; consumer culture and  wasteful consumption; and artistic transformations of waste. Ann's Stanford anthropological training, her interest in the natural world,  and the many places she has lived are reflected in her art. 

Ann received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University, and her master of fine arts from  Wayne State University.  She taught at the University of Michigan  Residential College from 1978-2002. She joined the faculty at UC Davis in 2003, retiring as a professor of design in 2014. She currently works as a full-time studio artist. Ann has exhibited her work in more than  80 exhibitions, both nationally and  internationally.  She has given numerous lectures and workshops and has juried many exhibitions. (See more of her work at http://annsavageau.com/)

Alex Wild describes himself as a "Texas-based biologist who started photographing insects in 2002 as an aesthetic complement to my scientific work on ant taxonomy and evolution." His photographs have appeared in numerous natural history museums, magazines, books, television programs, and other media, including the New York Times, Science, Nature, Washington Post, National Geographic and the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), among others. He and colleagues teach a BugShot Macro Photography Workshops.  Wild shared some of his photography techniques when he presented a UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar in 2008. (See his seminar posted on UCTV and his images on his website.)

A reception heralding the opening of the Design Museum exhibition is set from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 11. Savageau will give a presentation on the show at 6:30 p.m. in Room 256 of Cruess Hall.

(Visit the Design Museum for map and parking information.)

A major citrus pest may experience a “Bah, Humbug!” kind of year.

If all goes as planned, UC Davis chemical ecologist Walter Leal's discovery of the sex pheromone of the Asian citrus psyllid--which spreads the deadly citrus greening disease, Huanglongbing (HLB)--may result in the insect version of “The Fatal Attraction.”

“We are now working on a formulation to be used in traps,” Walter Leal said this week. “This might take a year, but hopefully will be ready before the flight season in California.”

Leal, who led an international team of scientists in the six-year research project, announced the discovery Dec. 5 at the 10th Annual Brazilian Meeting of Chemical Ecology in Sao Paulo. Leal is a native of Brazil and a fellow of both the Entomological Society of America and the Entomological Society of Brazil.

“The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is a major threat to the multibillion dollar citrus industry in the United States,” said UC Cooperative Extension advisor Surendra Dara of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. “When an insect pest vectors a deadly disease, the threat is more serious and ACP being an invasive pest made its management even more challenging.  Discovery of a sex pheromone by Dr. Leal's team is a major breakthrough not just for managing a dangerous invasive pest, but also a significant contribution to environmental sustainability.  I envision this pheromone becoming a clean, green, mean weapon in the IPM arsenal against ACP.”

The citrus greening disease, which has wreaked havoc in Florida, now threatens the California citrus industry. The mottled brown insect, Diaphorina citri, is now found in 26 of the state's 58 counties, but the disease itself has not been established.

Joel Nelsen, president of the California Citrus Mutual, called the discovery “exciting news” and a “first step toward protecting the citrus industry. We're hoping that the next steps come in time to protect thousands of citrus growers around the country.”

“Let's move forward fast and furious,” he said, noting that the citrus industry spends millions to support the research community.

The Leal-led research team was funded solely by Fund for Citrus Protection (FUNDECITRUS).

Integrated pest management specialist Frank Zalom, distinguished professor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and a past president of the Entomological Society of America, hailed the discovery as a “significant breakthrough in preventing the spread of this serious citrus insect, and may offer a less toxic method for its control.” He was not involved in the study. 

Kris Godfrey, associate project scientist at the UC Davis Contained Research Facility and formerly with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, agrees that better detection traps are needed. “I hope that Dr. Leal's discovery of an Asian citrus psyllid pheromone will provide the improvement in detection trapping that is needed by anyone trying to manage this insect and slow the spread of huanglongbing, a devastating disease of citrus vectored by the Asian citrus psyllid.”

Leal's Brazilian liaison, Haroldo Xavier Linhares Volpe of the Fund for Citrus Protection (FUNDECITRUS) from the state of Sao Paulo, pointed out that the discovery could “increase the ACP catches using lures with the attractive compound, leading to a more assertive, precise monitoring and could promote an early detection of ACP.”

“With a more accurate detection, we can adopt ACP integrated pest management (IPM) tools as soon as possible, avoiding or minimizing HLB spread.” He added that the lures should help decrease the population.

“However, researchers need to test all the management strategies before they are adopted,” Volpe said. “Formulation techniques need to be investigated to determine lures that release the compounds for a long time and at doses that attract the insect.”

Although ACP is present in California, the disease itself has not been established, Leal emphasized. “The emphasis is on detection, eradication and limiting the spread of the disease. In Florida, where HLB is widespread, monitoring ACP populations is essential to avoid reinfection after eradication of infected plants.” California now leads the nation in citrus production, surpassing Florida, for the first time in 70 years.

Currently growers are using yellow sticky traps to detect the insect and to monitor the population. Said Leal: “Efficient lures are sorely needed for sticky traps, particularly for early ACP detection. Otherwise, growers have to resort to regular sprays to avoid infection given that infected insects from gardens and noncommercial areas migrate to citrus farms.”

Pheromones and other semiochemicals are widely used in agriculture and medical entomology. “Growers use them as lures in trapping systems for monitoring and surveillance, as well as for strategies for controlling populations, such as mating disruption and attraction-and-kill systems,” Leal noted.

ACP feeds on new leaf growth of oranges, lemons, mandarins, grapefruit and other citrus, as well as some related plants. Infected psyllids can transmit the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, which causes the fatal citrus disease. An early symptom of HLB in citrus is the yellowing of leaves on an individual limb or in a sector of a tree's canopy.

Native to Asia, ACP was first detected in the United States in June 1998 in Palm Beach County, Florida, and in California in August 2008 in San Diego County. Scientists discovered HLB in Florida in August 2005, and in Los Angeles in March 2012. 

Citrus trees infected with HLB usually die within five years, according to the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. There is no known cure. “The only way to protect trees is to prevent spread of the HLB pathogen in the first place, by controlling psyllid populations and removing and destroying any infected trees,” UC IPM says on its website.

(Editor's Note: The research was published in the Jan. 11 edition of the journal Scientific Reports.)