Beekeeping / ApicultureOutlineBackground: what is beekeeping?A hive: “the birds and the bees”?Slide 5History of beekeeping: evolutionHistory of beekeeping: gathering honeyHistory of beekeeping: early beekeepingHistory of beekeeping: early beekeepingHistory of beekeeping: early bee migrationHistory of beekeeping: the road to industrial beekeepingSlide 12Scientific BeekeepingSlide 14Beekeeping Today: U.S.Honey Production Today: U.S.Pollination Today: U.S.Slide 18TradeGlobal Trade: top 10 (2004) Honey exports Honey importsSlide 21Bee diseases and mitesCCD: Colony Collapse DisorderCCDPesticide IssuesBee diseases and pesticides: the futureSlide 27Additional source of incomeGender Roles: in pastGender Roles: TodaySlide 31Sustainable AgriculturePartners for Sustainable PollinationSlide 34Slide 35ConclusionsWorks CitedBeekeeping /ApicultureBy Rebecca LindquistOutline•Background•History•State of beekeeping today–Problems–Benefits•Beekeeping and sustainabilityBackground: what is beekeeping?Five products:•Honey•Beeswax•Pollination•Queen bees•Packaged beeshttp://differenceisreal.wordpress.com/2009/03/29/honey-and-skin-care/http://blogs.fortlewis.edu/greenfreedom/2009/11/04/honeybees-and-ice-cream/A hive: “the birds and the bees”?•50,000 female workers•Hundreds of drones•1 queen•And a beekeeperhttp://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/act3.htmlOutline•Background•History•State of beekeeping today–Problems–Benefits•Beekeeping and sustainabilityHistory of beekeeping: evolution•Bees’ ancestors evolved 207 to 220 million years ago•Now: 22,000 species of bees•9 species of honeybeeHistory of beekeeping: gathering honey•Ancient times: cave paintings•Hunter-gatherers today (or at least during the late 1900s)•!Kung: a “sacramental adventure”•Mbuti: hunting season as a time of festivity and magic Mesolithic rock painting showing honey collection from a wild nestValencia, Spainhttp://www.mdbee.com/articles/cavepainting.htmlHistory of beekeeping: early beekeeping•Egypt: 2400 BC•Food for the wealthy•Importance of the bee for the Pharoah •Greeks and Romans•Offered to the gods•Aristotle and Virgil described beekeepinghttp://dodona777.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/honey-bees-about-to-become-extinct/History of beekeeping: early beekeeping•Europe and Russia•Holes in trees or hanging hollow logs, AD 400•The skep•Beeswax and Christianity•Mead•After 1800, honey became more expensive than sugarhttp://www.beeclass.com/dts/briefhistory.htmhttp://www.biobees.com/british_beekeeping/british_beekeeping.html•North America•Honey and maple syrup•MormonsBrigham YoungHistory of beekeeping: early bee migrationhttp://www.my-discount-hotels.com/beekeeping-supplies-new-zealand.html•New ZealandHistory of beekeeping: the road to industrial beekeeping•Skeps replaced by wooden boxes•1851: Lorenzo Langstroth’s supers•1870: first national beekeepers’ convention•1873: Moses Quinby’s bellowshttp://outdoorplace.org/beekeeping/history1.htmHistory of beekeeping: the road to industrial beekeeping•John Harbison and California•1857: 67 colonies transported by boat•1870: 2,000 colonies•1884: California produced 2,000,000 lbs/year•1909: first bees rented for pollination in New Jerseyhttp://ucanr.org/repository/CAO/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v050n04p24&fulltext=yesScientific Beekeeping•Tracheal mite outbreak throughout Europe 1904•Brother Adam, German beekeeping monk•Artificial insemination•Breeds for good colonies, high production, and disease resistance•Chemicals for pest control beginning in 1940s•Honey contaminationhttp://perso.fundp.ac.be/~jvandyck/homage/artcl/EO99princBAen.htmlOutline•Background•History•State of beekeeping today–Problems–Benefits•Beekeeping and sustainabilityBeekeeping Today: U.S.•6 million colonies 1940s, 2.3 million today•70% decrease in total number of beekeeping operations since 1982•Today, 87.7% of colonies are in 1,400 commercial operations•U.S. government provides price supports, since 1949Honey Production Today: U.S.•Yield increasing 0.5 pound per colony per year•About 50 pounds•Profits: $50 per hive per year•Time input: about 5 hours per hive per year•Original input can be paid off in second year•Nectar from alfalfa and clover, especially Michigan to Montana, also Florida and Texashttp://www.flickr.com/photos/23385633@N03/2803270650/in/set-72157606685957698/Pollination Today: U.S.•Still the most efficient way to pollinate crops that need pollination:•Almonds, plums, cherries, alfalfa, avocados, vegetable seed, melons, sunflowers, apples, prunes•1/3 of our diet comes from bee-pollinated crops•900,000 colonieshttp://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~wellness/wpp/nutri/main_resources_aa.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/news/national/drought-dries-up-timbercorps-plans/2007/11/23/1195753307266.htmlWemen almond farm, the second largest almond farm in the world, AustraliaPollination Today: U.S.•Migratory cycles in Pacific Northwest and East Coast•2.42 rentals per hive per yearhttp://www.fullbloomapiaries.com/pollination.htmlTrade•Honey: usually blend of honeys, flash-heated, micro-filtered•Growing interest in rarer honeys through organic movement•Falling U.S. honey production•U.S. imports 50% more honey that producedGlobal Trade: top 10 (2004)Honey exports Honey importsCountry Weight (thousand metric tons)Percentage of totalChina 81.3 24.2%Argentina 65.2 18.6%Mexico 23.4 6.9%Germany 22.4 6.6%Brazil 21 6.2%Vietnam 15.6 4.6%Hungary 15 4.4%Canada 14 4.2%Uruguay 13.4 4%India 10.4 3.1%Country Money Spent(millions of US dollars)Percentage of totalGermany 230.7 27.5%United States 149.6 17.8%U.K. 75.1 8.9%Japan 65 7.7%France 54.5 6.5%Italy 41.6 5%Spain 31.5 3.7%Saudi Arabia 26 3.1%Switzerland 23.1 2.8%Netherlands 56 3.7%Outline•Background•History•State of beekeeping today–Problems–Benefits•Beekeeping and sustainabilityBee diseases and mites•1980s: bee mite parasites•Varroa mite•Foul broodhttp://wallpaperstock.net/honeycomb-wallpapers_w4679.htmlhttp://www.honeybeekeeping.co.uk/cms/beekeeping-news/american-foulbrood-hits-scotland/Healthy Honeycomb American Foul Brood European Foul BroodCCD: Colony Collapse Disorder•What causes CCD?•Multiple viruses and mites•Pesticides•Lack of natural forage•About 1/3 of colonies in US lost each year since 2006•Industrial beekeepers make up losses by splitting colonies or buying new queens•So