Florida SART: Florida State Agricultural Response Team

Vol. 2, No. 10, October 2006

 Contents

• Honeybee and Pollination Future is Uncertain
• Advisory Board to Meet in Gainesville
• Please Keep Annual Conference in Mind!
• Refrigerate. Refrigerate. Refrigerate.
• Pet Evacuation & Transportation Act Becomes Law
• Spinach Update
• Florida Animal Identification Program
• About the SART Sentinel

With the emergence of the Africanized honeybee (the “killer bee? and the increasingly destructive presence of parasitic Varroa mites, the future of Florida’s food and ornamental pollinators is uncertain at best. In the late 1980s, feral bees were almost exclusively responsible for pollination; now, Florida’s feral bee population has been wiped out.

“Unfortunately, America’s honeybee population is not very healthy,?says Gerald Hayes, Chief Apiary Inspector for DOACS?Division of Plant Industry. “Without effective pollinators one-third of the food and an enormous percentage of ornamentals that we produce in Florida are at risk: watermelons, blueberries, strawberries and at least two-thirds of our citrus.?br>
According to Hayes, the Varroa mite’s bite activates viruses that kill bees. Although the mite is endemic in the United States, many factors have allowed it to proliferate dangerously: other natural bacteria, chemicals actually introduced as mite controls, and other chemical influences now present in the environment.

Africanized bees mate aggressively with our relatively placid, but superior pollinating European bees, producing hybrids. From the Tampa Bay area south, these Africanized and hybrid bees are dominant and, while no human deaths have been recorded, there have been numerous fatal livestock and pet incidents. Perhaps because their genetic code is principally tropical (bees in temperate climates must store food for winter), Africanized and hybrid bees are poor pollinators.

The effect of spreading Africanized hives has consequences not only for our food supply, but for hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers, outdoor enthusiasts ?campers, hikers, hunters, fishermen, birdwatchers ?and schools, homes and businesses which may unwittingly harbor a colony.

Today, Hayes is working with an international coalition, beginning with IFAS of the University of Florida, to find solutions for our pressing pollination deficits. The long-term question, he says is how much food we ourselves want to supply and how much we want turn over to foreign growers ?similar to what we have done with our oil supply. Thus, the humble bee becomes a significant international player.

For additional reference and information, check out “African Honey Bee: What You Need To Know?at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG113 and http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/hot_topics/environment/africanized_honey_bees.html.


Kneeling beside a trap, DOACS bee researcher Jerry Hayes holds a lure placed inside. The lure entices African bees for the purposes of monitoring and surveying.

Advisory Board To Meet in Gainesville

The fourth 2006 meeting of the Florida SART Advisory Board will be held on Wednesday, December 6th in the second floor auditorium of the Florida Farm Bureau [352-378-1321] building, 5700 SW 34th Street, Gainesville. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. and end by 3:00 p.m.

To reach the Farm Bureau building from Interstate 75, take the SR 121 (Williston Road) exit in south Gainesville. Turn east and drive one block to the traffic lights at SW 34th Street. Turn right. The multi-story Farm Bureau building is located about one-half mile south on your right. It is the only significant building in the area: “You can’t miss it.?br>
Attendees should RSVP for the meeting and lunch through the office of Dr. Greg Christy, DVM, Florida ESF-17 Coordinator at christg@doacs.state.fl.us.


The Florida Farm Bureau building, 5700 SW 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida.