The Director of the company Apicultural Development and Consulting SC, MC. Ana Rosa Parra Canto, reported that his company has trained and certified to provide services and Training of the Honey Administration and Traceability System Apitrack ®

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On july 25, 2008 in the National University auditorium.

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About 20 beekeepers in southern Cocal received yesterday the apicultural equipment, such as boxes of bees, clothes and other utensils for the practice of honey production. Participants are part of the Theme Group Beekeeping (Cocal River and Rio Gall). The initiative is part of micro-2 project, the Epagri in collaboration with the council.

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The Faculty of Forestry being made available to the apicultural community the course 'Queen bee breeding in Chile.' Those interested should register before September 23, make contact with the Gianinna Dessi phone 9785721 or email forsilvi@uchile.cl. . The professional officer will be Pamela Rodriguez, biologist at the Catholic University of Chile

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Wild bumble bees (Bombus spp.) have also suffered serious declines and circumstantial evidence suggests that pathogen ?spillover? from commercially reared bumble bees, which are used extensively to pollinate greenhouse crops, is a possible cause. We constructed a spatially explicit model of pathogen spillover in bumble bees and, using laboratory experiments and the literature, estimated parameter values for the spillover of Crithidia bombi, a destructive pathogen commonly found in commercial Bombus. We also monitored wild bumble bee populations near greenhouses for evidence of pathogen spillover, and compared the fit of our model to patterns of C. bombi infection observed in the field. Our model predicts that, during the first three months of spillover, transmission from commercial hives would infect up to 20% of wild bumble bees within 2 km of the greenhouse. However, a travelling wave of disease is predicted to form suddenly, infecting up to 35?100% of wild Bombus, and spread away from the greenhouse at a rate of 2 km/wk. In the field, although we did not observe a large epizootic wave of infection, the prevalences of C. bombi near greenhouses were consistent with our model. Indeed, we found that spillover has allowed C. bombi to invade several wild bumble bee species near greenhouses. Given the available evidence, it is likely that pathogen spillover from commercial bees is contributing to the ongoing decline of wild Bombus in North America.

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The use of honey in wound care has received increasing attention in recent years, mainly as a result of improved formulations, increased availability, supportive research, clinical efficacy reports and numerous positive reports in the national and international press. These have all contributed to the renaissance of honey as a therapeutic agent, in particular, its use as an antimicrobial agent which neatly confronts the increasing number of reports on the problem of antibiotic resistance. The therapeutic advantages of honey have been recorded by Molan (2001) and tabulated by Cutting (2007) Table 1.

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The Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) will hold on 29 and 30 October a high-level conference to validate the main drivers of change for EU health, consumer and food policies over the next 10 years.

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Allergic reactions to venom released during beestings can be lethal. Many people who are allergic to the venom carry around something called an epi-pen, which administers a lifesaving dose of epinephrine, should the carrier be stung. The very same poison that can damage so many people can also be used to treat a host of diseases, among them arthritis, multiple sclerosis, PMS, bursitis, hypertension, asthma, tendonitis and eczema. Bee venom contains about 30 active compounds nearly impossible to duplicate synthetically. Some of the main ingredients of interest are peptides, such as mellitin, apamin, peptide 401, adolapin and protease inhibitors.

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The Aiken Beekeepers Association attended the biannual South Carolina Beekeepers Association meeting held July 17 through 19. During the event members claimed nine awards, including the S.C. Jr. Beekeepers Award.

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The Council of Ministers has approved a royal decree amending the general rule of labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs to enhance consumer safety. The new standard establishes a list of ingredients required to be indicated on the label, since many of them can cause reactions in people with special sensitivity.

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