Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/473131
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MARCH 15, 2015 39 Contact your local crop advisor or dealer, or visit cheminova-us.com FUNGICIDE Specialty Crops Give your crop the advantage This season make TOPGUARD® Fungicide Specialty Crops your ĮƌƐƚĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶƚŽƉƌŽǀŝĚĞĞĂƌůLJĐŽŶƚƌŽůŽĨƉŽǁĚĞƌLJŵŝůĚĞǁŝŶLJŽƵƌ ƉŽŵĞĂŶĚƐƚŽŶĞĨƌƵŝƚĐƌŽƉƐ͘LJƌĞĚƵĐŝŶŐŝŶŽĐƵůƵŵůĞǀĞůƐ͕ ŝƚǁŝůůůŽǁĞƌƚŚĞŝŵƉĂĐƚŽĨŽǀĞƌͲǁŝŶƚĞƌŝŶŐĨƵŶŐŝĂŶĚŐŝǀĞLJŽƵ ĂŶĂĚǀĂŶƚĂŐĞƚŽƐƚĂƌƚƚŚĞƐĞĂƐŽŶ͘ ŌĞƌƚŚĞĮƌƐƚĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶ͕ŝŶĐŽƌƉŽƌĂƚĞTOPGUARD Specialty Crops ĂƐĂǀŝƚĂůĐŽŵƉŽŶĞŶƚŽĨLJŽƵƌĨƵŶŐŝĐŝĚĞƉƌŽŐƌĂŵƚŽŵĂdžŝŵŝnjĞ LJŽƵƌĨƌƵŝƚƋƵĂůŝƚLJĂŶĚƚƌĞĞŚĞĂůƚŚ͘ ůǁĂLJƐƌĞĂĚĂŶĚĨŽůůŽǁůĂďĞůĚŝƌĞĐƟŽŶƐ͘dKW'hZ&ƵŶŐŝĐŝĚĞ^ƉĞĐŝĂůƚLJƌŽƉƐŝƐŶŽƚƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚŝŶĂůŝĨŽƌŶŝĂ͘ ΞϮϬϭϱŚĞŵŝŶŽǀĂ͕/ŶĐ͘dKW'hZŝƐĂƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚƚƌĂĚĞŵĂƌŬŽĨŚĞŵŝŶŽǀĂ͕/ŶĐ͘ In addition, Caucasian honeybees have evolved extremely long tongues, enabling them to collect nectar from a wider range of flowers than other bee subspecies. For farmers and orchardists in the Pacific Northwest, this means they'll eventually have the option of investing in fewer bees to do the pollinat- ing now performed by shorter-tongued Apis mellifera. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the WSU bee geneticists a permit to import bee semen in 2008. Collecting bee semen is a simple straightforward process. After a collector catches a drone bee, it's simply a matter of gently squeezing the drone's abdomen and, as the semen is exposed, drawing it into a syringe. When Cobey and Sheppard returned to the WSU campus in Pullman, Washington, the semen they had brought back was rigorously tested for viruses. Then, with USDA approval, the geneti- cists inseminated virgin queens with the Caucasian semen. The inseminated queens were released from quarantine in late August and distributed to Heitkam's Honey Bees in Orland, California, and Strachan Apiaries in Yuba City, California. These cooperat- ing queen producers are now supplying progeny to the American beekeeping industry, Cobey said. The WSU geneticists have also collected honeybee semen from sub-species in Italy and Slovenia to provide further bee breeding options. Patrick Heitkam, owner of Heitkam's Honey Bees, said that after receiving the inseminated breeder queens from Cobey, he propagated more queens and distrib- uted them to 50 commercial beekeepers. "The jury is still out, but so far so good. We have not heard back any bad reports," Heitkam said. The beekeepers will not know for sure until spring how bees with the new traits will do in terms of brood and honey pro- duction. They were to be used in pollinat- ing northern California's almond crop. The WSU geneticists' efforts to improve variation in the American honeybees' gene pool are ongoing. They have developed a repository in which bee semen is frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored. Samples will be thawed periodically and used to fine- tune the genetics of future generations of American honeybees. • Brian Elsasser is a freelance writer based in Davis, California. WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY WSU bee geneticist Sue Cobey insemi- nates a virgin American honeybee with semen obtained from a Caucasian drone.