May 20, 2009
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| This contingent, all from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, visited the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on May 18. From left are Dr. Nguyen Hay, vice rector of Nong Lam University; Dr. Bui Van Mien, head of scientific research management office and head of the Department of Development Food Product, Long Nam University; Dr. Le Minh Hoang, bee specialist, Institute of Research on Environment and Biotechnology; UC Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen; Dr. Nguyen Tai, general manager, Tan Phat Co.; Luong Hong Quang, faculty of Food Science and Technology, Nong Lam University; and Hoang Nhu Tung, director of Huy Hoan Co., Ltd. Click to enlarge. (Photos by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS—A six-member contingent of scientists from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, developed a greater understanding of honey bees during a three-day tour which included the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, and several Central Valley commercial bee operations.
UC Cooperative Extension Apiculturist Eric Mussen, a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty since 1976 and a worldwide authority on honey bees, guided them on their three-day tour.
The Central Valley tours included two beekeeping operations, a pollination operation, and a lavender farm/beekeeping agrictourism location.
Mussen discussed bee operations and bee health, including colony collapse disorder (CCD). Over the past few years, individual beekeepers have reported losing from 30 percent to 100 percent of their bees due to CCD, Mussen told the Vietnamese scientists. The mysterious phenomenon is characterized by bees abandoning their hives.
"California has more commercial beekeepers than any other state in the union," Mussen said. “California operates 500,000 colonies, or one-fifth of the 2.5 million colonies in the United States. “In California, we have about 300 commercial beekeepers, who each operate between 1,000 and 15,000 colonies.”
“Nationwide, we have approximately 3,000 commercial keepers, 5,000 sideliners, and 30,000 hobbyists,” Mussen told the scientists.
Commercial and sideline California beekeepers move their colonies at least six times a year, by truck and forklift, Mussen said. Bees pollinate some 100 crops in California, including about 700,000 acres of almonds, mostly grown in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. Each acre requires two hives, Mussen said, and since California doesn’t have that many bees, the bees are trucked in from all over the country.
“The value of California crops pollinated by bees is $6.1 billion,” he said.
And honey? California ranks with North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida as the four leading honey-producing states, Mussen said. “The rankings are weather dependent, based on rainfall. Here in California, we annually average 20 million pounds of honey and 400,000 pounds of beeswax. The value of honey production in California varies from $16 to $30 million a year.”
In 2005, California produced queen bees and bulk bees with a value totaling $11.5 million, Mussen told the Vietnamese scientists. “That amounts to 500,000 queens and 450,000 packages, or half the U.S. production,” he said. “Most are produced in the Sacramento Valley.”
Hive products, such as pollen, venom, propolis and royal jelly, are frequently packaged and sold as medicinal products in Asia and Europe, but are not normal products of most California or United States beekeepers, Mussen said.
The Vietnamese group, all from Ho Chi Minh City, included Dr. Nguyen Hay, vice rector of Nong Lam University; Dr. Bui Van Mien, head of scientific research management office and head of the Department of Development Food Product, Nong Lam University; Dr. Le Minh Hoang, bee specialist, Institute of Research on Environment and Biotechnology; Dr. Nguyen Tai, general manager, Tan Phat Co.; Hoang Nhu Tung, director of Huy Hoan Co., Ltd.; and Luong Hong Quang, faculty of Food Science and Technology, Nong Lam University, who also served as the interpreter.
Following the all-day tour of the UC Davis bee facility, Mussen escorted the contingent on two all-day trips to see commercial beekeeping operations in Butte, Glenn and Stanislaus counties. On May 20, they toured Olivarez Honey Bees, Inc., in Orland, Butte County, and the C. F. Koehnen & Sons in Glenn, Glenn County. On May 21 they visited the Orin Johnson Apiary and Beekman & Beekman, both in Hughson, Stanislaus County, and commercially pollinated fields of agricultural crops.
"Of special interest to the visiting researchers," Mussen said, "were the topics of developing criteria for selection of colonies for breeding better bees and developing qualitative methods for identifying pure Vietnamese honey. Cooperative projects, utilizing the expertise of researchers from both institutions, are likely to be of value to those efforts."
During their six-day visit, the Vietnamese scientists also conferred with officials from the University Outreach and International Programs, Department of Animal Science, Department of Food Science and Technology and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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| Taking a photo is Dr. Bui Van Mien, head of the scientific research management office and head of the Department of Development Food Product, Nong Lam University. |
Dr. Le Minh Hoang, bee specialist, Institute of Research on Environment and Biotechnology, Ho Chi Minh City. |
Dr. Nguyen Hay, vice rector and an associate professor, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City. |
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
