Buckfast

As you might expect, this Buckfast blog is well worth the reading time: https://www.buckfast.org.uk/bee-blog

And this Guardian article is worth a look, too:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/27/buckfast-drink-with-supernatural-powers-destruction

Ten Brilliant Beekeepers' Blogs

Naturally, Incompetent Beekeeper does not feature on the list of "Ten Brilliant Beekeepers' Blogs."

https://www.waltons.co.uk/blog/10-brilliant-beekeepers-blogs

Bastards.

(And there goes my chance of being included...)

McHive

It's heartwarming that after a few million years' evolution, this is what humans do.

How much does a jar of honey cost? Quanto costa un vasetto di miele?

In a long-running theme, here's another "How much does a jar of honey cost?" post. In Italy, it's €7.50 for 500g.

Picture from a WBKA member. No names, no pack-drill.

BBKA Basic

Another excellent course morning for the BBKA Basic at WBKA. It's astonishing how little I have learned in 15 years of beekeeping, and how many bad habits I have collected.

Don’t worry, bee happy: Bees found to have emotions and moods

From New Scientist:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107546-dont-worry-bee-happy-bees-found-to-have-emotions-and-moods/

imageBROKER/REX/Shutterstock from the New Scientist page

Time Out

In case you missed it... At £45 a go, that's pretty good money, honey.

Spotted by a WBKA member

Swarmy Hatfield

These bees chose a pavement, of all places, to land...

From https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/bee-swarm-on-pavement-in-hatfield-1-6051789

And here's the video: https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/bee-swarm-on-pavement-in-hatfield-1-6051789?jwsource=cl

Imperial Purple Part II

Watching swarms walk in ... wonderful!

From a WBKA member. I wonder where the silk comes from?
(Better check the curtains. Or the bedsheets.)

Imperial Purple Swarms ... and an Ali Baba surprise!

The imperial purple runway is quite special... and then wait to see what's under the lid!

Posted by a WBKA member. How cool!

The Swarmy Lincolnite

Nice collection of swarmy pics here: https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2019/05/bee-swarms-invade-lincoln-streets/

Pics from https://thelincolnite.co.uk/

I, Beebot

How about this: Can AI help stop bee extinction? (To save you reading the article, the short answer is 'Yes.')

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/can-ai-help-stop-bee-extinction/ar-AAAYaqD?srcref=rss

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/i-robot

Egg, larva, pupa

I found this very nice chart at http://hwbka.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Bee-LifeCycle-Chart.pdf

And there's some nice blog stuff, too: https://hwbka.org.uk/just-as-you-feared-wasps-are-menacing-because-they-are-smarter-than-bees/

London Bee Corridor & the Brent Council Waggle Dance

The "London Bee Corridor" sounds too good to be true; it's certainly a snappy name. To point the bees the right way, I wonder if the Brent Councillors will indulge in a collective waggle-dance... They could sell tickets.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48187846
and
https://www.brent.gov.uk/council-news/press-releases/pr6968/ 

Councillor Krupa Sheth (LB Brent) says the "bee corridor" will be ready by the summer

Before you start keeping bees

After keeping (and losing and killing and catching and nurturing) bees for nearly 15 years, I thought I'd have a crack at the BBKA Basic Assessment.

Pic from https://www.thespruce.com/beginners-guide-to-beekeeping-3016857 
The clue's in the name

"Bees defy the laws of physics..."

Of course, there are no laws of physics. Nature does what nature does, and we describe what nature does with "laws." But nature does not follow laws, and we don't actually know why nature does what it does. It just does. So there.

Here's a picture of Richard Feynman, lest we forget.

Picture from https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/context/top-10-richard-feynman-quotations

Linked In, Cox's Honey, and a tinge of piffle

As a good-for-nothing ne'er-do-well, I searched 'beekeeping' on Linked In...

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1245683612/

Turns out that https://coxshoney.com/ is looking for help, in Idaho (where the spuds come from, I believe). There's a tinge of piffle on the Cox's Honey site, e.g. "Bees defy the laws of physics..." but I'll let that pass.

Beekeeping tours in Crete

A fellow WBKA member on hols in Crete spotted this:

If I charged €20 for an apiary tour, I'd be quids in. (Does that even make sense?)

Check out the QR code on the leaflet, too. 

Bees, Cleese and Atkinson

John Cleese went to the same school as me. So there.

https://youtu.be/OGFz9gt0-Fc

World Bee Day event

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Embassy of Slovenia is in partnership with Conway Hall and Bee Midtown hosting an event in celebration of World Bee Day 2019: WORLD BEE DAY COMES TO LONDON Tuesday 21 May 2019 from 6:30 pm until 8:30 pm Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL At 7pm there will be a welcoming address by the Slovenian Ambassador, Tadej Rupel, the Chief Executive of Conway Hall, Dr. Jim Walsh and a representative from Bee Midtown. Admission is free, but tickets must be booked in advance HERE

Royal Babies; I'm waiting for the call

Pic from http://www.atlanticspeakerbureau.com/nicholas-witchell/speaker

Beekeepers look after thousands of Royal Babies on a daily basis. I'm waiting for the call from Nick Witchell...

UN 'extinction report' predicts 1m species at risk

UN report here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/

At the time of writing, we humans are one of around 8.7 million species on earth, which implies that more than 10% of species are threatened with extinction.

Looked at another way, 100% of species are threatened with extinction (that's how natural selection works).

In just the recent thousands of years, humans have achieved wonderful things - learned to speak, write, build pyramids, reach the moon and broadcast "The Only Way Is Essex."

At what cost?

Pic from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48169783

Saving bees with sugar.... errmmm, really?

Pic from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-48093351

I don't really buy this story. Saving bees one at a time will be a looooong job..

Saving bees with sugar: Connecting with nature or 'a last resort'?

Bees in a bird box

A friend came across these bumbles...

Another outstanding video from Richard Noel: swarms

As spotted by a WBKA member. You can see Richard Noel's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClFlG4yfKhR2-w9VN_r8M3w