Manchester Beekeepers

 

www.mdbka.com

Resisting varroa

Fascinating presentation yesterday evening from Steve Riley, author of The Honey Bee Solution to Varroa.

In a nutshell, the thesis is that treating bees with miticides is creating selection pressure for treatment-resistant mites while simultaneously creating selection pressure for varroa-susceptible bees.

As Steve confirms, this is hardly news.

The point he and others make is that it is possible to select for mite-resistant bees by close observation of behaviour, and - over time - stop treating with miticides.

The book "explains the practical steps beekeepers can take to identify and select for easily observable Varroa-resistant traits in their colonies. The science behind the bees’ mechanisms for controlling their mite populations is explained, in what is a bee-led solution to the biggest challenge facing the European honey bee."

Available from Northern Bee Books and Amazon 

Beehive bandit makes off with 57 hives, leaves Alberta beekeeper feeling 'helpless'

The obvious, curious point: the thief must have been another beekeeper. 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/beehive-bandit-makes-off-57-190935708.html

Mr Jon Zwiers, looking crestfallen

Long Island beekeeper hid his role ordering murders, rape in Rwandan genocide to live in US, feds say

As headlines go...Wow!

Find the original on the New York Daily News, and on X 

https://x.com/NYDailyNews/status/1915445148353282465

Army proves it can Bee the Best as its sets up first formal hives at Aldershot HQ

We love a pun. 

The first official Army bees have taken up residence at the headquarters of Standing Joint Command in Aldershot – and they are already creating quite a buzz.

Full story: https://www.forcesnews.com/news/first-formal-army-beekeeping-project-makes-buzz-hq-aldershot-world-bee-day

🐝 Happy World Bee Day! 🐝

🐝 Happy World Bee Day! 🐝

Is 'No Mow May' anything more than alliteration?

Quite a few 'No Mow May' stories in the press, eg "

Urgent call to Staffordshire residents to help protect pollinators and local biodiversity

But does an unmowed lawn make a significant difference to pollinators? About 10% of UK land is urban, and taking London as the example, about 50% is green space. At a guess, and assuming all green space qualifies as No Mow, the total will be about 5% of all  UK land.

Hmmm.

Master Beekeeper for Gwent Beekeepers

Becoming a UK Master Beekeeper involves seven written examinations and three practical assessments. Congrats to Ceri Joyner.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/woman-becomes-first-master-beekeeper-223000330.html

Humble Boy

Recently came across the play "Humble Boy," which contains the conceit that bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly and don’t obey the laws of physics, but they fly anyway.

Except (1) bumblebees are able to fly, and (2) their flight capability is quite well understood.

Where did the conceit first start?

Anyway, the illustrative poster for Humble Boy shows a queen bee from Apis, not from Bombus.

https://www.expressandstar.com/your-world/2025/04/29/humble-boy-by-charlotte-jones-heading-to-oldbury-rep/

Beekeeping and Pigs

https://www.thepighotel.com/events/#events

UK may be on a 'slippery slope' towards an established Asian Hornet population

Plenty more in the press about Vespa velutina nigrithorax... My conclusion: we may win a few battles, but the war is already lost.

Tariffs

Apart from the tariffs, get this: 1,000 barrels of honey (about 300 tonnes) every year!

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/sask-beekeepers-hope-avoid-sting-100039670.html

The Beekeeper's Picnic - plus Sherlock Holmes

A new game you know you want to play...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2248890/The_Beekeepers_Picnic__A_Sherlockian_Adventure/

Colony losses, US style

Apparently, Washington State University entomologists think that commercial honey bee colony losses are projected to reach between 60% and 70% in 2025.

Crikey.

More here https://abcnews.go.com/US/honey-bee-colonies-face-70-losses-2025-impacting/story?id=120191720 

More here: https://news.wsu.edu/news/2025/03/25/honey-bee-colony-declines-grow-as-wsu-researchers-work-to-fight-losses/

How clean are my gloves?

Branden Aroyan

Why do I think "stoner" when I see this photo? Anyway, it turns out that (a) Branden does all the beekeeping and (b) Her Indoors doesn't like honey.

The Bee Listener

Came across a great blog by Ann Chilcott https://www.beelistener.co.uk/

Highly recommended!

Ann Chilcott, Scottish Expert Beekeeper

Jason Statham Is Back for ‘The Beekeeper 2’

Grey Bees, by Andrey Kurkov

Finished reading Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov. Not sure if I enjoyed it, exactly...

Anti-varroa treatment timing

Fascinating article on the timing of treatments used to kill varroa: https://www.earth.com/news/major-cause-of-honeybee-mortality-can-be-easily-reduced/ 

Al Wathba Honey Festival

Now *that* is how you stage a honey festival! 

 

The fight to save the native Welsh honeybee

In an article headed "The fight to save the native Welsh honeybee," it struck me that there probably isn't a native Welsh bee:

1) 'Wales' is a political construct created by people, not bees

2) Great Britain might have had an identifiable strain of bees, the British Black Bee

3) A rule of thumb is that species within a genus cannot successfully interbreed, but all A mellifera can interbreed successfully

So being a Linnaean curmudgeon, I don't think there is a native Welsh honeybee.

https://nation.cymru/feature/the-fight-to-save-the-native-welsh-honeybee/

Photo by Carwyn Graves

Beekeeper devastated after 300,000 drowned during 'horrific' New Year's Day flooding

Sad story: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/beekeeper-devastated-after-300-000-drowned-during-horrific-new-year-s-day-flooding/ar-AA1xtwQG

Fencing veil or pepperpot?

One of the greatest questions facing humanity: fencing veil or pepperpot?

Pic from the Wisborough Green Beekeepers' Association, www.wgbka.org.uk

Beekeeping bishop

Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, is a contender for the next UK Archbishop of Canterbury. 

If proof were available that god exists then faith wouldn't be necessary, and the entire pyramid of piffle would collapse.

Drizzle Honey = Piffle Marketing: "bee-friendly honey" (YHIHF)

The news article includes the following: "Drizzle produces 100% pure, unprocessed, bee-friendly honey sourced exclusively from beekeepers who place their hives away from synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers."

https://www.fdiforum.net/mag/production/canadas-drizzle-honey-gobbled-up/

La Vie Miel

Nathaniel Lovell's La Vie Miel secures first place at UK National Honey Show

https://associatestimes.com/dominica/dominica-nathaniel-lovells-la-vie-miel-secures-first-place-at-uk-national-honey-show

Dunfermline Beekeeper Knows It All (says newspaper)

This photo, in the Edinburgh Evening News, is captioned "Ross taught himself everything there was to know about bees"

Why everything there was to know about bees?

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/community/amazon-employees-in-dunfermline-buzzing-about-new-beehives-4840119

Michelin-starred restaurant adds beekeeping project to its menu

 

British beekeeper collective Black Bee Honey has partnered with Michelin and Green star restaurant Osip and its chef Merlin Labron-Johnson, to set up beehives at the restaurant’s new farm location in Bruton, Somerset. 

Read more https://www.blackbeehoney.com/ and https://www.thebusinessdesk.com/south-west/news/16992-michelin-starred-restaurant-adds-beekeeping-project-to-its-menu

Royal News from Brian and Brenda

A right royal round-up in Hello! magazine: https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/724089/king-charles-unconventional-hobby-shares-with-princess-kate/

Honey Heads at Hilltop Honey

Slightly odd ad campaign from Hilltop Honey: https://lbbonline.com/news/hilltops-beehive-wearing-honey-heads-star-in-new-campaign 

https://lovehilltop.com/

Newfoundland Insectarium

Who'd have known Newfoundland has an insectarium? Originally the hive was purely for observation (see pic) but Andrea Doucette and Lloyd Hollett now also sell honey.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/collecting-honey-sticky-business-someones-083000776.html

Peru, Paddington and Honey

Beekeeping in Peru, here https://uk.news.yahoo.com/climate-funds-helped-perus-women-024335199.html 

The figures: $27,000 investment, the beekeepers run 89 colonies, producing $13,000 a year. Put another way, each hive cost about $300, each hive produces about $140. That's a good ROI.

Women workers from the 'Hojuelas de Miel' beekeepers association use a brush to remove bees while harvesting honey in Chilal de la Merced, in the rural region of Cajamarca, Peru, on July 22, 2024 (Cris BOURONCLE) (Cris BOURONCLE/AFP/AFP)

Julie Nelstrop's Leadenham Honey

 

Beautiful!

https://www.facebook.com/hollysgardenkitchen/posts/queen-bee-julie-aka-mum-has-lots-of-honey-for-sale-from-our-hives-in-the-orchard/843580427768874/

'Bees starving' in disastrous year for French honey

Mickael Isambert, a beekeeper in Saint-Ours-les-Roches in central France, lost 70 percent of his honey and had to feed his colonies sugar to help them survive after a cold, rainy spring.

"It has been a catastrophic year," said Isambert, 44, who looks after 450 hives.

Read more https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bees-starving-disastrous-french-honey-140411280.html

Ukraine news

In short, beekeepers are a stubborn bunch! And check out his shirtless friend ...

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ukrainian-beekeeper-refuses-to-abandon-hives-as-russian-troops-advance/vi-AA1pfCOu?ocid=socialshare

Beekeeping dogs

Yes, read all about 'beekeeping dogs': https://uk.news.yahoo.com/beekeeping-dogs-save-thousands-bees-115327840.html 

Sniffing out AFB is quite cool, though, I admit.

Meet Scotland’s honey sommelier

The only thing is, I am a huge skeptic* of honey sommelier - or come to that a sommelier of wine, having been stung** in restaurants many times.

A 'fully qualified' honey sommelier, we are told!

*Do you see what I did there?

**Oh yes; it'll be dad-jokes next...

EU is nice to Portuguese beekeepers

News : EU funds for Algarve beekeepers

The contribution of beekeeping to biodiversity conservation will be recognised with the allocation of community funds, according to the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) of the Algarve. 

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-07-16/eu-funds-for-algarve-beekeepers/90641 

Didn't know WBC hives were used in Portugal...

Bees on a bicycle

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/offbeat/eye-popping-moment-huge-swarm-of-bees-assemble-outside-edinburgh-library/ar-BB1oQCC4

Swarm of bees forces Primark in Canterbury to be evacuated

Nice piece here: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/swarm-of-bees-forces-primark-to-be-evacuated-308828/ 

North Macedonia's beekeepers face climate change challenge

Another climate story, this time from North Macedonia. While the climate is clearly warming up, and the impact of human activity seems to be unquestionably the root cause, in this case would the sheer density of colonies have anything to do with declining yields?

In the image below there are about 40 hives visible, very closely packed.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240614-north-macedonia-s-beekeepers-face-climate-change-challenge

When Climate Change Meets Too Many Bees

A story whizzing round the internet right now: "Paris rooftop hives produce less bee's knees honey due to climate change." (That's the original grisly wording of the headline.)

Maybe. 

On the other hand, the story includes the remark that "Mugo, a French group of landscape designers, which manages a hundred or so beehives in Paris, has installed four hives on the rooftop of Pernod Ricard near Saint-Lazare train station in Paris." https://www.mugo.fr/

In the wild, honey bee colonies are typically at least 1,000 m apart (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5089168/), and more like 2,000 m on average. That means if the 100 colonies from Mugo in Paris are at 1,000 m separation, they would typically occupy 100 sq km, and at 2,000 m separation would cover 400 sq km.

Paris is about 100 sq km (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris), which means at best Paris is comfortably full of bees, and at worst is 4X overstocked. And that's just Mugo's bees.

Or am I mathematically challenged?

 

Weights & Measures

A few weeks ago I started reading BEEKEEPING STUDY NOTES For the BBKA Certificate in BEEKEEPING HUSBANDRY (their u/lc, not mine!).

On page 130 it reads, "Note the weight of a worker bee = c.90mg and that 1 lb of bees contains c. 5000 bees" and repeats the same jumble of imperial and metric units on page 154.

Grrrrrr.

Always good: 50,000 bees saved from apartment block and rehomed

Bees rescued (I think): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c888m2x19zyo

(Ignore the usual low editorial standards on the BBC web site)

Rachel Monger & Bees Abroad

Fascinating stories from Rachel Monger about Bees Abroad's work in Tanzania. 

Discover more at https://beesabroad.org.uk/ and perhaps watch the video.

Poshest & Becks

What a nice bloke (your choice as to whom): https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2024-06-03/david-beckham-swaps-beekeeping-tips-with-king-charles 

Honey Heroes Competition launched by Ocado

 

Beekeeping & sport

Following the piece about the beekeeper, the swarm, and the French Open tennis, here's another sporty bee story: "‘Bee Guy’ Who Removed Hive from MLB Game Wins Over Crowd, Gets First Pitch: 'Pretty Hyped Up'"

Only a truly American journalist could write that headline! More here, https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/bee-guy-removed-hive-mlb-104906376.html 

Military vet goes to war with neighbors over backyard bee hive

Only in America - or perhaps coming to a 'burb near you, too: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/military-vet-goes-to-war-with-neighbors-over-backyard-bee-hive/ar-AA1nSTSg 

What does this mean? "Killer Asian hornet warning with 3,000 per cent rise"

In this report, the key sentence occurs at the end:

Killer Asian hornets with a sting that can kill are set to invade the UK in record numbers, sparking fear for British bees and safety concerns for humans. Last year saw an alarming 3,800 per cent increase in sightings of these deadly insects.

This year is expected to bring a full-blown invasion, as experts warn of the potential devastation these hornets can cause. They're known for their ability to wipe out entire beehives within hours, and when swarming, they can pose a lethal threat to humans and other large animals.

In 2022, there were a mere two reported encounters with them, but this figure skyrocketed to 78 in 2023.

Is "3,000 per cent rise" justified - or understandable? Plus the '3,800' figure adds to the confusion, I think!

More to the point, is the battle against Asian Hornet already lost? 

American Foulbrood found in Perthshire beehive

Never pleasant news for beekeepers. More here: https://www.gov.scot/news/american-foulbrood-found-in-perthshire-beehive-2/ 

The National Bee Unit provides reports of AFB here: https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/diseases-and-pests/reports-charts-and-maps/disease-incidence/live-afb-report/

Bee Health Improvement Partnership, Scotland

Useful, if somewhat dry, reading about the Bee Health Improvement Partnership: https://www.gov.scot/publications/bee-health-improvement-partnership-bhip-annual-report-2022-2023/ 

The table reporting notifiable disease inspections looks interesting (see below). EFB was much worse in 2020 than in 2023; AFB has rocketed.

Amos Root's house - a snip at $20,000,000

Came across this today: Amos Root's house is for sale: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/well-preserved-1920s-spanish-colonial-214358290.html  Root wrote The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture (a mere £80 from Northern Bee Books)) 

Photo: Mike Helfrich https://www.instagram.com/mike_helfrich/

Free nature events to celebrate Wallingford business park's 30th anniversary

The link from the main article takes you directly to "Best pub in South Oxfordshire," which speaks volumes about beekeepers...

Full story here: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/free-nature-events-celebrate-wallingford-050000208.html