30 December 2017

Mellifera or Bombis in trouble?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/29/alarming-link-between-fungicides-and-bee-declines-revealed

19 December 2017

Normal for Suffolk?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-42354947

Rivers across the country are "chronically polluted" with pesticides believed to pose a threat to bee populations, a report has found.
The River Waveney on the Norfolk/Suffolk border was found to have the highest levels of neonicotinoids in the UK.
The River Wensum in Norwich, and the River Tame in the West Midlands were also named among the most polluted.
According to figures from UK monitoring data by the European Environment Agency, 88% of sites in Britain were contaminated with neonicotinoids.

12 October 2017

Mumbai's lone beekeeper?



Quite an old post, from 2015, on the Sunday Farmer blog. I shall be in Mumbai, and if I have the opportunity will check on the veracity of his lonesomeness.

https://sundayfarmer.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/mumbais-only-bee-keeper/

07 October 2017

Neonics News



As reported by the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41512791, and you can find the original article here: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6359/109

An Inspector Calls


European Foul Brood was discovered in an apiary less than 3 km from our location. The Bee Inspector gave us the all-clear at Cannizaro Park, adding, ominously, that it was not "if" but "when" EFB arrives in our colonies...

Image credit By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24920366

01 October 2017

As usual, I fail to rest my case

https://honeybeesuite.com/the-queen-excluder-controversy-some-things-never-change/

Completely ineffectual

This year I have been keeping my bees without a Queen excluder. The result is that all the bees are living in the top of the hives and the brood box down below is almost empty. With far more bees in each hive than expected at this time of year, I have not taken off the supers. What next?

26 September 2017

Famous beekeepers that don't keep bees

The Guardian online shows an article from 2014 entitled

The 10 best famous beekeepers

(Does that headline even make sense?)

Anyway, continuing The Guardian's high tradition of idiocy, the first line of the article comments on Vince Cable: "The business secretary and Liberal Democrat politician doesn’t keep bees."

If you'd like to read more about 'best famous beekeepers' that don't keep bees, here's the link: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jul/04/the-10-best-famous-beekeepers

25 September 2017

Saving the bees with big data


Saving the bees with big data

Saving The Bees with Big Data and RFID Tags
By Dean Evans, Technology Writer
It is estimated that the annual global crop pollination by bees is worth a staggering £138bn, but bee numbers are in decline. Data analysis is being used to discover why, but how do you track something as small as a bee?







https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/it-management/caa-hub/save-bees-with-big-data.html?utm_campaign=CCG-BIZ-EMEA-UK-amazingstories-Q317&utm_source=LinkedIn&utm_medium=social&utm_content=LinkedInNature5image&cid=CCG-BIZ-EMEA-UK-amazingstories-Q317

31 August 2017

Naked beekeeping




http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/beekeeper-sits-bare-bum-beehive-11086964

04 August 2017

Flow hive

As a fundamentally lazy person, the Flow Hive looks interesting to me... Video from http://beeliciousbees.blogspot.co.uk/

03 August 2017

Honey: A Sensual Journey

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/travel/noel-patterson-hotel-beekeeper-honey-education.html

Do we have too much time on our hands? "Mr. Patterson harvests honey from hives on the property for spa treatments."

24 July 2017

Best honey in the world



This modestly named blog http://worldbesthoney.blogspot.co.uk/ may be worth a visit

07 July 2017

The Bumbling Beekeeper



Keeping up with the alliterative beekeeper blog theme: http://www.bumblingbeekeeper.com/

Sticky Fingers

http://fasterlouder.junkee.com/sticky-fingers-banned-from-venue-for-disgusting-behaviour/840163


If you fancy extracting someone else's honey, here's the answer: http://walworthgarden.org.uk/events/2017/7/15/the-honey-harvest

I admire the £50 charge to do someone else's sticky work.


More neonickery



Worth listening to the first 22 minutes of this episode of BBC Radio 4's Inside Science show, presented by Dr Adam Rutherford: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmk5x

06 July 2017

Over 90 degrees and they're bearding



This caught my eye, from http://cpbwarre.blogspot.co.uk/



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWd8aSEwMBhT0W4JegbOurhQphHYVzTqu1I_LdtXGuvjZpr1KL5b6OLr6hU6Zv7ohEgCf8ek2XKoc527mzkQVyGB_MUGDWeP9tQITShtmQScZsZntx0sX2UL61WaCFGWolPYlZvQ/s1600/IMG_5079.mp4

30 June 2017

In conclusion, or inconclusion, on neonicotinoids



Following an in-depth study of the effect of neonicotinoid pesticides on bees, the conclusion is "Er, dunno."

See  and the full report http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6345/1393

20 June 2017

Smoking kills


An ancient beekeeper advised me that "Smoking is bad for both bees and keeper."

Sadly, I've lost touch. He's probably propping up a bar somewhere. Or dead. Or both.

19 June 2017

Haynes

On Fathers' Day I was given the Haynes Bee Manual. Outstanding. You can buy the Haynes Bee Manual (and read very positive reviews) here.

13 June 2017

Baby you can drive my car


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-40258679/bee-swarm-swamps-car-in-hull

Crying wolf, or sounding the alarm?

The trouble is, this is old news...Does repetition get the message across, or numb the audience?
http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/honey-we-need-your-help-to-save-the-bees-1.2872609

01 June 2017

Olympics, here we come



The Google card for the Wimbledon Beekeepers' Association lists us as "Sports club in Morden."

31 May 2017

Syrup

It's an enormous pity that slang terms, such as syrup, have largely fallen out of use. All the same, I miss the opportunity to write about the hilarious results of confusing syrup of figs with bee feed. It could be funnier than Citizen Khan. Heck,*anything* could be funnier than Citizen Khan.


How on earth did Anand Varma shoot this film?




15 May 2017

Swarm!


The same friend called again, this time to say that she had spotted a swarm in her garden. I am waiting at the airport to fly to London. I blame James Nesbitt.

14 May 2017

Swarm!

A friend called to say that she had spotted a swarm, sitting neatly on a post, in her street. I am waiting at the airport to fly to Berlin.

01 May 2017

Nicer bees and people you could not hope to meet


I get my bees from East Surrey Bees - http://eastsurreybees.co.uk.websitebuilder.prositehosting.co.uk/home - and nicer bees and people you could not hope to meet.


30 April 2017

Wax moths save the planet! Hooray (ish)

If your colonies have ever experienced a wax-moth infestation, this news (below) will come as no surprise (and did I see the same report in New Scientist?)

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/04/29/plastic-eating-caterpillars-could-save-the-planet

Pic from The Economist

27 February 2017

Colony Collapse Disorder: Beekeepers to Blame?



Looking at this NYTimes article, https://nyti.ms/2lmPODV, it struck me how carelessly the hives are treated: many lids open, multiple hives in proximity. I wonder if bees drifting from hive to hive make the entire stock susceptible to disease?