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 

Local Primary School’s Beekeeping Club Buzzes To New Heights With Support From South West Water

More bees, this time in Launceston: https://cornishstuff.com/2024/03/14/local-primary-schools-beekeeping-club-buzzes-to-new-heights-with-support-from-south-west-water/

Bees at the BNP Paribas Open

Nice bit of bee-vaccing: https://x.com/BNPPARIBASOPEN/status/1768419806712377353?s=20 and https://twitter.com/i/status/1768417280143364498

Greek beekeepers take hives to parliament in protest

 Some nice Greek agitprop:  https://uk.news.yahoo.com/greek-beekeepers-hives-parliament-protest-165142791.html

It turns out we have been saving the wrong bees

Oh.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/lifestylegeneral/it-turns-out-we-have-been-saving-the-wrong-bees/ar-AA1b3DIG

The Beekeeper buzzes to the top of the box office

The Beekeeper movie currently tops the box office, beating Mean Girls - which considering some of my bees, would be a good subtitle for the same film.

Reviews of The Beekeeper might be summarised as 'ineffably silly, violent fun - if you like that kind of thing.'

On the plus side, The Beekeeper is better than Barbie, but that's a very, very low bar.

How many hives per hectare?

 

Seen at the roadside of Highway 21, Agra to Jaipur, India

Alan Rowse

I have 30+ years experience in the education sector which also includes research management at undergraduate and postgraduate level. A local beekeeping group, which is based in the Rowcroft Hospice estate, were looking for an individual who could progress their educational agenda. I joined this group in 2020 and have been helping to manage their 25 (2 of which are mine) beehives which has been a great learning experience. This hands-on experience led me to joining the Torbay Beekeepers Association where I signed up for the winter course and subsequently passed my BBKA Basic exam with credit. I am now exploring the other BBKA courses on offer. Although in my early stages of becoming an experienced beekeeper, I enjoy mentoring new volunteers and learning from my more experienced peers. As a lifelong learner, I enjoy the challenge of learning new skills and knowledge, particularly when the topic of beekeeping is involved. Email here Link trustee for:

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Electric news

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2RXiKTu1n-/?igsh=YnlicWNrMjdsZ3F6

Mellifera, Mellifica - I feel a campaign coming on...

"Mellifera" as in "honey-carrying" is something of a misnomer for honey bees. When Carl Linnaeus realised that "mellifica" would be more descriptive (as in "honey-making"), it was too late to change the fixed classification.

Many biological classification names are subject to change, though. In beekeeping, for example, Paenibacillus larvae was formerly Bacillus larvae.

I feel a campaign coming on...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Linnaeus

Uncapper - well worth a look

https://www.youtube.com/@TheNationalUncapper

Bees, honey, and soil productivity

Summary of research from the Department of the Bleedin' Obvious: Honey bees produce less honey in areas where the soil is less productive with fewer nectar-producing plants. 

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-bees-honey-reveals-clues-decades.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/08/declining-honey-yields-bees-research

APICO

APICO is a laid-back beekeeping sim game about breeding, collecting, & conserving bees! Set in a series of lush environments, APICO uniquely combines resource gathering, biology, and beekeeping minigames, taking ideas from a mix of real-life and fantasy apiculture & floriculture.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1390190/APICO/

Apiary and Education

Help support our Apiary Garden and Education Centre which is a live resource for learning about the environment and pollinators. YouTube Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAtQQAiQwUI Filmed by fridaysky : www.fridaysky.co.uk Thanks to a generous legacy from a beekeeper, Jim Hopkins, together with donations from the public and corporate sponsors, the BBKA has been able to complete work on the office building and apiary garden to provide the facilities needed for an educational centre aimed at schools and community groups. Children are able to visit with their school class and learn about the importance of honey bees, pollinators and beekeeping in a relaxed and informal environment with the highlight of each visit being the chance to watch from behind a bee-proof mesh screen as a beekeeper opens a hive.  Lots of children get ‘bitten by the bug’ this way and, with their interest in beekeeping awakened, will hopefully return to it in later years. It’s im...

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In Colombia, illegally felled timber repurposed to help bees

Story source:  https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/1/2/photos-in-colombia-illegally-felled-timber-repurposed-to-help-bees

The project has seen about 7,060 cubic feet of wood transformed into 1,000 bee hives.

January

    Ian Campbell, Newcastle & District BKA & BBKA Social Media Manager I’ve kept bees since 2009 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Beekeeping advice? Now there’s a poisoned chalice! Unsolicited advice is about as popular as an inbox full of spam! Over the years, I’ve learnt a core set of interventions that ensure colonies are healthy, pest-free, have adequate stores and minimal swarming. By sharing these, I hope to help you keep one step ahead. Leave alone Remember the age-old phrase: ‘First, do no harm.’ The work you did with autumn preparation was time well spent. Nature is now in the driving seat; even if you spot a problem, not much can be done about it now.              Photo:  David Wootton Equipment sales Think what you may need this season because you will always need more kit!  Full prices and long lead times later in the year can be painful. Pests and disease Varroa: Monitor first ...

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Apis cerana indica

 

Looks somewhat hornet-shaped, much larger than Apis mellifera spp