'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 

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