BeeHero

If I knew what this article was about, I would summarize it: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/beehero-smartens-hives-pollination-4m-173317428.html 

BeeHero intends to use the Internet of Things to replace beekeepers, all for a measly $4m

Albanian beekeepers

Well, who'd have thought it? The lockdowns imposed in response to the SARS-CoV2-19 virus apparently means a bumper harvest for Albanian beekeepers. 

Did the same apply during the reign of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania (prop. E Hoxha)? 

(Rex Features)

Lego Hive

This you must see: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/un-bee-lievable-beekeeper-builds-133957230.html

Ruairi O'Leocháin of Athlone's Wildlife Apiaries in Co Westmeath decided to build the Lego beehive for "a bit of craic"

 

Queen Bee Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

Well, I never knew!

The Duchess of Cornwall is new President of Bees for Development

World Bee Day, 20th May 2020

We are delighted to announce that we have the support of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall as President of Bees for Development.

Her Royal Highness explains why she is so keen to supports our work in a short video message, especially recorded for World Bee Day 2020. In it, she explains how she has a personal reason for supporting us. She keeps bees herself, producing honey which she sells to support the charities she is linked to. This year, all proceeds will be donated to Bees for Development.

LinkedIn bees

Oracle is supporting bees. Check out the LinkedIn post and the source story:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ines-grandi-374232_a-bee-inspired-story-smart-data-lessons-activity-6668795019861868544-qlfc

https://www.oracle.com/corporate/blog/world-bee-day-052020.html

Four thousand hives

Nice piece here: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/countryside/a32568839/bees-thriving-lockdown/

The only bit that really struck home was "the family-run bee farm currently has 4,000 hives"

Holy Smokers!

At a rapid ten minutes per hive, inspections take nearly 700 hours a week!

The article is illustrated with pictures of bumblebees (pictured: Bombus lucorum)

Walking home

Cape bees and asexual reproduction

To follow up my earlier post https://mellifera.blogspot.com/ some more news on Cape bees (Apis mellifera capensis).

In the photo, the Q has the 64 marker disk; right next to her is a 'super worker' bee.

What makes it unique is that the female worker bees are able to lay eggs that develop into other female bees. These eggs are not fertilised by a male (worker bees are unable to mate), so this is a form of asexual reproduction, known as ‘thelytoky’. The Cape bees are essentially creating a clone.

Cape bees only develop this ability once the colony’s queen bee dies. By producing female bees, they can give birth to the colony’s new queen, ensuring that the colony survives. In other honey bee subspecies, the worker bees only produce male bees (drones), which have to fly off in search of a queen bee in another colony.

https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/virgin-birth-gene-identified-in-honeybees/

Questions for beekeepers

Questions for beekeepers This page will have new questions added regularly. The questions are for beekeepers and will help provide feedback on topics and issues for those involved in beekeeping. Bookmark the page and return every month!  May 2020 - Wax moth question - Useful links  NBU Wax moth page which includes links to  Further information about the biology and identification features of all stages of wax moth can be found on the COLOSS website. Wax moth leaflet- Pdf. https://ift.tt/2yc6Bme

from British Beekeepers Association https://ift.tt/3dQfwJ3
via gqrds

Bright yellow pollen

Help our bees by Carol Lane

I am a BBKA member who specialises in urban beekeeping and work to raise awareness of the importance of bees to our ecosystem and to help create more bee friendly areas.

from British Beekeepers Association https://ift.tt/2Wx3XAP
via gqrds

The Joy of Pests

Nice piece here. Check out the joy on Shane Jones' fizzog: https://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/18446981.pest-controller-warns-hornet-wasp-season-started-really-early-basingstoke/

Rewilding for bees and bugs

A well-meaning article in The Grauniad: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/may/12/more-birds-and-bees-please-12-easy-expert-ways-to-rewild-your-garden 

 ‘The traditional English cottage garden is an absolute haven for insects,’ says Mark Fellowes of the University of Reading. Photograph: Borchee/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Honeyed nonsense

From 'Speciality Food Magazine:' 

The Covid-19 pandemic has made consumers keen to boost immunity. High quality honey has antibacterial, prebiotic and antioxidant properties and beekeepers and suppliers report higher than usual demand.

https://www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/news/trend-watch-honey

Pretty in Pink

A friend claims he has a camouflage-pattern beesuit, but I've never seen him in it. I, too, have a cam-pattern beesuit, but I can't find it. (These are the jokes, folks.)

https://natashageary.com/

RHS Plants for Pollinators

Came across the Royal Horticultural Society's 'Plants for Pollinators', here: https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators

Cape bees and asexual reproduction

Amazing piece of research reported here: https://phys.org/news/2020-05-gene-honey-bees-virgin-birth.html

The interesting/worrying section reads: "Every year in South Africa, 10,000 colonies of commercial beehives die because of the social parasite behaviour in Cape honey bees."  

What prevents Cape bees arriving in the UK?

Masses of parasitic eggs laid by parasites in a dying colony. Credit: Professor Benjamin Oldroyd/Univeristy of Sydney

More information: Current Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.04.033

Bermondsey Street Bees

Seen this for the first time: https://www.bermondseystreetbees.co.uk/  They boast a 'honey sommelier,' which is a bit up its own Aristotle for me. 

Murder hornets

'Murder hornets' in Washington state threaten bees and whip up media swarm

This story refers (I think) to the invasion in the US of Asian Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia, in the same way that we face the woes caused by the Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax

https://clicklancashire.com/2020/05/04/murder-hornets-in-washington-state-threaten-bees-and-whip.html

Eye Bee M

For many years IBM has used the Eye-Bee-M rebus: 

Here's the latest combo: 

In this context I have absolutely no idea what "Bee Wall" is intended to communicate.

Who is this?