CONFUSING ENTHUSIASM WITH RESULTS
When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there's no end to what you can't do.
22 December 2021
Visiting our Education Centre
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20 December 2021
What we can offer
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Additional Resources
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02 December 2021
Sticky mess
Last year my colonies were chewing through up to 500 g of fondant every week. In total, each colony polished off around 12 kg.
This year, rather than replenish the hives every two weeks, I loaded one single fondant block of 12.5 kg (that's the pack size, no science here!) on the crown boards.
Today I discovered that the principle is good, but the practice is bad. Last year's I used old food tubs, which hold the fondant in place nicely. This year I started with a nicely squared-off block in a plastic bag. But the bag doesn't do the same job as a tub, and the whole thing has subsided into a giant sticky mess on the top of each hive.
Luckily, the bees seem not to mind.
01 December 2021
Algarve beekeeping in “state of calamity” due to wildfires and lack of support
Excerpt:
The Alentejo and Algarve account for around 20% of Portugal’s beehives and produce over 1.1 tons of honey, much of which is exported. However, wildfires, climate change and droughts have taken a toll on production levels, explains Melgarbe expert Paulo Ventura.
“In the Algarve, 6,000 hectares housing around 3,500 beehives will be sterile for at least two years,” Ventura said, adding that between 700 and 800 beehives were lost in the Eastern Algarve’s fires last summer and that others are dying due to the harsh conditions.
19 November 2021
Bees & Refugees
I like this story:
A charity founder and Syrian refugee has said beekeeping helps refugees to “break connection with any trauma”.
Ali Alzein started Bees & Refugees to save the native British black bee from extinction as well as foster “a sense of belonging in the UK’s refugee communities” by providing therapeutic workshops and a Build-Your-Own-Beehive project.
https://uk.style.yahoo.com/beekeeping-breaks-connection-trauma-refugees-070047981.html
17 November 2021
News from Brian: promises to swap jars of honey with Jordanian beekeeper
His Royal Highness Prince Charles pledged to send a jar of his honey to a fellow beekeeper after he saw first hand Jordan’s efforts to support refugees.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/charles-promises-swap-jars-honey-153338381.html
08 November 2021
BBKA Spring Convention 2022
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27 October 2021
Bees at the Institute of Directors
Jonathan Geldart, the Director General of the Institute of Directors, said:
“Bees are one of the most important animals on the planet, but their numbers are plummeting rapidly. I am delighted that we are able to play a small part in protecting bees and the vital role they play in the natural ecosystem.
“Quite apart from the environmental, educational and wellbeing benefits the bees will bring, I am also excited by the prospect of IoD members being able to enjoy honey made by our own little captains of industry.”
https://businessnewswales.com/bee1-sends-20000-welsh-bees-to-londons-pall-mall/
09 October 2021
East Lothian Courier: Congregations swarm to fund beekeeping
Excerpt
Abbey Church in North Berwick and Dirleton Kirk are supporting Bees Abroad, a UK-based charity that provides opportunities for people in low-income communities around the world to learn practical beekeeping skills to generate income and improve lives.
Members of the two congregations contributed more than £2,000 to support the Rwenzori Rural Talent project, which is expected to last for three to four years.
06 October 2021
Defra launches Healthy Bees Plan 2030
See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/a-boost-for-bees-as-defra-works-with-beekeepers-to-implement-the-healthy-bees-plan-2030
02 October 2021
Migratory beekeeping - is this Good or Bad?
Kashmir beekeepers head southward for warmth, honey and cash...
Fascinating to compare the life of these beekeepers with those in the US.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/kashmir-beekeepers-head-southward-warmth-034140812.html
29 September 2021
Becoming a Beekeeper
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27 September 2021
Honeyed sounds
400-year-old score based on bees inspires part of artist’s first major UK show
Australian artist Angelica Mesiti adapted a 17th-century composition based on the sound of bees in the hive for her exhibition in Edinburgh.
The choral piece was written by Elizabethan polymath Charles Butler, a pioneer in English beekeeping.
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2021/09/27/400-year-old-score-based-on-bees-inspires-part-of-artists-first-major-uk-show/
18 September 2021
Angelina Jolie Will Return to Cambodia in 2022 to Establish Next Women for Bees Program
For what it is worth, I hugely admire Ms Jolie. Story from https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/angelina-jolie-return-cambodia-2022-200423388.html
15 September 2021
10 September 2021
Trending beekeepers
Beyoncé, David Beckham, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Scarlett Johansson, Flea (eh? who he?), Jennifer Garner (eh? who she?), Leonardo DiCaprio, Michelle Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Sylvia Plath (where's her apiary?), Gordon Sumner (Sting), Henry Fonda (presumably same apiary as Sylvia Plath), Jon Bon Jovi, Ed Sheeran, Sir Edmund Hillary (a little higher up than Sylvia Plath).... I could go on, and often do,
08 September 2021
Fermanagh beekeepers say '2021 is a revelation for beekeepers'
https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/19560902.fermanagh-beekeepers-say-2021-revelation-beekeepers/
02 September 2021
Are Disabilities Barriers to Beekeeping?
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13 July 2021
Bees Needs Week
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23 June 2021
22 June 2021
Thousands of bees dead and hive missing during suspected theft at Musselburgh beekeeper's apiary
Look at the size of those queen cells! By chance, I will be in Musselburgh in a few weeks' time; I might drop by the apiary.
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https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/thousands-of-bees-dead-and-hive-missing-during-suspected-theft-at-musselburgh-beekeepers-apiary-3279916 |
20 June 2021
Sissinghurst granddad's fury at nextdoor neighbours 'who use bees as weapons'
Beyond the screeching headline, it all ends happily ever after. Was the upset grandad asked look grumpy specifically for the camera?
The desire to attract reader attention is pushing journalists, subs, editors and publishers towards hyperbole.
https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/sissinghurst-granddads-fury-nextdoor-neighbours-5481091
19 June 2021
18 June 2021
Swarm of bees inspires mother and daughter to create new gin
I quote: "Marie and Sally Anne Cooney are taking on the spirits world with Silks Gin – named after the silks worn by jockeys at Bellewstown racecourse."
So, bugger all to do with bees.
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https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/daily/2021/06/17/news/swarm-of-bees-inspires-mother-and-daughter-to-create-new-gin-2358683/ |
11 June 2021
Professor Ian Gibson PhD
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10 June 2021
Untangling the Sticky Drama Between TikTok Beekeepers
Nice headline, but boring story. I share because I care. Not.
https://www.eonline.com/uk/news/1277524/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-tiktoks-beekeeper-drama
09 June 2021
New Scientist News: A single honeybee has cloned itself hundreds of millions of times.
Actually, this is a very old story about the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis.
Cape honeybees can reproduce asexually, and (were they to come to the UK) could be a major pest.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2280153-a-single-honeybee-has-cloned-itself-hundreds-of-millions-of-times/
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Photo Cathy Withers-Clarke/Alamy |
08 June 2021
30 May 2021
Bumble packs a punch!
26 May 2021
Glasgow Royal Jelly Infirmary
After a year of using large amounts of plastic protective equipment, healthcare workers decided to repay nature by setting up the colony.
Consultant rheumatologist Dr Hilary Wilson, said: “It’s a way for us to help pay back for all the plastic PPE and other vital equipment used to keep us safe in the pandemic."
Don't tell Dr Wilson about poly hives, then...
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https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/glasgow-bee-hive/ |
25 May 2021
Bees and microbeads
National Geographic: Honeybees are accumulating airborne microplastics on their bodies.https://www.
24 May 2021
Angelina Jolie Gets Crawled All Over By A Bunch Of Bees For A Good Cause
https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/a36500319/angelina-jolie-bees/
21 May 2021
19 May 2021
BBKA Leaflets 2020
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Important Organisations for Beekeepers
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15 May 2021
Shake, shake, shake yer body
Neat piece about how bee swarms hang together,"What a bundle of buzzing bees can teach engineers about robotic materials." https://theconversation.com/what-a-bundle-of-buzzing-bees-can-teach-engineers-about-robotic-materials-125194
Schools of fish and murmurations of starlings exhibit the same basic mechanisms, using sight-proximity.
https://theconversation.com/what-a-bundle-of-buzzing-bees-can-teach-engineers-about-robotic-materials-125194
14 May 2021
Novelty use of a Queen excluder
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Here's an old photo of the colony before muggins went crazy... |
09 May 2021
The sting is in the tale
30 April 2021
Full to overflowing
Three colonies full to bursting; threw on two supers each as a temporary swarm-control measure (which won't work, but I lives in 'opes).
29 April 2021
28 April 2021
Save the Bees
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Apiary and Education
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26 April 2021
How much does a jar of Hilltop Honey cost?
Came across this, from Hilltop Honey https://lovehilltop.com/
Honey + chilli sounds quite revolting. I'll try some. Works out at £3.99/lb or £8.80/kg
20 April 2021
Water, water, everywhere
Bee books frequently refer to the two uses of water by bees: cool the hive, and dilute stored honey.
That seems odd to me.
To convert sucrose (C12H22011) to glucose (C6H12O6) and fructose (C6H12O6) means that for every sucrose molecule the bee must find one H2O molecule.
Put another way: C12H22011 + H2O [sucrase] = 2(C6H12O6)
So far I have not found reference to this requirement for metabolic water in the books. Maybe nectar - a very dilute sugar solution - provides all the water the bees need for the sucrase conversion, while water brought into the hive is indeed for cooling and honey dilution.
19 April 2021
Who'd have thought oxalic acid could be a human killer, too?
From https://www.iloencyclopaedia.org/part-xviii-10978/guide-to-chemicals/item/1029-acids-and-anhydrides-organic/
Oxalic acid is a strong acid
which, in solid form or in concentrated solutions, can cause burns of the skin,
eyes or mucous membranes; oxalic acid concentrations as low as 5 to 10% are
irritating if exposure is prolonged. Human fatalities have been recorded
following ingestion of as little as 5 g of oxalic acid. The symptoms appear
rapidly and are marked by a shock-like state, collapse and convulsive seizures.
Such cases may show marked renal damage with precipitation of calcium oxalate
in the renal tubules. The convulsive seizures are thought to be the result of
hypocalcaemia. Chronic skin exposure to solutions of oxalic acid or potassium
oxalate have been reported to have caused a localized pain and cyanosis in the
fingers or even gangrenous changes. This is apparently due to a localized
absorption of the oxalic acid and a resultant arteritis. Chronic systemic
injury from inhalation of oxalic acid dust appears to be very rare, although
the literature describes the case of a man who had been exposed to hot oxalic
acid vapours (probably containing an aerosol of oxalic acid) with generalized
symptoms of weight loss and chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory
tract. Because of the strongly acid nature of the dust of oxalic acid, exposure
must be carefully controlled and work area concentrations held within
acceptable health limits.
17 April 2021
Keynote address BBKA Spring Convention 2021: Tipping Points and Perceptions
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14 April 2021
12 April 2021
In Memoriam
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06 April 2021
BBKA Spring Convention 2021
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04 April 2021
Overwintered colonies
Not the most glamorous of locations!
01 April 2021
Beacon Schools
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31 March 2021
Mid Ulster council to support campaign to ban import of honey bees
From the The Irish News, https://www.irishnews.com/news/council/2021/03/31/news/mid-ulster-council-to-support-campaign-to-ban-important-of-honey-bees-2273997/
30 March 2021
You’re Not Vegan If You’re Still Eating Honey
27 March 2021
BBKA Talks for Children
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24 March 2021
Bear Cool Honey Company Supporting the BBKA to Save Our Bees
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Petition to stop importing honeybees
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Importing Bees "against best practice for our environment"
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23 March 2021
Donations from the BBKA Spring Convention for Beekeeping Research
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22 March 2021
Viktor & The Honeymakers
Just came across https://www.honeymakers.co.uk/, and the associated site https://www.honeybeesuppliers.co.uk/
Viktor looks like a nice chap, and he's brainy, too: "Viktor has spent his life working with bees. As a small boy growing up in Ukraine he learnt from his father how not to be a bad beekeeper and went on to take a degree in Zoology and Animal Science at Kiev University."
Anyway, "Viktor & The Honeymakers" would make a great band name...
21 March 2021
Making a mockery of it: BBKA Module Exams
Completed the mock exam test for the online BBKA Module Exams. Many congratulations to the BBKA for making online exams possible. Now the next thing is to swot up like crazy!
20 March 2021
Fondant
Even though a kind of spring has arrived in the UK, I am concerned even as the weather turns warm enough for the bees to fly and the queens to lay. Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) has blossomed and Hawthorn (Crataegus spp) will follow soon, and there are some daffs and jonquils (Narcissus spp) - but in my bones I am not convinced that there is enough forage for the expanding nest.
All my hives have fondant packs, as insurance...
17 March 2021
16 March 2021
12 March 2021
Beegelina
According to The Daily Mail (so it must be true), Angelina Jolie has been named the 'godmother' of a new beekeeping programme, 2021 Women for Bees.
The scheme's goal is to have trained 50 women within the next five
years, as well as building 2,500 hives in 25 Unesco biosphere reserves, and
restocking 125 million bees.
So, ten beekeepers per year. Crikey.
08 March 2021
Covid Safe Beekeeping Practicals
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07 March 2021
Serious Risk of Exotic Bee Pest Being Imported
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05 March 2021
02 March 2021
Natural varroa-resistant bees
Amazingly interesting talk by Isobel Grindrod PhD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/isobel-grindrod-3494431a7/) on varroa resistance.
28 February 2021
What's occurring?
The colonies continue to eat fondant like no tomorrow. In the past the bees have largely ignored fondant, and been happy to forage instead. This year each colony (in National hives) is consuming approximately 500g fondant per week. According to some beekeepers, this is a sign that I did not feed the bees sufficiently going into winter. The alternative explanation is that I removed too much honey going into winter, as I would rather they used their own stores - and presumably that is better for them, too.
27 February 2021
24 February 2021
Bees, Charity & Embroidery
Here's a nice piece:
Rapidly Growing Edinburgh Based Craft Kit Business Partners With Beekeeper Charity
Story from https://www.craftbusiness.com/news/view/rapidly-growing-edinburgh-based-craft-kit-business-partners-with-beekeeper-charity
PS Are they ever tempted to embroider the truth?
18 February 2021
Trustees 2021
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11 February 2021
Bees for Development
09 February 2021
07 February 2021
02 February 2021
East Surrey Bees
Great presentation by Celia Rudland of East Surrey Bees about preparing for Spring. With more than 200 colonies, she really knows how to put theory into practice.
In the past I have bought both queens and colonies from East Surrey Bees, all of which have proved excellent.
http://www.eastsurreybees.co.uk/
28 January 2021
Genetics - A talk by Margaret Murdin, Past President of the BBKA
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26 January 2021
Why do bees have smelly feet? A Half-Term Lecture with Margaret Murdin
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14 January 2021
Fondant
04 January 2021
Vespa Mandarinia
News of invasive 'murder hornets' in the North-West seabord: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/beekeepers-brace-for-next-round-with-canadas-murder-hornets/ar-BB1coQGB
Other invasive hornets are also available: