As good as you can get round these 'ere parts...

The Association runs bee health check days: 30 bees crushed, examined &c for nosema and acarine, and eyeballed for varroa. The girls are all healthy, I am glad to say - mainly because they are from East Surrey Bees, which is pretty much as good as you can get round these 'ere parts.

You cannot be serious!

"Bees are the most fascinating creatures on the planet. They collect tree resins and gums to make propolis, which is the greatest antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal system in the world. They use it to plug every crack in the hive, but Florence Nightingale used it in the Crimea for its healing properties. I’ve been asked by a major airline to look into making a propolis mist to spray into the cabins. The beehive — a totally sterile environment — is nature’s pharmacy."

On what evidence is propolis the greatest antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal system on earth? Is the beehive is a totally sterile environment? (No nosema, acarine, IPV, AFB or EFB should just about do it. And no bees, either.)

The author runs a bee medical products web site, medibee.

See http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article5039587.ece and http://www.medibee.co.uk/

Who killed the honey bee... Martha Kearney?

Quite a good film on BBC4 "Who killed the honey bee" by Martha Kearney.

The odd part was, having not seen the intro titles, I was convinced that it was by Alison Benjamin and Brian McAllum, who wrote "A world without bees." In many ways, it was a televised version of their book.

www.amazon.co.uk/World-Without-Bees-Alison-Benjamin/dp/0852650922
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jzjys/Who_Killed_the_Honey_Bee

Publish Post

Coughs and sneezes...

Took 20 frozen bees to the Surrey Beekeepers' Association (Wimbledon Division) for disease diagnosis, and they were given a clean bill of health.

We chopped the heads off some bees, and looked at the trachea for signs of acarine (a mite that infects the airways): all clear. The remaining twenty or so bees, we chopped off the abdomens, ground them up and inspected the resulting goo for nosema, a spore that infects the gut. Again, a clean bill of health.

It's a violent way to diagnose diseases, and it felt cruel. On the other hand, with some 35,000 or more bees, it's for the greater good of the hive.

Very Orwellian.


Toby Chapman-Dawe