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Bee's hitch a lift
08 June 2009 by Richard
A swarm of around 10,000 bees had to be removed by a pest control official with a specially modified vacuum cleaner when a flight school in Massachusetts called him in after the bee's grounded one of their training planes. Read the full story on Metro.
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Tags: USA
Keeping our bees buzzing
03 June 2009 by Richard
Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have today published 'Healthy Bees', a ten year plan to protect and improve the health of honey bees in England and Wales.
The plan was drafted in consultation with beekeeping organisations. It aims to sustain honey bee populations by supporting beekeepers to minimise risk from pests and disease.
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Tags: Conservation | Defra
A very happy New Year to all!
31 December 2008 by Richard
Hopefuly everyone has a good time seeing in the New Year and all the best for 2009 from all of us!
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Merry Christmas!
25 December 2008 by Richard
Merry Christmas to all, from everyone involved in the site!
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Feeding slowing down
14 October 2008 by Jane
On checking the hive last weekend after a cold night the swarm had only taken 1/2 a jar of the syrup. Ive since been advised that during winter as the bee slows down due to the cold, its best to feed bees a sugar fondant which they can access more easily.
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Sniffer Dog helps unravel mystery of Bumblebee decline
13 October 2008 by Ben
Hello Antblog readers, we'd like to introduce you to Toby, our Bumblebee Sniffer Dog! Toby, or more specifically Toby's nose, is part of a range of things that the Bumblebee Conservation Trust are doing to try and understand (and ultimately halt) the dramatic declines experienced by many of our bumblebee species.
Like ants, bumblebees are social insects - an annual colony is founded by a queen in spring. The effective population size is therefore determined by the number of successful nests in an area, rather than the number of worker bees. The nests are relatively small, often underground, and with infrequent traffic - put simply, they're incredibly hard to find! Hence Toby, who will hopefully help us to get a better handle on nesting densities/population sizes, as well as helping us to understand more about the nesting requirements of our rarer species. Recent genetic work suggests that population sizes are dangerously low, and that inbreeding is adding to problems like habitat loss and pesticide use.
It still early days, and although initial results have been encouraging we'll have to wait for further trials before we can fully assess how effective the technique is.
Dr. Ben Darvill is Director of the BBCT. To learn To learn more about the fascinating lives of bumblebees, support their vital conservation work, or join the cause, visit their website.
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Tags: Conservation
Catching up with the Bees
09 October 2008 by Jane
After the swarm was captured it was introduced to the hive.
It was necessary to leave out some of the frames to house the comb that the bee colony had already begun to make. Within a week the space had to be closed even tighter as they were building even more onto that comb and not working on the foundation. By the end of August they had started to draw the foundation and had drawn foundation on 5 frames by the middle of September.
The weather since introducing the swarm has not been good - it's been an unusualy wet and cold summer and therefore not much pollen for the bees to feed on. Additionaly they have been fed a sugar water syrup. The reason for this is to keep food on hand so they didnt swarm once again and migrate elsewhere, but mainly because pollen is in short supply. They were fed on demand and seemed to need a jam jar full of syrup every few days.
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Honey Bees turn thieves
08 October 2008 by Richard
Beekeeper and geneticist Susan Cobey from the Department of Entomology at UC Davis has been talking to AntBlog about how normally well behaved honey bees have become cunning thieves, searching for a free source of sugar by invading neighbouring hives.
Cobey believes that this behaviour is due to "...less resources being available and the high demand needed for winter stores". She believes Colony Collapse Disorder is probably influencing this behaviour "...it weakens colonies, making them more vulnerable and spreads disease."
The bee thievery occurs more often in the late summer, when flowers dry up and preparations for winter stores are necessary for survival.
Cobey maintains some 50 to 60 hives and takes specific precautions in the late summer and early fall. Like beekeepers around the world, she screens or reduces the size of an entrance to a hive. A smaller opening makes it easier for the bee guards to protect against predators - and now, other honey bees.
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Bees settled in hive
14 July 2008 by Jane
The bees are now safe and well in their hive.
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First swarm captured
13 July 2008 by Richard
It looks like Jane has her first colony of Apis mellifera (European Honey Bee). Barry Vaughan, her husband, has managed to capture a swarm of approximately 2,000 bees including the queen. He also managed not to be stung once!
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