IN BRIEF
2020 IMYB postponed Because of the coronavirus health situation, the 2020 International Meeting of Young Beekeepers (IMYB) in Slovenia has been postponed until 2021. The England team selection day due in March will be held next year, We await news of other major beekeeping gatherings. Watch Bee Craſt social media for news.
Celia Davis will be signing copies of her completely updated third edition of The Honey Bee Inside Out at the Bee Craſt stand at the BBKA Spring Convention.
Survivor honey bees With the rising interest in ‘survivor’ honey bee populations that appear to have had no treatment for varroa, Coloss is researching the issue. The honey bee research association’s Survivors Task Force wants to hear of survivor colonies which might be in apiaries, trees or any other seting. So far, 200 responses to its survey have been received – you can add to it:
tinyurl.com/BC2020-04-08
Iowa may become the 18th state in the USA to honour the honey bee as its state insect. Of all 52 states, only Iowa and Michigan don’t have a state insect. Iowa has 4,500 beekeepers and also happens to be the 18th largest honey- producing state in the USA. A few years ago, they were thinking about adopting the ladybird but now state legislators are considering honouring the honey bee.
Bees deserted up to 25% of hives in some towns in southern Puerto Rico aſter hundreds of earth tremors and a 6.4 magnitude earthquake ratled the area, according to the director of the island’s Eastern Apiculture School.
tinyurl.com/BC2020-03-05
Are bumblebees “bird, mammal, fish, amphibian, reptile or plant”? That’s causing quite a debate in California because without that classification they are excluded from protection under the state’s Endangered Species Act.
tinyurl.com/BC2020-04-07
Apology Heron Hill Primary School, with its wonderful Bee Club, is in Kendal, Cumbria, and is not to be found nearly 30 miles further north where we mistakenly relocated it in the March issue. We hope to be hearing more reports from Heron Hill soon.
www.heronhill.cumbria.sch.uk
Bee Craſt April 2020
Following the bushfires and then floods, at least 50,000 colonies across Australia are reported to have lost field bees and are foraging at reduced strength. New South Wales and South Australia have been hardest hit with hive losses of 6,563 and 2,300 respectively. The latest figures indicate that more than 11,000 hives have been lost.
Bumblebee Conservation Trust paper on managed honey bees
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT) has adopted the precautionary principle in its position paper on managed honey bees published on 9 March 2020.
BCT says that honey bees are not an endangered species but that several of Britain’s 270-plus wild British bees are now thought to be extinct. As super-generalist foragers, honey bees compete strongly with wild pollinator species for pollen and nectar from a wide range of flowers, says the position paper.
Australia’s forgotten farmers
Australia’s professional beekeepers have been described as the forgoten farmers and a Hive Aid programme has been established, overseen by the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC), to provide them with financial and practical support. As Bee Craſt goes to press, the figure raised has passed AU$230,000 (£116,000).
Peter McDonald, chair of AHBIC said, ‘The bee industry, like so many others, has been devastated by the fires and, while I’m prety sure that decision- makers know the extent of the damage, they don’t necessarily understand the implications for our almond and avocado growers – even those that have not been burned out. No bees means no pollination. Where honey bees have escaped the blazes, they will starve before spring unless urgent action by both industry and government is taken to save them.”
honeybee.org.au
BCT’s recommendations include that, where possible, beekeepers should not site hives to take advantage of floral resources created and/or managed specifically for wild pollinators, such as nature reserves. It also wants planting for pollinators, especially in the vicinity of honey bee hives, to consist of a range of flowers of different flower structures. “Planting both long- and short-corolla species will provide food for a range of pollinator species and minimise the risk of any single species out-competing others.”
BCT calls for further research into the impacts of managed honey bees on wild colonies and, concerned about potential disease transfer between managed honey bees and wild bees, wants beekeepers to “follow ‘healthy bee’ guidelines such as those laid down by the National Bee Unit”. It also stresses the need to raise awareness that “keeping honey bees is not the same as conservation of wild pollinators and may in some circumstances be detrimental to wild pollinator species such as bumblebees”.
www.bumblebeeconservation.org/ our-position-statements
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Photo: courtesy Stu Anderson
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