Save the Bee Campaign
OK so if you have found this website you will undoubtably be aware of the plight of the bee. We must all take action and come together to help the bee survive, for its survival means our survival.
So what do we need to do? Well, beekeepers need to talk about and get people interested in beekeeping. This is part of the reason this site was born. Beekeepers should be recruiting in their local area for new beekeepers and the next generation of beekeepers. I think it is very important to get young people involved in these kinds of activities, so if your a beekeeper and have kids make sure to get them involved. Education is the key, educating both young people and your local community is essential. I wonder if secondary schools would be interested in local beekeeping associations teaching students about bees and beekeeping?
Beekeepers must also make sure that they take great care in looking after their bees as badly kept hives could increase the risk of disease spreading.
Everyone should think about planting an area of their garden, patio, window ledge or balcony for bees. See our planting for bees post for more details on what flowering plants the bees like.
I would also like everyone who reads this post to get in touch with their councils and ask what they are doing to aid the bees plight? Are they encouraging citizens to keep bees, are the pro-active in educating young people and are they thinking about bees when they plant flower beds and roundabouts etc? If not why not? The more people contact their local councils the better, Im sure with enough enquiries they will start to think about ways they can help.
What else can we do for our save the bee campaign? Please tell us your ideas.
August 18th, 2009 on 12:21 am
What would be useful is information on where you can buy british bees. I’m looking at starting beekeeping but cant find anyone that sells them. Also knowing where they are in the country would be useful for collections.
August 19th, 2009 on 5:11 am
Hi Noel,
Yes it is quite difficult to find info about where to buy British bees, perhaps if any bee breeders read this they will put an ad in the classifieds section with their contact details.
However to help you I would suggest contacting your local beekeeping association and see if anybody has any nuc hives available. If you attend local beekeeping association classes they will assist you in obtaining your first colony and they should hopefully be dealing with native British bees.
Thornes also sell nuc hives on their online store but are snapped up quickly. click here.
I also know if you sign up to the Scottish Beekeepers Association that they insure your bees so if you lose your colony they will replace them! I presume it is the same at the British Beekeepers Association.
January 31st, 2010 on 4:10 pm
hello i am a degree student in my 3rd year an am about to begin my final project. I am in a moving image degree and wish to make an animation of somekind. hopefully creating a campaign on making people aware of the bee problem. what i am hoping to do is concentrate on the effect it will have on everyday life, i was wondering if it would be possible tieing it with this site. and if so could you give me any more information or input on what i could put in it. obviously you can use the video and put it on yoursite
February 1st, 2010 on 1:44 am
Hi Simon,
That sounds excellent and I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can and would love to feature the film on the website.
If I was to create a film it would be very dramtaic this being because it will be very dramatic if the bee dissappears!
So I would start with bees pollintaing a beautiful garden and another scene of crops in a field in bountiful bloom. Then show the bees dying, scenes of pollution, huge phone masts everywhere, and crop spraying, excessive chemical usage etc then a few dead bees on ground then pictures of colony collapse and disease.
Then the images from the beginning would change bringing the film full circle but instead of vibrante plants and crops it would be an apocolyptic scene. Dead plants and crops. To take it further would be to show civilisation in almost total collapse. Normal work would cease for alot of people as we would have to take to the fields and pollinate the crops ourselves with brushes!! This would take hundreds of thousands and possible millions of people to achieve.
Indeed there is a place I think its China where the bees have gone and the locals pollinate the fruit trees themselves with brushes on long sticks!!
Hope that gives you some ideas and keep us informed of progress and if you need any ideas etc let me know!!
February 11th, 2010 on 8:10 am
hello again i was just wondering as i am focusing my video on the effects it would have in Britain and was wondering if you have any facts on what medicines would be effected as I found out they would be but cant find any specific details
February 12th, 2010 on 9:14 am
Hi Simon,
Well I know that bee venom is used for treating arthritis. But it is also being used by Universities etc to treat cancer. The bee venom contains melittin which can destroy practically any cell when applied with high enough concentration.
So bee venow could prove hugely important in the future and may be our best chance to cure or treat cancer more effectively.
Who knows what other uses bee venom, honey, wax, propolis etc could be used for in the future to benefit human kind……will we get the chance to find out?
February 17th, 2010 on 8:24 am
hello again was just wondering what the major effects that the bees dying out at the present time
thank you
February 18th, 2010 on 5:59 am
Do you mean whats causing them to die out if so:
Pesticide and Herbicide use.
Pollution.
Radio Transmitter Masts.
Bee Diseases.
Climate Change?
If you mean what will happen if they do then:
Economic Collapse.
Starvation due to low crop yields.
Millions of people will ahve to be employed to self pollinate crops.
Given human nature I would guess rioting and general craziness would ensue.
Goverment armies would have to control rationing which would lead to even more social unrest.
Plant species would die and become extinct.
Less flowering plants will mean less insects meaning less insect eating animal and birds etc.
Basically you are pretty much talking the possible extinction of a lot of life on earth and a general apocolypse senario.
Scary!!
April 29th, 2010 on 9:44 am
wher can you buy midnight huny bees i have looked evry where?
April 29th, 2010 on 12:19 pm
Well I guess its quite difficult to get specific types. Your only chance is advertising the fact you want them; try on the forum: http://www.honeybeekeeping/cms/forum
Contact you local beekeepers association or if you can get your hands on Caucasian and Carniolan races then you could breed them yourself?
Bee Breeding isnt really my thing to be honest but there are people on the forum that know more than me.