Well now we are well into Spring its time to take stock of how our bees coped with the unusually harsh Winter. It has been estimated by the British Beekeepers Association that loss of the UK honeybee population is around 17% which compares to around 19% last year the huge 30% loss between 2007-2008!! However I have heard some stories and rumours of the losses in Scotland being as high as 50% for some beeks up here. The BBKA survey did reveal marked regional variations. Beekeepers in the north of England lost more than a quarter of their honeybee colonies,…

Entomologist Mark Greco and his colleagues at the Swiss Bee Research Centre in Bern, Switzerland and scientists at the University of Bath led by Professor Cathryn Mitchell and Dr Manuchehr Soleimani are pioneering a new way of viewing the inside of a beehive.

The technique is called Diagnostic Radioentomology (DR) which scans the hive taking a series of 3D images. These images create a live picture of whats going on inside the hive, meaning we can gain a greater insight into what the bees are doing behind closed doors. These live images produced by X-ray computerised tomography can also be…

Bees are dying in their billions!

In the UK around 1/5 of honeybee hives were lost in the Winter of 2008-2009. Bees pollinate a third of the food we eat, contributing £200 million a year to the UK economy.

The co-operative has made a film documenting the vanishing of bees in the UK and why its happening. The film is 90 mins and takes in the beekeepers point of view, aswell as farmers and scientists.

You can buy the film from Amazon by following this link:

The Scottish Government has rebuffed a reserve for Black bees on Colonsay. The reserve was brain child of Andrew Abraham, Andrew spent years trying to secure the reserve on Colonsay only to have it Squashed by the Scottish Government early this year.

Scotland on Sunday published an article where the Scottish Government said; “the black bee is considered a domesticated creature”. This was the reason they said no to the black bee reserve! The Countryside and Wildlife act 1981 can only be used to protect and secure reserves for wild animals, as it has be used before for Red Deer…

I just dont understand it! Why oh why get a queen from abroad? I mean what possible benefit can be gained from doing so, or is it easier to get queens from abroad? Im not sure I mean how difficult is it to phone your local beekeepers association and see what they say? Failing that a chat with local beekeepers should provide fruitful and perhaps queens can be found at no cost.

Not only that if you find a queen locally it gives you a chance to see the hive and discuss with the owner the temperament and other traits.…

There definitely seems to be more of a buzz about keeping honey bees! Perhaps its the economic downturn and the upsurge of people interested in allotments and growing their own food.

Obviously the honey bees plight has had a lot of publicity across the globe on TV, radio and in the press. So Im glad to see an upsurge of beekeepers especially the ones that really care for their bees, regarding them almost as pets (I wouldnt try petting them though).

My observation of new beekeepers though is that the majority are 40-50+ in age, not a bad thing at…