DBKA - News archive, 2010

Please note - as some of these entries age, their respective links may become broken as external websites change.

Beekeeper in New Year Honours List
Guardian - December 31, 2010
Anne Buckingham, 72, from Farnham, Surrey, is rewarded with a MBE for her contribution to beekeeping, in particular the expertise she uses when on round-the-clock call to collect difficult and awkward swarms.
Link to article in the Guardian

Bee Viruses Spread by Flower Pollen
By Rachel Kaufman
National Geographic - December 29, 2010
Viruses that could play a role in the recent decline in honeybee colonies may be spreading through flower pollen, new research finds. What's more, a number of wild pollinators, such as bumblebees, yellowjackets, and wasps, can also become infected with viruses in the pollen. In hives affected by colony collapse disorder—a phenomenon that surfaced in U.S. honeybee colonies in 2006—worker bees vanish en masse. Some studies have suggested that Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), first identified in 2002, may be contributing to the bees' demise.
Link to article on National Geographic

Genetic weapon developed against honeybee-killer
By Victoria Gill
BBC News - December 22, 2010
Researchers have developed a genetic technique which could revitalise the fight against the honeybee's worst enemy - the Varroa mite. The method enables researchers to "switch off" genes in the Varroa mite, a parasite that targets the honeybee. The scientists say this could eventually be used to force the mites to "self-destruct". The treatment is now at an early, experimental stage but could be developed into an anti-Varroa medicine.
Link to article on BBC
Link to article on Guardian
Link to press release from defra

Bee challenged - toxin-laden nectar poses problems for honeybees
Newcastle University - December 20, 2010
Honeybees can learn to avoid nectar containing natural plant toxins but will eat it when there is no alternative, scientists at Newcastle University have found. This means that in areas dominated by these so called 'toxic plants' – such as almond or apple orchards –bees struggle to find an alternative food source and so are forced to eat toxic nectar. With honeybee populations already under stress, the Newcastle University team believe these toxin-laden nectars could, in some cases, be a factor affecting colony health. It has long been known that while most plants reward pollinators for visiting their flowers, some offer nectar that is poisonous. Honeybees – vital for crop pollination – may be susceptible to some of these nectar toxins and beekeepers and scientists have long recognized they can be poisoned by the nectar.
Link to press release on Eureka Alert

Training Days
By Chris Deaves
British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) - December 17, 2010
A series of Beekeeping Training Days for those already involved in training new beekeepers, and especially for those who are relatively new to beekeeping who would like to get involved in training, are being organised during January, February and March 2011. The training events - jointly funded by BBKA and the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) - is part of a national initiative under the Healthy Bees Plan to increase the number of beekeeper trainers and to provide them with training materials from which they can start to plan and prepare training sessions based on the needs of their students.
Link to article on BBKA

The crucial role cities can play in protecting the honeybee
By Rosie Boycott
Guardian - December 16, 1010
Planting bee-friendly flowers in small spaces can help bees make their vital contribution to the UK's ecological health. Among the images that Sunday supplements start publishing to sum up 2010, I suspect there will be one missing. One that, for me, sums up a year of continued and frightening environmental degradation and the looming prospect of severe food shortages in years to come. It is the image of workers in the Maoxian county of Sichuan, China, an area that has lost its pollinators through the indiscriminate use of pesticides and the over-harvesting of its honey. These workers aren't picking fruit, or digging, or planting. They're pollinating pear and apple trees by hand. In this part of China, the honeybee has been replaced by the human bee
Link to article on the Guardian

Boris Johnson's Capital Bee scheme criticised by beekeepers
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - December 16, 2010
Mayor's plans to save 'the humble bee' misguided, say overworked London beekeeping associations. A bid to boost beekeeping in London by mayor Boris Johnson today has come under fire from beekeeping associations, who say the capital is already saturated with inexperienced beekeepers. Johnson's Capital Bee campaign, which will offer up to 50 community food-growing groups the chance to keep bees, hopes to boost beekeeper numbers in the city and halt the decline in bee populations. But London beekeepers' associations accuse him of "jumping on the bandwagon" of the huge growth in the popularity of beekeeping. John Chapple, chair of the London Beekeepers' Association, which has seen a five-fold increase to 150 members in the past few years, said: "London is already saturated with beekeepers. We don't need any more, what we need are better beekeepers."
Link to article in the Guardian

Sleepless honey bees miscommunicate, too, research at the University of Texas at Austin shows
Eureka Alert - December 13, 2010
In the busy world of a honey bee hive, worker bees need their rest in order to best communicate the location of food to their hive mates, research from The University of Texas at Austin shows. "When deprived of sleep, humans typically experience a diminished ability to perform a variety of tasks, including communicating as clearly or as precisely," said Dr. Barrett Klein, a former ecology, evolution and behavior graduate student at the university. "We found that sleep-deprived honey bees also experienced communication problems. They advertised the direction to a food site less precisely to their fellow bees."
Link to article on Eureka Alert

Farm conservation efforts help boost honeybee numbers
By Olivia Cooper
Farmers Weekly Interactive - December 12, 2010
Conservation efforts by farmers have helped honeybee populations fight back, new evidence suggests. Research shows honeybee colonies increased by 50% in the six months to October, reflecting the positive measures taken by farmers and beekeepers alike. A survey by the British Beekeepers Association revealed that the number of colonies rose from 80,000 in March to 120,000 in October, with amateur beekeepers producing more than a third of all the nation’s home-produced honey. On average, each hive produced 32lb of honey, worth £130 to the beekeeper, but providing an estimated £600 to the agricultural economy through pollination value. With about 270,000 hives in the UK, that equated to £200m in agricultural value, said BBKA president Martin Smith.
Link to article in Farmers Weekly Interactive

Top scientist warns against 'hype' as EU sets out bee rescue plan
By Andrew Willis
EUObserver, Brussels - December 12, 2010
Declines in honey bee populations have been reported in a number of EU member states, but data is patchy. The European Commission has published a new action plan intended to shed light on reports of declining honey-bee populations across Europe, key pollinators for many of the bloc's important crop species. At the same time, one the Europe's top scientists in the field has warned against mass hysteria, pointing out that most species have experienced epidemics at one stage or another over previous centuries, ultimately with little long-term effect. "The fact that honey-bee colonies die in large numbers is nothing strange," the UK's only professor in the field of apiculture, the University of Sussex's Francis Ratnieks, told this website.
Link to article on EUObserver, Brussels

Database shows how bees see world in UV
By Neil Bowdler
BBC - December 11, 2010
Researchers are being offered a glimpse of how bees may see flowers in all their ultra-violet (UV) glory. The Floral Reflectance Database (FReD) was created by researchers at Imperial College London and Queen Mary, University of London. It enables researchers to "see" plant colours through the eyes of bees and other pollinating insects. Bees have different colour detection systems from humans, and can see in the UV spectrum. Details of the free database are published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.
Link to article on BBC

Killer bees may reach Athens, UGA expert says
By Lee Shearer
Online Athens (US) - December 04, 2010
Buzz up!It may be only a matter of time before Africanized honeybees - so-called killer bees - reach Athens and Northeast Georgia, according to University of Georgia bee researcher Keith Delaplane. The feared bees made their first appearance in Georgia this October, killing 73-year-old Curtis Davis of Albany as he was driving a bulldozer that disturbed their nest. "The incident in Albany could almost be taken from a textbook. Repeatedly over the years, the problem has been someone on a tractor running a backhoe (that runs over or digs up the bees'nest)," Delaplane said.
Link to Online Athens (US)

High-rise flats for Hong Kong bees?
CNN - December 3, 2010
For the ongoing Detour art and design festival, Leung has set up workshops and an exhibition about HK Honey, including a special beehive made in collaboration with designer Nelson Chan. The hive is covered in images of Hong Kong's housing estate, so that the hives resemble the compact residential buildings. Comparing the bees and their hive to Hong Kong is a fitting metaphor for the densely populated city and its pragmatic, industrious denizens.
Link to article on CNN

Help me save the bee
Swindon Advertiser - December 2, 2010
The man who is helping save the honeybee population is appealing for donations so his work can continue. Ron Hoskins, pictured, who found a solution to the deadly parasite varroa is asking companies, organisations and individuals to donate £350 to help save bees. Donations will allow the extension of his work and buy one full set of equipment, including a beehive, a dissecting microscope, a powerful hand lens to loan to a local bee keeper. Ron said some money had been received but much more was needed to make the scheme effective. The name or company name will be engraved on a plaque attached to the hive. They will also be credited on a list of sponsors at our Stanton Park Apiary. Cheques should be made payable to, and sent to, Swindon Honeybee Conservation Group, 10 Larksfield, Swindon, SN3 5AD.
Link to article in Swindon Advertiser

Robots imitate honey bees for aircraft aerobatics
University of Queensland (Au) - December 1, 2010
Australian scientists have developed a novel autopilot that guides aircraft through complex aerobatic manoeuvres by watching the horizon like a honey bee. Allowing aircraft to quickly sense which way is “up” by imitating how honeybees see, engineers and researchers at The Vision Centre, Queensland Brain Institute and the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at The University of Queensland have made it possible for planes to guide themselves through extreme manoeuvres, including the loop, the barrel roll and the Immelmann turn, with speed, deftness and precision.
Link to article on UQ News

Bees in Crisis - A Comprehensive Situation Report
Lab News - November 29, 2010
Over the last decade, beekeepers, scientists, environmentalists and politicians have been lamenting the alarming unexplained decline in honey bee populations in Europe and North America. Jeremy Garwood reports on the scientific battle to save the bees … if only we could finally agree on what’s actually killing them!
Link to article in Lab News

Announcement of the Appointment of BBKA General Secretary/Operations Director
BBKA - November 25, 2010
After sifting through nearly 90 applications for the position of Operations Director/General Secretary and two series of interviews to get to a final short list I am pleased to inform you that we have agreed to appoint Ms Jane Moseley to the above position. Jane is a beekeeper and is currently Honorary President of Hertfordshire Beekeeping Association, and Secretary of Bishop's Stortford BKA.
Link to article on BBKA

Julie stands up for beekeepers in Europe
November 24, 2010
Julie Girling, Conservative MEP, speaks in the European Parliament about the importance of Bees to our lives and the relevance of engaging with organisations that are supporting the Bee. Julie highlights the excellent work of UK organisation The Womens Institute and also the Co-Op who are currently, like Julie, running campaigns to protect the Bee.
Link to Julie Girling's website
Link to EU Response (pdf)

Uganda: How beekeeping offers a new way of life for villagers
By Emma Jayne Jones
Guardain - November 22, 2010
A profit-making village beekeepers' association in western Uganda is offering villagers an alternative to a life of poverty. 'A small group of men and women gather in a dingy hut, paper charts hang from the walls and a stale sweet smell fills the room. A large white plastic container of honey sits on the uneven red-earth ground. On top of the container is a record book with "Kyempara Beekeepers' Association" written neatly on the cover.'
Link to article in the Guardian

Middle class guilt fuels boom in beekeeping
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - November 20, 2010
The decline of the honey bee has dominated headlines for the last few years. Hives were hit by a strange condition known as colony collapse disorder (CCD) and numbers were estimated to have halved in 20 years. Conservationists warned that without the honey bee to pollinate trees and plants the countryside suffers and even food security may be in danger. The warnings have had such an effect that the number of people keeping bees has doubled since 2007 and most are keeping more hives.
Link to article in the Telegraph

Flintshire beekeeper dies after she was stung at hive
BBC - November 17, 2010
A 47-year-old beekeper died after she was stung while tending a hive, an inquest has been told. Alison Piercy, from Hawarden, Flintshire, kept bees in her spare time with her nephew Max Howe, 12. She died after being stung below the eye while checking a hive in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. The Flint inquest heard she had been stung before, but this could have been a different type of bee. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Link to article on BBC

British Beekeepers' Association to stop endorsing bee-killing pesticides
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - November 16, 2010
The BBKA is to end its commercial relationship with a pesticide manufacturer whose products killed bees. The British Beekeepers' Association hastoday announced plans to end its controversial practice of endorsing pesticides in return for cash from leading chemical manufacturers. The endorsement of four products as "bee-friendly" in return for £17,500 a year caused outrage among many beekeepers because one of the companies, Bayer Crop Science, makes pesticides that are widely implicated in the deaths of honeybees worldwide. But the BBKA denies that it has bowed to pressure from members who have been increasingly critical of the its stance. Bayer's clothianidin was identified as causing the death of two-thirds of honeybees in southern Germany in 2008. In a statement sent outtoday to the secretaries of local beekeeping associations across the UK, the BBKA's president, Martin Smith, said: "Following discussion with the companies involved, the BBKA trustees have decided that endorsement and related product-specific payments will cease as soon as practically possible."
Link to article on Guardian

BBKA Strategic Review & The Plant Protection Industry
By Martin Smith, President, BBKA
BBKA - November 16, 2010
As an educational charity, the BBKA is primarily concerned with the health and welfare of honey bees and seeks to educate, inform and influence all parts of society including beekeepers, the public and industry about honey bees. Over time, a number of arrangements has been made between the BBKA and third parties, who have been attracted to entering into relationships with the BBKA for a variety of reasons, but all of which have been agreed on the basis they will deliver benefits to honey bees. It is necessary to review strategically the appropriateness of these relationships from time to time to ensure that they continue to be relevant, effective and indeed do deliver the intended benefits.
Link to article on BBKA

Bee course for south west
By Stephen Ivall
Smallholder - November 15, 2010
AS the plight of the honeybee becomes increasingly more apparent it’s important to offer the correct training to those who want to help preserve these valuable insects. Duchy College Rosewarne will be offering a Basic Beekeeping Certificate for beginners or those who wish to gain an insight in to beekeeping, commencing on Thursday January 6 2011. The course aims to equip learners with the knowledge and practical skills to start their own apiary and is delivered by Rodger Dewhurst, one of the country’s leading experts. “This course is ideal for beginners or for those who keep bees but haven’t had any formal training. The first sessions will be a mix of practical and theory, based in the classroom, looking at hive making, diseases, understanding the bee and the bee keeper’s year. When the weather gets warmer around April the students will be able to work in the apiary at Rosewarne where they will help manage a colony of bees,” explained Rodger.
Link to article on Smallholder

Save Europe’s bees
EU Commerz - November 8, 2010
Bee mortality is rising while the number of beekeepers in Europe is declining, all of which could have a serious impact on food production since most plants and crops are pollinated by bees.
The EP Agriculture Committee therefore wants the EU to step up support to the beekeeping industry when the common agricultural policy is next revamped. With 76% of food production and 84% of plant species dependent on pollination by bees, the committee approved a draft resolution on Wednesday calling on the Commission to increase aid to the beekeeping sector in the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2013, by reviewing legislation and increasing financial support as well as investment in research.
Link to article on EU Commerz

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust bids for new bee hives
BBC - November 8, 2010
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust wants the public will help them get funding for two new honey bee hives. They are hoping to win £500 in an online voting competition which they'll use to buy the hives and a bee-keeping suit.
Link to article on BBC

Diet: making of a queen
Science Alert - November 3, 2010
The nature-nurture debate is a “giant step” closer to being resolved after scientists studying bees documented how environmental inputs can modify our genetic hardware. The research team was led by Professor Ryszard Maleszka of The Australian National University’s College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, working with colleagues from the German Cancer Institute in Heidelberg, Germany. Their work has uncovered the extensive molecular differences that occur in the brains of two types of genetically identical, but behaviourally different, female honey bees – worker bees and queen bees. The workers and queens develop along very different paths when put on different diets.
Link to article on Science Alert
Link to Abstract on Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Bees: man's best friend, provider and protector
By Reese Halter
Telegraph - November 2, 2010
Move over, Rover - this is the age of the sniffer bee. Reese Halter reports on a marvel of nature that has a crucial part to play in our diet, health and security. For the past few years, the news has been filled with a drumbeat of doom over the fate of the honey bee. Thanks largely to a mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the number of hives has been falling, with catastrophic implications for the species, and for our agricultural system. England's hives have been vanishing faster than anywhere else in Europe, with more than half dying out over the past 20 years.
Link to article in the Telegraph

The ancient art of beekeeping: In it for the honey
By Christopher Hirst
Independent - October 30, 2010
The pastime shared by Aristotle, Tolstoy, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherlock Holmes has brought an excited buzz to Britain's suburbs and countryside. According to the British Beekeepers' Association, the number of bee colonies has increased by 50 per cent over the past six months – from 80,000 in March to 120,000 today. Over the summer, amateur beekeepers harvested 3.5 million pounds of honey. The average hive produced 32 pounds, worth £130. The sweet golden goo that we trickle on yoghurt, spread on wholemeal bread and butter, eat with cheese, drizzle on pancakes, bake in cakes, use as a glaze on ham or simply lick off our fingers is perhaps the most remarkable of all foodstuffs.
Link to article on Independent

A new wave of middle-class beekeepers are looking after the workers
By Jenny McCartney
Telegraph - October 30, 2010
The bourgeoisie have come to the rescue of the honey bee. The honey bee, we are often told, is in decline, under threat from pesticides and a grim affliction called "colony collapse disorder". But now the British middle classes have ridden to its defence by taking up bee-keeping as a hobby: since 2007, the number of hives registered in Britain has doubled, to 80,000.
Link to article in Telegraph

Bees May Be Bellwether of Food Supply Challenges
by Cory Minderhout
Food Safety News (US) - October 30, 2010
Empty honey bee hives that set the media abuzz in 2006 were attributed to everything from cell phones to pesticides, but researchers now say many things interacting with each other are contributing to the decline. "It's not a single mystery thing that's causing problems," said Marion Ellis, professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska. "There are probably lots of little components."
Link to article on Food Safety News (US)

The joys of urban beekeeping
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - October 29, 2010
The joys of urban beekeepingBees allow you to reconnect with nature, as well as producing delicious honey. And all in the city centre. My honeybees were out this morning in my back garden in Battersea. I saw them before I left for work, heading for the parks, railways sidings and gardens that dot this corner of south London. With Michaelmas daisies, Japanese anemones and autumn-flowering crocuses still in bloom, they will hopefully return to the hive laden with food to add to their winter stores.
Link to article on the Guardian

MEPs have backed plans to try to combat the dwindling bee population
The Parliament - October 28, 2010
The European parliament's agriculture and rural development committee voted through a resolution on the issue on Thursday. Bee pollination accounts for 76 per cent of food production and 84 per cent of plant species. This could have serious consequences, with an increase in bee mortality and a decrease of beekeepers in Europe. British Conservative MEP Julie Girling, who is running a campaign to save the bee, described the resolution as a step in the right direction.
Link to article in The Parliament

HONEY – IT’S GOOD NEWS AT LAST!
BBKA - October 28, 2010

• 3.5 million pounds of honey harvested this summer for the nation’s tea tables by amateur beekeepers
• 50 per cent increase in the number of bee colonies in the last six months
• four times the value of BBKA members’ honey harvests goes to the economy through pollination
• 5,000 members of the public sign up to lend their support as ‘armchair’ beekeepers.

The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) estimates that each of the beehives kept by its members contributes four times more to the agricultural economy through pollination than the value of the honey received by the beekeeper. The findings come from the charity’s first countrywide survey of its members’ honey harvests.
Link to news release on BBKA
Link to report in the Telegraph

Bees' tiny brains beat computers, study finds
Guardian - October 24, 2010
Bees can solve complex mathematical problems which keep computers busy for days, research has shown. Bees can solve complex mathematical problems which keep computers busy for days, research has shown. The insects learn to fly the shortest route between flowers discovered in random order, effectively solving the "travelling salesman problem" , said scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London. The conundrum involves finding the shortest route that allows a travelling salesman to call at all the locations he has to visit. Computers solve the problem by comparing the length of all possible routes and choosing the one that is shortest. Bees manage to reach the same solution using a brain the size of a grass seed. Dr Nigel Raine, from Royal Holloway's school of biological sciences, said: "Foraging bees solve travelling salesman problems every day. They visit flowers at multiple locations and, because bees use lots of energy to fly, they find a route which keeps flying to a minimum."
Link to article in Guardian

Cornish bees killed in suspected tractor attack
BBC - October 23, 2010
A Cornish beekeeper has lost about 200,000 bees after his hives were flattened by a stolen tractor. David Barriball, from Liskeard, said nine hives, worth an estimated £3,500, had been lost and it would take 18 months to build the colony up again. Mr Barriball has offered a year's supply of honey to anyone with information which leads to a conviction of those responsible. Devon and Cornwall Police said they were investigating the incident. The attack happened at Trerulefoot at about 0200 BST on Tuesday.
Link to article on BBC
Link to article in This is Plymouth

Photo Gallery: Breeding bees resistant to the varroa mite
By Louis Rummer-Downing
The Ecologist - October 22, 2010
British honeybee populations have been decimated by the varroa mite, but hidden inside hives in deepest Cornwall, something very special is happening... Beekeeper Rodger Dewhurst is not just in it for the money, or the honey; he has taken it upon himself to save our honeybees from the clutches of the varroa mite, by breeding varroa-tolerant native bees, Apis mellifera mellifera. Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) have spread throughout mainland UK since their appearance in 1992. They are just 2mm wide and feed off developing bees in brood cells and on adults by attaching themselves to their fleshy tissue. They weaken the bee's immune system and are vectors for other viruses and disease such as Deformed Wing Virus. Just 2,500 mites in a colony of more than 30,000 bees can prove fatal.
Link to article in the Ecologist

Old bees' memories fade, mirror that of mammals
ASU News - October 21, 2010
A study published Oct. 19 in the open access journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE, shows that not just human memories fade. Scientists from Arizona State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences examined how aging impacts the ability of honeybees to find their way home. While bees typically are impressive navigators, able to wend their way home through complex landscapes after visits to flowers far removed from their nests, the study reveals that aging impairs the bees’ ability to extinguish the memory of an unsuitable nest site even after the colony has settled in a new home.
Link to article on ASU News (Arizona State University)

Composer makes music with honeybee orchestra
By Hugh Hart
Wired.co.uk - October 20, 2010
Easily bored composer Troels Brun Folmann has recorded propane-tank drums, stomach growls, squeaking bicycle brakes, wind in the trees and the spanking of girlfriends in his perpetual quest for unique sounds. But his bravest exercise in offbeat field recordings came about when he overcame a longstanding “love-hate” relationship with honey bees in order to transform the buzzing of a backyard hive into a digitally manipulated piece of dance music. “I have been stung over 100 times, which led me to believe that I emitted some crazy pheromone that instantly upsets these mighty insects,” the Danish-born composer told Wired in an email. “To test my theory and overcome my apiphobia, I deliberately placed myself in this bee garden and started noticing all the beautiful sounds they make.”
Link to article in Wired.co.uk

The collapse of both bees and scientific independence
By Assoc Prof Peter K. Dearden
SciBlogs (Nz) - October 21, 2010
To humans, the most important insect on earth is the honeybee. Honeybees provide honey, wax, venom and royal jelly for human consumption, but through pollination, are also vital to food production. It is often quoted- but difficult to source- that the USDA sates that bees are required for 1/3 of the food we eat. We do know that 75% of crops require animal pollination and 35% of the value of crops depends on pollination. Bees in New Zealand and elsewhere are under threat. In New Zealand our beekeepers are struggling with the Varroa mite, which has decimated feral bee colonies throughout the country. This loss probably has left a deficit of pollinators for clover, a key plant that enriches pasture.
Link to article on SciBlog (Nz)
Link to Betta Bees Research Ltd (Nz)

Construction starts on Welsh food centre
By Barry Alston
Farmers Guardian - October 18, 2010
A new £6.4 million centre of excellence in North Wales to promote the best of Welsh food and drink and creating over 30 jobs, is on the way following an EU funding boost. Construction is due to begin on the project at Furnace Farm, on the Bodnant Estate in the Conwy Valley, today (Monday, October 18).provide a more sustainable future for farmers and growers. The Farm will also provide a home for a new National Beekeeping Centre for Wales, which will provide an attractive venue for beekeepers, the general public, schools and conservationists. The centre will offer training courses for all levels of beekeeping and a visitor centre with observation hives.
Link to article on Farmers Guardian

California bee expert tapped for additional post
Central Valley Business Times - October 16, 2010
Noted bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, has accepted a dual appointment—50 percent as a Washington State University honey bee research extension associate and 50 percent as a UC Davis staff research associate—to continue her work on enhancing domestic honey bee breeding stock and improving colony health.
Link to article in Central Valley Business Times

Honeybee Mystery Solved? Not Quite, Say Bee Experts
by Rachel Cernansky
Treehugger - October 13, 2010
The New York Times reported recently that scientists figured out the cause of the mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder, which has been killing off precious honeybees in droves. The story said that a team of military scientists and entomologists determined a fungus "tag-teaming with a virus" appeared to be the likely cause. CNN, however, has some bones to pick with the reporting, and scientists in the bee community have even more concerns about the research as it was reported.
Link to article in Treehugger

Beekeeping Diary: Autumn closing
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - October 13, 2010
The days are getting colder, blooms are hard to find, the bees are settling in for the winter and Ian Douglas makes the final visit of the year to his hive. There’s a steady stream of bees in the air, darting back and forth in the weak sunshine. It’s well into October now, and they’re taking advantage of what must be one of the last days that will be warm enough to forage this year. The allotment-holders are holding their annual communal tidy-up today, so I have an audience. They tell me they don’t often see so much activity at the hive and ask if I’ll get any honey. No, I reply, they haven’t been here long enough. Maybe next year.
Link to article in the Telegraph
Link to previous entries of the 'Beekeeping Diary'

What next for Cambridgeshire's Bee Part of it hive?
BBC - October 13, 2010
"They're lovely bees. They haven't given us any honey this year, but they've got enough for themselves for the winter," said Pauline Aslin. The beekeeper was updating BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about the fate of its hive at Wimpole Hall. In May 2010 the BBC and National Trust urged people to join Bee Part of It, a project to create bee-friendly spaces and help halt the insects' decline.
Link to article on BBC

Nature's sting: The real cost of damaging Planet Earth
By Richard Anderson
BBC - October 12, 2010
You don't have to be an environmentalist to care about protecting the Earth's wildlife. Just ask a Chinese fruit farmer who now has to pay people to pollinate apple trees because there are no longer enough bees to do the job for free. And it's not just the number of bees that is dwindling rapidly - as a direct result of human activity, species are becoming extinct at a rate 1,000 times greater than the natural average.
Link to article on BBC

Bumblebees prefer stripes and red flowers, research suggests
BBC - October 12, 2010
Gardeners are being encouraged to grow striped flowers to encourage bumblebee populations, after research suggested the insects are most attracted to them. Stripes on petal veins direct bumblebees to the flower's "central landing platform" and entrance to gather nectar and pollen. Researchers also found that red flowers were also attractive to bees. Bees play a key role in agriculture by pollinating crops. The scientists say that growing especially inviting plants could be a way for people to help stem what has been called a "catastrophic" decline in UK bumblebee populations.
Link to article in BBC News
(Ed - note)
According to research by Jessica Forrest at the University of Toronto, bees actually prefer blue to red. Which is correct?
Link to conflicting report in BBC News (May 26, 2009)

The Cause of Colony Collapse Disorder, As a Crime Drama
By Kim Flottum and Dan Shapley
Daily Green - October 7, 2010
A new study has fingered a villain and her henchman. Here's what investigators have learned about the mysterious illness that's affected U.S. honeybees. Scientists have discovered key clues in their investigation into the cause of colony collapse disorder, the disease that in recent years has cost U.S. beekeepers as much as 40% of their bees, and caused widespread concern about the future of roughly one-third of food crops that need pollination. Previous attempts to define the cause of the disease, characterized by hives that mysteriously empty of bees while overwintering, have suggested causes as various as viruses, fungi and parasites, both new and old; pesticide poisoning; stress and malnutrition – or, most likely, some combination. Some early diagnoses proved wrong, and others at least taught beekeepers valuable lessons about keeping their hives healthier.
Link to article in Daily Green

Healthy hive training offered to novice beekeepers
BBC - October 7, 2010
Hundreds of volunteers in England and Wales are to be trained to teach amateur beekeepers how to keep their hives healthy over winter. The decline in honeybees is prompting more people to take up beekeeping, but there are concerns that novices are not skilled at keeping their hives healthy. Hives not kept free of disease are more likely to be lost during the winter. The National Bee Unit said that last year 16% of colonies died over winter, compared to 14% the previous year.
Link to article on BBC
Link to article on BBKA
Download press release from defra (pdf)

Microscope Combo Suspected in Killing Bees
By John Blackstone
CBS News - October 6, 2010
Scientists believe the combination of a virus and parasite is the probable cause of large, mysterious bee die-offs. The mysterious bee die-off hit North Dakota beekeeper James Browning hard. He lost 40 percent of his 20,000 hives last year. "To see those bees die and the colonies empty, no bees in there," Browning said, "it's a gut wrenching feeling." CBS News correspondent John Blackstone reports in each of the past four years about one-third of America's 2.5 million honeybee colonies have been wiped out. University of Montana researcher Jerry Bromenshenk has been searching for the killer. After screening bees for 30,000 disease markers a group of scientists led by Bromenshenk say they have found a probable cause. "Out of the data, suddenly emerged a parasite and a virus," Bromenshenk said. "A very unique virus indeed."
Link to article on CBS News

Free film show on the plight of the honey bee
Cotswold Journal - October 5, 2010
A free film show and talk is on offer at Chipping Norton Theatre and Carterton Community Centre to highlight the plight of the honey bee. Community minded retailer, Midcounties Cooperative, is behind the event that features a documentary and a talk from beekeeper Ian Gourlay of the Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association and includes honey tasting.
Link to article in Cotswold Journal

Beekeeping diary: feeding time
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - October 5, 2010
As the weather cools Ian Douglas thinks about how his bees will cope with the coming months. I’m noticing the cold as I unlock the heavy iron gates to the allotments and the dew is heavy on the autumn crops along the path to the hive. I’ve been wearing an overcoat to work in the mornings, so I know that time is short to be thinking about provisions for the winter. I found last week that the stores built up in the few sunny weeks this new colony enjoyed after they arrived at the new home here in north London were used up in the subsequent rainy spell. Some artificial intervention will be necessary if they are to make it through the winter.
Link to article in Telegraph
Link to previous entries of the 'Beekeeping Diary'

Rare bumblebees make comeback in Kent and Sussex
BBC - October 5, 2010
England's five rarest bumblebees have made a comeback in parts of Kent and Sussex, conservationists have said. The five threatened species have spread their geographic range as a result of environmental schemes in Dungeness and Romney Marsh. Measures to make the habitat more suitable include putting pollen and nectar-rich flower margins in fields.
Link to article on BBC News

Ron’s buzzing after £6k grant success
By Emma Dunn
Swindon Advertiser - October 2, 2010
The beekeeper who may have saved the honey bee population is delighted after receiving a grant from the British Beekeepers’ Association. Ron Hoskins, who has been beekeeping for 67 years, has been awarded a £6,000 research grant, to help him continue in his quest against the deadly parasitic mite, varroa. Ron, who is nearly 80, spent 14 years trying to find a cure for the mite, which attacks honey bees, and wants to use the money to help get other beekeepers involved.
Link to article in Swindon Advertiser

The decline of the bees [Beekeeping in Malta]
The Times of Malta - September 29, 2010
The Maltese islands’ 2,722 registered honey bee colonies are the lowest in Europe and represent only 0.019 per cent of the bees in the European Union. Spain has by far the biggest number of colonies at almost 2.5 million or 18 per cent of Europe’s total. This is followed by Greece with 1.5 million colonies (11 per cent).
Link to article in the Times of Malta

New group formed for Addingham and Ilkley
By Jonathan Redhead
Ilkley Gazette - September 28, 2010
A new beekeeping association is being set up in Addingham and Ilkley in a bid to encourage the insects to thrive. The new, not-for-profit, association is being set up with the help of well-known beekeeper Ken Pickles, who hopes that with careful breeding and management, bees will be able to survive better in the climate.
Link to article on Ilkley Gazette

Beekeeping diary: Rain, shine and bees that eat honey
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - September 28, 2010
Weeks of rain sees Ian Douglas's bees short of stores for the colder months ahead. The sunshine carried on blazing away for a fortnight after I left the new bees in their new hive at the old allotment but the rain has been torrential for a week now, keeping me away from them. The clouds have momentarily parted so I’m walking back down the slightly muddy path to see how they’re establishing themselves. The colony that I’ve been looking after for the last two years dwindled away to nothing after the cold winter, but the arrival of a new plastic Beehaus hive and some beautiful, placid, sandy brown bees has pushed me back into my veil and tunic.
Link to article on Telegraph
Link to previous entries of the 'Beekeeping Diary'

€300,000 funding to boost expansion of beekeeping sector
By Ray Ryan
Irish Examiner - September 16, 2010
Increased funding for beekeepers has been announced by the EU, with matching support from the Government. An allocation of €150,000 is on its way from Brussels for the 2011-2013 period, with the Government providing a further €150,000 in matching support. While the €300,000 total may seem modest beside other agriculture support, it is an increase on the previous funding available and recognises the key importance of bees for pollinating agricultural and food crops. Ireland’s 24,000 hives represent just 0.2% of the EU’s bees. Spain has by far the biggest number of hives at almost 2.5 million or 18% of Europe’s total.
Link to article in Irish Examiner

Making bees less busy: Social environment changes internal clocks
EureaAlert - September 14, 2010
Study suggests honey bees' circadian rhythms depend on contact with young. Honey bees removed from their usual roles in the hive quickly and drastically changed their biological rhythms, according to a study in the Sept. 15 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. The changes were evident in both the bees' behavior and in their internal clocks. These findings indicate that social environment has a significant effect on the physiology and behavior of animals. In people, disturbances to the biological clock are known to cause problems for shift workers and new parents and for contributing to mood disorders.
Link to article on EurekAlert

EU increase support for the beekeeping sector
EuroAlert - September 14, 2010
The European Commission has approved on 14 September the national programmes of the 27 Member States to improve the production and marketing of apiculture products for the period 2011-2013. The EU contribution to the financing of the programmes has increased by almost 25% compared to the previous period (2008-2010), from € 26 million to € 32 million per year.
Link to article on Euroalert

Bumblebee Conservation Trust awarded £49,000 from National Lottery
Lotterygoodcauses - September 8, 2010
Best Environmental Project. In the last 70 years, two bumblebee species have become nationally extinct and many others have declined dramatically. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was founded in 2006 to raise awareness of what Director Dr Ben Darvill calls, “the plight of the bumblebee”. Set up with Lottery funding, which was used to cover running and staff costs, the Trust has grown rapidly. It now has over 6,000 members and its message has reached about 10 million people, Ben estimates, through extensive media coverage and direct outreach work.
Link to article on Lotterygoodcauses website
Link to Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Britain's bumblebees could be at risk of extinction because of inbreeding, according to new research.
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - September 8, 2010
The University of Stirling study found that isolated populations of a rare bumblebee on a remote Scottish island are more susceptible to disease because of a lack of genetic diversity. The research could have implications for other rare insects and animals struggling to survive in nature reserves or zoos. Conservationists said that the results showed the need to manage the landscape so that wildlife can survive across the wider countryside, rather than in isolated pockets.
Link to article on Telegraph

A bee story (with a difference)
By Aryeh Dean Cohen
Israel21c - September 6, 2010
A spring-only flowering season left Israeli beekeepers struggling to find blossom for their hives. Now a new project appears to be saving the day, and increasing honey production to boot. With nectar now readily available year-round, Israeli bees are increasing their honey production. Israel may be a desert, going six months of the year without rain, but local bee populations are thriving and honey production rising thanks to a new flowering tree brought over from Australia.
Link to article on Israel21c

Bee decline already having dramatic effect on pollination of plants
By Richard Alleyne
Telegraph - September 6, 2010
A decline in bees and global warming are having a damaging effect on the pollination of plants, new research claims. Researchers have found that pollination levels of some plants have dropped by up to 50 per cent in the last two decades. The "pollination deficit" could see a dramatic reduction in the yield from crops. The research, carried out in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, is the first to show that the effect is real and serves as a "warning" to Britain which if anything has seen an even greater decline in bees and pollinators. "This serves as a warning to other countries," said Professor James Thomson at the University of Toronto, who carried out the research.
Link to article in the Telegraph

New Bee Species Discovered in Downtown Toronto
ScienceDaily - September 5, 2010
A York University doctoral student who discovered a new species of bee on his way to the lab one morning has completed a study that examines 84 species of sweat bees in Canada. Nineteen of these species -- including the one Jason Gibbs found in downtown Toronto − are new to science because they have never been identified or described before.
Link to article in ScienceDaily
Link to Zootaxa monograph (pdf)

Ian Douglas returns to beekeeping with the help of an ingenious new hive
Telegraph - September 3, 2010
There is a cloud of very placid bees buzzing around my head and face as I move frames of honeycomb from a small, white plastic carrying box to a large purple hive, also plastic, and I’m grinning. A van has just arrived at the London allotments where I have been keeping bees for two years, before they lost their queen over winter.
Link to article on Telegraph
Link to previous entries of the 'Beekeeping Diary'

Comparison of the antimicrobial activity of Ulmo honey from Chile and Manuka honey against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
7th Space Interactive - September 2, 2010
Honey has previously been shown to have wound healing and antimicrobial properties, but this is dependent on the type of honey, geographical location and flower from which the final product is derived. We tested the antimicrobial activity of a Chilean honey made by Apis mellifera (honeybee) originating from the Ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia), against selected strains of bacteria.
Link to article on 7th Space Interactive

A billboard spelt out by 100,000 bees has been creating a buzz in Devon.
By Laura Joint
BBC - August 31, 2010
The bees, from South Molton-based Quince Honey Farm, spelt out SOS in what is thought to be the world's first billboard 'written' entirely by bees. The SOS stands for Save Our Swarms and is part of an advertising campaign by wine company Banrock Station.
Link to article and video on BBC

Spoonful of sugar may make honey bees' greatest destroyer back down
By Sean MacConnell
Irish Times - August 31, 2010
SOME BEEKEEPERS are sprinkling their honey bees with caster sugar to defeat the biggest threat to Irish honey bees, the varroa mite. The bees lick it off their companions and the process causes great excitement in the hive, with the result that the mites fall off the bees and get disturbed by the vibrations. This folk remedy is one of the weapons being used by Ireland’s 2,000 beekeepers to control the disease, which presents the single greatest threat to the honey bee population.
Link to article in Irish Times

Honey Laundering
By John Croman
Kare11.com (US) - August 31, 2010
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D - Minnesota, walked into the political bee hive that is international trade policy Monday at the State Fair. "I'm not trying to stop all honey imports," Klobuchar told reporters at a news conference with honey producers in the Agriculture Exhibits Building, "It's just that customers have right to know what's in their honey and where it truly comes from."
Link to article on Kare11.com

E H Thorne Ltd announce dates for winter sales
Thorne - August 30, 2010

• October 9, 2010 - one-day sale at Windsor
• October 23, 2010 - one-day sale at Stockbridge
• November 20, 2010 - Open day at new premises: Beehive Business Park, Rand, Near Wragby LN8 5NJ.

Online mail order winter sale will start on Monday, November 29, 2010.
Contact: Gill Smith
Link to E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd

Scientist of the Week: Dennis vanEngelsdorp
Laboratory Equipment - August 26, 2010
This week’s scientist of the week is Dennis vanEngelsdorp from Penn State University. vanEngelsdorp has been tracing and researching the rapid decline of honeybee colonies, a problem he says has heavy implications as bees are intrinsically linked to our environment, as well as our food supply.
Link to interview with Dennis vanEnglesdorp on Laboratory Equipment

Could a superbee from Swindon save the world?
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - August 25, 2010
A honeybee bred in the town could kill the mite that has wiped out billions of bees around the world. Will Swindon be remembered as the home of a major breakthrough in halting the global decline of the honeybee? Ron Hoskins, a 79-year-old beekeeper from the town, has spent the last 18 years looking for a bee that is resistant to the parasite blamed for killing billions worldwide. And yesterday he claimed that his superbee could assure the future of the insect that pollinates around a third of everything we eat.
Link to article in the Guardian

Secrets of the swarm
By Holly Williams
Independent - August 23, 2010
Individually, insects might not seem like candidates for intellectual plaudits. But collectively they have a brilliance that can teach us new skills. Insects, birds, fish – they're not the most intelligent of beasts, right? Creepy crawlies or aquatic creatures are the ones humans feel furthest from; unlike many mammals, they don't engage behaviour that is easy to anthropomorphise. We rarely think that an ant is endearing, see a human likeness in a starling, or signs of intelligence in a trout.
Link to article on the Independent

Parasite meets its match in a dedicated beekeeper
By Katie Bond
Swindon Advertiser - August 19, 2010
HE may have found the solution to a sticky problem that has devastated the country’s bee population for years, but beekeeper Ron Hoskins is not stopping there. Despite approaching his 80th birthday, Ron is hoping to raise £4,000 so his solution to the deadly parasitic mite varroa can be rolled out across Wiltshire in the hope that honeybees can survive in the wild.
Link to article in Swindon Advertiser

Queen helps bees by doubling hives at Buckingham Palace
Express - August 19, 2010
THE Queen is doing her bit to help our beleaguered bees by doubling the number of hives at Buckingham Palace but should concerned garden party guests discreetly arm themselves with a rolled-up newspaper? Not at all, says the Queen’s bee-keeper John Chappel. Her Majesty only has polite bees. Chappel is in charge of the 35 hives which provide the royal kitchens with honey - praised by the Queen as “very nice”.
Link to article in Express

City bees show a richer diet than bees from farmlands
BBC - August 17, 2010
Farmlands sown to feed us well lead to impoverished diets for bees Bees in urban and suburban settings have a richer, healthier diet than bees in farmland settings, say researchers. Honeybee hives from 10 National Trust sites were studied in an attempt to assess the link between bee health and the diversity of pollen they encounter. Bees from farmlands showed a distinctly narrower range of pollens than both urban and untouched "natural" settings. The find is part of the Bee Part Of It campaign being run by the BBC and the National Trust.
Link to article on BBC

New study on the effects of pesticides on the bee population
Rural Enterprise Solutions - August 17, 2010
The study, published in the journal Toxicology, suggests that the effects on bees, of two particular neonicotinoid pesticides, known as imidacloprid and thiacloprid, have been previously underestimated. Even low concentrations of the pesticides may be more deadly than previously thought, due to their high persistence in soil and water, suggesting that these pesticides may play a significant role in the death of bees.
Link to article on Rural Enterprise Solutions

Beekeeping industry - another casualty of floods
By Tariq Saeed
Pakistan Observer - August 17, 2010
Peshawar—Attaur Rehman, a 25-year-old beekeeper, was living a happy life until July 29, 2010 when floods washed away dozens of his bee-boxes in his village Dheri Mian Ishaq on the banks of River Kabul in Nowshera District.
Link to article on Pakistan Observer

Scientists stunned as bee populations continue to decline
Natural News - August 16, 2010
Scientists remain stymied as honeybees in the United States and across the world continue to die in large numbers. "There are a lot of beekeepers who are in trouble" said David Mendes, president of the American Beekeeping Federation. "Under normal condition you have 10 percent winter losses ... this year there are 30, 40 to 50 percent losses."
Link to article on Natural News

Incredible beard of bees
Mirror - August 16, 2010
Fearless Tibor Szabo poses covered by a swarm of bees. He was taking part in a whacky competition to sport the best honeybee "beard" when he became completely smothered.
Link to article on the Mirror

CountryFile interviews Professor Francis Ratnieks
BBC 1 - 18.30 - August 15, 2010
'Ellie’s been meeting up with Professor Francis Ratnieks and his team at Sussex University to discover the language bees. They’re able to understand the bees’ unique form of communication in the hive which is known as the ‘Waggle Dance’. This is the way bees are able to tell the rest of the hive where to find food. The professor and his team decode the direction and length of the dance which corresponds to where they have found a reliable source of pollen and nectar. It’s hoped this information will then inform landowners what, where and when to plant and that this will help the bee population survive long into 21st Century.'
Link to BBC CountryFile
Watch again on iPlayer

The Botanic Garden is the place to bee
Bristol University - August 9, 2010
A festival later this month aims to raise awareness and understanding of the critical role bees and other animals play in pollination and the importance of pollination for food production. A celebration of bees and pollination, which coincides with the International Year of Biodiversity, will take place at the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden at The Holmes, Stoke Bishop, Bristol from Saturday 28 to Monday 30 August.
Link to press release on Bristol University

Honeybees are 'cleverer' in the morning: study
By Victoria Gill
BBC - August 8, 2010
The earliest rising bee catches the best flower and ultimately the best meal, according to research. A study has found that bees are better at learning new odours in the morning. This early brain power may have evolved to help the insects sniff out flowering plants and forage for nectar more efficiently. An experiment in which a team tested more than 1,000 bees is described in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.
Link to article on the BBC

Learn more about the life of bees
Yeovil Express - August 8, 2010
Ardent beekeeper Deb Glennie will present a day course on bees at Dillington House on Tuesday, August 17, 2010. The course will cost £41 and includes a three-course buffet lunch and refreshments. To book, telephone 01460 258648.
Link to article on Yeovil Express

Pesticides linked to bee decline, say green groups
Guardian - August 6, 2010
Government and retailers are under pressure to impose a ban on sale of pesticides linked to bee population decline following new research which groups call a 'growing body of evidence'. Environmental groups including the Soil Association and Buglife are making a renewed call for an end to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are among the most commonly used pesticides worldwide, after a new study linked them to a decline in bee in bee populations.
Link to article on the Guardian

Artificial bee eye could improve robotic vision
By Colin Barras
New Scientist - August 6, 2010
Miniature robotic aircraft could soon have insect-like eyes to go with their insect-like wings. Neurobiologists have developed an artificial bee eye, with a 280-degree field of vision, which should enable robots to see more of the world around them. Wolfgang Stürzl and colleagues at Bielefeld University in Germany wanted to capture as wide-angled a view of the world as possible using a single camera, in order to minimise the weight of robotic aircraft. To do this, the team used a so-called catadioptric imaging system, which captures an image using both mirrors and lenses.
Link to article in New Scientist

The Honeybee and the Varroa mite
BBC - August 5, 2010
Varroa mites have killed millions of honeybees across the world. Dr Stephen Martin , a University of Sheffield expert on the varroa mite, spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield in August 2010. In the 1950s the varroa mite jumped species from the Eastern (Asian) Honeybee to the species we have in England - the Western (African) Honeybee. "The varroa mite looks like a brown crab and is large in comparison to the honeybee - about 2mm long," said Dr Martin. "It's like us humans having a small monkey on our back all the time!"
Link to article on BBC

Bee pastures may be answer to bee shortage
CVBT (US) - August 4, 2010
Beautiful wildflowers, perhaps as alluring to bees as they are to people, might someday be planted in “bee pastures” to help propagate larger generations of healthy, hard-working bees. Honey bees are critical to most Central Valley crops including the vast swaths of almond orchards that supply most of the world’s almonds.
Link to article on CVBT (US)

BBKA wins Silver Gilt at RHS Tatton Park
BBKA - July 29, 2010
The BBKA was delighted to win Silver Gilt for its display at RHS Tatton Park this month. Along with the display of bee friendly plants the stand, run by Cheshire BKA on behalf of the BBKA also were able to welcome the 4,000th Armchair beekeeper into its AdoptaBeehive scheme, sponsored by Saga. This honour was shared by BBC wildlife presenter Terry Nutkins & 8 year old Laura D'Aguilar who fittingly attends the Busy Bee Nursery!
Link to article on BBKA

In Pictures: Anglesey wild bees
BBC Wales - July 23, 2010
A wild bee colony that had been living inside a 60ft (18m) Ash tree on Anglesey, north Wales, for perhaps the last 10 years was exposed and damaged when the tree was split in half during high winds. Many of the bees were killed and those that were left the following morning were cold and wet. It was not known if the queen had survived, so members of Anglesey Beekeepers Association embarked on a mission to find her. Local beekeepers are working with a Wales-wide project which aims to use wild or feral bees to breed genetically hardier varieties of honeybee, Apis mellifera, particularly ones resistant to the parasitic Varroa mite.
Link to pictures on BBC Wales

Hive beetle threat to keepers and farmers
By Daniel Bateman
Cairns Post - July 22, 2010
A beetle the size of a match head that could cost beekeepers and farmers untold damage has been found in Cairns. Biosecurity Queensland has confirmed the small hive beetle has been located in a backyard at White Rock. The Queensland Beekeeping Association says if the pest is allowed to spread further, it could have a devastating effect on the region’s crops.
The beetle has wiped out about a third of individual keepers’ hives in New South Wales and they have caused damage estimated at $10 million in Queensland.
Link to article on Cairns Post

Hungry badgers raiding bumblebee nests [in Devon]
BBC Devon - July 21, 2010
Hungry badgers in Devon are targeting bumblebee nests, as the dry weather for much of this summer leaves them struggling for food. The problem is particularly notable in parts of east Devon. The staple part of a badger's diet is the earthworm, but they have been hard to dig out in the bone dry earth. Vegetable adviser Richard Moynan from Starcross said: "I am seriously concerned they are going to exterminate the bumblebees in this area."
Link to article and video on BBC Devon

These bohemian bees heard that Soho has a real inner-city buzz
Daily Mail - July 20, 2010
They are known for their role in pollination, producing honey and beeswax - and being a bit annoying at a late-summer picnic. What they are not known for, however, is leaning on a lamppost in Soho and watching the world go by. This small swarm of honey bees decided to take a break from their daily chores and relax on a lamppost on the corner Wardour Street and St Anne's Court.
Link to article on Daily Mail

Pest positive for beekeeper
By Roz Davenport
Marlborough Express (Nz) - July 21, 2010
The varroa mite has surprisingly been welcomed by some beekeepers. James Jenkin makes a sweet living out of honey. The president of the Marlborough Beekeepers Association owns 1000-odd hives, with 170 up the Awatere and Waihopai valleys, and the remainder positioned through the Marlborough Sounds. Ninety-five per cent of his income is from manuka honey production.
Link to article on Marlborough Express (Nz)

Train the Trainers Vacancy
BBKA - July 19, 2010
Following on from the development of the Course in the Case (CiC) which provides
high quality teaching materials, the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) wishes to recruit a person to help delivery
the teaching to beekeepers.
Link to article on BBKA
Click here to read flyer (pdf)

Beekeepers abuzz over a bumper honey crop as industry finally receives some good news
Daily Mail - July 17, 2010
After years of finding their bees vanishing over winter, or hives decimated by parasites, Britain’s beekeepers finally have a discovery to smile about... honey, and lots of it. The season promises to have a particularly sweet ending for the country’s beleaguered apiarists, with a ‘bumper’ crop of honey expected despite a continued fall in honeybee numbers.
Link to article on the Mail

Bee Venom Can Improve Brain Function
By Teresa Shipley
Discovery News - July 16, 2010
It sounds like witch doctor medicine, but an injection of bee venom can improve brain function, according to a new study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. A team of scientists from the Universities of Liege in Belgium and Bristol in the United Kingdom extracted a peptide toxin from the venom called apamin. Apamin is a neurotoxin that blocks certain central nervous system channels.
Link to article on Discovery News
Link to abstract in Journal of Biological Chemistry

What makes a bee grow up to be a queen?
Sify News - July 15, 2010
Putting a new piece into the puzzle of what makes a bee grow up to be a queen, researchers have found that a key protein in the insulin signaling pathway plays a strong role in caste development among bees. The study by researchers in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University not only adds to understanding about bees, but also adds insights into our own development and aging.
Link to article on Sify News

Swarms of honey bees keep Plymouth beekeeper busy
BBC - July 13, 2010
A Devon beekeeper has collected so many swarms of bees this summer, he has run out of space to keep them. Tim Payne, who lives in Plymouth, said it has been of of the busiest summers for swarms of bees across the South West. So far this year, the beekeeper has picked up about 20 swarms.
Link to article on BBC

Oregon State University entomologist looks to uncover what's killing honeybees
By Eric Mortenson
Oregon Live - July 12, 2010
Honeybees communicate in such complex fashion that they make the jaw drop. With a dance of vigorous waggles and figure-8 patterns, they tell hive mates the direction and distance to food in geometric relationship to the sun. With an array of released pheromones, they signal which intruder to sting, which eggs to tend and who is doomed to be thrown from the hive.
Link to article on Oregon Live

Plant flowers to help bees find food in summer
By Richard Gray
Telegraph - July 11, 2010
Gardeners are being urged to plant more flowers that bloom during the summer and mow their lawns less often as new research is revealing that honey bees have to travel further to find food at this time of year. Summer is typically thought of as a peak time for flowering plants and insects due to the long hours of daylight and warmer weather. But preliminary findings of a study into the distances at which bees forage for food through the year suggests it may be one of the toughest times for them. Bee population collapse 'could be saved by British species'In the spring bees seem to be able to find an abundance of flowers that provide them with nectar close to their hives, according to the researchers at the University of Sussex.
Link to article on Telegraph

Bumblebee conservationist: Why Amanda is a friend to the bees
BBC - July 9, 2010
Amanda Williams has been fascinated by bumblebees since she was a child. Now she has become a conservationist, spreading the message about how people can help to protect the pollinating insects.
Link to article on BBC

University law research to help honeybees
University of Greenwich - July 8, 2010
The health and welfare of UK honey bees is under threat from a combination of pests, pathogens and pesticides. Yet some of the problems facing honey bees and leading to the collapse of many hives may be made worse if there are no adequate laws and regulations in place to protect them. Now the University of Greenwich has launched a new research programme to review the current legal framework relating to bee conservation and biosecurity across the UK.
Link to article on University of Greenwich

Huge response from Telegraph readers to our Bring Back Bees campaign
Telegraph - July 7, 2010
The Telegraph's 'Bring Back Bees' campaign campaign, which launched last week, aims to encourage readers to become "armchair beekeepers" by either adopting a hive or making their gardens more bee-friendly environments.
An incredible 353 beehives have been adopted so far by Life readers - the largest single response the scheme has ever had. Martin Smith, chairman of the British Beekeepers' Association, which runs the Adopt a Hive scheme, said: "A warm thank you to all Sunday Telegraph readers who have taken the plight of the honey bees to heart!
Link to article on Telegraph

The Grove Gamble: Will There Be Enough Bees to Pollinate This Spring?
By Kim Flottum
The Daily Green - July 5, 2010
The California almond crop will be a significant test this February, as progressive losses, year after year, have left few extra U.S. honey bee colonies available to pollinate farm crops. It's the best of times for beekeepers in this season right now... the weather has been more favorable than not, and honey prices are steady and even increasing, and doing well enough to support a beekeeping operation for a change.
Link to article in The Daily Green

Interview with Head of National Bee Unit
By Charlotte Smith
BBC Radio 4 - July 4, 2010
How do you artificially inseminate a Queen bee? And more to the point, why would you want to? Charlotte Smith visits the National Bee Unit at the Food and Environment Research Agencies' laboratories at Sandhutton near York to find out.
Listen to audio on BBC Radio 4 iPlayer

Ask the Herbalist: What Are the Health Benefits of Honey?
By Lissa Butler
Live In The Now - July 2, 2010
Honey is one of my favorite sweeteners. There are three main reasons why. First of all, the fact that honey is being produced means that there are still healthy bees producing it. I also love that there are so many delicious varieties of honey to choose from. And finally, the health benefits of honey are plenty.
Link to article in Live In The Now

Unbeelievable
By Grant Rollings
The Sun - July 2, 2010
LIFE is proving far from sweet for our beleaguered bees - and their alarming decline may have a sting in the tail for humans too. The insects' numbers fell by a third in 2008 alone and last year it was feared they could disappear for good - putting the world's food supply in crisis. Around a third of what we eat depends on insect pollination, most of which is done by bees. Now a beekeeping expert fears a new threat sweeping the world - the small hive beetle - could soon reach Britain, with dire consequences.
Link to article in The Sun

Making honey and making money
Western Morning News - July 1, 2010
A science teacher is teaching girls beekeeping after putting hives on the roof of a school. Dr Rob van Es launched the project to show pupils at Plymouth High School for Girls the science of honey making. They will also learn to be industrious by making honey, and making money. A group of about 30 girls take it in turns to tend three hives at the school, thought to be the only school with hives on the roof.
Link to article on Western Morning News

Uncovering the intelligence of insects - an interview with Lars Chittka
By Jeremy Hance
Mongabay.com - June 29, 2010
Many people would likely consider 'insect intelligence' a contradiction in terms, viewing insects—when they think of them as anything more than pests—as something like hardwired tiny robots, not adaptive, not intelligent, and certainly not conscious. However, research over the last few decades have shown that a number of well-studied insects are capable of performing amazing intellectual feats, from recognizing individuals to employing a symbolic language in a behavior known as a 'bee waggle dance'.
Link to article on Mongabay.com

German Airports Using "Biodetective" Honeybees To Monitor Air Quality
By Rebecca Boyle
Popular Science - June 29, 2010
Environmental monitoring has come a long way since the proverbial canary in the coal mine. Now we use bees. Airports in Germany are using honeybees as "biodetectives," regularly testing their honey for a suite of pollutants, the New York Timesreports. This year's first tests were conducted in early June at Düsseldorf International Airport, and the bees got a clean bill of health. That means the air was clean, too.
Link to article in Popular Science

Waitrose helps researchers to decode bee dance
LASI (Sussex University) - June 28, 2010
Grocery retailer Waitrose has donated £67,500 to the University of Sussex, where researchers are working to decode honey bees' famous 'waggle dance'. The donation will support doctoral student Fiona Riddell for three years and an undergraduate biologist (the recipient this summer is Lee Cooper) for three summers, allowing the next generation of scientists to gain experience and support vital research into the honey bee and the challenges it faces in the modern environment.
Link to article on LASI (Sussex University)

Bee sting venom could provide treatment for arthritis
By Richard Gray
Telgraph - June 27, 2010
Venom from bee stings could help to treat and even prevent arthritis, new research has suggested. Scientists have found that bee venom can control the harmful inflammation in joints that leads to rheumatoid arthritis. They have shown the venom contains molecules that cause an increase in natural hormones in the body that regulate inflammation.
Link to article on Telegraph

Britain's bees need you
Sunday Telegraph - June 27, 2010
The Sunday Telegraph is launching a campaign to increase awareness of the alarming decline of British bees, and ways in which readers can join in and help. The gentle hum of bees is the sound of summer. Buzzing from flower to flower, they are nature's hardest working gardeners: pollinating fruit trees, vegetables and flora in our gardens and farmland. They are vital to one third of the crops we eat - the healthy foods we enjoy such as apples and pears, blackcurrants and strawberries.
Link to article on Telegraph

Support bees by planting the right flowers
By Bunny Guinness
Telegraph - June 27, 2010
We gardeners, often unwittingly, do a fair bit to help bees. But if we all do a touch more, our collective impact may well tip the balance. There are key ways we can tempt them in and up their numbers. The commonly held belief that bees enjoy plants from the blues, yellows and white spectrum is correct. Bees cannot see red: a poppy looks black to them.
Link to article on Telegraph

How you can help with the Telegraph's 'Bring Back Bees' campaign
Telgraph - June 27, 2010
Bring Back Bees by reading up on bee facts, beekeeping courses, more information on bees together with details on how to adopt a beehive and bee-friendly reader offers.
Link to article on Telegraph

Waitrose Helps Bees Waggle All The Way Home
KamCity - June 25, 2010
Thanks to Waitrose, boffins at Sussex University are hoping to secure the long term future of the honeybee by decoding how they dance! The retailer is donating a honey pot of £67,500 which will help fund research into the most ‘bee friendly’ landscapes and the waggle dance - a unique set of movements made by bees which reveal where they are foraging.
Link to article in KamCity

How Much Land Does It Take to Feed a Bee Colony? More Than You Think
By Kim Flottum
Daily Green - June 24, 2010
Conventional wisdom has it that one colony needs one acre of blossoming trees, shrubs and flowers to thrive. But what if that's off by a factor of 10, or 20? Is this why bees are dying?
There's a lot going around about the ties between honey bee nutrition and Colony Collapse Disorder. Some of it is going around because I have been preaching this gospel for years now, and finally some are beginning to listen. Of course I'm not the only one... I just happen to have more places to preach than most people, so I get heard more.
Link to article in Daily Green

A hive of activity at Norfolk University
By Kate Scotter
Norwich Evening News - June 24, 2010
The summer sound of the honey bee is under threat as its numbers decline - but one Norfolk man is determined to do his bit to keep the species alive and buzzing. He has set up hives on the University of East Anglia campus in a bid to attract more young people to beekeeping. Stewart Spinks, 47, of South Park Avenue, off Colman Road, wants to give people the chance to try beekeeping without having to establish and fully maintain their own beehives. He has helped set up four hives on campus, and visits are being organised for anyone interested in seeing the bees over the summer months.
Link to article on Norwich Evening News

Can cities save our bees?
Marion Tanguy
Guardian - June 23, 2010
Beekeepers have discovered that bees kept in urban areas are healthier and produce better honey. For the past 10 years, colonies of bees have decreased at an alarming rate. A phenomenon called colony collapse disorder has been killing them off en masse, and beekeepers have been quick to alert the public about their high hive mortality. The bees are threatened by new and intensive farming practices (heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilisers, plant growth regulators, and methods such as mono-cropping and organised irrigation), climate change and the arrival of the Asian hornet. In recent years, the mortality rate of bees has quadrupled.
Link to article on Guardian

The Secret Life of White House Bees
By Jason Djang
White House Blog - June 23, 2010
When White House carpenter Charlie Brandts told some of First Lady Michelle Obama’s staff about his latest hobby in beekeeping, Chef Sam Kass was quick to ask him if he knew how to make honey that could be used in the White House kitchen. Fortunately, not only did Brandts know how to make the honey, but he also had a spare beehive at home that he was happy to donate to the White House. Now Brandts is the White House’s official beekeeper tending a hive of approximately 70,000 bees near the new Kitchen Garden.
Link to article and video on White House Blog

There has never been such a bee-less summer as this one, so maybe disaster now awaits us
By Kevin Myers
Independent.ie - June 23 2010
A visitor from yesteryear, now walking over whatever remains of our pristine countryside during this amazing June, might be tempted to ask: where are our honeybees? That is the great unasked question of Irish life today. We can be reasonably sure that the catastrophic collapse in the damson crop across Ireland in the past two years was because of the rapid disappearance of the honeybee, which would usually have pollinated the springtime blossom.
Link to article in Independent.ie

Why the great buzz about bees?
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - June 23, 2010
Our favourite insect is in decline. But, says Ian Douglas, we shouldn't ignore other, less charming, pollinators that play an equal role in our food production. As I worked my way through the frames of my beehive this spring, it soon became clear that something was wrong. The bees had not eaten enough of the honey stores they had accumulated last summer and, while there were still a good number of them, they seemed a little aggressive and lacking in direction.
Link to article in Telegraph

Honeybees survive for millennia in Sahara desert oasis
By Matt Walker
BBC Earth News - June 22, 2010
Deep in the Sahara desert are honeybees that have remained isolated from all other bees for at least 5,000 years. The bees arrived at Kufra in Libya when the Sahara was still a green savannah, and have survived ever since around an oasis in the desert, over 1,000km from their nearest neighbouring bees. So concludes a new study which has analysed the bees' genetics. The Kufra honeybees are so isolated they remain free of a parasitic mite that threatens bees around the world.
Link to article on BBC Earth News

Action - not research - is needed to save our pollinators
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - June 22, 2010
Scientists already know why our pollinators are dying out. We need action now on pesticides and farming, not more money for research. Do we really need to spend £10m on researching why our pollinators are dying out?
Link to article on The Guardian

£10m funding for Insect Pollinators - Projects announced
BBSRC - June 22, 2010
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), along with its co-funders have announced 9 projects to be funded through the Insect Pollinators Initiative. Among those projects specifically targeted to the honeybee:

• Dr Giles Budge, Fera - 'Modelling systems for managing bee disease: the epidemiology of European Foulbrood'
• Dr Eugene Ryabov, University of Warwick - 'Unravelling the impact of the mite Varroa destructor on the interaction between the honeybee and its viruses'

Click here for more details of all projects on BBSRC
Link to article, comment and debate in Guardian
Link to article on BBC

Lack of bees could cause 'wonky strawberries'
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - June 22, 2010
Britain faces a food crisis within a generation due to the decline of honey bees, according to the leading thinkers in a new Government project to solve the mystery of why insects are vanishing from the countryside. Bees are responsible for one in three mouthfuls of our food, thanks to pollination, researchers claim. But if there are no insects to cross fertilise certain plants, farmers may be unable to continue growing crops like apples and pumpkins.
Link to article on Telegraph

Two leaflets have been published by the Campaign for the Farmed Environment
June 21, 2010
Bee Safe Bee Careful provides information on the use of pesticides and the bee and how to support the bumble bee population. Help Save the Bumble Bee provides practical advice on wild flower mixes, effective margins and how to gain points towards ELS. Both leaflets are available from the Campaign for the Farmed Environment website.
Link to Campaign for the Farmed Environment
Click here to download Bee Safe Bee Careful pdf
Click here to download Save the Bumblebee pdf

Is there any hope out there for our ailing bee populations?
By Leo Hickman
Guardian - June 21, 2010
It's hard not to feel despair when confronted by the drip, drip, drip of bad news about the fate of our bee populations, not just here in the UK, but across the world. But, perhaps, you have some good news to report from the region where you live? What methods do you use to encourage bees to flourish? What are your own theories as to why bee numbers are in overall decline? And what, in your view, would be the best solution to restoring bee populations back to health?
Click here for straw poll details on Guardian

New insights into honey bee (Apis mellifera) pheromone communication.
Is the queen mandibular pheromone alone in colony regulation?
7th Space Interactive - June 18, 2010
In social insects, the queen is essential to the functioning and homeostasis of the colony. This influence has been demonstrated to be mediated through pheromone communication. However, the only social insect for which any queen pheromone has been identified is the honey bee (Apis mellifera) with its well-known queen mandibular pheromone (QMP). Although pleiotropic effects on colony regulation are accredited to the QMP, this pheromone does not trigger the full behavioral and physiological response observed in the presence of the queen, suggesting the presence of additional compounds.
Link to article on 7th Space Interactive

Kiwi bees prove to be an asset for British hives
By David Milford - Devon
Telegraph - June 17, 2010
SIR – The practice of importing queen bees from New Zealand (report, June 14) has been going on for years. There are strict controls on how this is done, with the National Bee Unit checking the workers, which accompany the queens, for disease and evidence of such things as the varroa mite. More will be imported from New Zealand next year, as the small hive beetle has arrived in Hawaii, from where many beekeepers currently obtain their queens.
Link to David Milford's letter on Telegraph

Busy bees arrive at Buckland Abbey
By Laura Joint
BBC Devon - June 17, 2010
It's midsummer, the sun is out, and so are the thousands of worker bees which have been delivered to Buckland Abbey this year as part of the BBC/National Trust Bee Part Of It season. The honey bees are making themselves at home after their delivery in a nucleus hive on 11 June 2010. And they couldn't have asked for a better 'home' than this. After a sunny couple of weeks, Buckland Abbey is alive with flowers, fruit and vegetables - perfect for foraging.
Link to article and video on BBC Devon

The Penn State Center for Pollinator Research is sponsoring an International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy on July 24-28, 2010.
Penn State University - June 17, 2010
Pollinators are essential for both plants and animals in agriculture and natural ecosystems, but there have been dramatic declines in pollinator populations world-wide. Pollinator decline not only has alarmed the scientific community, but has gained prominence in the popular press, raising the public’s awareness about threats to our ecosystem. The causes for pollinator decline are complex, and it is thought that a combination of many stressors are responsible, including pests, pathogens, environmental toxins, and poor nutrition and habitat loss due to disruptions in landscape ecology.
Link to notice on Penn State University (US)

2009 report on the impacts and sustainable use of pesticides
UK Pesticides Forum - June 17, 2010
The report demonstrates the work of the UK Pesticides Forum in 2009. It contains both 'annual report' items and the 'report of indicators reflecting impacts of pesticide use'. The report draws together the work of Government, Industry and other important stakeholders to find ways of reducing the impact from the use of pesticides. The report has been structured around the UK Pesticides Strategy. It covers progress with the action plans: human health; availability of products and techniques; water; biodiversity; amateur use; and amenity use. These items are prefaced by background information on the use of pesticides.
Link to article on UK Pesticides Forum
Click here for ebook version
Click here for pdf version

The bee lab at Sussex University gets ready to greet the new queens
LASI - Sussex University - June 16, 2010
As part of Project 1 of the Sussex Plan for honey bee health and wellbeing, queen's reared from colonies already identified as having hygienic workers, were today moved to the incubator for the final few days prior to hatching. Hygienic worker bees remove dead or infected larvae and pupae from their cells. This reduces the spread of diseases within a colony.
Link to article on LASI - Sussex University

Killer disease in 20% of honey bees [in Jersey]
Jersey News - June 16, 2010
Initial inspections suggest some 20% of Jersey's honey bee colonies could be infected with American Foulbrood disease. That's down from the original estimate of 50%. A team of UK inspectors have been in the island since last Wednesday and have so far checked half of the islands 420 hives.
Link to article in Jersey News

Threat to bees [on Jersey] not as bad as first feared
By Ramsay Cudlipp
This is Jersey - June 14, 2010
Up to a quarter of Jersey’s 400 beehives may have to be destroyed because of disease – half of what was first feared. An outbreak of American Foulbrood, an infection that kills younger bees, has caused nearly 50 Island hives to be incinerated in the last few days.
Link to article on This is Jersey

Dorset bee plea creates a buzz on Twitter
By James Tourgout
Dorset Echo - June 13, 2010
Beekeepers are appealing on Twitter to help catch summer swarms for their hives. Steve Atkins, from the Dorchester and Weymouth Beekeepers Association, has posted a message on the internet messaging system asking people to watch out. He tweeted: 'Please let me know if you see bees swarming in Dorchester or West Dorset area, empty hives to fill.'
Link to article on Dorset Echo

Imports of honey bees come with a sting
By Jenny Fyall
Scotsman - June 13, 2010
BEES are being flown more than 11,000 miles in an attempt to save the Scottish honey industry from collapse. Desperate beekeepers have been forced to import new stocks of insects from as far away as New Zealand after wet summers and infestations of disease left them struggling to stay in business.
Link to article in the Scotsman

Camilla taking lessons in Beekeeping
By Jenny Monroe
Ulster Star - June 10, 2010
"Camilla told us there are a couple of honeybee colonies at Highgrove and she is taking lessons on how to handle them. Prince Charles however told us that while he owned bees, but had not the 'gift of the beekeepers calm' and could never handle them personally."
link to article in the Ulster Star

Why we must do our best for bees - interview with Paul Neilson
Express & Echo, Exeter - June 9, 2010
Paul Neilson has seen membership soar at the Devon Beekeepers' Association. I FIRST became interested in beekeeping when I was about 10, when I saw an observation hive at Cardiff Castle.When I moved to Devon I decided to try beekeeping and became a member of Exeter Beekeepers, which has been a great source of advice and support.
Link to article in Express & Echo, Exeter
Link to Exeter Branch, Devon Beekeepers' Association

Interview: Bill Turnbull of BBC Breaksfast talks beekeeping
By Polly Manser
Buckinghamshire Advertiser - June 9, 2010
Bill Turnbull, BBC Breakfast presenter and resident of Jordans, showed reporter Polly Manser how to get around a bee hive.
Link to article in Buckinghamshire Advertiser

Honey bees 'out of intensive care' - interview with David Morris
BBC Somerset - June 8, 2010
Bees are responsible for pollinating 75% of the food we humans eat but alarmingly the British honeybee had seemed to be in a state of terminal decline. However a new survey by the British Beekeepers Association shows that more than 80 percent of colonies made it through the recent hard winter. Steve Powell has been finding out how the bees in Somerset have fared.
Link to article on BBC Somerset
Link to Somerset Beekeepers Association

How to move a nest of thousands of angry, wild bees
BBC - June 8, 2010
How do you move a nest of thousands of aggressive bees from their home in the wild? Peter Bowes joined beekeeper Keith Roberts as he prepared to remove a colony from a house in a Los Angeles suburb before rehousing the bees in new hives.
Link to video on BBC

Festival will highlight plight of bees
Ledbury Reporter - June 8, 2010
The plight of the bee will be one of the topics on the agenda at a garden festival near Ledbury this weekend. Brigit Strawbridge of TV's It’s not Easy Being Green will visit the festival at Much Marcle to discuss the ancient skill of beekeeping.
Link to article in Ledbury Reporter

Would-be beekeepers stung by huge increase in start-up costs
Scotsman - June 8, 2010
Would-be beekeepers are having to pay much higher start-up costs in the face of declines in honeybees and the growing popularity of the pursuit. 'Beefaltion' has seen the cost of a five-frame nucleus of bees needed to set up a hive increase from just £40 in 2008 to more than £150 now, according to the Co-operative
Link to article in the Scotsman

Honeybee collapse: Stung from behind
by Nathanael Johnson
Guardian - June 7, 2010
Distracted by a mysterious rash of dying bees, researchers may be overlooking a more insidious pollinator crisis. It has little to do with bees and everything to do with booming markets for raspberries, pears, and chocolate
Link to article in the Guardian

Ancient Beehives Yield 3,000-Year-Old Bees
By Brandon Keim
Wired Science - June 7, 2010
Honeybee remains found in a 3,000-year-old apiary have given archaeologists a one-of-a-kind window into the beekeeping practices of the ancient world. 'Beekeeping is known only from a few Egyptian sources, from a few tombs and paintings. No actual hives have been found,' said Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Amihai Mazar. The hives were uncovered in 2007 at an excavation in Tel Rehov, Israel, home to the flourishing Bronze and Iron Age city of Rehov. Mazar and his team found more than 100 hives, capable of housing an 1.5 million bees and producing half a ton of honey.
Link to article in Wired Science
Link to article in New Scientist

Statement issued on Jersey AFB outbreak
International Finance Centre (Guernsey) - June 7, 2010
There has been an outbreak of American Foul Brood disease in Jersey. The disease has been confirmed in two colonies of bees and it is understood that there is a third suspected outbreak of disease in another colony. American Foul Brood disease affects the larval stage of honey bees. It is caused by a bacterium called ‘Paenibacillus larvae’ that infects and kills larvae and can produce over 1 billion spores from each infected larvae. These spores are extremely resistant to heat and chemical disinfectants and can survive for many years in bee hives and equipment.
Link to article on International Finance Centre (Guernsey)

Middle class fad for bee keeping sees doubling in number of hives
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - June 7, 2010
A new trend among the middle classes for keeping bees has doubled the number of hives over the last two years, according to new statistics. The British British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) said there are now more than 80,000 hives registered in Britain, compared to 40,000 in 2007. The organisation said there has been an increase in the number of honey bees in Britain over the last two years from 23 billion to 48 billion.
Link to article in Telegraph

Fears over Jersey's foulbrood bee disease discovery
BBC - June 4, 2010
Jersey's bee population is under threat after the discovery of a disease which can potentially devastate colonies. A test confirmed the presence of the bacterial American foulbrood disease in an island hive. It is believed to be the first case in Jersey. The only way to control it is to stop all movement of hives, bees and equipment and to destroy all infected combs and bees.
Link to article on BBC

Google gets beehives
Google blog - June 4, 2010
Marc Rasic, Chief Executive, explains why Google have installed beehives at their headquarters (in Google colours of course!). They have called the apiary the Hiveplex.
Link to Google Blog

Important Survey: Bee Husbandry Practices 2009/2010
National Bee Unit - June 3, 2010
The National Bee Unit are once again conducting a national survey to obtain information on current honey bee husbandry practices. This is now the second year that they have carried out this survey and they intend to gather this data regularly to allow the monitoring of trends in UK beekeeping and to help with beekeeper training. The survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and will be of great value to beekeeping in the UK.
Link to Bee Husbandry Practices 2009/2010 on Beebase

Beekeeping for Happy Neighbors
By Kim Flottum
Daily Green (US)- June 2, 2010
Especially for city beekeepers (>hopefully ), keeping bees can be a challenge. Here are some guidelines for raising healthy bees without annoying your neighbors.
Link to article in Daily Green (US)

Beekeepers join forces to reinstate ban on local importation
By Darrell Bellaart
Canada.com June 2, 2010
Island beekeepers are determined to get government to keep some barriers to diseases from off-Island bees. The Coalition of Beekeepers, a partnership of five Island beekeeping clubs met for the first time this week after being dormant for years.They will lobby government after it lifted a quarantine that kept all but select bees out for 22 years.
Link to article on Canada.com

Bath and West Show: Decline of bees cannot go unchecked
This is Somerset - June 2, 2010
Beekeeper Tony RichardsAlthough he will be happy to enjoy the sunshine predicted for today's Bath and West Show, beekeeper Tony Richards will have been grateful for the rain which arrived yesterday. For it might just have given him hope that this season won't be a complete write-off. "We desperately need rain for the field beans, because they need to produce plenty of nectar. If they do then, hopefully, the bees will be able to pick up a bit. They certainly need it," he said. Like hundreds of beekeepers Tony has been through an anxious few years – and visitors to the Bees and Honey Section at the show will have plenty of opportunity to find out why.
Link to article on this is Somerset

Mobile phones and bees: shoddy research helps no one
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - June 1, 2010
Riding high at the top of the most viewed list in the Telegraph earth section today is a story headed ‘Mobile phones responsible for disappearance of honey bee‘, which describes a study of hives in India and concludes that electromagnetic radiation is the cause of colony collapse disorder [CCD], the phenomenon – that has mostly affected the United States – of beehive populations crashing with no obvious cause. As a beekeeper myself I’d be very glad to know what has caused the problems plaguing the almond and cotton fields of the US, but I’m afraid that this study does little to get us closer to an answer.
Link to blog on Telegraph

Fire involving beehive in Kingskerswell, Devon
Devon & Cornwall Fire Service - June 1, 2010
Short report on incident in Kingskerswell.
Link to report on Devon & Cornwall Fire Service
Follow up report in This is South Devon

Massive wasp nest found in Southampton pub's loft
By Peter Law
This is Southampton - May 28, 2010
By Peter Law
WHEN pest controller Sean Whelan was called to a break out of wasps at a Southampton pub it didn’t take long to find the source of the problem. In a corner of the watering hole’s loft he found the biggest wasp nest he had ever seen. In fact the nest was so large it was the size of a double bed mattress and was home to up to half a million killer wasps. Built around a chimney stack the six foot by five foot nest was 15 times bigger than a typical one and is thought to be one of the biggest in the UK.
Link to article on This is Southampton

Bee stripes may not keep predators away
By Katia Moskvitch
BBC - May 28, 2010
Bumblebees' distinctive bright yellow and black stripes may not be what keeps them safe from their enemies, scientists say. A UK study has shown that other aspects of bees' behaviour may matter more than the classic bee colour to keep predators away. This could be the way bumblebees fly or perhaps the buzzing sound they make, say the scientists. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Zoology.
Link to article on BBC

Tune in to hear how bees are bee-having
This is Surrey - May 28, 2010, 08:00
Comment on this story
A STATELY home is taking part in a BBC project to investigate the plight of the humble honeybee. BBC Surrey will be joining forces with the National Trust at Polesden Lacey as part of a national campaign to protect bees.
Link to article on This is Surrey

Beekeepers use tracking systems as hive thefts rise
By Alan Hall in Berlin
Telegraph - May 27, 2010
German beekeepers have begun installing satellite tracking systems in their hives as thefts of entire honeybee colonies are reported across the country. A 71-year-old apiarist from Baden-Wurttemberg was caught stealing a hive after it had been fitted with a CCTV camera. Beehive banditry has now outstripped robberies of colour televisions and cars in some rural regions as bee populations have gone into sharp decline and the value of the honey producing insects has soared.
Link to article on Telegraph

Abolish VAT on Beekeeping Equipment
By Francis Daly
Number10.gov.uk - May 27, 2010
An online petition has been set up to abolish VAT on beekeeping equipment.
Click here for more details...

Bill Turnbull: the bad beekeeper
By Damian Whitworth
Times Online - May 27, 2010
Bill Turnbull is a bad beekeeper. Really, quite a bad beekeeper. In his ten seasons of keeping bees he has so far managed to kill three precious queens. One, in the colony of an unimpressed friend, he crushed while moving a frame in the hive; another was pierced during the usually delicate process of applying an indentifying mark; the third he misguidedly moved to a strange hive, where it was killed by the inhabitants.
Link to article on Times Online

Barrington highlights honeybees' plight
By Steve Sowden
This is West Country - May 26, 2010
BARRINGTON Court will be a hive of activity this summer as part of a major national campaign looking at the plight of honeybees in Britain. TV presenter Kate Humble is supporting the campaign and BBC Somerset is adopting its own honeybee hive at the National Trust property to allow listeners to follow the developing wildlife drama of a new colony on-air.
Link to article on This is West Country

“Beekeeping is the poetry of agriculture"
Isria (Slovenia) - May 26, 2010
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, today attended the 8th meeting of Slovenian beekeepers in Velenje where as the patron of honour he addressed the participants and signed a petition to preserve bees as part of the campaign: Let’s preserve bees!
Link to article on Isria

Scooter swarm causes a buzz!
CBBC - May 26, 2010
The centre of Milan was closed for four hours while firefighters removed a swarm of bees which had settled on a scooter.
Link to photos on CBBC

BBKA Winter Losses Survey
By Christine Gray
BBKA - May 24, 2010
The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) announced today, the first results from its 2009-10 winter colony survival survey* which shows that more than 80% of honey bee colonies made it through one of the harshest winters in 30 years. The survey also reveals the efforts that beekeepers are making to rebuild bee stocks with the average number of colonies per beekeeper in the survey rising from 3.7 in 2007 to 4.7 in 2009.
Link to article on BBKA
Click here to download full report (pdf)

Infections link to bees decline
By Katia Moskvitch
BBC - May 26, 2010
A combination of fungi and viruses could be reponsible US researchers claim to have identified a new potential cause for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in honeybees. The disease is responsible for wiping out many beekeepers' entire colonies over the past few years. Scientists from the US Department of Agriculture say the pathogens to blame are a fungus and a family of viruses.
Link to article on BBC

Honeybee colonies starting to show signs of recovery after winter survival
This is Cornwall - May 25, 2010
HoneybeesMore honeybee colonies survived winter in the South West than anywhere else in the UK — but the parlous state of the bee population remains. Figures collected by the British Beekeepers' Association showed that the percentage of honeybee colonies which made it through last year was slightly higher than last year, despite the harsh conditions. Interviews with Martin Smith (BBKA) and Glyn Davies (DBKA)
Link to article in This is Cornwall

Chelsea Flower Festival - Bee Friendly Plants Garden
BBC - May 25, 2010
Global Stone is sponsoring an attention-grabbing garden at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show this year. Created using Global’s natural stone to stunning effect, the garden highlights the plight of the world’s bees and demonstrates how even small scale gardeners can help to boost bees’ immunity to pests and diseases.
Link to Global Stone's Bee Friendly Plants Garden
Link to Bee Friendly Plants (Suffolk)
Link to audio slideshow on BBC

Beekeepers lost one in six hives last winter due to disease and cold weather, according to the latest statistics.
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - May 24, 2010
The losses are much higher than the natural rate of up to 10 per cent and reflect growing concerns that bee numbers are falling in Britain. However, beekeepers are optimistic that colonies are in better shape than previous years, especially after such a harsh winter. In 2008/09 one in five hives were lost over the winter and a third died out the year before. The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBKA) said it was good news that 80 per cent of honey bee colonies made it through the coldest winter in 31 years. The highest losses of 26 per cent were recorded in the north of England, and lowest losses of 12.8 per cent were recorded in the south west of England.
Link to article on Telegraph
Link to article by Alison Benjamin - The Guardian

30 jobs created as beehive business relocates to a hive of activity
This is Lincolnshire - May 24, 2010
THIRTY jobs will be created when a Lincolnshire business relocates. EH Thorne (Beehives) Ltd has been granted planning approval by West Lindsey District Council to relocate to the district. Paul Smith, the firm's managing director, said: "This is an exciting development for our company. We have been on our present site in the centre of Wragby for almost 100 years and outgrown the space available." Mr Smith said turnover for the business had increased by 40 per cent in 2009 – compared with 2008.
Link to article on This is Lincolnshire

Asian honey bee watch extends to Townsville
North Queenlsland Register (AU) - May 21, 2010
SURVEILLANCE teams looking for the unwanted Asian honeybee (Apis cerana) have arrived in Townsville. Biosecurity Queensland Asian honeybee surveillance manager Wim De Jong said there were concerns the exotic pest had hitched a ride all the way from Cairns. "This expanded surveillance effort is an opportunity to roll out a new honeybee trap," he said. "This week surveillance teams are visiting communities, port areas, major transport corridors and heavy transport premises between Cairns and Townsville searching for any signs of the pest bee. "They are working closely with Queensland Rail to keep a close watch on trains, stations and depots."
Link to article on North Queensland Register (AU)

Increasing Herm's bee population
BBC - May 20, 1020
When Gavin Hyde moved to Herm in 2008 he began setting up a "beekeeping enterprise" as soon as he arrived. Having been involved in beekeeping all his life, thanks to his father and grandfather, he saw potential in Herm for increasing the honeybee numbers.
Link to article on BBC

Public urged to revive beekeeping as Northern Ireland honey runs out
By Linda Stewart
Belfast Telegraph - May 19, 2010
Without our honeybees we’d be in serious trouble. After two consecutive years of torrential summer rain, Northern Ireland has run short of honey — but that’s the least of our worries. Ecology experts have been driving home the message for quite some time now. Without our bees, the world would be a very different place.
Link to article on Belfast Telegraph

New campaign to help honeybees
Directgov - May 18, 2010
As honeybee populations continue to fall, a new campaign encourages people to make their gardens more bee-friendly.
Link to article and video on Directgov
Link to Caring for bees (Environment and greener living section)

Bee decline a myth?
By Matt Cawood
Stock & Land (AU) - May 17, 2010
A new unexplained disease is supposedly laying waste to honeybees in the United States, but one of the world’s leading bee pathologists, CSIRO’s Dr Denis Anderson, is yet to be convinced that it’s actually happening. Dr Anderson is a leading expert on a tangible bee threat, the varroa mite, but the well-travelled scientist can’t buy into the story of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the malaise that is supposedly behind the death of up to a third of US honeybee hives last winter.
Link to article on Stock & Land (AU)

Honeybees: 3D images reveal life inside a live hive
By Matt Walker
BBC - May 17, 2010
Scientists have devised a new way to peer into the inner workings of a live honeybee colony, without disturbing the insects inside. The technique, known as Diagnostic Radioentomology (DR), scans a beehive, taking a series of 3D images. This reveals in real-time how many bees are inside, where they are, and gives clues as to what they are doing. Such information could help scientists understand what is causing bee numbers around the world to decline steeply.
Link to video image on BBC

Our bees are buzzing off. But why?
By Matt Walker
BBC - May 17, 2010
In many places, the country air has become just that little bit quieter. The reason: our bees have stopped buzzing. Over the past few years, honeybees have suddenly and inexplicably disappeared from colonies that once thrived across the northern parts of the American and European continents. A mysterious malaise has struck down the fittest and most able bees, laying waste to billions and leaving empty hives starved of once industrious workers. But we are no nearer understanding the exact cause of this carnage.
Link to article on BBC

Will the vanishing bees spell the end of the world?
By Stuart Winter
Express - May 16, 2010
Interest in beekeeping may be at an all-time high but numbers in the insect population are still dwindling, with potentially disastrous results. Not since the dark days of the Second World War has there been such a buzz about beekeeping.
Link to article on Express

QI: Quite Interesting facts about bees
By Molly Oldfield and John Mitchinson
Telegraph - May 14, 2010
A quietly intriguing column from the brains behind the BBC quiz show. This week: QI buzzes after bees. 'In 2000, when the Guinness Book of Records was looking to launch its new website, it decided to do so by producing the world's smallest advertisement. Scientists at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory near Oxford produced a piece of film no wider than a human hair, which was stencilled in gold with guinnessworldrecords.com, and tied it to the leg of a honey bee.'
Link to article on Telegraph

The new breed of beekeepers [from Okehampton] taking up traditional 'old man's hobby'
By Paul Bentley
Daily Mail - May 14, 2010
With the incessant buzzing and the threat of a sharp sting, bees are not the easiest of pets. But record numbers are taking the risk and buying hives anyway – in a bid to save the threatened species.
Link to article on Daily Mail

Manx honey bee holds key to survival for dying colonies
BBC - May 13, 2010
The honey bee population in the UK has fallen dramatically in recent years due to poor weather and disease. However, thanks to a ban on importing bees, their Manx counterparts are some of the healthiest in the world. A new drive by Manx beekeepers to breed queens could now hold the key to saving the hugely important species.
Link to article and video interview on BBC

Bee Part Of It! with BBC Local Radio
Beecareful.info - May 12, 2010
England will be a hive of activity this summer as BBC Local Radio joins forces with the National Trust for a major national campaign, launching on Monday 17 May, supported by Springwatch presenter Kate Humble, to investigate the plight of honeybees in Britain. As part of the Bee Part Of It! campaign, each BBC Local Radio station is adopting its own honeybee hive, based at a National Trust property, allowing listeners to follow the developing wildlife drama of a new honeybee colony on-air and online. People can also show their support for the Bee Part Of It! campaign by contributing through Flickr on www.flickr.com/groups/bbc_beepartofit/ and via Facebook on www.facebook.com/bbcbeepartofit. Bee Part Of It! is a BBC Local partnership with the National Trust. The project is supported by the British Beekeepers' Association, The Wildlife Trusts, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Buglife and the Department of Apiculture at the University of Sussex.
Link to article on Beecareful.info

Beekeeping offered as alternative to walking in Snowdonia
Orndance Survey - May 12, 2010
Snowdonia National Park is offering those who live close to the region's mountainous walking trails and camping holiday venues a unique opportunity to keep bees. Working with the Welsh Bee Keepers Association and the Centre For Alternative Land Use at Bangor University, park bosses intend to run training courses and make it easy for people to buy a beehive. The aim of the project is to promote local produce and contribute towards biodiversity in the north Wales national park.
Link to article on Ordnance Survey

Hope for biodiversity? How a campaign put bee health on the political agenda
Public Service - May 10, 2010
Nature losses will hit national economies hard, the United Nations will warn. Here Ian Gibson, former chair of the Commons Science Committee explains how campaigning has put bee health research on the political radar
Link to article on Public Service

Interview with Peter Hunt at Ashburton, Devon
A busy job trying to halt decline of our bee population
Western Morning News - May 5, 2010
If you thought human beings have been having a bad time over the past couple of years during the world's financial recession, spare a thought for bees. While we're perhaps merely feeling the pinch, bees are being wiped out in their zillions. Which could be very bad news for us because, despite all the amazing technology we invent, we need bees to pollinate the plants that create our food.
Link to article on Western Morning News
Link to Bees In Devon (Peter Hunt)

Beekeepers have new worry with small hive beetles found on Big Isle
Honoluluadvertiser.com - May 4, 2010
The small hive beetle has been discovered in hives near Hilo, adding another threat to Hawai'i's honey industry and exportation of queen bees, according to the state Department of Agriculture. On April 27, a beekeeper on a Pana`ewa farm contacted the agriculture department's entomologist in Hilo about beetles he found in the hives that he was maintaining for the farm owner, agriculture officials said.
Link to article on Honolulu Advertiser

Beekeepers turn away from chemical cash deals after safety fears
Valerie Elliott
Times Online - May 4, 2010
The British Beekeepers’ Association is moving away from cash sponsorship deals with pesticide manufacturers after concerns that the chemicals may be harmful to bees. Bee numbers in Britain are down 54 per cent in 20 years, double the rate of the rest of Europe, according to research by the University of Reading. The 135-year-old charity endorses four pesticides — synthetic pyrethroids — used to combat the varroa mite that is linked to the collapse of colonies. In return, for the past 12 years the association has received £17,500 a year from Bayer Crop Sciences and Syngenta.
Link to article on Times Online

Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe
By Alison Benjamin
Guardian - May 2, 2010
The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies did not survive the winter. Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter. The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic fall in numbers.
Link to article in the Guardian

Thieves rustle honeybees in Japan
Press TV - May 1, 2020
The Japan Beekeeper and Honeybee Association has warned its members about a spate of hive thefts caused by a government ban on honeybee imports. Police suspect a gang of specialist thieves is stealing honeybees, after the price of the insects doubled to more than $400 due to the ban.
Link to article on Press TV

One-Third of All Honeybees Died Last Winter ...
and That's Not Even The Worst News
By Kim Flottum
Daily Green - April 30, 2010
Colony Collapse Disorder is still alive and well ... even if U.S. bees are not, according to the fourth annual depressing survey of honeybees. The Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the USDA have completed their fourth annual census of winter honey bee colony losses. What they found was troubling, to say the least. But if you carefully read the numbers, they are even more troubling.
Link to article in Daily Green

BBKA stand at Grand Designs exhibition
Grand Designs - April 30, 2010
Grand Designs Live 1- 9 May 2010 Excel Docklands. Meet the beekeepers and see the bees. Find the BBKA in the Garden Theatre and on Stand G69 where you can sign up to Adopt a Beehive.
www.granddesignslive.com

Stroud becomes world's first 'Bee Town'
By Michelle Pascal
BBC Gloucestershire - April 29, 2010
Stroud could soon become the world's first 'Bee Town'. It's been given £3,000 to set up its very own Global Bee Project. The idea is to put up homes for bees around the town, to raise awareness and safeguard the future of this humble, but very important insect.
Link to video on BBC

Survey Reports Latest Honey Bee Losses (US)
By Kim Kaplan
US Dept Agriculture - April 29, 2010
Losses of managed honey bee colonies nationwide totaled 33.8 percent from all causes from October 2009 to April 2010, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Beekeepers identified starvation, poor weather, and weak colonies going into winter as the top reasons for mortality in their operations. This is an increase from overall losses of 29 percent reported from a similar survey covering the winter of 2008-2009, and similar to the 35.8 percent losses for the winter of 2007-2008.
Link to article on USDA

Woman beekeeper dies after being stung on face
Telegraph - April 29, 2010
Hawarden, Flintshire. Receptionist Alison Piercy, 47, and her family were being given advice by a bee expert when she was stung on the face. Nephew Max Howe, 20, managed to get the sting out - but Ms Piercy suddenly collapsed just yards from her hives. Bee expert Ken Rawlings battled to bring her round with CPR while Mr Howe called for an ambulance. Ms Piercy, an asthmatic, was taken to hospital where she died from the bee sting. An inquest will be held into the death.
Link to article on Telegraph

Getting a buzz out of honey bees in Devon
By Laura Joint
BBC Devon - April 28, 2010
This summer, BBC Devon is following the progress of two new hives at Buckland Abbey, in the BBC/National Trust Bee Part of It season. If all goes well the hives, delivered to the trust property in May 2010, will produce 50 jars of honey. On 27 April 2010, BBC Devon went to Buckland Abbey to find out what riches the honey bees will be foraging on. And we met two of the people helping the project - beekeeper David Milford and head of gardening Sally Whitfield.
Link to article on BBC Devon
Link to Buckland Abbey gardens - a bee heaven!

Beekeeping buzz is good news for Devon hive firm
By Laura Joint
BBC Devon - April 28, 2010
A Devon-based bee hive manufacturer is struggling to keep up with demand, as more and more people take up beekeeping to help save the honey bee. National Bee Supplies of Okehampton has increased staff numbers from two to 10 and boss Bill Stevens hopes to double the size of his workshop. "It has sky-rocketed over the past two years," he told BBC Devon. "The publicity about the loss of honey bees has created a desire for beekeeping, which is great for bees."
Link to article on BBC Devon

Beekeeper killed by his own bees
By Stevn Morris
Guardian - April 28, 2010
PLYMOUTH, Devon. An experienced beekeeper died after his beloved insects stung him as he tended a hive on his allotment. Father-of-two Christopher Weaver, 56, a legal adviser and Falklands war veteran, was feeding his bees when he collapsed suddenly in front of a friend. Paramedics spent 30 minutes trying to revive Weaver, who was wearing no protective clothing, but he died in hospital, where doctors found a series of stings on his chest and abdomen.
Link to article on the Guardian

Paper wasps and honey bees share a genetic toolkit
Physorg - April 27, 2010
They are both nest-building social insects, but paper wasps and honey bees organize their colonies in very different ways. In a new study, researchers report that despite their differences, these insects rely on the same network of genes to guide their social behavior.
Link to article on Physorg

Elephants make alarm calls to warn of approaching bees
BBC - April 27, 2010
Elephants produce a rumbling alarm call that warns of the threat of approaching bees, scientists have found. The researchers also discovered that the elephants retreated when a recording of the call was played - even when there were no bees nearby.
Link to article on BBC

In the Melissa Garden
pressdemocrat.com - April 26, 2010
Spring is abuzz with bees—a bee swarm in my yard lures me on a quest to learn more, so I travel along Westside Road in search of the Melissa Garden honeybee sanctuary, where Barbara Schlumberger revels in a holistic approach to beekeeping. “The Melissa Garden was created to venerate bees,” says their website. World-renowned garden designer, Kate Frey, created and maintains the Melissa Garden, and gives tours and talks there, as well.
Link to the article in pressdemocrat.com
Link to the Melissa Garden

Why does the UK need cherry trees?
BBC - April 26, 2010
The Natural History Museum is encouraging members of the public to start counting blossoming cherry trees, to see if climate change is having an impact on when they flower. The BBC's Phil Lavelle visited a cherry blossom orchard in Kent to find out more about one of Britain's most loved blooms.
Link to article on BBC
Link to Natural History Museum cherry tree survey

New exhibition should create a buzz
Mid Sussex Times - April 26, 2010
A NEW exhibition highlighting the importance of honeybees opens at Wakehurst Place on May 1. The event marks the International Year of Biodiversity and runs throughout the summer until September. Visitors will be able to learn more about honeybee behaviour from a glass-sided observation hive and a small apiary set up with the help of Central Sussex Beekeepers Association with both becoming permanent features of Wakehurst.
Link to article in Mid Sussex Times

Buzz kill! Is this 'bee Armageddon'?
By Chelsea Schilling
WorldNetDaily - April 25, 2010
What is devastating the world's honeybees? In what appears to be a honeybee mystery of Armageddon proportions that has baffled scientists and beekeepers, more than one-third of the nation's bee population is mysteriously disappearing – and researchers warn the unexplained phenomenon threatens one-third of the American diet.
Link to article on WorldNetDaily

Smiley Cat Software releases HoneyBees! 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch
prMac.com - April 23, 2010
Smiley Cat Software releases HoneyBees! 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch. Honeybees! is a fascinating educational journey into the world of honeybees and beekeeping. It teaches you about all aspects of honeybees including pollination, beekeeping and the biology of honeybees. Using beautiful photographs, you will experience how bees live, and how they work together to raise their young, take care of each other and collect pollen and make honey. Whether you are a student, beekeeper, aspiring beekeeper, gardener, homeowner or simply anyone interested in these fascinating insects; you will find this app entertaining and educational.
Link to article on prMac.com
Link to Smiley Cat Software

Sweet prospects are in store for East Devon honey farm
RES - April 22, 2010
Work has started near Ottery St Mary on the first all-new bee farm to be built anywhere in England and Wales for some 15 years. According to Daniel Basterfield, who with his father Ken is upgrading a long-standing semi-commercial activity to a fully commercial operation, “It’s also to be the only bee farm I know of with educational, laboratory and teaching apiary facilities onsite. This means that as well as producing honey we will be able to provide comprehensive courses for people wishing to get involved in the fascinating world of bee-keeping.”
Link to case study on Rural Enterprise Solutions

Chinese invader risk to Channel Island honeybees
BBC News - April 22, 2010
The Channel Islands' honeybee population could be ravaged by Chinese hornets coming across the Gulf of St Malo from France, beekeepers have said. The wasps, scientific name Vespa velutina, are thought to have reached France on a boat from China six years ago and have spread rapidly. The insects rip honeybees to pieces, then invade hives and eat their larvae. Chris Tomkins, of Guernsey Beekeepers Association, says there is concern that the wasps could reach the islands soon.
Link to article on BBC

Maasai: Food Security Through Honey
UNPO April 21, 2010
Drought has ravaged the livelihoods of pastoralist Maasai in Northern Kenya, whose food security has traditionally always depended on their livestock. Now an alternative has been introduced that is culturally and environmentally applicable, and is already showing signs of success: beekeeping.
Link to article on UNPO

Turkish beekeepers raise targets in production and exports
Todays Zaman - April 21, 2010
Turkish beekeepers are planning to raise the annual figure of honey production from its current level of 83,000 tons to 200,000 tons while increasing exports to 50,000 tons from the current modest level of 2,000 tons per year, expecting to capitalize on high demand, especially from Europe.
Link to article on Todays Zaman
Link to universal currency converter for price comparison

USU biologists discover two new species of bees
By Becca Searle
USU Statesman (US) - April 16, 2010
“Finding new species is an exciting diversion. It makes you feel like a child again,” said David Tanner, a biologist from USU. Recently, two new bee species were discovered in the Ash Meadows National Refuge in Nevada. The discovery came about when James Pitts, an assistant professor at USU, and Tanner were approached two years ago by Bio West, a biological consulting firm, to be the pollinator experts for a project.
Link to article on USU Statesman (US)

Bee friendly: Make yard hospitable to power pollinators
By Laura Christman
Redding.com (US) - April 16, 2010
A healthy yard has a mix of both plants and bees. It hums with activity. Bee researcher Gordon Frankie has observed yards in Redding neighborhoods and finds they lack buzz. “I was very unimpressed. I don’t think people are aware of what they could have,” said Frankie, a professor and research entomologist at the University of California at Berkeley. Yards in Redding tend to be big on lawns and plants like agapanthus or hybrid roses bred for big, bold blossoms at the expense of pollen-loaded anthers.
Link to article on redding.com (US)

There's no such thing as a boring beekeeper
By Chris Koenig
Oxford Times - April 15, 2010
They say there is no such thing as a boring beekeeper, and the beautifully produced Collins Beekeepers’ Bible (£30), complete with its old-fashioned honey-coloured cover, suggests that there never has been such a person throughout the thousands of years that humans have had a close relationship with honey bees. Like the best cookery books — and indeed this bible contains more than 100 honey recipes — this is far more than a lavishly illustrated practical guide. It’s packed full of facts, anecdotes and myths about bees and honey; and about by-products such as beeswax and mead, the alcoholic drink made since time immemorial from honey.
Link to article on Oxford Times

Isle of Wight Beekeepers receive £1,600 grant
By Emily Pearce
Isle of Wight County Press - April 14, 2010
ISLAND community projects including festivals, skate parks and beekeeping have benefited from more than £30,000 in grant funding. The Isle of Wight Community Fund (IWCF) has awarded Grassroots grants to 13 projects, including a £3,800 grant to help restore Northwood Cemetery. The cash will be used by the Friends of Northwood Cemetery to supply electricity to the Dead House, and to install a computer to help people research their family history. Friends’ fundraiser John Matthews said: "This project is the first step in a much wider plan to restore the whole cemetery and the two chapels. It will also enable us to offer better support to visitors searching for family graves and encourage other groups, such as schools, to come to the cemetery." The Isle of Wight Storytelling Festival, due to be held at Brading Roman Villa, over the May bank holiday weekend, has received £3,000, and more than £1,600 has been awarded to a beekeeping project based at Vectis Road Allotments, in East Cowes.
Link to article on Isle of Wight County Press

Namibia: The Secret Life of the Honeybee
By Tanja Bause
AllAfrica.com - April 14, 2010
THE African honeybee is in grave danger and if people do not stop poisoning and killing bees, Namibia might face a huge problem by 2030. Bees are responsible for the pollination of about 90 per cent of all flowers and without pollination there will be no food crops. Bees also pollinate acacia trees and without them many animals will not be able to survive. Bees are the sole pollinator of the avocado and kiwi trees, which will not be able to produce fruit without bees. This is according to Roland zu Bentheim, a beekeeper who has noticed a definite decline in bee populations throughout Namibia.
Link to article in AllAfrica.com

Asian hornet threatens British bees
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - April 14, 2010
An Asian hornet is heading for Britain that could wipe out honey bee hives, experts have warned. The predator insect "picks off" bees as they leave the hive until the colony is so exhausted the hornets can move in and destroy the nest completely. It is thought the hornet invaded France in 2004 in plants pots imported to Bordeaux from China. Within a few years beekeepers in the area were suffering up to 70 per cent colony losses and are still struggling to control the problem.
Link to article on Telegraph

As honeybee colonies collapse, can native bees handle pollination?
By David Tenenbaum
Univ Wisconsin-Madison - April 13, 2010
With colony collapse disorder continuing to plague commercial beekeepers in many parts of the country, University of Wisconsin-Madison experts are studying whether native pollinators can supply the insect pollination needed to form many fruits. While honeybees are social insects that live in large colonies, or hives, most native pollinators are solitary bees that nest in the ground or inside vegetation. Although the natives cannot be trucked into fields like honeybees, they do not suffer colony collapse. Studies elsewhere show that native pollinators can play a major role in sustaining such pollination-dependent crops as watermelon and cranberry.
Link to article in University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)

Researchers home in on bee disorder treatments
By Lee Shearer
Online Athens - April 12, 2010
Buzz up!Fat carpenter bees are buzzing around Athens lately, but there's nothing unusual about the insects' sudden appearance. It's just the time of year when bees emerge, said University of Georgia entomologist Keith Delaplane. In fact, experts are not worried that there are too many bees - instead, some scientists fear that populations of wild bees and other natural pollinators are on the decline. One kind of bee definitely is rarer - the domestic honeybee.
Link to article in Online Athens

Bizarre Beekeeping Fashion Debuts on 'The View' (VIDEO)
AOL - April 9, 2010
By: Donald Deane
Andre Leon Talley of Vogue magazine debuts hot spring fashions on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated), including a bizarre beekeeping outfit inspired by Mick Jagger's girlfriend L'Wren Scott, who apparently collects honey from bees in France. Seriously. We're not making this up.
Link to article on AOL Television

Beekeepers fear infectious mite will beat quarantine and hit honey production
By Jessica Mahar
Sydney Morning Herald - April 8, 2010
It is only a matter of time before the varroa destructor mite finds its way to Australia and infects bees, keepers say. Australia is the only big beekeeping country not to have had honey bees infected by the mites, which have devastated honey production across the world. But the discovery of the Asian honey bee, which can be a host for the varroa mite, near Cairns has raised fears a sea border and tight quarantine might not be enough to protect the industry.
Link to article on Sydney Morning Herald

Bees: the falling rise of a beloved insect
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - April 6, 2010
Ian Douglas explains why he, along with the rest of Britain, loves bees, and why they need all the help they can get. The honeybee population is down again this year, thanks to the cool damp summer of 2009, a sharp cold winter and rising levels of a nasty little mite called varroa. But the level of public affection for the little furry creatures has rarely been higher.
April 6, 2010 - the falling rise of a beloved insect
February 3, 2010 - A tentative winter feed
See also last year's beekeeping diary

The Plight of Honey Bee & UGA Honey Bee Program
By Rose Scott
PBA News - April 5, 2010
Keith Delaplane is more than just a UGA professor. He's a bee scientist and he says the honey bee has been in danger for a while. The threat goes back to the 1940s. But now, he says there's hope because it is known that parasites maybe the reason for the dwindling population.
Link to article on PBA (US)

Prolonged winter holds up bluebells' bloom
BBC - April 5, 2010
Bluebells could be up to three weeks late coming into bloom this year, due to the harsh winter. In recent years, mild winters and early spring have meant the bluebell has appeared as early as 1 April in west Cornwall where they flower first. But with the UK experiencing a cold spring, bluebells are not likely to be in full bloom until around mid-May this year, the National Trust said.
Link to article on BBC

Bees forage with their guts
By Tina Hesman Saey
Science News - April 1, 2010
Researchers show that a gene helps honeybees choose between nectar and pollen. When faced with a choice between carb loading and a protein-rich, Atkins-style diet, honeybees let their guts decide. Insulin signals from fat cells in the bees’ abdomens help determine whether they forage for high-protein pollen or sugar-filled nectar, a new study shows. The study, published April 1 in PLoS Genetics, is the first to manipulate insulin signals in honeybees and to show how changes in the signals influence behavior.
Link to article in Science News
Link to research article in PLoS Genetics

Bee man's 60-year hobby wiped out
Northumberland Gazette - April 1, 2010
A BEEKEEPER who has spent six decades perfecting his hobby has had his entire colony wiped out. Ebba Cummings, 84, has kept honeybees at his home in Woodlands, Rothbury, for the last 60 years. But now there are no bees left in any of the eight hives because of the varroa mite disease which is swarming across the country. Brian Ripley, Chairman of BBKA comments.
Link to article in Northumberland Gazette

Toughen up: bee disease is nothing new
By Tom Hodgkinson
Ecologist - March 31, 2010
There's no great conspiracy around bee deaths - hive diseases have been with us for millennia. No one who keeps livestock should expect an easy ride...
Link to article in the Ecologist

Beekeeping plans for new apiary create a buzz
BBC South Wales - March 31, 2010
The bee population in Caerphilly county will get a welcome boost as plans are underway to create a new apiary. The council has agreed to lease a piece of land near Trethomas to the Cardiff, Vale and Valleys Beekeeping Association. The proposed 'nursery' apiary will allow enthusiasts to learn all about beekeeping.
Link to article on BBC South Wales

Rosslyn Chapel was haven for bees
BBC News - March 30, 2010
An ancient chapel has revealed a new mystery with the discovery of a 600-year-old hive built into the stones. Builders renovating Rosslyn Chapel, which was made famous in The Da Vinci Code, found the "unprecedented" hive while dismantling a rooftop pinnacle.
Link to article on BBC

Women's institute gets busy with bee SOS campaign
By Mike Swain
Mirror - March 29, 2010
Forget Jam and Jerusalem, the Women's Institute is urging people to turn to honey in a campaign to save our native honeybees from extinction. The WI's 200,000 members want the Government, local authorities and gardeners to join their Bee SOS campaign.
Link to article in the Mirror
Link to campaign page on WI

Soil Association weigh in with a 'Save the Honeybee' campaign
Soil Association - March 28, 2010
The Soil Association are asking people to sign an online petition to ban neonicotinoids in the UK.
Link to Soil Association webpage

Dispatch from Devon
By Matthew Engel
Financial Times - March 27, 2010
Having decided that spring had finally sprung, Paddy Wallace zipped himself into his protective suit, grabbed his veil and headed off in his tractor round the country lanes of North Devon.
Link to article on FT
Link to Quince Honey Farm (South Molton)

Ted Hooper MBE NDB 1918 – 2010
BBKA - March 26, 2010
Ted was born in Colyton, Devon over 90 years ago... A Tribute.
There was a broadcast on Good Friday 2 April 2010 on BBC Radio 4 at 16:00 hrs in Mathew Bannister's obituary program - "The Last Word".
Link to article on BBKA
Link to obituary in the Times

Helping Honeybees: Pesticides make it a tough time for pollinators
By Josh Mogerman
NRDC (US) - March 26, 2010
Bee life ain’t easy. And lately, its been getting a lot harder. Recent press reports show that an array of stressors are taking a significant toll on America’s bees. Pesticides are at the top of the list, but you and I can probably identify with some. It seems that poor diet and a heavy workload are really making things a drag for the typical honeybee. No doubt, those are things that impact a lot of us---but for bees, they are deadly.
Link to article on NRDC

When the Bee Stings
By Wendy Langhans
Hometownstation - March 26, 2010
A collection of curious factoids about bees and wasps - and their stings.
Link to article on Hometownstation

Beekeepers battle mighty mite
By Branwen Morgan
ABC News (Aus) - March 24, 2010
New Zealand beekeepers are concerned by the spread of a pesticide-resistant mite that can decimate honeybee hives. For now, Australia remains the only major beekeeping region in the world where varroa destructor has not yet been found. But most experts agree that it is just a matter of time before it arrives, most likely by hitching a ride into one of the ports. Dr Mark Goodwin of the New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research says while varroa has been in New Zealand for 10 years, researchers only recently found evidence of resistance to the synthetic treatments used to control them.
Link to article on ABC News (Aus)

Best buys for beekeepers
By Jean Vernon
Telegraph - March 24, 2010
All the best hives, protective clothing, smokers and books for beekeepers. First, learn the ropes. Bees are living creatures and their care demands expertise and time. Join your local beekeeping association. Most groups run courses for beginners over the winter, usually followed up with a mentoring scheme of some sort where beginners can learn the many rituals involved in handling bees. It's the best way to learn. Talk to as many different beekeepers as possible.
Link to article on Telegraph

National Trust warns of not-so-rosy future for British gardens
By Chris Smyth
Times Online - March 24, 2010
The traditional British garden could be ravaged by climate change, the National Trust said yesterday, as it produced paintings showing how hotter summers may fry herbaceous borders, while wet winters could rot spring bulbs.
Link to article on Times Online
Link to National Trust

The lowly honeybee deserves a lot more attention
By Tom Spears
Montreal Gazette - March 22, 2010
Five years after the mysterious mass deaths of honeybees began, bees keep dying, yet in many ways the mystery seems as deep as ever. Why can't we solve this, in a country with Canada's scientific resources?
Link to article in Montreal Gazette

New Look Website for National Bee Unit
March 24, 2010
The National Bee Unit have redesigned their website - BeeBase. It is now much easier to use and contains a wealth of information about bees and beekeeping. Especially useful are the range of factsheets on most bee diseases, how to identify them and what interventions might be appropriate.
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/

Adopt a hive, beekeepers urge
Telegraph March 19, 2010
Beekeepers have urged anyone who is concerned about the fate of the Britain's honeybees but does not want to keep bees themselves to help protect them under an ''adoption'' scheme. The new campaign by the British Beekeepers' Association's (BBKA) places the honeybee alongside tigers and orang-utans in a list of animals which can be ''adopted'' in a bid to help reverse declining numbers. The organisation's first public fund-raising campaign in its 136-year history aims to generate money for research into the health of the bees and support training for beekeepers. The scheme is being sponsored by Saga.
Link to article in the Telegraph
Link to article in the Smallholder
Link to Adopt a Beehive article on BBKA website
Link to article in Saga (who are sponsoring the scheme)
www.adoptabeehive.co.uk

Bees engage in sperm warfare
By Chris Thompson
WA News (Aus) - March 19, 2010
Female bees can have multiple partners but a recent WA study has found the semen of one male is so potent it can kill the sperm of another. In a report published today in Science, University of Western Australia researcher Boris Baer said this was the first evidence that it was seminal fluid – rather than sperm – that may harm other males' sperm. Dr Baer noted that as the quality of human sperm decreases in western societies, bee sperm remains potent long after the males' death which occurs around the time of mating.
Link to article in WA News (Aus)
Link to article in Science

Kentucky passes law to put flowers on mountaintop mines
By Roger Alford
Bloomberg - March 18, 2010
Mountaintops defoliated by mining companies would be sown with native flowering plants under a new law in Kentucky. Governor Steve Beshear signed a bill into law Thursday intended to restore pollen-producing vegetation that honeybees need to survive in the central Appalachians, where mining has obliterated entire ridge tops and the blooming trees and shrubs that once grew on them. Debate over the issue in the Kentucky Legislature called attention to a problem that had received little attention: How mountaintop removal coal mining affects Appalachia's insect population, particularly honeybees that need flowering plants to survive.
Link to article in Bloomberg (US)

BBKA to rejoin the Healthy Bees Project Board
March 17, 2010
Following a positive meeting held on the 17th February 2010 between Martin Smith, Tim Lovett and Brian Ripley with Helen Crews, Head of Inspectorates, and Tony Harrington, Director of Policy and Regulation of the Food and Environment Research Agency, the BBKA Trustees voted that the BBKA should rejoin the project board at the earliest opportunity. Following the vote at the Trustees meeting held on the 27th February 2010 this decision was relayed to Fera and the BBKA will be attending the next scheduled meeting of the Healthy Bee Project Board.
www.britishbee.org.uk

Sweet News: New York City Dumps Beekeeping Ban
by Crystal Gammon
OnEarth - March 16, 2010
New York City's underground beekeepers can come out of hiding. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene voted unanimously today to lift a decade-old ban on raising honeybees within the city limits. The decision means that beekeepers no longer face thousands of dollars in fines if their hives are discovered. It also means that aspiring beekeepers can look forward to starting their own rooftop and backyard hives - legally - for the spring growing season.
Link to article in OnEarth (US)

Bee swarms follow 'pied pipers'
By Jody Bourton
BBC - March 15, 2010
A tiny group of bees act like "pied pipers" to trigger the onset of bee swarms report scientists. By buzzing a "piping" signal the bees are able to initiate an explosive departure from the hive. Bees are known to use signals to tell the colony when to swarm but which bees had the power to make this decision was unclear. Now scientists have identified a small oligarchy of individual bees that hold the key to swarm behaviour. The researchers reveal their findings in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (click here to link to abstract).
Link to article and video on BBC

Beekeepers abuzz with the changes to their website
Express & Echo - March 15, 2010
THE website of a Devon charity is buzzing with life after being speech-enabled. The Devon Beekeepers Association (DBKA) has had its website speech-enabled by BrowseAloud in a bid to make it more accessible. BrowseAloud is a text-to-speech solution that reads website content aloud and highlights each word as it is spoken.
Link to article on Express & Echo

Bees are busier than ever as disease besieges colonies
By Adrian Higgins
Washington Post - March 15, 2010
In normal times, David Hackenberg would begin trucking his 20 million honeybees from the almond orchards of California to the orange groves of Florida this week. Instead, after a month working the almond blossoms on the West Coast, his exhausted pollinators will get some rest and relaxation in the Georgia woods before the East Coast apple blossoms summon them to work once more next month.
Link to article in Washington Post

Honey bees secret world of heat revealed
By Richard Gray
Telegraph - March 13, 2010
Honey bees precisely control the temperature inside their hives to determine which job their young will perform in the colony when mature, new research has revealed. Professor Jürgen Tautz, head of the bee group at Würzburg University, in Germany, said this allows the heater bees to control what sort of job a bee will fulfil when it matures and so ensure there are always enough bees filling each role within the colony.
Link to article in Telegraph
Richard Hammond's Invisible World will begin on BBC One on March 16. The episode with the heater bees will be shown on March 23

Amazing Scanning Electron Microscope pictures of insects and spiders
Telegraph - March 11,2010
Using a Scanning Electron Microscope, retired scientific photographer Steve Gschmeissner, 61, from Bedford, is able to magnify insects by up to a million times. The results show incredibly detailed images of creepy crawlies in 3D.
Link to photographs on the Telegraph

Devon Hedge Watch launched
Devon County Council - March 8, 2010
On 13 March 2010 the Devon Hedge Group launches the Devon Hedge Watch to find the finest and most distinctive hedges across the county. We invite all residents and visitors to Devon to help us find the very best hedges in Devon. We will use the top entries to help publicise and celebrate Devon’s extraordinary hedgerow heritage. As well as having more hedgerows than any other county in the British Isles, you can help us to demonstrate the extraordinary diversity and quality of Devon’s hedges.
Link to Devon Hedge Watch (Devon County Council)

Vancouver Island beekeepers devastated by 90% hive losses
By Derek Spalding
Daily News - March 6, 2010
South Vancouver Island beekeepers suffered a devastating blow this winter as 90% of their honey-bee hives died off, which means many commercial owners face folding up shop and possibly leaving the industry altogether.
Link to article on Daily News (Canada)

Researchers seek 'super' bee cure for a deadly disorder
By Wayne Anderson
Washington Times - March 5, 2010
Keith Delaplane, a national expert on honeybees and a Walter B. Hill Fellow at the University of Georgia, is leading a team of 21 researchers from 18 universities across the nation, with funding from the federal government, to discover and solve what's killing the bees. "We have met all of our bench marks for year one," said Mr. Delaplane. "We are spot on target on everything. The research is cooking."
Link to article in Washington Times

A Devon beekeeping family set up their own bee farm
By Jo Irving
BBC Devon - March 1, 2010
There's a real buzz in the air for one beekeeping family in east Devon who are hoping to turn their honey assets into more than just liquid gold. The Basterfields have been keeping bees in Ottery St Mary for decades but are expanding their farm to offer people more hands-on opportunities.
Link to article on BBC Devon
Link to Pure DEvonshire Honey

Learn how to listen to your bees!
By Ian Knauer
The Atlantic - March 1, 2010
I've been keeping bees since I was 12 years old. That was 20 years ago, and still, they amaze me. I was a quick and able student in the beginning. Both my grandfather and next-door neighbor Rob were eager teachers. Rob signed me up for beekeeping courses at the local community college, and my grandfather murmured instructions as we bent over the buzzing hives.
Link to article on the Atlantic

Bees take flight to the city after fall in rural hive numbers
By Michael McCarthy
Independent - March 1, 2010
The Co-op is training an army of apiarists as bee numbers halve in 20 years. The buzzing of bees, part of the essence of rural life, may soon become a city sound. A new army of urban beekeepers is being recruited as part of an ambitious project to halt the worrying decline in British honeybees. The plan is to site hives in city gardens and allotments across the UK, and even on the roofs of buildings, to help rebuild honeybee numbers, which are believed to have halved in Britain between 1985 and 2005, and more recently to have declined even more steeply in some areas.
Link to article on Independent

Taunton beekeepers buzzing after £5,000 grant
By Alex Cameron
Somerset County Gazette - February 23, 2010
A Taunton community group is buzzing after receiving a £5,000 grant from the County Gazette's £30,000 Giveaway in partnership with Somerset Community Foundation. The Taunton division of the Somerset Beekeepers Association will use the money to enhance its educational and practical opportunities for members at its Heatherton Park Apiary. It will also spend money on helping others interested in learning about bees and beekeeping.
Link to article on Somerset County Gazette

Sweet prospects are in store for east Devon honey farm
Rural Enterprise Development Gateway - February 22, 2010
Work has started near Ottery St Mary on the first all-new bee farm to be built anywhere in England and Wales for some 15 years. According to Daniel Basterfield, who with his father Ken is upgrading a long-standing semicommercial activity to a fully commercial operation, “It’s also to be the only bee farm I know of with educational, laboratory and teaching apiary facilities onsite. This means that as well as producing honey we will be able to provide comprehensive courses for people wishing to get involved in the fascinating world of bee-keeping.”
Link to news release (pdf) on Rural Enterprise Development Gateway

Buzz over new bumblebee discovery
BBC - February 22, 2010
A species of bumblebee has been spotted in Scotland for the first time in 50 years. The Southern Cuckoo bumblebee was found near the border with England at St Abbs in Berwickshire. It is black and yellow like other types but the male has distinctive antennae and is named after the cuckoo because it moves into the nests of other bees.
Link to article on BBC

The Cost of Colony Collapse Disorder, as You've Never Seen it Calculated Before
By Kim Flottum
Daily Green February 20, 2010
The cost of colony collapse disorder adds up for beekeepers, putting many out of business. Here's how the costs add up. When the media or researchers talk about how many colonies, how many bees, how many beekeepers have been affected by colony collapse disorder this year, or last year, or the year before, they talk in terms of percent loss... 24% of the bees that died last year perished due to colony collapse disorder, or some such figure. And those who write about this malady toss around those percentages with ease and without pain. It's easy to do because most of us don't really know what those numbers mean.
Link to article on Daily Green

Spring flowers a month late, National Trust gardeners find
by Matthew Appleby
HortWeek.com - February 17, 2010
The cold winter has delayed early spring plants flowering in National Trust gardens by up to a month, according to the National Trust's annual flower count. National Trust gardeners and volunteers in Devon and Cornwall have counted flowers each February since 2006 to provide an annual snapshot of the impact that the changing climate is having on plants in its gardens. National Trust head of gardens and parks Mike Calnan said: "Garden plants are the perfect weather barometers."
Link to article on Hortweek
Link to article on National Trust

Virtually understanding bumble bees
By Laura Joint
BBC Spotlight Devon - February 16, 2010
A Devon PhD student [from University of Exeter] has shed new light on the behaviour of bumble bees and pollination by creating a 'virtual' bee. Daniel Chalk has used artificial intelligence to provide information about real-life bumble bees. It is thought to be the first study of its kind and will inform policy-makers about cross-pollination between GM and non-GM crops.
Link to BBC Spotlight article
Link to research news on University of Exeter

Bee Vs. Car: Who Gets More Miles Per Gallon?
By Robert Krulwich
National Public Radio (Florida) - February 16, 2010
So Volkswagen has this new concept car - give it two gallons of gas, and it will go 416 miles without a stop. But German engineers, meet your fuel-efficiency master: the honeybee. So Volkswagen has this new car – the prototype was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show a few months ago – that will get an estimated 170 miles per gallon.
Link to article on NPR

Beekeeper: To Serve the Queen
Beekeeperportraits.com - February 15, 2010
Ed Swinden, supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Blog site showing the response to his call for 'photogenic beekeepers'.
'My call for Beekeepers to come forward to be involved in the project went out in the BBK News this week, and I’ve been inundated with emails from those wanting to take part. It’s brilliant. Now I just need to see how many I can get around on my “grand tour” later this month.'
Link to article on Beekeeperportraits.com

Warning to beekeepers as deadly fungus arrives in Ulster
By Linda Stewart
Monday, 15 February 2010
A deadly fungus that wipes out honeybees has arrived in Northern Ireland for the first time. Belfast-based scientists [AFBI] have warned beekeepers in the province to be vigilant against the disease that has killed huge numbers of the insect in Spain. Nosema ceranae infects adult bees when they ingest its spores, which then germinate in the gut and impair the bee’s ability to absorb nutrition, particularly protein.
Link to article in Belfast Telegraph

Analysis of a normalised expressed sequence tag (EST) library from a key pollinator, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris
7th Space - February 15, 2010
The bumblebee, Bombus terrestris (Order Hymenoptera), is of widespread importance. This species is widely used for commercial pollination in Europe, and along with other Bombus spp. is a key member of natural pollinator assemblages. Furthermore, the species is studied in a wide variety of biological fields. The objective of this project was to create a B. terrestris EST resource that will prove to be valuable in obtaining a deeper understanding of this significant social insect.
Link to article in 7th Space
Link to complete article from BMC Genomics (pdf)

New Patron for Bees for Development Trust
Bees for Development - February 12, 2010
Sting, the musician, actor and rainforest activist supports the work of Bees for Development Trust and becomes our newest Patron. Bees for Development Trust is an international charity working to promote sustainable beekeeping in developing countries, to support livelihoods and to conserve biodiversity.
Link to news release on Bees for Development

Growing interest in beekeeping - interview with Chris Tozer
South West Business - February 11, 2010
Beekeeping in North Devon is experiencing a surge of interest with many courses over-subscribed, it has emerged. Chris Tozer, chairman of North Devon Beekeepers and Swarm Collection Officer for North Devon, said media reports highlighting the decline in bee numbers had encouraged people to think about keeping a hive. "I think people have read that bee numbers are suffering and want to do something about it," he said. Mr Tozer keeps 20 bee colonies which produce around 15lb of honey each which is sold at local farmers' markets. He said that while people from all walks of life keep bees farmland offered an excellent setting.
Link to article in SouthWestBusiness

And the Most Worthy Eco-Project is...
By LFTO Features Team
Live for the Outdoors - February 11, 2010
(results published 26/01/2010)
'Thanks to all those who voted for the most worthy eco-project 2010. We are delighted to announce the winner is the Bumblebee Conservation Trust for its Pembrokeshire project, which the EOG Association for Conservation will now support to the tune of EUR30,000.'
Link to article on LFTO
Link to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust

Apiculture - the buzz on the decline of honeybees
EU Research - February 10, 2010
A team of scientists has found that the number of bee colonies in central Europe has shrunk over the years, and the number of beekeepers in Europe has declined since 1985. The findings, presented in the Journal of Apicultural Research, add weight to an escalating problem. The results are part of the EU-funded ALARM ('Assessing large-scale environmental risks with tested methods') project, which received more than EUR 12.5 million under the 'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6).
Link to article on EU Research
Link to ALARM Project

Food chains 'disrupted by earlier arrival of spring'
By Mark Kinver
BBC - February 9, 2010
Springtime in the UK is starting on average 11 days earlier than 30 years ago, causing natural food chains to become disrupted, a study suggests. Predators seem to be slower than organisms further down the food chains to respond to the seasonal shifts, according to a team of UK researchers.
Link to article on BBC

Halter: Dramatic decline of honeybees poses a serious threat to the planet
By Reese Halter
Statesman.com (US) - February 9, 2010
Over the past three years, more than 50 billion honeybees have died. Scientists understand the causes, and now we need everyone to lend a helping hand. The humble honeybee has been inextricably linked to humankind since prehistoric times — at first we were drawn to this remarkable creature because of its sweet honey.
Link to article on Statesman.com

New logo selected for all EU organic products
The European Commission today officially announced the winner of the EU organic logo competition. Over the past two months, some 130,000 people have voted online to choose the new organic symbol from three finalists. The winning design is by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, who gained 63% of the overall vote for his “Euro-leaf” logo. From 1st July 2010, the organic logo of the EU will be obligatory on all pre-packaged organic products that have been produced in any of the EU Member States and meet the necessary standards.
Link to press release from Brussels

'Honey Laundering' Threatens Trade With US
Scoop-New Zealand - 5 February 2010
Press Release: National Beekeepers' Association
New Zealand’s growing honey trade with the United States is in jeopardy if Australian honey products are allowed into the Kiwi market. The National Beekeepers’ Association of New Zealand (NBA) says Australian honey is being mixed with international honey and exported as an Australian product. NBA joint chief executive, Gemma Collier, says if Australian honey imports are allowed into New Zealand, New Zealand risks becoming a ‘honey laundering’ hub, a situation that would severely damage our honey exporters.
Link to article on Scoop-New Zealand

Crematorium could be home to bee hives
By Natalie Crockett
South Wales Argus - February 4, 2010
Honey bee hives will be introduced in the grounds of Gwent Crematorium to help boost the population of the species in the area. Two local and experienced bee-keepers are interested in maintaining the hives, which will be situated in the far corner of the Garden of Remembrance for a trial period of one year. The area, next to a composting bay, is otherwise unusable and the surrounding area is only used by the groundsman who suggested the scheme.
Link to article in South Wales Argus

One million honeybees to colonise the City
By Ruth Bloomfield
London Evening Standard - February 4, 2010
The Square Mile will be buzzing with the sound of about a million extra honeybees this year. Some 20 hives, each supporting up to 50,000 bees, will be installed in spring at schools, churches, banks and historic buildings in a £25,000 project for the City of London Festival (21 June to 9 July).
Link to article in London Evening Standard

Bees give the buzz about smells
By Steve Gray
Sydney Morning Herald - February 4, 2010
AAP - The Queensland Brain Institute is buzzing with the lessons to be learned from bees. Scientists at the University of Queensland's brain institute have found through the study of honey bees that the brain has an advanced ability to isolate specific odours and recollect smells. The researchers say their discovery may have profound implications for understanding mental illness, as well as for farming.
Link to article in Sydney Morning Herald

Bee sting therapy: Help or danger?
Venom may help arthritis, immunity
By Fernando Quintero and Orlando Sentinel
Freep.com - February 4, 2010
Reyah Carlson has been stung by bees more than 25,000 times. On purpose. Carlson is a practitioner of apitherapy, a controversial form of alternative medicine that uses bee venom to treat everything from arthritis to multiple sclerosis.
Link to article on Freep.com

Urban Beekeeping is the New (Controversial) Way to ‘Go Local’
by Marisa McNatt
Earth911.com - February 4, 2010
Honeybees are the new “pets” for harbor city residents across the U.S., from San Francisco to New York City. Even the Obamas keep a beehive on the south lawn of the White House. But the beekeeping community has been under fire as media has drawn attention to colony collapse disorder. However, according to Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture Magazine and blogger for The Daily Green, colony collapse disorder is usually not a concern for small-scale beekeepers, as they are mostly in a contained environment and not exposed to chemicals and other disorders often associated with large-scale operations.
Link to article on Earth911.com

Honey, there's something very odd in this tree
Portsmouth Times - 04 February 2010
By Chris Broom
Amateur photographer Stephen Leff couldn't believe his eyes when he saw this spectacular giant honeycomb hanging from a tree.
Stephen, from Wallington in Fareham, was taking a weekend stroll with his family at Holly Hill Country they saw the eyecatching shape high in the trees.
Link to article in Portsmouth Times

Artificial Bee Silk a Big Step Closer to Reality
Insciences Organisation - February 3, 2010
CSIRO scientist Dr Tara Sutherland and her team have achieved another important milestone in the international quest to artificially produce insect silk. They have hand-drawn fine threads of honeybee silk from a ‘soup’ of silk proteins that they had produced transgenically. These threads were as strong as threads drawn from the honeybee silk gland, a significant step towards development of coiled coil silk biomaterials.
Link to article on Insciences Organisation

Beekeeping diary: a tentative winter feed
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - February 3, 2010
Unlocking the gates to the allotments with a bag full of sugar paste I'm surprised to see a few people busily hacking away at the frozen earth. I had expected to drop in on the hive without meeting any of the allotment holders, but some of them plant according to the biodynamic method so they don't garden when they want to, they garden when the moon wants them to.
Link to diary on Telegraph
See also last year's beekeeping diary

Boyko's Bees: Bulgaria GMO Act Puts Mankind at Risk
By Henry Rowlands
Novinite.com - February 2, 2010
Changes to the [Bulgarian] GMO Act would allow for field trials of MON 810 maize (produced by biotech giant Monsanto) to take place in Bulgaria. MON810 is the only GM crop grown on a large scale in Europe, and has so far been banned in 7 European countries, including Greece and Germany but not Bulgaria. Recently Walter Haefeker, a director of the German Beekeepers Association (DBIB) and vice president of the European Professional Beekeepers Association, warned that "the very existence of beekeeping is at stake," over this threat.
Link to article in Novinite

Row threatens plan to save bees
By Rebecca Lefort and Richard Gray
Telegraph - January 30, 2010
Plans to save Britain's declining bee population have been thrown into disarray after a row broke out between beekeepers and government officials. The British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA), the country's largest beekeeping body, believes that money put aside for a £2.8 million Whitehall initiative to protect the health of honeybees is being misspent.
Link to article in Telegraph

'We wouldn't be able to feed ourselves if there was no more honeybee pollination'
By Eoin Butler
Irish Times - January 30, 2010
Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell, directors of ‘Colony’, an Irish documentary about honeybees. Once people understand how intrinsic bees are to the food chain and the ecosystem in general, and once they appreciate the magnitude of the collapse in the bee population, they’ll generally sit up and take notice.
Link to article in Irish Times
See also the Colony film website

Beekeeping in Schools
By Chris Deaves
BBKA - January 28, 2010
If you involved or approached by a school regarding a 'serious' beekeeping proposal (e.g. where bees may be kept on the premises) you should make sure that the school is aware of the guidance published by CLEAPSS as part of the planning process. (CLEAPSS is an advisory service providing support in science and technology for a consortium of local authorities and their schools including establishments for pupils with special needs.)
Link to article on BBKA

Survey: Honeybee Colony Collapse Losses Declining
By Genaro Armas
ABC News - January 27, 2010
Fewer beekeepers are reporting evidence of a mysterious ailment that had been decimating the U.S. honeybee population.A survey of beekeepers published in the January issue of the Journal of Apicultural Research finds the percentage of operations reporting having lost colonies with colony collapse disorder symptoms decreased to 26 percent last winter, compared to 38 percent the previous season and 36 percent the season before that. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
(AP)But losses due to colony collapse disorder remain high enough to keep beekeepers on edge, and longtime stresses on bees such as starvation and poor weather add to the burden.
Link to article on ABC News
see also Information on Colony Collapse Disorder

Taking the sting out of the honeybee controversy
Environmental Research Web - January 27, 2010
Environmental debates can become both passionate and polarized, particularly when people may have vested interests in the outcome.
Link to article in Environmental Research Web
Link to article in Environmental Research Letters

UF research finds that ‘killer’ bees haven’t stung U.S. honey production
University of Forida News - January 26, 2010
In just a few years after Africanized honey bees were introduced to Brazil in 1956, the aggressive bees had dominated and ruined domestic hives throughout South and Central America. According to University of Florida research, however, the same story isn’t playing out in North America. According to an economic analysis from UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, since their arrival in the U.S. in October 1990, Africanized honey bees (often called killer bees) haven’t had a substantial economic impact on the honey production of domestic hives — even after spreading throughout 10 states.
Link to article in University of Florida News
Link to original article in Discover magazine

Pembrokeshire bee project hoping for £25k prize
BBC News - January 25, 2010
A project to protect bumblebees in Pembrokeshire is in the running for a UK prize to expand its work on creating habitat for the endangered species. The shrill carder bee is only found in six populations across the UK, three of which are in Wales. The winner of the prize will be chosen by online voting at the Live for the Outdoors website from Monday. The project is near at the Ministry of Defence site at Castlemartin and aims to boost an existing bee group there. Six schemes across the UK are on the shortlist for the 30,000 euro (£25,000) prize.
Link to article on BBC News
Link to Live for the Outdoors website
Link to Essex Biodiversity Project for identification and photo

Highland black bees not wild enough to be saved
By Jenny Fyall
The Scotsman - January 24, 2010
THEY outnumber human inhabitants by 30,000 to one but are still in dire need of protection. Yet a four-year campaign to save the black honeybee of Colonsay from alien invasion has hit a bureaucratic brick wall.
Beekeeper Andrew Abrahams, who runs hives containing three million of the insects on the Hebridean island (human population about 100) wants the government to make Colonsay Scotland's first legally enshrined bee "reserve". He hopes this will ensure that rival beekeepers do not introduce other, more common, species to the island.
Link to article in the Scotsman

Honey Bee Health and Management event announced
The Smallholder - January 21, 2010
The Rural Enterprise Gateway project Knowledge Network, invite you to ‘Honey Bee Health and Management’ event on the February 10 at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 6JS. Speakers and topics will include: Statutory control in the UK and risk management, Richard Ball; Varroa destructor mite and hive management, Dr. Martin, Sheffield University; Bee diseases and causes, Norman Carreck, Sussex University; and Future Developments, Dr. Dave Chandler, University of Warwick.
Further details and booking information are available from Susey Bamber on:
susan.bamber@rac.ac.uk or tel: 01285 889872.
Link to article and provisional programme in the Smallholder
Link to Event page on Rural Enterprise Gateway

Disappearing Bees: UK Government Meets British Ecological Society to Discuss Measures
By Estella Shardlow
Global Herald - January 20, 2010
Environment experts today warned the UK could face dire financial repercussions unless more is done to remedy the ailing bee population. Following January 2010 briefing note on Insect Pollination -POSTnote 348, a joint seminar between the British Ecological Society and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) delivered details of new research on the crisis and highlighted the far-reaching impact bees have on the eco-system. Findings showed England suffered the biggest decline out of the whole of Europe, with bee numbers down 54%.
Link to article on Global Herald
Link to British Ecological Society
Link to Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST)

Bee numbers in England fell by more than half over the last 20 years
By Louise Gray
Telegraph - January 20, 2010
England's bees are vanishing faster than anywhere else in Europe, with more than half of hives dying out over the last 20 years, according to a new study. The University of Reading research found there was a 54 per cent decline in managed honey bee populations in England between 1985 and 2005 compared to an average of 20 per cent across Europe.
Link to article in Telegraph
Link to article in The Mail
Link to Press Release on University of Reading website

Bee decline linked to falling biodiversity
By Richard Black
BBC - January 20, 2010
Before and after: entire colonies of bees have collapsed in the US
The decline of honeybees seen in many countries may be caused by reduced plant diversity, research suggests. Bees fed pollen from a range of plants showed signs of having a healthier immune system than those eating pollen from a single type, scientists found. Writing in the journal Biology Letters, the French team says that bees need a fully functional immune system in order to sterilise food for the colony. Other research has shown that bees and wild flowers are declining in step.
Link to article on BBC
Link to full text in Biology Letters

Making a buzz: French roads to help honey bees
AFP – January 19, 2010
PARIS — France is to sow nectar-bearing flowers on the sides of roads in an experiment aimed at helping the honey bee, hit by an alarming worldwide decline, the ministry of sustainable development said on Tuesday. More than 250 kilometres (155 miles) of roadside will be sown in the coming months, launching a three-year test that could be extended to the country's 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) network of non-toll roads, it said.
Link to article on AFP

BBKA Elects Its Youngest Ever President
BBKA - January 18, 2010
52 year old Martin Smith, the newly elected President of the BBKA speaking immediately after the 2010 Annual Delegates Meeting (ADM) on Saturday January 16, said: 'I am very pleased with the outcome of the meeting. Delegates voted to allow the Rutland BKA and the Lancaster Beekeepers Ltd to join the BBKA as member associations and the charity, Bees for Development to join as a specialist member.'
Link to article on BBKA

Biodiversity nears 'point of no return'
By Hilary Benn
BBC - January 17, 2010
The decline in the world's biodiversity is approaching a point of no return, warns Hilary Benn. In this week's Green Room, the UK's environment secretary urges the international community to seize the chance to act before it is too late. In 2002, the world's governments made a commitment to significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Although it is hard to measure how much biodiversity we have, we do know these targets have not been met.
Link to article on BBC

Bee expert, chemical rep clash over pesticides
By Diane Petryk
The Daily Item (US) - January 16, 2010
Honeybees will die in greater numbers this year than ever before, and court fights over the chemicals some believe are killing them will continue to be a cat-and-mouse game. That’s the opinion of Lewisburg beekeeper Dave Hackenberg, who last week was in Orlando, Fla., at the North American Beekeeping Conference with about 750 of his peers.
Link to article on Daily Item (US)

BBKA to fund a PhD project into investigating the genetic basis of hygienic behaviour in honeybees
BBKA - January 16, 2010
The British Beekeepers’ Association, which represents more than 16,000 of the country’s amateur beekeepers, will give a £36,000 grant to support the work of a post graduate student over the next three years, in the prestigious Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects (LASI) at Sussex University.
Link to article on BBKA
Link to research page at LASI, Sussex University

Wasp genomes are sequenced, revealing surprises
Indiana University - January 14, 2010
A consortium of more than 100 scientists has completed an analysis of the DNA sequence of three parasitic wasp species, and the project has turned up a few surprises in the process. The genome project, described in this week's issue of Science, was led by University of Rochester and Baylor University scientists, with Indiana University Bloomington biologists providing key genetic findings.
Link to article in Indiana University

Bees equipped with microchips help explain hive declines
By Stephen Messenger
Treehugger - January 11, 2020
In hopes of better understanding why bee populations are in decline, scientists are attaching microchips to bees to monitor their movements. The tiny device is glued to the back of the bees works with equipment installed at the entrance of their hives to record different data. Researchers say that the insight provided by this unprecedented observational technique will help them better understand the behavior of the insects throughout their entire lifecycles--and may shed light onto the reasons why bee populations have been steadily declining over the last 20 years.
Link to article on Treehugger

Is this the end of food as we know it?
By Bee Wilson
Telegraph - January 9, 2010
A new film paints an apocalyptic picture of a world reduced to tinned goods. But could it ever happen here? We currently have a mere 300 professional beekeepers in this country, many of them nearing retirement age. It will only get worse unless something is done. 'When I attended a forum on the future of honeybees at No 10 Downing Street last September, many well-intentioned words were spoken about saving British bees and honey. Yet when I suggested to a Government advisor that they might think of subsidising honey farmers, he laughed nervously.'
Link to article in the Telegraph

Sales of honey have fallen for the first time in six years following the collapse of British bee colonies.
By Aislinn Laing
Telegraph - January 9, 2010
A fifth of bee colonies were wiped out by disease and bad weather in 2008, forcing prices up which has in turn put off consumers. Figures published in The Grocer magazine revealed sales in the 12 months to October 2009 were down 5.4 per cent, while prices rose by almost 18 per cent.
Link to article in the Telegraph

Wild bees 'may freeze to death'
BBC - January 8, 2010
Conservationists have warned of a "pollination crisis" this summer as hibernating wild bees perish in freezing conditions. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BCT) said domesticated honeybees should survive the winter in hives looked after by beekeepers. However, wild bumblebee queens hibernating underground could freeze to death.
Link to article on BBC

Spread of Asian honey bees worrying scientists
By Jessica Mawer
ABC News - January 8, 2010
Biosecurity Queensland (BQ) says finding out how two swarms of Asian honey bees ended up on the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns in far north Queensland, is vital to eradicating the potential carrier of the commercially-devastating varroa mite.
Link to article on ABC News

Beekeepers warned after 30,000 honey bees stolen in Leicestershire
ThisisLeicestershire - January 8, 2010
Beekeepers are being warned to be on their guard after 30,000 honey bees were stolen. The three hives were taken from a site near Great Glen and their owner fears the bees may have been killed by the cold. Beekeepers are becoming increasingly concerned about the threat of hive-rustling. The sharp decline in the number of colonies, due to disease and weather conditions, has led to an increase in the value of hives.
Link to article on ThisisLeicestershire

Clarity on Honey Bee Collapse?
By Francis L. W. Ratnieks and Norman L. Carreck
Science - January 8, 2010
Over the past few years, the media have frequently reported deaths of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Most reports express opinions but little hard science. A recent historical survey (1) pointed out that extensive colony losses are not unusual and have occurred repeatedly over many centuries and locations.
Link to article on Science
Click here to link to the Sussex University's Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects

Behind Mass Die-Offs, Pesticides Lurk as Culprit
By Sonia Shah
Yale Environment 360 - January 7, 2010
In the past dozen years, three new diseases have decimated populations of amphibians, honeybees, and — most recently — bats. Increasingly, scientists suspect that low-level exposure to pesticides could be contributing to this rash of epidemics.
Link to article on Yale Environment 360

People asked to grow bee-friendly plants
News Shopper - January 4, 2010
PEOPLE are being asked to grow bee-friendly plants to stop the honey bee from dying out. Lib Dem candidate for Deptford, Tamora Langley, has helped raise almost £500,000 to fund research by the University of Sussex for protecting the honey bee.
Link to article on News Shopper

Beekeeping diary: By Ian Douglas

Beekeeping diary: the new colonies arrive
By Ian Douglas
Telegraph - May 27, 2011
I’m stuck in a traffic jam, and bees are appearing in my rear view mirror rather more than I’d like. After losing my colony in the snows of winter, I’ve ordered two more to re-stock. They arrived in the back of a van from Oxfordshire this morning and now they’re in the boot of my car, two white plastic boxes about two foot by eight inches full of buzzing urgency, crawling through Hampstead. Some of them have made their way through the sticky tape that seals the boxes shut, lured out by the scent of the syrupy feed that sits next to them, and are following their urge to get out and forage.
Link to article on Telegraph

October 13, 2010 - Autumn closing
October 5, 2010 - Feeding time
September 28, 2010 - Rain, shine and bees that eat honey
September 23, 2010 - Back in buzzness
May 28, 2010 - A terrible Hush
May 19, 2010 - Even domesticated bees are wild
May 12, 2010 - Queen bee finds a home
May 5, 2010 - The queen that loves her cage
April 27, 2010 - Long live the queen. I hope
April 16, 2010 - The wrong kind of breeding
April 12, 2010 - Smoking out hopes for a new queen
April 6, 2010 - The falling rise of a beloved insect
February 3, 2010 - A tentative winter feed
See also last year's [2009] beekeeping diary