BeekeeperTom

Russia alarmed by large fall in bee populations

Russia should be more than alarmed! According to the BBC, their beekeeping industry derives their honey from bumblebees. Good luck with that!

Media reporting inaccuracies, this occurs daily with news reporting. The articles purport to be factual, written as authority pieces. We the consumers take the information, run with it, and form opinions based upon lazy, flawed and distorted articles.

So,…

Glorious, A Huge Honeybee Swarm On World Bee Day 2019

So there am I, in the midst of the 2019 swarm season with eight precious honeybee swarms successfully collected, with room for at least a few dozen more.

Specifically, I was earning brownie points from the missus by refurbing the kitchen, dining room, and conservatory. So serious brownie points.

Out of the blue, my better half, Suzanne, casually says your bees are swarming. ‘Yea right of course…

Sustainable Bees & Queens?

Close to capacity at Rudgwick Village Hall

Saturday 30th March 2019 – Rudgwick, West Sussex

  Saturday saw the last in a series of events hosted by BIBBA, this particular event being at Wisborough Green BKA.

Refreshingly the day was not about which honeybee sub-species is best. Using our own stock, or stock from a cooperative of local beekeepers, home bred bees are well within our grasp. This can…

100% Honeybee Colony Survival Over Winter

Gorgeous locally adapted honeybees

  Absolutely fantastic news, all our woodland colonies have survived the 2018 winter. They have emerged in Spring 2019, healthy and eager to go.

Why the high survival rate? This is because they are locally adapted honeybees. Locally adapted bees including Amm, the youngest colony is over seven (7) years old.

They have never been fed syrup or fondant, and are…

California is hit by a wave of BEE thefts

Farmers offer $10,000 reward to find raiders who used a fork-lift truck to steal nearly 200 hives

Two beekeepers in California’s Central Valley had nearly 100 hives stolen each

The bees are currently in demand as they are needed for almond pollination 

Detectives believe a struggling rival beekeeper could be to blame for the thefts 

California beekeepers are offering a $10,000 reward to find…

Great Day To Be Out In The Fresh Air

Crystal blue skies over a mature tree canopy, perfect.

  What a cool crisp gorgeous day it was. Left the laptop, tablet and phone behind to spend some time in the woods logging.

More importantly, taking the time to stop and just look around at what really matters.

In this ever-quickening world, the small stuff can be so distracting. It is all too easy to forget why we are here, it is important,…

Gem From The Bottom Of The internet – Fri 18th Jan 19

Why I love the internet

It is:

The largest repository of knowledge in history

Instantly searchable

A platform for instantaneous news (and fake news admittedly)

A powerful educational tool

A means to influence,

……and so on.

But!

It also enables folks to speak their mind prior to engaging their brain, and occasionally you find a gem. A gem that makes you titter, and keeps you tittering every time…

Varroa Destructor: Bee parasites feed on fatty organs, not blood

© iStock/William Jones-Warner Honey bee colonies around the world are at risk from a variety of threats, ranging from pesticides to habitat loss, but bee parasites are the biggest threat – especially the Varroa destructor.

According to the University of Maryland, USA, research suggests that one threat stands well above the others when it comes to honey bee survival. Bee parasites, specifically the

BeekeeperTom’s Honey Gets a Royal Reception

John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive Officer at Heathrow Airport (Left) presenting HRH The Earl of Wessex with BeekeeperTom’s honey.

BeekeeperTom’s honey was presented to HRH The Earl of Wessex KG GCVO, 17th October 2018, to celebrate Heathrow’s Strategic Partnership with The Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award charity.

  As part of Heathrow’s support for the Duke of Edinburgh award charity, BeekeeperTom was…

2018 Honeybee Swarm Season

Swarm capture at Heathrow airport What are Swarming Honeybees?

First and foremost, and as I ask students on my weekly honeybee experience course, what does it mean when bees are swarming, what is a swarm?

For those of us old enough to remember that ‘interesting’ but inaccurate film, ‘The Swarm’, and contrary to what Hollywood would have us believe, swarming bees are not a roaming bunch of…

New pesticides ‘may have risks for bees’

Attempts to find a new generation of pesticides to replace neonicotinoids have been dealt a potential blow. Neonicotinoids are the most commonly used insecticide in the world, but had been linked to bee declines.

Studies suggest a new type of pesticide seen as an alternative to the chemicals, which have been banned in many countries, may have similar risks.

The new insecticides may reduce…

Canada to phase out crop pesticides linked to bee deaths

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – The Canadian government said on Wednesday it would move to restrict the use of two types of crop pesticides that have been linked to deaths of aquatic insects and bees, in a victory for environmentalists and the latest setback for companies that sell the pesticides.

FILE PHOTO – Bees from one of Calvin Parsons’ colonies are seen near Meskanaw, Saskatchewan, May 26,…

Heathrow Terminal 5 Honey Day

Another fantastic day at Heathrow, on this occasion we were invited to bring honey and wax into terminal 5 to service T5 staff, honey requirements.

What surprised us that the large candles disappeared first thing, so note to self we will need a lot more next time.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much folks enjoy real honey, as in not pasteurised, as it came from the hive, folks love it. The…

Insecticides Could Be Making Bees Less Curious

Shutterstock

Neonicotinoid insecticides, which are the most widely used insecticides in the world, have been linked with declining populations of bees. As pollinators, bees play a critical role in ecological networks, so their loss can lead to serious knock-on effects for a wide variety of plants, and for the animals that rely on those plants for food. That includes us. Bees pollinate around a…

12 Interesting Facts About Bees

Bees are crucial to the agricultural industry. You may already know that one out of every three bites of food you take is because of their crop pollination, but there are many facts that people aren’t aware of. Here are 12 interesting facts about bees, nature’s first farmer:

1. There are 20,000 species of bees. Over 4,000 contribute to pollination.

2. Bees have two stomachs — one for eating and…