……to save the bees. The problem with the narrative #savethebees is that it’s long on virtue, short on context and infers that honeybee numbers are declining, which isn’t true. You can not become a ‘bee savior’ by popping a beehive in your backgarden to boost the numbers. You’ll be addressing the wrong problem and just possibly making things worse. Honeybees are amazing creatures, but if you’re a bumblebee, solitary bee, wasp, hoverfly, moth, butterfly or even one

HAPPY WORLD BEE Day : 20th May 2022

Did modernity nearly kill UK bees? In the decade before the first World War, UK bees began to die. Something was killing them. The culprit has never been properly fathomed and is still debated. Populations were so depleted, that modern British bees carry the genes of imported strains who replaced the dead. For a time the native Black Bee was thought to have gone completely extinct. The crisis became known as the ‘Isle of Wight

This Queen Bee, pictured strutting her stuff over newly collected nectar (on the 8th May in Horeb, Carmarthenshire,) is now two years old. Pretty isn’t she? You can tell her age by the tiny remnants of coded yellow paint on her thorax (correct placement) and, oops, abdomen (incorrect placement!). Oh well, doesn’t seem to have done her any harm. –––#localbusiness#welshbusiness#beefacts#bees#beeswax#beekeeping#beekeeper#localhoney#honeyfacts#rawhoney#rawhoneybenefits#honeybees#nature#farmlife#carmarthenshire#Wales#welshhoney#beehealth#climatecrisis#pollinator#savethebees#sustainable#natural

Guess who? One of the most impactful threats to a Beekeeper’s charges, and one that you might not immediately think of, is the woodpecker. There are actually two types at large in Wales, the European green (Picus viridis) and their lesser spotted cousins (Dryobates minor). The green woodpecker is the potential problem for beekeepers, since, a hungry Picus may decide to predate bee larvae and honeycomb. It’s hardly much of a stretch for a woodpecker

One of the weirdest things about a Queen bee is that she can apparently create four different types of offspring from any egg that she lays. By excluding stored sperm she creates Drones, the male bee with only 16 chromosomes. From her fertilised eggs she can create three distinct female types (who carry 32 chromosomes). She can create more Queens (for swarms or replacements), hardworking but short-lived Summer Bees and much longer lived Winter Bees.