Author Archives: Peter Halford

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Colony of invasive red dwarf honeybee found for first time in Europe

30-Aug-24 – The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/30/colony-invasive-red-dwarf-honeybee-first-time-europe

South African wine producer drone-drops wasps on vineyard

29-Aug-24 – The Drinks Business

South African wine producer drone-drops wasps on vineyard

Golf courses go green in bid to boost biodiversity

26-Aug-24 – ITV News

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2024-08-26/golf-courses-go-green-in-bid-to-boost-biodiversity

'Bees starving' in disastrous year for French honey

25-Aug-24 – Phys Org

https://phys.org/news/2024-08-bees-starving-disastrous-year-french.html

Ukrainian beekeeper refuses to abandon hives as Russian troops advance

22-Aug-24 – France 24

https://www.france24.com/en/video/20240822-ukrainian-beekeeper-refuses-to-abandon-hives-as-russian-troops-advance

First £1 coin featuring King Charles III enters circulation - Design with bees on reverse

20-Aug-24 – The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/20/first-one-pound-coin-king-charles-bees-circulation

Researchers develop methods to detect ‘fake’ honey without even opening the jar

19-Aug-24 – Engineering and Technology

https://eandt.theiet.org/2024/08/19/researchers-develop-methods-detect-fake-honey-without-even-opening-jar

Blenheim celebrate World Honey Bee Day with conservation success

19-Aug-24 – Pro-Landscaper

https://www.prolandscapermagazine.com/blenheim-celebrate-world-honey-bee-day-with-conservation-success/

How you can adopt a beehive to protect our honeybee population

10-Aug-24 – Country Living

https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/countryside/a61812297/adopt-beehive-protect-honeybee-population/

Asian hornet 'nest sweeper' is developed for public use to reign in bee killing insects

07-Aug-24 – Plymouth Herald

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/asian-hornet-nest-sweeper-developed-9465566

Where have all the wasps gone this summer? All the buzz on their disappearance

06-Aug-24 – The Standard

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/wasps-gone-disappearing-summer-climate-wet-weather-b1174995.html

Twente’s tiny tech triumph: Tracking Asian hornets to save bees

05-Aug-24 – Innovations

Twente’s tiny tech triumph: Tracking Asian hornets to save bees

University invites public to join wasp study

05-Aug-24 – Punchline

https://www.punchline-gloucester.com/skillsjobsapprenticeships/university-of-gloucestershire-invites-public-to-join-wasp-study-

Researchers develop AI capable of detecting invasive insect before it wreaks havoc: 'The results were encouraging'

05-Aug-24 – TheCoolDown

Researchers develop AI capable of detecting invasive insect before it wreaks havoc: 'The results were encouraging'

Confronting the global threat of invasive Asian hornets: a call for coexistence

02-Aug-24 – The National

https://www.thenational-somaliland.com/confronting-the-global-threat-of-invasive-asian-hornets-a-call-for-coexistence/

Beekeeping Like Beckham! I had a crash course in the art of the apiarist

21-Jul-24 – Hello!

https://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/707807/carton-house-fairmont-county-kildark-review/

Jeremy Clarkson defends beehives following bee sting claims

21-Jul-24 – Oxford Mail
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/24466059.jeremy-clarkson-defends-beehives-following-bee-sting-claims/

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I don’t know about you but my bees have been nothing but trouble these last few weeks. St Leonards has good forage so starvation has not been a problem but my difficulty has been the number of boxes that have wanted to swarm for a second time. The bees seem to have felt cramped in their brood boxes after splits were done; no doubt in part due to their difficulty in drawing wax given the lowish temperatures we have had recently. Every box has now built queen cells. My biggest challenge has been one box of extremely prolific bees ( I got from another beekeeper) where varroa had been allowed to build up. I decided to do a split but leaving the queen on the old site with just foundation (I knew this queen needed a fresh start). This just didn’t work as I had planned, however, as the temperatures just weren’t elevated enough and with the supers above the bees just didn’t bother to work Mr Kembles nice foundation. I eventually gave them drawn comb and the Queen laid into that. But now for the second time they have built queen cells and so I have just banked her in an apidea mating hive with a cupful of bees. Bees are so frustrating at times! The parent hive was another story. Over a period of two weeks a carpet of dead bees has built up in front of the hive as diseased bees crawled out of the hive. They had wings but couldn’t take off and a stream of them seemed to be making their way daily down the garden. I knew it would be risky getting a viable queen cell so took out an insurance policy of two frames of brood with over 10 queen cells. I left them all in the nuc I took away from the parent hive. From that insurance policy I got one nice looking queen. In the parent hive I left one queen cell. Just as well I had my insurance policy as the queen cell I left in the parent hive, when checked, contained a dead larva. So I was able to put back my insurance policy. However what had been a big box of bees is now a smallish unit. The three supers they had laden with honey have now had to be given to other hives as there aren’t enough of them to look after it or to cap it! My queen will take another week to come into lay and as I have a lot of units I have added a frame of sacrificial larvae. Phoretic varroa mites will hopefully dive into this as there is no other brood and in a weeks time I shall remove this frame and burn it. Let’s hope this gives my new queen a fresh start. I have a similar scenario at my out apiary with the box of bees I allowed to expand into a double 14*12 brood box for queen rearing. Lots of bees equates to lots of varroa and lots of varroa means lots of viruses getting a hold. I have created a real management headache for myself! I don’t know about you but varroa seems to be a big problem this year. Yet again this is proving to be a year like no other and my prediction is that many of you will struggle with varroa in your hives earlier than normal so you will need to monitor carefully what the daily mite drop is. We have bee safaris organised for the end of June and those who will come will be in for a treat. Look out for the session on treatments. In my opinion this is the most important session. Get that right and the bees are far more likely to survive the winter. Get it wrong and hives can collapse in March.

Malcolm Wilkie – July 2024

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Ouch! Why wasps like stinging us on August 5th

31-Jul-24 – ResponseSource

https://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/105637/ouch-why-wasps-like-stinging-us-on-august-5th/

International Recognition For Wilton Centre’s Teenage Beekeeper

29-Jul-24 - Pioneer

https://thepioneergroup.com/international-recognition-for-wilton-centres-teenage-beekeeper/

'Ingenious' insects build rockface nest

25-Jul-243 – Jersey Evening Post

'Ingenious' insects build rockface nest

Jeremy Clarkson hits back at fans stung by bees near Clarkson’s farm

24-Jul-24 – The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/jeremy-clarkson-beehive-farm-b2585088.html

Insect decline of 37% over 50 years shows support for farmers is crucial to biodiversity recovery

22-Jul-24 – GWCT

https://www.gwct.org.uk/news/news/2024/july/new-scientific-paper-records-a-37-decline-in-insect-abundance-on-cereal-crops-over-50-years/

Woman develops 'full-blown addiction' to bee stings for pain relief and 'great sex'

19-Jul-24 – Unilad

https://www.unilad.com/news/health/woman-addicted-bee-stings-pain-relief-margaret-505747-20240719

Air pollution harms pollinators more than pests, study finds

11-Jul-24 – University of Reading

https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2024/Research-News/Air-pollution-harms-pollinators-more-than-pests-study-finds

Brit drivers warned hitch-hiking wasps could see them slapped with a whopping £2500 fine this summer

10-Jul-24 – The Sun

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/29071729/brit-drivers-warned-hitch-hiking-wasps-whopping-fine/

Watchdog investigates emergency authorisation for banned bee-killing pesticide

08-Jul-24 – Shropshire Star

https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/uk-news/2024/07/08/watchdog-investigates-emergency-authorisation-for-banned-bee-killing-pesticide/

Asian hornets' nests on the increase in Belgium

02-Jul-24 – The Brussels Times

https://www.brusselstimes.com/1122261/asian-hornets-nests-on-the-increase-in-belgium

Will AI help stop spread of killer Asian Hornets? BBC Springwatch presenter Gillian Burke backs technology which helps identify invasive insects

02-Jul-24 – The Mail Online

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13591633

Devon school trains 'mini beekeepers'

01-Jul-24 – BBC

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c511dr7glz9o

Shoppers run for cover as swarm of bees takes over high street

29-Jun-24 – Metro
https://metro.co.uk/2024/06/29/shoppers-run-cover-swarm-bees-takes-high-street-21130001/

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AI in action – Stopping the Asian Hornet Invasion

26-Jun-24 – CapGemini

AI in action

Raspberry Pi used to count bees — Brazilian researchers use a Pi Zero 2 W and some AI to help keep hives healthy

21-Jun-24 – Toms Hardware

https://www.tomshardware.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-used-to-count-bees-brazilian-researchers-use-a-pi-zero-2-w-and-some-ai-to-help-keep-hives-healthy

Artificial Intelligence raises alarm on invasive hornet species

18-Jun-24 – Labmate

https://www.labmate-online.com/news/Laboratory-research-news/126/university-of-exeter/ai-monitors-invasive-hornet-species/62841

Honeybees Can Sniff Out Lung Cancer, Scientists Suggest

15-Jun-24 – Earth.com

https://www.earth.com/news/honeybees-can-sniff-out-lung-cancer/

How to help British bees with the rise of Asian Hornets

06-Jun-24 - ITV

https://www.itv.com/thismorning/articles/how-to-help-british-bees-with-the-rise-of-asian-hornets

Help the bees: expert tips to create a brighter, more colourful and diverse garden

04-Jun-24 – House Beautiful

https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/a60912717/attract-bees-garden-cuprinol/

Asian hornets overwintered in UK for first time, DNA testing shows

03-Jun-24 – The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/03/asian-hornets-overwintered-uk-first-time-dna-testing

‘Considerable’ drop in number of Asian hornet queens spotted in Jersey

03-Jun-24 – Jersey Evening Post

‘Considerable’ drop in number of Asian hornet queens spotted in Jersey

Warning over invasive plant taking over Gloucestershire rivers as mission launched today

03-Jun-24 – Gloucestershire Live
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/warning-over-invasive-plant-taking-9319318

Invasive Asian hornet threatens Luxembourg’s bees

02-Jun-24 – Lux Times

https://www.luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/invasive-asian-hornet-threatens-luxembourg-s-bees/13451872.html