Dos_Box Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I don't know how many of you have seen this: BBC News - Honey bee losses double in a year due to poor winter but it is quite worrying news. Basically, due to the bad winter UK hives and colonies have been hit hard, and note the figures quoted in the article do not include bumble, solitary and other 'wild' bee types. In our garden we are aghast at the lack of bees, especially given that we are awash with flowers this year, although the 3 masonry bees nests made in our new bee house last year all hatched successfully this spring and have, so far, been replaced with 5 new larvae nests. I'll post pictures once I get a chance. So, if you get a bee trapped inside your house this year, please do your best to try and get it back outside without hurting it, we need all the bees we can get!
DeltaBravo Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I remember hearing an interesting conspiracy theory a few years ago about bee's going to disappear after 2012. strange...
sted Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I remember hearing an interesting conspiracy theory a few years ago about bee's going to disappear after 2012. strange... wasnt that dr who?
DeltaBravo Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Noo, I know there was an episode on Dr Who but I heard this probably around 2006 time, I'll try find it on google
plexer Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 We had a swarm the other day which was collected by a local bee keeper. Ben
DeltaBravo Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 "Disappearing Bees All around the world, bees - particularly honeybees - seem to be disappearing. Beekeepers noticed it first, but ordinary people are now waking up to the fact that there are fewer bees around. What's going on? What started out as an internet conspiracy is now beginning to leak out into the mainstream media, with scientific phrases such as "Colony Collapse Disorder" being used. Some people blame a new virus or pesticide, while others suggest that radiation from mobile phones is interfering with bees' navigation systems. Much of our agriculture is based on pollination undertaken by bees, so the implications of bee disappearance is massive, with governments now spending millions of pounds on research. The bee disappearance mystery has been referenced on shows such as Doctor Who." And if you haven't got a busy day... Missing Honey Bees: What's going on?
rickjames Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 We have bees on site managed by one of the teachers who is obviously, a beekeeper; he's moving to Qatar this year and has apparently sold them already. Would have loved to have given beekeeping a crack but I can't imagine the work involved.
pcstru Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 So, if you get a bee trapped inside your house this year, please do your best to try and get it back outside without hurting it, we need all the bees we can get! We have a lot of masonry bees, I guess because of the poor state of the pointing and mortar. Re-pointing is on my list of things to do this year so is there anything I can do to mitigate entombing a load of bees?
plexer Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 We have bees on site managed by one of the teachers who is obviously, a beekeeper; he's moving to Qatar this year and has apparently sold them already. Would have loved to have given beekeeping a crack but I can't imagine the work involved. For a single hive or even a few from what I've read during the season i.e spring/summer it's a few hours a week work and during the winter practically nothing to do. We have a great garden here and a community education working who looks after it all with groups of students and young ones from the local sure start centre, cob pizza oven too and soon an outside classroom bee's have been mentioned in the past. Ben
featured_spectre Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 When we repointed ours we had a colony by the kitchen door. Did no harm to us as we left them sugar water so they liked us. We eventually got a beekeeper to migrate their nest about 3 miles from us (the adage beuling you can move bees either 3 ft or 3 miles). My daughter loved all of the "Barry the Bensons" but it got too much having visiters afraid to go into the garden. Look up local beekeepers who should be able to remove them for you. 1
Greenbeast Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I don't put any work into my hive. just built them a box and largely leave them to it
Dos_Box Posted June 13, 2013 Author Posted June 13, 2013 (edited) We have a lot of masonry bees, I guess because of the poor state of the pointing and mortar. Re-pointing is on my list of things to do this year so is there anything I can do to mitigate entombing a load of bees? Well, from what I can gather they only use the holes in masonry to lay their eggs. Once laid they seal up the entrance with mud (see pic to get an idea). As long as you leave these be (no pun intended) they will be fine and hatch out next spring. Once they do emerge you can fill in the holes (quickly mind!) before they use them for nesting again. Then buy a bee nest kit for them. Oh, and I should add they they do no damage to your house and are harmless Edited June 13, 2013 by Dos_Box 1
mattx Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Lost one colony over the winter - but it was quite weak but what amazed me was one week they were doing fine, and then the next week they were all dead. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8457168715_52302db730.jpg On checking, they did not move to the stores so starved. Have managed to produce one new queen this year so have replaced my lost colony. One of my others will need splitting soon so will again try and increase. I have some honey already but will leave for June gap although because of bad winter, the June gap may not be so long.
Popular Post witch Posted June 13, 2013 Popular Post Posted June 13, 2013 Not sure I'd like a gift that means I pull the wings off living creatures. I realise you were a child but that is an awful thing to as you condemned them to a slow and lonely death 5
mattx Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 The pratice of clipping a queens wings now has dropped quite a bit.
AMLinington Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 Sorry. Enzo is partly to blame. He seems to only be able to catch Bees.
AMLinington Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 "Disappearing Bees All around the world, bees - particularly honeybees - seem to be disappearing. Beekeepers noticed it first, but ordinary people are now waking up to the fact that there are fewer bees around. What's going on? What started out as an internet conspiracy is now beginning to leak out into the mainstream media, with scientific phrases such as "Colony Collapse Disorder" being used. Some people blame a new virus or pesticide, while others suggest that radiation from mobile phones is interfering with bees' navigation systems. Much of our agriculture is based on pollination undertaken by bees, so the implications of bee disappearance is massive, with governments now spending millions of pounds on research. The bee disappearance mystery has been referenced on shows such as Doctor Who." And if you haven't got a busy day... Missing Honey Bees: What's going on? Also, you'll probably find that increased urbanisation and less and less flowers in gardens and green land are probably partly to blame. In the 60's and 70's people still had gardens with flowers and stuff in them. Now people can't wait to pave over them for driveways/convenience. I have to admit to wanting to pave over my front garden as parking is a nightmare but I want lots of flowers and plants in the back garden. People just don't want to be bothered with gardening any more or don't have the time. Also, new build houses have tiny gardens - any new-build estate is all house and parking and no garden.
mattx Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 [ATTACH=CONFIG]18635[/ATTACH] Save the bees He never said that - one of the world's most common mis quotes.
JJonas Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 He never said that - one of the world's most common mis quotes. I did wonder about that, but still a good excuse to save the bees anyway 1
mattx Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I did wonder about that, but still a good excuse to save the bees anyway That is very true and I being a bee keeper won't argue. snopes.com: Einstein on Bees
Sirbendy Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 I have a lawn teeming with Miner bees, and I've had quite a few bumblebees in the garden so far..rescued one from doggypaddling in Izzy's paddling pool yesterday, and put it under our catrun's tarp out of the rain, away from the cats until it took off. Planning to plant a bee/butterfly friendly garden, and lots of bee/butterfly plants elsewhere too. Just need to do the logistics. I rather like the miner bees, now I've realised they're harmless...was worried on the kids behalf at first, but the bees avoid us all, and seem content to ignore us. Suits me.
SpuffMonkey Posted June 13, 2013 Posted June 13, 2013 In my copious free time I do a lot of walking - earlier this week I was trudging round a local nature reserve and all the trees were covered in blossom - but I didn't see a single bee or any other insect come to that on any of the trees - a bit strange I thought
Tall_Paul Posted June 14, 2013 Posted June 14, 2013 We've gone out of our way to make our garden bee friendly and have had bumble bee nests in our wood chippings. As others have said they are amazingly docile. I just hope the scientists have turn the population decline around.
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