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___________________________________________________________ LATEST NEWS.........LATEST NEWS........... ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________ USA- THE LIFECYCLE OF THE HONEYBEE AND VARROA MITE
________________________________________ Joint initiative from Norman Collett and Reading University
_______________________________________Wild pollinators contribute more than honeybeesby Tamera Jones Bumblebees, solitary bees and other wild pollinating insects are much more important for pollinating UK crops than previously thought, say researchers.
Honey bee. They found that honeybee populations have nose-dived so dramatically in recent years that they can only do half as much pollination as they did in the early 1980s. Where honeybees used to provide around 70 per cent of the UK's pollination needs they now only pollinate a third. At worst, that figure could well be more like 10 to 15 per cent. Paradoxically over the last 20 years, the proportion of UK crops that rely on insects for pollination has risen from just under 8 per cent in the early 1980s to 20 per cent in 2007. And over the same period, yields of insect-pollinated crops, which include oil seed rape and field bean, have gone up by 54 per cent. This means that honeybees can't be solely responsible, or aren't the only important pollinator. So if honeybees aren't pollinating the crops, what is? The researchers think that other important pollinating insects, such as bumblebees, hoverflies and solitary bees must be making up the shortfall. 'Our finding suggests that wild insect pollinators make a much bigger contribution to UK crop pollination than previously thought,' says Tom Breeze from the University of Reading, lead author of the study. £400 million per yearInsect pollination is estimated to be worth around £400 million per year to UK crop agriculture. And until now, people have widely assumed that honeybees are the most important pollinators, with a figure of around 90 per cent of pollination services coming from honeybees bandied around. 'We had an inclination that this wasn't an accurate figure at all,' says Breeze. 'Honeybees have been in decline for years, so it didn't make sense.' Indeed, there's zero large scale research that backs up the assumption that honeybees are the biggest pollinators. So Breeze and colleagues from the University of Reading set out to learn how important insect-pollinated crops are to UK agriculture and – using data from an earlier study – to figure out the real contribution from honeybees. This is the first time anyone has looked at the contribution from both honeybees and other pollinators on such a grand scale. 'There was a seminal study in 2006 which found that you get the best pollination, best yields and best fruit when you have both wild pollinators and honeybees.' 'Bumblebees, hoverflies and red mason bees are key wild pollinators, but there are at least 250 bee species alone in the UK, which we thought almost certainly contribute more than honeybees do,' Breeze says. Although Breeze and his colleagues found that honeybees don't provide the same level of service that other species do, they point out that it's not one pollinator or the other that's important; both types are crucial. 'There was a seminal study in 2006 which found that you get the best pollination, best yields and best fruit when you have both wild pollinators and honeybees,' says Breeze. He says the next step for this research is to do the same thing on a Europe-wide scale to compare different countries with the situation in the UK and to go into fields to see which pollinators are pollinating. 'This study challenges the long held beliefs surrounding the importance of honeybees as the major pollinators and could potentially result in a paradigm shift in people's thinking,' says Science and Innovation Manager Dr Andrew Impey from the Natural Environment Research Council. The research is published in Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.
FRANCE- SPECIAL EDITION, THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE BEESSymbols of the Guerlain house , the bees had special treatment: turned into perfume bottle, Baccarat crystal, belong to a special edition of 47 numbered copies. In early 2011, the bee becomes a pendant or clip, diamond, rock crystal and platinum!
_______________________________________________Honeyed Scents of MythI recall as a child discovering with excitement the furry exterior of bubble-bees, the kind you don't see any more, the desire to fondle only being overcome by my learned fear of its sting, which would result to a self-sacrificing end for the little critter. No matter that my first sting was only in adult life, when an errant bee was lured by my Fleurs d'Oranger (Serge Lutens), one sunny spring morning. I also recall superstitions upon which bees had to be given the news of a death in the family, and even fed a piece of the sweets and wine of the funeral meal, or they would perish as well. In my apis-loving culture the use of honey, royal jelly, bee pollen and beeswax (cystomarily used in orthodox candles for mass) has always been seen as a survival of a sacred, almost magical act which connects man and woman to the pagan nurturance and divine blessings of mother Nature. It is no coincidence that Greek cuisine makes ample and delicious use of some of the finest varieties of honey for many of its aromatic dishes. Or that babies and small children are still nursed on milk and honey in this country, recalling the nursing of baby Zeus by Melisseus ("bee-man"), father of the nymphs Adrasteia and Ide and the leader of the nine Kuretes of Crete, chthonic daimones of Mount Ida, who clashed their spears and shields to drown out the wails of infant Zeus, hidden from his cannibal father Cronus. USA- AVAILABLE FILM " COLONY- THE ENDANGERED WORLD OF BEES" Directed by Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell, date of production 2009, will be released on march 29,2011
AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMAZON - £ 12.90_____________________________________________" The Breeding & Promotion of Clean Bees ".... Ron Hoskins has been working on breeding "hygienic bees” that groom the varroa mites from cells. He has just been awarded a £6,000 research grant to buy equipment, so that another 20 beekeepers can help with the research. Ron and his co-workers in the “Swindon Honey Bee Conservation Group” are hoping to be able to pass on their strain of bee to other beekeepers. Ron has been keeping bees for 67 years. Interested in attending a 1 Day QUEEN REARING COURSE ? ........... This course is directed toward beekeepers who wish to produce Queens from selected stocks, rather than leaving it to Lady Luck ! Cost is only £25 - benefits priceless ! Please contact... RON HOSKINS 10 Larksfield Swindon SN3 5AD email ron@honeybee1.org.uk Tel. 07737 400 515 www.swindonhoneybeeconservation.org.uk _______________________________________________________ UNITED KINGDOM- CAMPAIGN TO BAN THE NEONICOTINOID PESTICIDES Peter Skinner (Lab) MEP for the South East region, said he is "fighting at a European level". "With food prices at an all time high, bees are hugely important to our local rural economy and environment in the South," he said. He is campaigning for a blanket ban on neonicotinoid pesticides until the long term effects on wildlife are known." There is no plan B if our bees die out. The loss of revenue and ability to pollinate our own crops could be disastrous," he said. ( www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12507030 ) ___________________________________________________________ UNITED KINGDOM- MODERN AGRICULTURE AND BEEKEEPING MUST WORK TOGETHERMost of the suspected factors causing bee colony losses are linked to modern agriculture. At the same time, modern agriculture has provided the world with great benefits. Today, 1.5 times more food per capita is produced than was produced 50 years ago and this food is of greater quality and greater diversity than half a century ago. The achievements of modern agriculture must be maintained. As world population continues to grow, so too will the demand for food. Additionally, the demand for pollination-dependent crops is Considering that this is a global issue and that the inherent economic impact of a further decline of bee colonies may be substantial, the tide must be turned. This will require increased cooperation between the academic world, governmental bodies, apiarists and companies directly dependent on pollination. The beekeepers, mostly loosely organised in apiarist associations, will not be able to solve the issue themselves.
_______________________________________________________ UNITED KINGDOM- CONSERVATION EFFORTS ARE HAVING SUCCESS : BEEHIVES INCREASED 50% IN SIX MONTHS 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. _____________________________________________UNITED KINGDOM- BRITISH BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION ( BBKA )BROKEN AN AGREEMENT WITH BAYER BECAUSE THEIR PESTICIDES KILL BEES The Britisk Beekeepers Association BBKA today 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. _____________________________________________The bee killer in your garden An investigation by the Soil Association has revealed chemicals lethal to bees can be found in domestic gardening products on sale in UK supermarkets, hardware stores and garden centres.A group of insecticides called neonicotinoids have been linked to the dramatic decline in honey bee numbers which have been seen in the past few years. Neonicotinoids – first used in agriculture in the mid-1990s - have been banned or suspended in several European countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia. As the UK Government has so far failed to act on this issue, the Soil Association is calling on the chief executives of B&Q, Wilkinsons and Wyevale, to withdraw any products containing neonicotinoid pesticides. 2010 is the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity so what better way to do your ‘one simple thing’ to preserve biodiversity - the life support systems we rely on – and boycott these products. A selection of products to avoid in your garden can be found here: www.soilassociation.org/bees.aspx Gardeners can also play their part in helping bees by using organic gardening techniques, having a wide variety of plants and by not being too tidy - wild flowering plants are perfect food for bees and ivy is a particularly important source in the winter. Gardeners might also want to consider keeping bees if they’ve got the space. There are some excellent courses available as part of the Soil Association’s Organic Farm School programme, details available here: www.soilassociation.org/farmschool.aspx Bee decline is a worldwide phenomenon – in the UK alone beekeepers reported an average loss of 17.7% in 2009/10. Although no single reason is responsible for this dramatic decline of these crucial pollinators, one of the major causes is linked to industrial-scale farming. This has meant a sharp decrease in areas of wild flowers and other bee-friendly sites, as well as the use of insecticides such as neonicotinoids. In contrast the UK Government’s own advisors found that plant, insect and bird life is up to 50% greater on organic farms. Bees play a vital role in the food chain – it is estimated that one third of human food supplies depend on their pollination. The Soil Association has collected over 20,000 signatures in support of our campaign to suspend neonicotinoid pesticides which Monty Don, Soil Association president, will be sending to the new Government on 5 June, UN World Environment Day – which is this year focusing on protecting biodiversity. Monty Don, Soil Association president, said: [1] Take Action:
________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ BEE STATUS AROUND THE WORLD....... BEE INFORMED ! -If you want to read more about the current Bee Status AROUND THE WORLD tap into the site of APINEWS...http://www.apinews.com or newsletter@apinews,com
.....YOUR STORY HERE....
Every beekeeper has a story to tell - It's important that we all network, so that FREE assistance can be provided if and when the need is required. Your stories are important and more interesting than you think. So don't be bashful, go on put finger to keyboard we're waiting.
_________________________________________________________ " If any member has any news about the state of their bees. We would 'bee' pleased to read about it. Please Go to CONTACT Others members can offer FREE advice, encouragement or even practical assistance.
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Norman Collett's Technical Director, Nigel Jenner, will be joined on the Fruit Focus stand by Dr Michael Garratt of Reading University, they will be available to speak to growers on a new joint initiative between the University and the Norman Collett team.
