June 2022
My goal with this article series is to share some bee-relevant information I have recently stumbled across and I thought the reader would enjoy.
A group of Australian scientists have published a paper in the April edition of Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution where they reveal that their experiments show that bees have the ability to differentiate between odd and even numbers. It’s possible that this ability allows them to distinguish between flowers with an odd number of petals and those with an even number. I don’t know if they actually find this useful in their day-to-day lives – do odd-petalled flowers provide more nectar, or perhaps less?
A group of Australian scientists have published a paper in the April edition of Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution where they reveal that their experiments show that bees have the ability to differentiate between odd and even numbers. It’s possible that this ability allows them to distinguish between flowers with an odd number of petals and those with an even number. I don’t know if they actually find this useful in their day-to-day lives – do odd-petalled flowers provide more nectar, or perhaps less?
Last year the UK destroyed two Asian Hornet nests in Ascot and Portsmouth, and this year a single Asian Hornet was caught in Felixstowe, confirmed on 29th April. At this time of year, this was almost certainly a queen and, because of its location, it’s likely it arrived on a ferry from the continent rather than overwintered in the UK. Given the enormous increase in direct continental traffic to Ireland since Brexit, we all need to be vigilant that this pest does not get a foothold here: take note of the details in the photo, particularly the tell-tale yellow legs.
Photo by Charles J. Sharp - Sharp Photography
Photo by Charles J. Sharp - Sharp Photography
While on the subject of pests, Small Hive Beetle is still present in Italy. There were three positive hives in 2021, with nine positive sentinel nuclei, all in the Calabria region. This is a slight increase on the year before, but one positive is that there have been no cases on Sicily since 2019.
In the Spring issue of the Welsh Beekeeper Magazine (freely available on https://wbka.com) two articles jumped out at me. The first by Wally Shaw was How to Conduct a Post Mortem (PM) on a Dead Colony. While most of the winter’s dead colonies have presumably been cleaned up by now, this article is well worth reading to understand what might have happened to yours. The other article by Liz Childerly, EFB – I was one of the lucky ones, details how she discovered she had EFB in one of her hives, how she dealt with it, and how it has informed her attitude towards apiary hygiene. Given that May and June are probably the worst months for EFB, her story is well worth learning from, and her hygiene regime is definitely something we should all implement.
In this month’s Bee Craft magazine, Josh Bartlett has written a fascinating article, Honey bee air miles, in which he discusses the distances bees will fly to find honey and pollen. Karl von Frisch found that bees would travel as far as 12km - much research has been done on how far bees can fly, but it’s actually more relevant to understand how far they do fly. Researchers in the University of Sussex found that bees only travelled an average of 493m in March and April. However, in Sheffield in August the bees travelled an average of 5.5km which is roughly 3.5 miles. We all know the “3ft or 3 miles” rule, and moving a hive 3 miles seems to be just about right, although clearly there’s a good chance that some bees will return to the original site.
There are lots of stories about swarming over the past week, so it seems likely that 2022 will be a bumper year for swarms. If you haven’t put up a bait hive or two yet, it’s probably a good idea to do so now, so you can catch a swarm that might otherwise end up in someone’s roof or chimney. For those who may be concerned about what to do with their own hives, the above-mentioned Wally Shaw has a couple of booklets freely available on the Welsh Beekeepers’ web site entitled There are queen cells in my hive – what should I do? and An Apiary Guide to Swarm Control. The first will explain why there are queen cells and what you should consider, and the second will thoroughly explain all your options.
In the Spring issue of the Welsh Beekeeper Magazine (freely available on https://wbka.com) two articles jumped out at me. The first by Wally Shaw was How to Conduct a Post Mortem (PM) on a Dead Colony. While most of the winter’s dead colonies have presumably been cleaned up by now, this article is well worth reading to understand what might have happened to yours. The other article by Liz Childerly, EFB – I was one of the lucky ones, details how she discovered she had EFB in one of her hives, how she dealt with it, and how it has informed her attitude towards apiary hygiene. Given that May and June are probably the worst months for EFB, her story is well worth learning from, and her hygiene regime is definitely something we should all implement.
In this month’s Bee Craft magazine, Josh Bartlett has written a fascinating article, Honey bee air miles, in which he discusses the distances bees will fly to find honey and pollen. Karl von Frisch found that bees would travel as far as 12km - much research has been done on how far bees can fly, but it’s actually more relevant to understand how far they do fly. Researchers in the University of Sussex found that bees only travelled an average of 493m in March and April. However, in Sheffield in August the bees travelled an average of 5.5km which is roughly 3.5 miles. We all know the “3ft or 3 miles” rule, and moving a hive 3 miles seems to be just about right, although clearly there’s a good chance that some bees will return to the original site.
There are lots of stories about swarming over the past week, so it seems likely that 2022 will be a bumper year for swarms. If you haven’t put up a bait hive or two yet, it’s probably a good idea to do so now, so you can catch a swarm that might otherwise end up in someone’s roof or chimney. For those who may be concerned about what to do with their own hives, the above-mentioned Wally Shaw has a couple of booklets freely available on the Welsh Beekeepers’ web site entitled There are queen cells in my hive – what should I do? and An Apiary Guide to Swarm Control. The first will explain why there are queen cells and what you should consider, and the second will thoroughly explain all your options.
And, to wrap up, if you’re looking for a gift for a loved one, Le Vian in New York have some nice little bee jewellery pieces for sale (see https://levian.com/bee) – the earrings in the photo are a steal at just over $1000.