November 2022
As usual, this month has some interesting titbits of bee-related information.
Did you ever wonder why the bees go for dirty water rather than the pristine bowl you provide for them? Well, Carrie Finkelstein of the University of Vermont did, and she replaced the nectar in a number of potted plants with artificial nectar, adding a dash of salt to half of them before moving them to a meadow. The article in Biology Letters says that the salty flowers attracted twice as many visitors, including twice as many species. I suppose, given the popularity of salted caramel for humans, we should have realised that it applies to bees too.
Honey is one of the most counterfeited products in the world, with all kinds of syrup added to try to exploit its popularity. However, the US FDA has had a stern chat with four companies after discovering a rather unusual additive, sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra. I just have to wonder what the bees were feeding on or were fed, for this to end up in the honey.
Did you ever wonder why the bees go for dirty water rather than the pristine bowl you provide for them? Well, Carrie Finkelstein of the University of Vermont did, and she replaced the nectar in a number of potted plants with artificial nectar, adding a dash of salt to half of them before moving them to a meadow. The article in Biology Letters says that the salty flowers attracted twice as many visitors, including twice as many species. I suppose, given the popularity of salted caramel for humans, we should have realised that it applies to bees too.
Honey is one of the most counterfeited products in the world, with all kinds of syrup added to try to exploit its popularity. However, the US FDA has had a stern chat with four companies after discovering a rather unusual additive, sildenafil, the active ingredient of Viagra. I just have to wonder what the bees were feeding on or were fed, for this to end up in the honey.
Bees are social insects and they’re now being used to inspire social responsibility. A project to remove weapons from the streets of Manchester has resulted in the Greater Manchester Police and British Ironwork Centre working together to build the Manchester Bee Monument, a sculpture made entirely from surrendered weapons. It’s now going on a tour of the UK in an effort to reduce violence in the community
Asian hornets have been in the news recently, unfortunately. From the enormous increase in colonies in the Channel Islands to the nest removal in Essex, it seems to be just more bad news all around. However, an inventive way to put a positive twist on things has come from the BBKA. They are organising an Asian hornet photography competition, with prizes donated by Thornes. I’m not convinced that anyone who found one close enough to their bees to be able to photograph it, would appreciate winning an Asian hornet in acrylic.
In Vienna this year you can buy an Advent calendar that has 23 little 41ml jars of honey from Viennese districts and a “surprise” (I hope there isn’t a swarm of angry bees behind door number 24). This looks to be a great Christmas present for anyone with a sweet tooth and perhaps some enterprising Irish beekeeper should consider doing something similar for Christmas markets here.
I neglected to exploit the sun this summer and my solar wax melter wasn’t put to much use, so one of my winter jobs is going to be harvesting wax. It’s a dirty process I’m not too keen in doing so procrastination is on the cards. However, BIBBA’s monthly newsletter has an article on how to build a cheap steam wax melter and it definitely looks like it would make the whole experience much more pleasant. It seems easy to put together, so I may have a go, particularly since I already have most of the parts needed to build it. You can see all the details at https://bibba.com/winter-wax-processing-yorkshire-style/.
You may remember that a few issues ago I mentioned some bee jewellery. Well, it appears that the Milan-based Lorella Tamberi Canal are working with BeeLife to try to raise awareness of the plight of pollinators and they have decided to donate a percentage of the sales of its Bee Queen collection in support of BeeLife’s work. You can see the collection on https://lorellatambericanal.com.