January 2023
Here’s the new year’s interesting beekeeping morsels.
Researchers from Bristol University have published a study titled “Observed electric charge of insect swarms and their contribution to atmospheric electricity” in which they discovered that swarming honeybees have a density-dependent effect on atmospheric electricity that’s similar to that produced by weather, speculating that they could contribute to the spread of desert dust. Basically, if your holiday in the Mediterranean is interrupted by clouds of red dust from the Sahara, you may be able to blame the bees.
Research from the University of Maryland, that’s probably more relevant to us, focuses on the lifespan of honeybees. They have discovered that current bees live only half as long as bees 50 years ago. What’s interesting is that they isolated the bees as soon as they emerged, so this lack of longevity is caused by something that happens before that. They suspect the reason for this is some unnoticed exposure to viruses or pesticides as larvae, but that’s not at all certain. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what they find out in the next phases of their investigations.
Researchers from Bristol University have published a study titled “Observed electric charge of insect swarms and their contribution to atmospheric electricity” in which they discovered that swarming honeybees have a density-dependent effect on atmospheric electricity that’s similar to that produced by weather, speculating that they could contribute to the spread of desert dust. Basically, if your holiday in the Mediterranean is interrupted by clouds of red dust from the Sahara, you may be able to blame the bees.
Research from the University of Maryland, that’s probably more relevant to us, focuses on the lifespan of honeybees. They have discovered that current bees live only half as long as bees 50 years ago. What’s interesting is that they isolated the bees as soon as they emerged, so this lack of longevity is caused by something that happens before that. They suspect the reason for this is some unnoticed exposure to viruses or pesticides as larvae, but that’s not at all certain. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what they find out in the next phases of their investigations.
One pest that I’m sure many of us are concerned about is the Asian Hornet. This year only one nest was found in England and in Guernsey only two nests were found, although they covered the island with queen traps in spring so that may have caused the low count. On the other hand, Jersey destroyed 174 nests, almost twice the number found last year. Another pest that may be declining is the Small Hive Beetle: there were only two infected hives found in Calabria, Italy, and no sentinel hives were infected. Unfortunately, it appears the Oriental Hornet, Vespa orientalis, has destroyed up to 75% of Malta’s honeybee colonies and it has been found as far away as Barcelona, Spain and Marseille, France. It looks quite similar to the Asian Hornet, but doesn’t have the infamous yellow legs.
Fame has never been a hindrance to keeping bees. From Aristotle in ancient Greece to David Beckham and Jeremy Clarkson, it seems that there are quite a few celebrity beekeepers. Musicians appear to be quite interested in them, with Flea, Steve Vai, Jon Bon Jovi, Suggs, Sting and Bruce Springsteen being avid fans of the little creatures. It appears that the person whose music is the most popular in Ireland at the moment, Ed Sheeran, is the latest addition to the list, installing bees at his home.