Tag Archives: amm

Blenheim bees – news article and response

As the local natural beekeeping group, we’ve got to know and respect Filipe. The recent article in The Guardian about his findings at Blenheim has led to some heated debate in the Twittersphere. In the following article, Guy Thompson addresses … Continue reading

Posted in Ecology, Honey bee research, Local lore, Newspaper articles, Trends in Beekeeping | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bees Without Borders: conference report

What: 6 lectures, mainly on wild / unmanaged bees, by European researchers titled Bees Without Borders – I attended by Zoom and the recordings have been released here. Some of the lectures were very technical. When: 21st November 2020 Who: … Continue reading

Posted in Ecology, Honey bee research, Pests, Research, Trends in Beekeeping | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Angry bees

This article dispels the myth that our native black bees are inherently ‘bad’, i.e. overly-defensive, and instead sets out the real genetic basis of why crossing bee races, black or otherwise, can lead to hybrids which are predisposed to be … Continue reading

Posted in Honey bee research, Stings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Racial profiling of North Oxfordshire mongrels

Like many natural beekeepers, I am interested in having locally adapted bees, especially tough “survivor stock” from unmanaged feral colonies which thrive without treatments for varroa mites. In observing my several swarm-caught colonies, all gathered ‘locally’, I have always wondered … Continue reading

Posted in Experimentation, Honey bee research, Local lore, Research, Swarms | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment