Ah the Mighty Bush!
He is the chap who interrogated my for an hour at my home when I first
set up beekeeping in 2016.
He knows his beekeeping!
E
On 09-01-2018 13:47, Paul Honigmann wrote:
Hi all,villages
OxNatBees has been contacted by the creators of an app called Bee.Watch [1]
which offers various functions for beekeepers. The creators (who are in
Cholsey, south Oxfordshire) would like to give a presentation about it at one
of our meetings, which should not be a problem, but the ensuing conversation
threw up some interesting facts, particularly for Oxfordshire beekeepers:
_ _
_"You may be interested to know that although the sheer weight of pesticides
applied in the UK has declined over the past 25 years, the area sprayed has
increased by 78%. This is mainly because more farmers are spraying theirs
farms more than 4 times a year."_
There's also a thread on beekeepingforum.co.uk [2] where people are
discussing this app. Interesting points from there:
[The creators posted:] _"2016 we managed 140 lb honey, 2017 we eliminated wax
moth and dramaticslly reduced varroa and produced 850lb but lost 7 big
colonies overnight. The CEH [Centre for Ecology & Hydrology] in Wallingford
lost all 10 of their hives in 2016/17 so it looks like we are in a hot spot
for problems." ... " the National Bee Unit is heavily under funded, we have
sent dead bee samples off 3 separate times for testing and have yet to be
told why they died. One sample they said they had lost and the other they
made 2 judgements based on a photograph and have yet to test chemically for
pesticides. In summary, the NBU should be receiving a lot more funding for
the great work they do."_
[Posted by someone called Brian Bush, located in Bucks:]
_"Swarm collection in Oxfordshire as a whole has been pretty hopeless over
the past few years. In neighbouring counties and associations, such as mine,
we have good swarm notification and collection procedures working alongside
the BBKA website model. It only takes a few hours by an individual to
organise a mailshot to all local and parish councils. A mailshot and
compilation of a list of beekeeper collectors and a tolerant wife to answer
the phone when you are unavailable. I know because I do it every year._
_ In neighbouring associations the swarm line phone is passed around on a
weekly basis to reduce the load on any one person. _
_ In Oxfordshire, however, they seem to have a ramshackle system, that no-one
takes responsibility for and in busy years we receive calls from 30 miles
away._
_ The death of bees in South Oxfordshire and North Berkshire has been an
issue for several years. Outbreaks of EFB and AFB are common, I have not
however, seen the figures fro 2017. There is a very possible reason for bee
ill-health in this area. It is home to a large honey importation company. At
one time every garden and allotment in a wide area recycled the large plastic
barrels as water buts. I know that extreme and rigorous practices are now in
place to ensure that these barrels have no traces of honey in them. Foul
brood however became established in this area some years ago and the Bee
Inspectorate have made great strides in its control and elimination. I agree,
as I have stated before on this forum, that all hives should be registered
but I think the best course Jowlpost could take would be to work within his
local association and improve their practices and procedures within the BBKA
framework. SWMBO and I spend a great deal of time dispatching swarm
collectors to
About the app itself: it is intended to inform us when spraying occurs near
us, but there is already an initiative for this called BeeConnected.org.uk
which never seems to alert any beekeepers, because farmers simply aren't
incentivised to enter data when they spray. It offers some record keeping
functions intended for conventional beeks, and it attempts to help link up
swarm sightings with collectors.
Paul
