You have seen this elsewhere perhaps .. this is the view from the inside of a
warre hive looking towards the entrance. The bees have put a huge pile of
propolis on the inside to aid their defensive and climate control work; I will
make the entrance smaller next time.
Regards Brian
From: oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <oxnatbees-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Paul Honigmann (Redacted sender "paul.honigmann" for DMARC)
Sent: 09 November 2018 15:46
To: oxnatbees@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [oxnatbees] Barcoded bees and other stories
I do like a bit of Mad Science... not sure if this qualifies: We joke about
recognising individual bees by their stripes, but I've just read that a
researcher called Clint Perry is developing a method of "monitoring bees
entering or leaving the hive. He is using QR codes on the thorax of the bee so
that they are registered as they enter. This will allow more studies to be
carried out on the development of the colony."
A little bee story: a local told me how a bee from his neighbour's hives (he
was sure it was one of hers) went into the ear of his wife. Consternation! It
didn't sting her but it took a while to back out and fly off.
I was approached by another villager saying he'd heard I kept bees. I would
estimate him and his wife as being 75 to 85 years old. They kept a couple of
hives many years ago. The interesting thing is his wife tended to get lots of
stings on her bum, on her jeans, "sometimes so many her rear end resembled a
hedgehog". "Were they blue jeans?" I asked, remembering Gareth's mention that
many years ago, the advice was never to wear blue as bees attacked it. Yes they
were. Thank goodness that is no longer true, presumably because dyes are
different now.
Here's an interesting story on an American beekeeper's blog
<https://ilovebees.buzz/2018/09/17/the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend/> -
European hornets set up home in an empty hive, and seem to be predating the
wasps and bald faced hornets that usually plague his occupied hives, whilst
being essentially uninterested in the bees. Maybe that's the solution for the
predicted plague of Asian Hornets coming over from France!
Paul
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