A Cold Snap
17/01/12 11:26
A COLD SNAP
Maybe the weather is still not suitable for administering oxalic acid but for those who have waited, this coming Friday Saturday and Sunday, the 20th 21st and 22nd look likely to be just right for it. If you miss this weekend, watch out for another sharp snap before the end of January.
I am often asked what is so important about BRITISH black bees? Why should we make all the hoo-ha about it? A black bee is a black bee isn’t it?
Well, no it isn’t. The bee that is most often brought into
our part of Britain is the Carnica or Carniolan bee. This bee’s homeland, where it has lived very successfully for thousands of years, is in Mid Europe, South of Austria into Slovenia, around Croatia Hungary and smaller Countries.
I have no doubt it is a very good bee for beekeepers in Slovenia but it’s not so good in Pendle or anywhere in England for that matter. Slovenia and England are worlds apart as far as weather, geography, agriculture, nectar and pollen. Bringing those bees here is equivalent to you and me being dumped into some place like Greenland or the middle of Africa. I don’t know about you but I don’t think I would do very well.
And it is the same with bees, the best bees for English conditions are bees that have lived in England for millions of years. The best bees for the Pendle environment are not just bees that are used to England but bees that are used to Pendle. I am sure that must make sense to you, as it does to me.
The downside for the beekeeper who buys these foreign bees, is that most stocks will not make it through the first Winter and he will find himself on a merry-go-round. Import bees; lose bees; import; lose and so on. OK, it will work to some extent but you will end up paying out a lot of your hard earned money to the foreign bee breeder and the importer.
The downside to the likes of you and me is that these foreign bees come with foreign drones who, given half a chance, will mate with our English Queens and undo all the good work we have done in trying to improve the quality of our bees. Our only defence is to flood our area with the best British black bees we can.
We also need to eliminate, where possible, the drones that are not British black drones or, at least, not British black enough. Here, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Take a look at your bees and if there is a stock which is
not up to parr you can eliminate the drones as you uncap the drone brood to look for the easily seen varroa on the white grub.
If this is ethnic cleansing, I stand convicted.
In the next diary, I will try to tell you how to identify foreign bees.
Best of luck with the Oxalic acid.
I am often asked what is so important about BRITISH black bees? Why should we make all the hoo-ha about it? A black bee is a black bee isn’t it?
Well, no it isn’t. The bee that is most often brought into
I have no doubt it is a very good bee for beekeepers in Slovenia but it’s not so good in Pendle or anywhere in England for that matter. Slovenia and England are worlds apart as far as weather, geography, agriculture, nectar and pollen. Bringing those bees here is equivalent to you and me being dumped into some place like Greenland or the middle of Africa. I don’t know about you but I don’t think I would do very well.
And it is the same with bees, the best bees for English conditions are bees that have lived in England for millions of years. The best bees for the Pendle environment are not just bees that are used to England but bees that are used to Pendle. I am sure that must make sense to you, as it does to me.
The downside for the beekeeper who buys these foreign bees, is that most stocks will not make it through the first Winter and he will find himself on a merry-go-round. Import bees; lose bees; import; lose and so on. OK, it will work to some extent but you will end up paying out a lot of your hard earned money to the foreign bee breeder and the importer.
The downside to the likes of you and me is that these foreign bees come with foreign drones who, given half a chance, will mate with our English Queens and undo all the good work we have done in trying to improve the quality of our bees. Our only defence is to flood our area with the best British black bees we can.
We also need to eliminate, where possible, the drones that are not British black drones or, at least, not British black enough. Here, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Take a look at your bees and if there is a stock which is
If this is ethnic cleansing, I stand convicted.
In the next diary, I will try to tell you how to identify foreign bees.
Best of luck with the Oxalic acid.
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