BBC breakfast

[will]

Quite surprised that a professional beekeeper on bbc breakfast this morning would say a way to help bees would be to put out a saucer of sugar water to help warn out bees.

 

[Ely]

Yup silly advice from people with big hearts that haven't done their research

 

[Motobiman]

She said some odd things . . . . . .

 

[Binge]

Oh, come on!
It's a bit early in the morning for the grumpy old men.
Seriously, what harm can it do?
If it nurtures an interest in bees or wildlife in general then does it really matter?
I'm fully aware of the mortality levels in the hives, it doesn't stop me doing the same with bees (not just honey bees) I find in the garden.
I've revived many a bee by simply placing it on a suitable flower.
Much more fun to sit it on the end of your finger with a blob of local honey.
Yep, they may well have flown off and died elsewhere, but I've done no harm.
What would you have us do, stomp on them instead?

 

[Ely]

Nope. Just be mindful that open feeding can spread disease and do a lot more harm than good to the wildlife that you love.

 

[Binge]

Oh, come on, again!
They're not talking about open feeding, they're talking about reviving warn out bees.
It's a bit rich coming from us bee keepers, too!
We're the worst interferers going!

 

[Millet]

I have saved a fair few bumble bees by doing that.

 

[Motobiman]

Oh, come on!
It's a bit early in the morning for the grumpy old men.
Seriously, what harm can it do?
If it nurtures an interest in bees or wildlife in general then does it really matter?
I'm fully aware of the mortality levels in the hives, it doesn't stop me doing the same with bees (not just honey bees) I find in the garden.
I've revived many a bee by simply placing it on a suitable flower.
Much more fun to sit it on the end of your finger with a blob of local honey.
Yep, they may well have flown off and died elsewhere, but I've done no harm.
What would you have us do, stomp on them instead?

All I said was she said some odd things.

Hell I rescue them out of the water butts regularly.

I don't care if she tucks every one of her bees that recognise her face up in their little beds at night.

 

[user 6228]

Inter-species empathy ...

Apparently dolphins suffer from it as well

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Quite surprised that a professional beekeeper on bbc breakfast this morning would say a way to help bees would be to put out a saucer of sugar water to help warn out bees.

Professional?

 

[BeeJayBee]

Quite surprised that a professional beekeeper on bbc breakfast this morning would say a way to help bees would be to put out a saucer of sugar water to help warn out bees.

Better this than to tell people to give them honey, which could have come from anywhere in the world and could even contain disease spores.

 

[birdsandbees]

There's probably more risk involved with using the same hive tools on all of your hives one after the other without cleaning it.
I'm a bit weird like this having a couple that I clean after each use, I bet more disease is spread between hives by beekeepers than by Mrs Jones feeding a few bees sugar water.

 

[madasafish]

There's probably more risk involved with using the same hive tools on all of your hives one after the other without cleaning it.
I'm a bit weird like this having a couple that I clean after each use, I bet more disease is spread between hives by beekeepers than by Mrs Jones feeding a few bees sugar water.

Not had an AFB outbreak ? I have. You become paranoid. On my Saturday am walk, met a very nice OAP who as feeding honey to tree bumbles "I get lots of bees" he said !!.. I warned him of the dangers and told him of our local outbreak and its consequences. He promised to stop

 

[Ely]

Where it is true that bees recognise the face shape as a target to sting (probably something to do with evolution and certain animals stealing honey) I doubt very much that they can recognise an individual beekeepers face.

 

[peteinwilts]

Better this than to tell people to give them honey, which could have come from anywhere in the world and could even contain disease spores.

An old episode of QI recommended this...

 

[Swarm]

There's probably more risk involved with using the same hive tools on all of your hives one after the other without cleaning it.
I'm a bit weird like this having a couple that I clean after each use, I bet more disease is spread between hives by beekeepers than by Mrs Jones feeding a few bees sugar water.

Bees drift, drones please themselves ...

 

[user 6228]

Where it is true that bees recognise the face shape as a target to sting (probably something to do with evolution and certain animals stealing honey) I doubt very much that they can recognise an individual beekeepers face.

Yes they can... I'll dig the paper out

Dyer, A. G., Neumeyer, C., & Chittka, L. (2005). Honeybee (Apis mellifera) vision can discriminate between and recognise images of human faces. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 208(Pt 24), 4709–4714. http://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01929

 

[birdsandbees]

I don't doubt that there may be a risk associated with it but I was merely trying to point out that the spread of disease such as AFB is more likely to be spread by the activities of the Beekeeper than by one bee with a few spores drinking from a bowl of surgery water.

'AFB is the most serious bacterial disease of honey bee brood and is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. The disease is transferred and initiated only by the spore stage of the bacterium. The reason this disease is so serious is that the spores can remain viable and last indefinitely on beekeeping equipment.19 Jan 2016'

'The hive next to a hive infected with AFB will usually be the next one worked by the beekeeper, and if hive parts are intentionally or inadvertently moved between hives, they are most likely to end up in the hive next to the one with AFB. It is therefore very difficult to be sure whether a hive developed AFB through drift or from other means.'

I wouldn't wish it on anyone but how many Beekeepers use the same equipment on every hive they inspect without thinking about it or transfer hive parts around from hive to hive?

 

[Ely]

Yes they can... I'll dig the paper out

Dyer, A. G., Neumeyer, C., & Chittka, L. (2005). Honeybee (Apis mellifera) vision can discriminate between and recognise images of human faces. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 208(Pt 24), 4709–4714. http://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01929

That's me told. I'll give it a read

 

[Cussword]

I wouldn't wish it on anyone but how many Beekeepers use the same equipment on every hive they inspect without thinking about it or transfer hive parts around from hive to hive?

Using different equipment or cleaning equipment between different hives is commendable.


Although dipping a test frame in washing soda solution does tend to kill the brood

.