Beekeeping in Sicily

[Erichalfbee]

Husband and I have finally managed to get away for a couple of weeks.
We are going to Sicily next week.
Has anybody any beekeeper contacts or bee-must-see things they might want to share?
The sort I might just come across "completely by happenstance"

 

[astabada]

Hi there! I don't have any specific contacts but if you manage, try to get in touch with them:
http://amodeocarlo.com/it/home/
(The website is only in italian but with the help of google you might be able to get an idea of what he does).
FYI "ape" means bee!

He's a famous beekeeper that managed to find and save an old breed of dark local bees.

 

[itma]

... an old breed of dark local bees.

And of course we know that the Normans conquered Sicily (as well as Britain), and that the Normans themselves were just a bunch of Vikings who moved to France ... its all connected.

 

[drstitson]

if you go to this section of the italian forum and start a thread entitled "mi presento - inglese in viaggio in sicilia" and use google for your body you should be fine.

http://apicoltura.mastertopforum.net/regolamento-e-presentazioni-vf6.html

 

[thorn]

There's bee keeping on the slopes of Mont Etna, and a number of honey stands at the retail opportunity where the cable car goes from, selling a wide variety of different honeys. Could they all be locally produced? I suspect not. It was too misty for me to spot any hives from the coach when I went there.

Sicily is a terrific place to visit. Great food (I hope you like aubergines), great scenery. And what a history. I'd not realised that Syracuse, one of the great Greek city states, was on Sicily. It must be on your intinerary, as must the cathedral at Montreale (Norman with arabic influences), the Valley of the Temples and the Roman villa with the amazing mosaics (the bikini wasn't a 1950s creation).

Have a good time.

 

[thorn]

And of course we know that the Normans conquered Sicily (as well as Britain), and that the Normans themselves were just a bunch of Vikings who moved to France ... its all connected.

The Norman cathedral at Montreale has a painted wall behind the altar that bears a striking resemblance to the one in the cathedral in Lund, Sweden. Could they be related?

The Normans followed the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Arabs, and preceded the Spaniards.

And Richard the Lionheart stopped off to sack a bit of it as a warm up to the Third Crusade

 

[drstitson]

"And Richard the Lionheart stopped off to sack a bit of it as a warm up to the Third Crusade"

do you know if he also happened to kick any hives over out of spite?

 

[thorn]

"And Richard the Lionheart stopped off to sack a bit of it as a warm up to the Third Crusade"

do you know if he also happened to kick any hives over out of spite?

He'd retired from gamekeeping by then

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

He'd retired from gamekeeping by then

 

[Into the lions den]

Hi there! I don't have any specific contacts but if you manage, try to get in touch with them:
http://amodeocarlo.com/it/home/
(The website is only in italian but with the help of google you might be able to get an idea of what he does).
FYI "ape" means bee!

He's a famous beekeeper that managed to find and save an old breed of dark local bees.

I know Carlo quite well, and also his bees. They are A.m.sicula and possess many characteristics similar to both iberica and the black bees of North Africa.

He is a great guy, with lots of friends in the area who are also good beekeepers. but if visiting any sicula apiary, take a bee suit. They are a bit on the tetchy side.

Carlo struggles with English, and when I have met him there have been many calls to a friend of his to translate things we could not understand eachother about.

 

[BJ's Bees]

Nice island, I sailed there in the 80's and walked to the top of the volcano. We made an ash tray from molten lava, but the soles of our walking boots melted from the heat.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks, everybody. Lots to look at.

I know Carlo quite well, and also his bees. They are A.m.sicula and possess many characteristics similar to both iberica and the black bees of North Africa.

He is a great guy, with lots of friends in the area who are also good beekeepers. but if visiting any sicula apiary, take a bee suit. They are a bit on the tetchy side.

I've read about A.m.sicula.
I have just imagined my husband's face when I pull out our bee suits from our luggage
Oooooops....must have brought the wrong bags!

 

[Worldsend]

We expect a full update on your return

 

[Luminos]

We expect a full update on your return

And piccies

 

[Erichalfbee]

Didn't spot any hives
Had a nice chill out fortnight and got very brown.
Spotted two types of trees that were absolutely buzzing with bees.
The first I've identified as a Silk Floss Tree (managed to get a few seeds....perhaps it will grow in the sun room )
The second i've not a clue but you could hear the bees on it yards away.

 

[masterBK]

managed to get a few seeds....perhaps it will grow in the sun room
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Is it wise (or legal?) to bring back seeds from abroad with the risk of inadvertently introducing pests and disease currently not present in the UK? Viruses, Bacteria, fungal spores, tiny nematodes, eggs of insects, small mites etc are so small that without specialist equipment you would not see most of them. Lets hope someone doesn't bring back SHbeetle with that plant in a pot that they saw and so liked in Africa.

 

[REDWOOD]

managed to get a few seeds....perhaps it will grow in the sun room
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Is it wise (or legal?) to bring back seeds from abroad with the risk of inadvertently introducing pests and disease currently not present in the UK? Viruses, Bacteria, fungal spores, tiny nematodes, eggs of insects, small mites etc are so small that without specialist equipment you would not see most of them. Lets hope someone doesn't bring back SHbeetle with that plant in a pot that they saw and so liked in Africa.

And the wind has no influence in such things, I always bring back a few seeds and know dozens of people who also do the same thing that has been going on since boats were invented

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

japanes knotweed, himalayan balsam?

 

[REDWOOD]

japanes knotweed, himalayan balsam?

Hey and bees love them both

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A list of invasive plants in britain on schedule 9 of the wildlife and countryside act, causing concern to 'Plantlife'

All species of the genus Elodea (waterweeds) (including Canadian waterweed Elodea
canadensis & Nuttall’s waterweed Elodea nuttallii)
Californian red seaweed Pikea californica
Curly waterweed Lagarosiphon major
Duck potato Sagittaria latifolia
Entire-leaved cotoneaster Cotoneaster integrifolius
Fallopia japonica x Fallopia sachalinensis (a hybrid knotweed)
False Virginia creeper Parthenocissus inserta
Fanwort (Carolina water-shield) Cabomba caroliniana
Few-flowered leek Allium paradoxum
Floating pennywort Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
Floating water primrose Ludwigia peploides
Giant hogweed Heracleum mantegazzianum
Giant kelp Macrocyctis pyrifera, M. angustifolia, M. integrifolia, M. laevis
Giant knotweed Fallopia sachalinensis
Giant rhubarb Gunnera tinctoria
Giant salvinia Salvinia molesta
Green seafingers Codium fragile
Himalayan cotoneaster Cotoneaster simonsii
Hollyberry cotoneaster Cotoneaster bullatus
Hooked asparagus seaweed Asparagopsis armata
Hottentot-fig Carpobrotus edulis
Indian balsam Impatiens glandulifera
Japanese kelp Laminaria japonica
Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica
Japanese rose Rosa rugosa
Japanese seaweed Sargassum muticum
Laver seaweeds (except native species) Porphyra species
Montbretia Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora
New Zealand pigmyweed Crassula helmsii
Parrot’s-feather Myriophyllum aquaticum

Ones they want scheduled:

American skunk-cabbage Lysichiton americanus
Asian skunk-cabbage Lysichiton camtschatcensis
Evergreen (Holm) oak Quercus ilex
False-acacia Robinia pseudoacacia (currently only listed in Scotland)
Himalayan knotweed Persicaria wallichii
Large-flowered waterweed Egeria densa
Ludwigia x kentiana (L. palustris x repens)
Marine green algae (seaweed) Caulerpa racemosa
Marine green algae (seaweed) Caulerpa taxifolia
Pickerelweed Pontederia cordata
Pirri-pirri-bur Acaena novae-zelandiae
Shallon Gaultheria shallon (currently only listed in Scotland)
Tree of heaven Ailanthus altissima
Turkey oak Quercus cerris