BeeWatch crowdfunding

[Jowlpost]

Well - I've looked at your site and I watched the embedded video ... and I'm not sure what you are actually offering. I applaud any attempt to bring beekeeping and the plight of our pollinators to the attention of the public but ...

There are a few emotive words that keep getting to the media which are, frankly, of dubious veracity:

Our bees are in trouble ... well, actually, honey bees are not really in that much trouble - the reduction in colony numbers since the 1950's has a number of explanations - not least of which is the fact that the wartime needs of the 1940's were no more and changes in lifestyle left beekeeping as very much a niche hobby.

Colonies are dying - some are, some aren't ... it's not a general problem - there are certainly pressures on our bees from parasites, imported predators, diseases such as CBPV, varroa vectored diseases, the use of pesticides and the loss of our natural enviroments - but I worry more about the non-sprayed Neonics than I do about sprayed pesticides and I think the ever increasing pressure on farming to maximise crops at the expense of our field margins and flower meadows are destroying the lowest levels of natures food chain and reducing pollinator habitat.

Colony Collapse Disorder - Not in the UK as far as I know.

I go to quite a few public events to talk about bees and beekeeping and the above are the phrases I hear frequently from Joe Public - and we have to be very careful that these misconceptions are not overriding the work of what I see as an active and generally burgeoning beekeeping world. We can use young blood in the craft but I see some people being put off from keeping bees because of all the negatives that are bandied about. I know beekeeping is not easy but let's not make it sound more difficult than it is.

As for yet another app ... I regret to say I think you will struggle - from my perspective we already have Beebase - which does not attract 100% of beekeepers despite the obvious benefits. My local assoclation has a swarm co-ordinator and a network of collectors - all based locally. We have a spray liaison officer who keeps in touch with local farmers with regard to crop spraying and disseminates information. We have the BBKA - which, whilst still not really doing the best they can, is still our national organisation. Whilst not wishing to disparage your efforts I just wonder whether you are muddying the waters rather than clarifying them ?

Where is your USP ? What is it that you hope to achieve that is potentially better than we have now or able to replace it ?

hi .. thanks for your observations and taking the time to comment.
The medium-term goals are listed on the site. For those people who don't use a smart phone the same functions are available on a computer or tablet.
The USP of what we are providing is "real time information"
If I get an alert now because 5 minutes ago The Springs golf course, or their grounds maintenance company was recording their pesticide schedule for tomorrow, I will go shut up my hives now. If I wait for a well organised volunteer to send me an e-mail by tomorrow then it may be too late.
A lot of people don’t realise that its not just farmers that spray pesticides.
Likewise with a swarm .. the person reporting the swarm can notify all us local registered swarm collectors in a matter of seconds .. we have all seen that big cloud flying off in the distance because we were 10 minutes too late.
At the same time, we are automatically collecting a lot of valuable data that the BBKA, researchers or the Bee Units could make good use of.
How many swarms were collected, when, where, how many turned out to be wasps or bumble bees .. compared with last year? all this is very useful data that will make us better at what we do, but we have to start collecting and recording it.
I totally accept that there are a lot of very good and well organised BKA's out there and the BBKA has its agenda and is doing good work. What is not happening is we are not joined up in providing the consistent real time information that other countries require their bee keepers to do by law, for all our benefits.

 

[For want of a better word]

Blooming useless in Cornwall... I can only get a mobile signal if I go and sit on top of Kit Hill
What is an APP?

Nos da

 

[Erichalfbee]

.........so it looks like we are in a hot spot for problems.
We just need to find out what is going on and then develop ways of dealing with it.

Are you anywhere near a major honey processing plant processing non UK honey?

 

[Hivemaker.]

how many turned out to be wasps or bumble bees .. compared with last year? all this is very useful data that will make us better at what we do

How.

 

[Brian Bush]

I am afraid I fail to see what all the fuss is about. 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 villages and towns on the Oxfordshire side of the boundary. We don't like having to refuse calls from as far away as Witney or Banbury for reasons of distance. We refuse calls from the Wallingford/Didcot area because of the Fouls Brood reports.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

What is an APP?

Nos da

It's the Welsh equivalent of Mc

 

[Hivemaker.]

What is an APP?

It is a device you can get to bolt onto your face, makes the wearer oblivious to everything around them, hate the things, but lots of people have them fitted these days.

 

[Uncle Betty]

An article from TIME, last August...

'Honeybees ravaged by Colony Collapse Disorder Are Making a Huge Comeback.'

The number of hives lost to Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon of disappearing bees that has raised concerns among farmers and scientists for a decade, was 84,430 in this year’s first quarter, down 27 percent from a year earlier. Year-over-year losses declined by the same percentage in April through June, the most recent data in the survey.

http://time.com/4885569/honeybee-population-increase/

 

[charlievictorbravo]

I'm a bit concerned over the strap line 'Bee watch - a national campaign to save the bee". I'm a bit perplexed about how they think they can do this. Well-meaning but misguided.

I just don't see what they can achieve that cannot be done by existing organisations - it could lead to fragmentation of beekeeping organisations and confusion on the part of both the public and beekeepers.

CVB

 

[pargyle]

hi .. thanks for your observations and taking the time to comment. .........

..........I totally accept that there are a lot of very good and well organised BKA's out there and the BBKA has its agenda and is doing good work. What is not happening is we are not joined up in providing the consistent real time information that other countries require their bee keepers to do by law, for all our benefits.

I can see where your idea came from ... as a sales and marketing person I've been presented with many 'great' ideas that came about as a result of someone facing a personal difficulty ... without being too negative about what you are proposing you should really consider what you envisage in the wider context of the market place and the potential 'clients' you wish to attract.

Getting any group of beekeepers to join together to achieve a greater good is nigh impossible from what I have seen ... getting people to subscribe to an App may be equally challenging - particularly as some of the perceived benefits are, or at least appear, to be solving very localised problems.

Whilst the numbers of swarms collected or the incidence of crop spraying may be collatable statistics they are only going to be valid if they encompass the whole of the pie. Piecemeal information would be of little or no benefit - indeed - even if we had the whole picture and every beekeeper subscribed - is the information it provides of any real importance or significance to beekeepers at ground level ? To an academic, perhaps, but what would they be able to tell from it that we don't already have some idea about. Even if you could demonstrate that crop spraying is anathema to our honey bees - you would be hard pushed to change our farming ways unless there was a viable alternative. Bear in mind that, in me, you are preaching to the converted in terms of natural agriculture and animal husbandry - think what an uphill battle it would be for those who are less concerned.

I can see the benefit of a national swarm collection scheme but - don't we already have this covered via the BBKA and local associations ?... Most swarms get collected but even if they don't - the bees find somewhere to live, it's not a loss.

The BBKA and local associations could be more joined up - I'm not a great fan of the BBKA but they are there, established and with some good intentions. They have a swarm collectors page on their website, I put in my postcode and I get 19 swarm collectors within a 10 mile radius, with contact telephone numbers - there is guidance on there to enable/assist Joe Public to identify honeybees - it could be better but, if I was a non beekeeper that had a swarm that needed attention, I think I would be phoning the nearest collector rather than posting a request on an App ... but perhaps I'm the odd one out ?

Be very careful that you are not investing time and potentially money in a good idea that nobody (apart from you) wants or more importantly needs.

To quote a well worn phrase from Dragons Den ... I won't be investing and I'm out ... sorry.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The usual emotive bandwaggoning and banging on about a phenomenon non existent in this country (Sudden Colony Collapse Disorder) smacks of aiming for the mass market of the great uneducated rather than beekeepers - rang alarm bells with me straight away. A rather cynical ploy.
I'd also be very wary of a private individual or organisation having access to my personal/apiary details.
Think I'd rather crowdfund a flohive.

 

[enrico]

I still haven't seen an answer for seven hives lost overnight. I find this statement appalling. What did you do to find the perpetrators? What was the outcome? Why was it not plastered all over the media. That is a criminal action.
Please tell me what the outcome was. If that happened to me the world would hear about it.
E

 

[Hivemaker.]

Think I'd rather crowdfund a flohive.

This does not appear to be as popular as flowhive thing, only £615 raised of the £40,000 needed so far.
The BBKA are keen on the idea, maybe they will also chip in and give the guy £35,000.

 

[Poly Hive]

Fools and money.....

PH

 

[Brian Bush]

The usual emotive bandwaggoning and banging on about a phenomenon non existent in this country (Sudden Colony Collapse Disorder) smacks of aiming for the mass market of the great uneducated rather than beekeepers - rang alarm bells with me straight away. A rather cynical ploy.
I'd also be very wary of a private individual or organisation having access to my personal/apiary details.
Think I'd rather crowdfund a flohive.

 

[viridens]

A key feature of this scheme is that pesticide users will notify beekeepers of proposed treatments. Surely the fact that these pesky pesticiders will be charged a £20 scheme subscription for the privilege of making such notifications has to be a weak point?

 

[alldigging]

A key feature of this scheme is that pesticide users will notify beekeepers of proposed treatments. Surely the fact that these pesky pesticiders will be charged a £20 scheme subscription for the privilege of making such notifications has to be a weak point?

Compared to the free version already out there .......

 

[colinc]

A key feature of this scheme is that pesticide users will notify beekeepers of proposed treatments. Surely the fact that these pesky pesticiders will be charged a £20 scheme subscription for the privilege of making such notifications has to be a weak point?

Bingo.

They don’t notify “Free” Beebase.

Winner!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Jowlpost]

Did Beebase notify of the spraying?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Hi .. we have been members since it started, and the answer is no ... I think we have had 4 at the beginning of the year but it dried up, however we do have pictures of two separate farmers spraying 48 hours before within 2k. Hey it may all be a coincidence but we need to know before it starts over again.

 

[Jowlpost]

Bingo.

They don’t notify “Free” Beebase.

Winner!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

You have hit the nail right on the head. As beekeepers we need to be better organised, demonstrate that we are operating in the 21st century, promote the fact that 85% of all pollinating services we provide are free .. and we need the pesticide users to help us maintain that service.
If we want the next generation to join us we need to demonstrate that we understand how their world operates and are doing something about it.
bee.watch uses current technology to make it so simple to do. 10 seconds to anonymously notify every local registered beekeeper of what, where and when they are spraying, 15 seconds approx. to notify all swarm collectors and collecting valuable data at the same time..
Its no good writing loads of words to justify why we should do nothing.