Extrapolating Chrisbees figures on the Co-Op farms he uses for his apiaries, should Down Ampney support 300 colonies, even spread across the estate, it matters little whether they are in groups of 10,20,40 or 100 - they are still on the Estate. For ITLD/Danbee to claim otherwise is tantamount to pulling the wool over our eyes and taking local beekeepers as idoits.
Interesting assumption. You are very good at assumptions and taking extreme viewpoints. 300 colonies are BASED at Down Ampney. You can twist things as much as you like and you are still making assumptions. This one is yet again wrong.
Where will the rest be? Well thanks to the e-mailers (apparently two but I think they are the same person from writing style) who have told me 'they know the place and they (seemingly plural) will be coming round to torch the lot' if the project goes ahead, you will understand my reticence to give exact locations. Some reward for openness.
I have made this offer to some already. Send me a grid square or other vague location of your bees and I will say how far away the nearest of these bees are.
I bet no mention of the 300+ colonies will end up at the Heather...for fear of agravating the other local beekeepers there too. Yes I know what ITLD will say that many of the other BFarmers will have colonies from outside the UK, but it doesn't make it right.
When it comes to the heather we invariably negotiate exclusivity deals with landowners, then for the most part the bees will be away in the back of beyond behind locked gates a long way from anyone else. We have NO hostility to our heather operations in Scotland whatsoever, No reason it should be any worse in England/Wales and lots and lots of beekeepers both amateur and professional go to the heather. Its just a normal thing to do for lots of people. Despite what you would like to think, your view on the heather reflects only a tiny minority.
I quote from the BBKA again..."are against the import of queens and packages" END OF !! What part isn't clear there ? What part don't people understand ?
Its probably more an aspiration than anything else as there is no legal possibility of a ban, especially from the EU, which in reality is now our home market. Lots of the members will be using imported stock knowingly or otherwise. I would bet hundreds of members will actively purchase imported stock this spring. It is a position that reflects dominant opinion (perhaps, maybe just dominant voices) but is clearly not universally agreed with.
516
Nice point ITLD - though WHY any beekeepers would want a queen from your colonies at Down Ampney escapes me. OK Just go ahead guys and live with the consequences. By using queens (if they were available) from ITLD, you'd merely be perpetuating the whole Import issue !!
Just come and see the stock when it is there. I have invited you before but apparently there will be nothing to gain.....your words........you would then see just WHY some would want it.
532
GBH's point of a LACK OF CONSULTATION by the Co-Op with local Beekeepers is such a pertinent point ! I bet they wouldn't DARE now....(though I'd love to recieve a call...)
There is actually no-one to do that. Not a matter of not daring anyway. Read your own posts. Would there be any POINT? Ill informed, strident, badgering, threatening..........appetising recipe for consulting with! 537
540
Hivemaker's quote from the Co-Op's website...shame they have missed out the other possible cause of colony losses - that of imported bees !
Really? An assertion that from my experience has little basis in fact apart from certain dud stock..which this is not. Your claim, prove it. ( maybe it is another of those 'it is widely known' chestnuts)
543
Co-Op's temporary prohibition of neonicotinoid pesticides on own brand fresh produce..then in post 578, ITLD says that 90% of the produce at Tillington ends up in Tesco, who aren't exactly known for their eco-credentials...so does one extrapolate from that 'we don't use neonicotinoids on our fresh produce but if it is for other buyers, then it's open season' ??!
Gee you take the biscuit. Wild rash assertion with zero basis in fact. Again, prove what you say. I look forward to hearing from you how neonics are used on the produce sold to Tesco or any other buyer from Tillington. Fwiw, the reason Tillington produce goes to Tesco is because they pay more for it that Co-op retail do. Perhaps demonstrates the loose bound nature of the organistion better than most things do.
549
3124 units of bees coming into the country...at least...what a total disaster...and perhaps covering up the total losses UK beefarmers are experiencing every year.....
Who said they were for bee farmers? A significant amount of it is a reflection of the demand for nucs etc to the amateur sector.Many of the calls I have had are from small scale bekeepers, with under 20 hives, who have lost most, and sometimes all, of their bees. Not everyone thinks it a disaster, total or otherwise.
594
ITLD's suggestion that no one person in the Co-Op knows what is truely going on...If I was the Chief Executive I'd be very very concerned....
That is a twist on what I said and fine you know it.
So, all in all, some very positive comments, but also the smoke and mirrors continues..
Sigh. A bee farmer hiding under every bed, just waiting an opportunity to destroy their own trade............ reality check please...we do what we do to get it right, not screw it up. We HAVE to get it right. If not we do not survive. But perhaps that is your perfect outcome?
your starting to put RAB in the shade.
