- Joined
- Feb 23, 2015
- Messages
- 822
- Reaction score
- 116
- Location
- Louth, Ireland
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 9
This is probably directed primarily to the Irish denizens of this site.
I'm sure many here remember the rather fractious discussion about supplying hybrid bees to Ireland, and the huge level of opposition. Anyway, it's starting again. Black Mountain Honey are planning on drop-shipping Buckfast queens to Ireland from Malta, despite this opposition. I have plenty of time for Laurence - his videos are generally excellent and I have up to now recommended them to beginners and more experienced alike, but this is directly harming our environmental heritage.
I contacted Laurence and he indicated that there has been a large number of orders from Ireland, which disappoints me since I thought Irish beekeepers were mostly hobbyists who want to protect the environment, not harm it.
For those who don't understand the issue, it's quite simple:
I'm sure many here remember the rather fractious discussion about supplying hybrid bees to Ireland, and the huge level of opposition. Anyway, it's starting again. Black Mountain Honey are planning on drop-shipping Buckfast queens to Ireland from Malta, despite this opposition. I have plenty of time for Laurence - his videos are generally excellent and I have up to now recommended them to beginners and more experienced alike, but this is directly harming our environmental heritage.
I contacted Laurence and he indicated that there has been a large number of orders from Ireland, which disappoints me since I thought Irish beekeepers were mostly hobbyists who want to protect the environment, not harm it.
For those who don't understand the issue, it's quite simple:
- The Northern European honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera (Amm), has almost been eliminated across Europe by hybridisation cause by introduced non-native bee subspecies. There are a few pockets left, in the Alps, in Perm, in Corwall and, probably most famously, in Colonsay in Scotland where Andrew Abrahams managed to get legal protection for black bees on the island.
- However, there is a large population remaining in Ireland - probably the last remaining reservoir of Amm genetics. Research has shown that there are certain unusual genetic markers that could potentially indicate a specifically Irish branch of Amm, although that has yet to be confirmed.
- The Native Irish Honeybee Society (NIHBS) has been trying to protect these bees from hybridisation and there are areas now designated as Voluntary Conservation Areas where beekeepers focus on preserving the native bee. A bill is currently going through the Senate that would outlaw imports of non-Amm in order to limit hybridisation.
- Another problem is that Ireland is still free of DWV-B and DWV-C, both of which are common across the rest of Europe, including Malta, so importing bees is threatening all bees here.
- The drones will almost certainly mate with native queens, creating hybrids. Apart from the fact that this will destroy the genetics which can never be restored, a number of beekeepers I know have had to cull dozens of queens last year because of the aggressive hybrids they were producing.
- Buckfast bees are hybrids, i.e. they are not a pure subspecies but rather a mix of subspecies. In a couple of generations, the offspring of these queens will do what all hybrids do: the offspring of the F2 queens will almost certainly be flying demons. And their replacements will have to be imported again. So this becomes a never-ending cycle of importing Buckfast queens with the associated extra cost.
- They may be carrying a disease that will kill many bees