"Survivor bees" found in Blenheim Forest

[Ian123]

Just a reminder for people…..” The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honeybee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honeybees found in managed beehives,”

 

[Finman]

Just a reminder for people…..” The newly discovered subspecies, or ecotype, of honeybee is smaller, furrier and darker than the honeybees found in managed beehives,”

any pictures about the famous bee

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

any pictures about the famous bee

 

[Finman]

I believe. A new subspecies or palacetype.

 

[Erichalfbee]

any pictures about the famous bee

 

[Finman]

View attachment 31059

I can see Italian bee genes in those bees.
Not very hairy

 

[Ian123]

View attachment 31055

That’s a bloody buckfast

 

[Mint Bee]

There is an article in the new edition of the Beekeepers Quarterly that discusses the bees at Blenheim. It is based on this article.
https://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/post/bees-don-t-make-honey-teams-do Some interesting initial points, then it wanders off, makes a few claims that cant be substantiated at this time, and are inaccurate, IMHO, and thumps the drum to be expected.

 

[JamezF]

I can see Italian bee genes in those bees.
Not very hairy

Honestly, if I found that lot in one of my hives I probably wouldn't even notice anything out of the ordinary. They just look like mongrel bees to me, no different from the ones I've been watching collect water from the tub outside my greenhouse over the last week or so.

They certainly don't look like my mental image of a "black honey bee".

It really does feel like there's rather a lot of wishful thinking going on here.

James

 

[Finman]

https://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/post/bees-don-t-make-honey-teams-do[/URL]
Some interesting initial points, then it wanders off, makes a few claims that cant be substantiated at this time, and are inaccurate, IMHO, and thumps the drum to be expected.

One hype story again.

We know, that one bee cannot make honey or nest. Do we ?

It happens to be, that honey bees gather winter stores to survive over Winter. And a human steals the stores or even brood.

And honeys do that even if Blenheim would not exist.

Survivors from where... honey bee as a species is very succesfull amimal. It has survived in Europe and in Africa very well.

Nothing new in those stories.

 

[Finman]

It really does feel like there's rather a lot of wishful thinking going on here.

James

The purpose is to advertise Blenheim palace with its nature miracles. A tourist atraction and entertainment industry.
Nothing to do with honey bee evolution. Too many false claims since last Summer.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It really does feel like there's rather a lot of wishful thinking going on here.

always is when there's a change of a funding pot being tapped

 

[Beesnaturally]

The interesting thing to me is what bees that are thriving unaided look like. Whether particular recognisable characters are consistently emerging - or not. How much observable variation there is in any particular place.

I'm sure such bees will be gaining genes from nearby beekeepers, which will slow the emergence of local natural races.

To me genuine thriving independently living bees are fascinating and valuable. That they emerge from a mix of stock (are 'mongrel') and still carry visible variation is irrelevant. Its what they can do that matters.

 

[Finman]

Tamed bees of Blenheim.
There are two ecotypes of bees in Blenheim palace
- bees in tree holes
- bees in human made boxes.

 

[Finman]

We talk about ecotype... what is that?

Eco becomes from the word oikos = house or home.
Is it right to distinquish the bees sccording their houses?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

We talk about ecotype... what is that

a battery powered Jaguar coupe

 

[JamezF]

a battery powered Jaguar coupe

Gah! I was in the process of typing exactly that

James

 

[JamezF]

We talk about ecotype... what is that?

To answer more seriously, since I think I read it in one of Celia Davis's books only this week. Assuming I've understood correctly an ecotype is related to the idea of a phenotype. Members of the ecotype exhibit distinct physical traits, but members of different ecotypes can still interbreed and the differences between ecotypes are not so great as to warrant defining them as different species.

Something like that, anyhow.

James

 

[Finman]

To answer more seriously, since I think I read it

Something like that, anyhow.

James

There are officinal explanations to that term. Guys use those terms in Blenheim artickles and in this forum without knowing, what does it meams. Hobby beekeepers see subspecies = bee races everywhere. Even Blenheim Palace they have two subspecies on same isolated area

This detail shows, that the guys do not know what they are writing, or as I bet, they seriously invent Willy the Pooh fairytales. And stories work well.

 

[Finman]

Assuming I've understood correctly an ecotype is related to the idea of a phenotype.

James

Yes. Individuals seem to be different than in another places, but they do not earn the value of subspecies.

Scientist are really eager to find their own new species.

Like black bees in Holland, Belgium or in France, they are not ecotypes. Border of countries cannot form borders of ecotypes.

Like in Russia, black bees are different, because 30% out of their genes comes from other bee races. So they are hybrids more or less. So called mongrels.