"Survivor bees" found in Blenheim Forest

[Murox]

Probably not totally deluded - they seem to be very industrious as they attempt to monetise every facet of their little estate.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Probably not totally deluded - they seem to be very industrious as they attempt to monetise every facet of their little estate.

And, as PT Barnum once said (or was it Hannum) 'there's a sucker born every minute'

 

[Murox]

“Science is another important field of human effort. Science is the pursuit of pure truth, and the systematizing of it. In such an employment as that, one might reasonably hope to find all things done in honesty and sincerity. Not at all, my ardent and inquiring friends, there is a scientific humbug just as large as any other............" ― P.T. Barnum, The Humbugs of the World: An Account of Humbugs, Delusions, Impositions, Quackeries, Deceits and Deceivers Generally, in All Ages

 

[Skinfaxi]

Once lived a small special blessed by Jupiter from ancient times, colonies of bees. They lived in there own special woodland. They made the wasps and hornats attack the common bees, outside the special blessed by the jupiter woods. They made the wasps raid the honey, jelly, wax and young nurse bees of the dirty common bees and bring it to them. The end

 

[mbc]

People seem to forget that fields in general are a fairly new invention, until the upper classes decided to steal common land from ordinary people and then charge them to use it fields (or hayes -which is where the term for dried grass comes from) were just the occasional are used for specialised purposes, until mass enclosures in the 1700's and 1800s vast tracts of land were just open with the occasional coverts of trees dotted around for the benefit of hunters. Individual land boundaries to indicate a person's crops were just marked by stones or natural features.

The enclosures act marked the beginning of serious breeding of cattle and such, much easier when the neighbours inferior bull doesn't hump your cows by wondering free over the common.
Bees aren't held back by a hedge.

 

[Pembroke]

Here's a story that predates the Blenheim one by many years from dear old Wales which you might find interesting. I'm sure many on this list know or know of Robert, he is still around but I'm afraid I don't know how he got on with his quest for native bees.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/native-black-bee-flies-out-2426288

 

[Finman]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/native-black-bee-flies-out-2426288

Quite typical story about Black Bee.

It must be a story template somewhere.

 

[Somerford]

He probably coloured it in with a felt tip pen!

He probably learned that from Monty Python

 

[Apiarist]

Here's a story that predates the Blenheim one by many years from dear old Wales which you might find interesting. I'm sure many on this list know or know of Robert, he is still around but I'm afraid I don't know how he got on with his quest for native bees.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/native-black-bee-flies-out-2426288

The last sentence of that article says "The second stage of the survey involves DNA analysis - and it is this that has shown that the Welsh bees are unique to the British Isles" BUT the article does not provide a link to this "DNA analysis" which has shown the "Welsh bees (to be) unique".... does anyone have a link to it, I know that there are Welsh beeks here so they must have heard of this published research in some Welsh beek magazine, if it exists..??

 

[mbc]

The last sentence of that article says "The second stage of the survey involves DNA analysis - and it is this that has shown that the Welsh bees are unique to the British Isles" BUT the article does not provide a link to this "DNA analysis" which has shown the "Welsh bees (to be) unique".... does anyone have a link to it, I know that there are Welsh beeks here so they must have heard of this published research in some Welsh beek magazine, if it exists..??

Erm, no, I'm a Welsh beekeeper who keeps native bees and I'd be interested in this
sort of thing but don't recall reading it.
I also know Rob.
Following with interest

 

[Finman]

and it is this that has shown that the Welsh bees are unique to the British Isles"

Unique = one if its kind in Britain.

There should be several samples from different colonies, that we could know, are they same genepool or are they all one of its kind. The last Mohican.

But according biological facts the genes on same area should be same, because bees have been there hundreds of years, and one queen have mated with 15 drones.

Bees try to mix themselves as much as they can, and the result is unique....What does it mean.

Actually I do not believe, that all DNA analysis give the unique status to all.
But in Fimland to in nature ptoyection everythimg is unique. And to me a honeybee is not unique. It is common and same species.

 

[Murox]

The last sentence of that article says "The second stage of the survey involves DNA analysis - and it is this that has shown that the Welsh bees are unique to the British Isles" BUT the article does not provide a link to this "DNA analysis" which has shown the "Welsh bees (to be) unique".... does anyone have a link to it, I know that there are Welsh beeks here so they must have heard of this published research in some Welsh beek magazine, if it exists..??

More than 9 years ago - the Guardian April 2012 -
“The native black honeybee, feared to have died out in all but the remote reaches of northern Britain, has been found in north Wales, east Anglia and as far south as West Sussex.
Bibba claims the black honeybee could hold the key to reversing the dramatic decline in honeybee colonies in Britain because it is more adapted to the UK climate than the southern European honeybee subspecies used by many UK beekeepers.
"There is a lot of anecdotal evidence among our 300 members that the survival rate is higher for black honeybees," said Terry Clare, president of Bibba........................”
Doesn't seem to have been much progress made to date.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

be more interested to know where the found this 'dramatic decline' in honeybee colonies, considering the numbers have been going up and up since the mid 1950's

 

[Ian123]

be more interested to know where the found this 'dramatic decline' in honeybee colonies, considering the numbers have been going up and up since the mid 1950's

Aren’t bees always in decline when people are after funding

 

[Erichalfbee]

Then there’s this. Admittedly three years old. I wonder what happened to the idea?
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/bees-gone-wild/

 

[Apiarisnt]

Then there’s this. Admittedly three years old. I wonder what happened to the idea?
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/bees-gone-wild/

as do non-feral honeybees, in towns at least

 

[Finman]

"There is a lot of anecdotal evidence among our 300 members that the survival rate is higher for black honeybees," said Terry Clare, president of Bibba........................”

One thing is smaller hives and swarmy bees 50 years ago. Hives were two boxes and now they are 5- 8 boxes. So if you keep all those small hives, of course number survival is bigger than with Italian hive, where number of bees are equal to 3 small hives.

Big hives foraged 3 times more honey per hive that swarmy mongrels.

What means that Survival, varroa, nosema, hive number or what? Queen losses is one type of loss.

In Finland there was plenty of hives. And lots of guys, who did nothing to their hives furing summer. Varroa finished such beekeeping.

At the beginning of summer one small hive swarmed and turned to 3 hives.

When you got varroa to Britain, there were allready several tratments. When Varroa came to Finland, we did not have any treatments varroa furing first 10 years. 1988 Peritzin was first and only allowed treatment.

If we talk about "survival rate", it would be nice to know what were the reasons to vanishing hives

In Finland varroa killed all black bees during years 1980- 2000. It took that time, when varroa spreaded through the country
First Carniolans were imported to Finland about 1985, and they took the place of German Black Beed.

I can say, that varroa and Carniolan killed Black Bees together from Finland.

 

[Finman]

as do non-feral honeybees, in towns at least

If you are old enough, you surely remember how varroa killed all feral bees colonies in every country, because nobody protected them from varroa.

But nursed bees produced new "feral bees" here and there every year.

 

[Finman]

as do non-feral honeybees, in towns at least

That article is from USA?

 

[Apiarist]

More than 9 years ago - the Guardian April 2012 -
...
"There is a lot of anecdotal evidence among our 300 members that the survival rate is higher for black honeybees," said Terry Clare, president of Bibba........................”

Do you have a link to that article?

I don't understand that sentence... how would BIBBA members be observing a higher survival rate for Amm bees compared to other bees, doesn't being a member of BIBBA preclude the beek from keeping any other bee than the Amm??? Just like being a member of NIHBS here in Ireland (our version of BIBBA)??? So how could they make like for like comparisons?

If the sentence means that BIBBA members overwintering death rate is lower than the national average; then that could easily be explained by their members greater experience and that newer less experienced beeks tend to partake in such surveys more so?