Who Keeps Bees?

[clv101]

How're the bees going guys? Mine didn''t expand from their nuc since receiving them. Poor weather, perhaps an old queen in the nucleus... Am putting some silver spoon in syrup to give them a boost for the winter.

It's going pretty well considering the weather. The swarm we were given in the first place has expanded well and has six 14x12 frames for brood. We also got another week colony from someone, and collected swarm a few weeks back. That swarm's queen never amounted to anything and with it being too in the year to raise a new one, they were merged with the 2nd colony just today.

Btw Clv, I have just spent a few weeks working on a bee farm which was pretty intense, and they said that a sprinkle of icing sugar to prevent varroa, is, 'ahem', 'middle class bollocks'. Not asserting this as the truth, guys, but what I heard.

Yeah - I agree about icing sugar, there have been studies showing it has little to no benefit. The bee farm sounds interesting, where was it? What kind of work were you doing?

If it is the case that we can only take chemical steps to combat these asiatic parasites, then what future measures? I heard/read somewhere that there are being bred a strain of houseproud western honeybee that sweep the buggers out. Was also wondering if we couldn't introduce some asian bees if they are suited to our flora? Can see that would be a potential disaster- any comments?

We treated No1 hive with Apiguard today. However I wouldn't class it as a 'chemical' step, it's just slow release thymol. You can make it yourself from Thymol crystals.

[Catweazle]

I saw very few bees here all year, until last month when Mrs C bought some French Lavender plants. The bees love them, I'll be planting many of them next year to attract the bees to my patch.

[featherstick]

Cotoneaster is a great plant for wildlife. On the allotments, I notice great clouds of bees on a particular bush in spring, with birds loving the subsequent berries.

[biffvernon]

Here's a useful document for folk interested in bees (and all life on the planet)

http://www.farmlandbirds.net/sites/defa ... illers.pdf

from

http://www.farmlandbirds.net/en/taxonomy/term/3

[biffvernon]

And here's some background to the report I just linked to:

Subject: Fw: Complaint 1360/2012/BEH Ombudsman EFSA 6765364

Reply-To: R MASON

Dear All

The "letter to BH" pdf that we sent Friday pm (31st August) to Europe (Omb, EC, EFSA attorneys) with copies to Ministers and scientists in the UK looks innocuous, but its one we have compiled, after nearly 2 years of research (and being sent docs by our huge global network). It is a 25-page doc entitled Agrochemicals - the Silent Killers; and we have used case reports rather than science, since the EU & EFSA science is so distorted, as I said in the email.

We have concluded with the Verdict from the Jury at the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal last December against the Big 6, held in Bangalore pp 19-23.

I want to get it out, before the EU and UK governments find it on Monday am and try to block my computer, or suppress us (p 19 shows us what they do to people who try to expose them).

It has been posted on some websites. It is on Henk Tennekes website, see below.

http://www.farmlandbirds.net/en/content ... nt-killers

and on John Salt's

Agrochemicals - the silent killers ... posted at:

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/bee_news.html

.... and

http://www.moraybeedinosaurs.co.uk/neonicotinoid.html



The organisations that are supposed to be protecting us have sold the public down the river to the Agrochemical Companies. The EC gave the new Monsanto GM-Roundup Ready soya authorisation 3 weeks ago, EFSA having given it a positive opinion in June. John Dalli has gained approval from at least one MEP!

"I am pleased that commissioner Dalli has stated quite clearly that he will not be rushed into a knee-jerk reaction on a European ban because of pressure from the French government." George Lyon, Liberal Democrat MEP

We have to get this document out to the public. It is not just about bees. They have destroyed human health and the environment.
Buy the Independent on Monday.

Best wishes

Rosemary


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: R MASON <rosemary.mason01@btinternet.com>
To: Euro-Ombudsman <EO@ombudsman.europa.eu>; GABBISimone <Simone.Gabbi@efsa.europa.eu>; VANMOL Nathalie <Nathalie.VANMOL@ext.efsa.europa.eu>; "dirk.detken@efsa.europa.eu" <dirk.detken@efsa.europa.eu>; "l.a.glover@abdn.ac.uk" <l.a.glover@abdn.ac.uk>; JohnDalli <cab-dalli-webpage@ec.europa.eu>; Dacianciolos <dacian.ciolos@ec.europa.eu>; JanezPotocnik <janez.potocnik@ec.europa.eu>
Cc: JohnBeddington <mpst.beddington@bis.gov.uk>; BobWatson <robert.watson@uea.ac.uk>; "benyonr@parliament.uk" <benyonr@parliament.uk>; "lfh@mst.dk" <lfh@mst.dk>; DuncanWingham <hqpo@nerc.ac.uk>
Sent: Friday, 31 August 2012, 13:18
Subject: Complaint 1360/2012/BEH Ombudsman EFSA 6765364


Dear Dr Hofstotter

For the benefit of Mr Dirk Detken, Head of Legal Affairs Unit, EFSA (I have already explained to Attorney Simone Gabbi in a telephone conversation) I will recap as to how our Complaint to the EU Ombudsman arose. It was in response to a Press release No 6/2012: Ombudsman investigates whether the Commission should do more to combat increased bee mortality, potentially linked to certain insecticides. This had resulted from a complaint from the Austrian Ombudsman Board, alleging that the Commission has failed to take into account new scientific evidence arguing in favour of restricting the use of the neonicotinoid insecticides. The Report on Risk Assessment to bees and other pollinators by EFSA had been published in April 2012, so the EC asked EFSA to consider the new research. This was followed by an annex, published 1st June 2012. In essence, EFSA said they were not satisfied and more research needed to be done to confirm the new evidence against the neonicotinoid insecticides. In fact in the Press Release EFSA stated that the EC had recently given them a mandate to provide an in-depth review of the effects of the neonicotinoid active substances thiamethoxam, clothianidin, imidacloprid, acetamiprid and thiacloprid. This would be published in December 2012. The EC must have tacitly assumed that EFSA would reject the new papers and suggest more studies; which it did.
Dr Hofstötter reminded us on 27th August of the deadline of 31st August 2012, before the Ombudsman closed our case. He regretted that the only way we could get the document we had requested (the Rapporteur Member State’s (RMS) registration document for clothianidin) was through written application to EFSA Executive Director. He kindly provided us with the link. Access to documents held by the Commission is governed by Regulation 1049/2001. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/register/pdf/r1049_en.pdf
When I read the document, it became clear that we were unlikely to obtain it. In Article 3 Exceptions; included in these were commercially sensitive documents. In Article 4: Those from Rapporteur Member States without permission...
However, in the reply on behalf of the EC to our Complaint (05/07/2012), Michael Flüh had said in point 3: “The allegation as regards the illegality of the registration of clothianidin is strongly rejected. The assessment of clothianidin carried out by an RMS and peer reviewed by experts from all Member States concluded that safe uses for this substance exist.”
Since the RMS registration document for clothianidin is confidential, how are its findings to be verified?
This is just one illustration of the distorted form of science that is being used by the EC to protect human health and the environment. Clothianidin has a half-life in soil of up to 1386 days. The EC Water-Frame Directive does not require monitoring of any of the five neonicotinoid insecticides or the herbicide glyphosate. So each year, new seed and sprays continue to be applied without farmers having any idea of the residues from the previous year. In the Purdue Study from Indiana (2012), field studies showed widespread contamination of the environment and bees close to maize fields: Multiple Routes of Exposure for Honey Bees Living Near Agricultural Fields: “bees close to maize fields were found to be exposed throughout the foraging period: to extremely high levels of clothianidin and thiamethoxam (which is metabolised into clothianidin) in planter exhaust material produced during the planting of treated maize seed; in the soil of each field, including unplanted fields; in Dandelions foraged by bees; in dead bees collected near hive entrances; in pollen collected by bees and stored in the hive. Maize pollen with clothianidin and other pesticides were fed to the new queens.”
We can produce another case to suggest that the EU Regulatory Authorities are dangerously out of control and not fulfilling their legal obligations according to EU Law. Testbiotech, an Institute for Independent Impact Assessment in Germany issued complaints against both EFSA (June 22 2012) for giving a positive opinion on the cultivation of Roundup® Ready Soy within the EU and subsequently the EC (August 9 2012) for authorising GE soybeans with stacked genes. A new legal dossier shows current authorisation practice violates EU law.
www.testbiotech.de/sites/default/files/ ... RA_PMP.pdf
Joint action of environmental organisations and scientists against decision of the EU Commission said: “EFSA is assessing the risks of genetically engineered plants very superficially by just applying a simplified procedure. In addition, the EU Commission is not fulfilling its duty to control market authorisations. The current procedure is in contradiction to existing EU regulations. Press Release: Munich/ Brussels, 9 August 2012. Several organisations such as the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) are filing a complaint against a decision of the EU Commission to authorise a new genetically engineered Monsanto soybean. The soybeans will be mostly sold and grown in Brazil under the brand name Intacta, the harvest will be imported to the EU for use in food and feed. The new genetically engineered soybean expresses an insecticidal protein and is resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, commonly known as Roundup®. The EU gave permission for use of the soybeans in food and feed at end of June. However, the European Food Safety Authority EFSA has not carried out the risk assessments for this product in the way as legally required. This is evident from a technical dossier compiled by Testbiotech and from a legal dossier that will be filed to the Commission. The complaint will be been filed under EU regulation 1367/2006, which means there is a chance that the European Court of Justice may become involved on a later stage.

In view of all of these complaints, for our final document to the European Ombudsman we intend to abandon science (the misuse of which by industry, EFSA and the EC has not served the public well). Instead, we intend to submit our final arguments in the form of a series of illustrated case reports, together with commentaries and supporting evidence. In medicine, this is an accepted form of communication in peer-reviewed journals.

Yours sincerely

Rosemary Mason
Palle Uhd Jepsen
Wales UK

I guess a bit of support in getting this report read by the people listed in the e-mail cc and others wouldn't come amiss.

[Catweazle]

Heritage seeds are available at the moment, I'll be choosing a couple of varieties that don't have commercial relatives nearby and saving the seed.

I'm surprised there hasn't been a big "Dig For Victory" campaign, but then again it would reduce spending in the shops and make the GDP figures look even worse, perhaps that's the reaaon.

[emordnilap]

We've tried our best to encourage solitary and wild bees and it seems to be paying off, even though we're an oasis for them amidst this sea of green.

General advice for attracting wild bees is to plant 'old-fashioned' cottage flowers, that is, not hybridised and commercialised. Foxglove, for instance, is almost a wild flower and more or less looks after itself year to year.

Bees tend to prefer flat, open flowers to those requiring some burrowing.

Also, flowering herbs (which most do). Bees love them. Wild marjoram is a favourite round here, as is borage and lavender. We have a large herb garden which buzzes with activity besides being a delight for us to walk through.

A third area for bees is flowering vegetables, that is veggies that have been left to grow, flower and set seed. The allium family is particularly attractive for this. Some leeks we left to flower developed their large ball of flowers which brought a type of bee, quite large, I'd not seen before. So by saving your own seed, you're doing more good than you think.

[Janco2]

I agree entirely with emordinlap.

We also have done our very best to encourage all sorts of bees, butterflies and pollinators and it is paying off with a delightful hum of bees everywhere.
However, we are at the moment in rural Brittany staying with my sister and they have a profusion of bees etc all around. Far more than we have in Cornwall and they haven't had to encourage them as we have. The bees etc. are still around.

It is like Cornwall was 40 years ago but I fear that the farmers here are beginning follow a somewhat stricter regime than previous generations. Hopefully, as the countryside is not so densely populated things won't change too quickly.

My brother in law now has 2 Dadant hives, both with flourishing colonies and a TBH which he will use for his next swarm. He was given 2 lots of bees already in Dadant frames so will continue with those.

We were lucky in Cornwall to also be given a small swarm in late July and these seem to be ok although we have had to feed them continually due to inclement weather. Intend to feed them fondant for the winter.

[leroy]

The bee farm sounds interesting, where was it? What kind of work were you doing?

It was interesting. 140 hives over 6 sites, approx 1.2 million bees so I'm told, East Anglia. The owner was in a transitional phase from beekeeper (hobbyist) to bee farmer (full time commercial operator). Lots of syrup making- days of cooking up sugar-water in jam pans, stirring in boiling water to granulated sugar. Sticky, hot work with endless washing up. The inspection and feeding of bees was of a pace which I found hard to keep up with, very sweaty and not, tbh, overly educative for my novice needs. In the heat, the bees were very territorial over water, dripping taps and of course the washing up sinks. Got some pretty good stings while not suited up, very painful when direct into muscles and particularly the crown jewels!

Overall, I think the limitations of large scale apiculture were apparent- if you are exchanging sugar for honey, or just to get your colonies to survive and at significant financial loss in times of erratic weather, at the rate of a hundred kilos of sugar per day, then this is not a sustainable practice. Lots of heating and hot water, trips to the wholesaler &tc.

I agree that (to my neophyte understanding) there are many different ways of combating all manner of apine disease Clv, but I am very interested concerning the degree to which we could get by without the aid of supplies from Thornes and elsewhere. Could we produce enough thyme on allotments and have the equipment and wherewithal to produce our own thymol? If one believes in oxalic acid as a prophylactic for varroa, then could we make it by boiling then filtering, for example, rhubarb leaves? And what of Nosema, EFB and others. It seems to me that small scale, local solutions will be necessary in meeting the demands of keeping embattled honeybee colonies alive, particularly given the modest rewards of small-scale beekeeping.

Another thing that has me puzzled is the current density of beehives in Bristol compared to there previous, and according to the 'Barefoot Beekeeper' book, sparser wild and monastic populations in times of yore. I cannot remember the figures but there used to be less bees per square kilometre than there are now, but we seem to do ok for forage despite the destruction of hedgerows and the development of useless ornamental double-flowers. Do we make up any shortfall by feeding syrup? Seems unlikely to me...

[biffvernon]

Seen this one?

http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/upload ... ciety1.pdf

Are Neonicotinoids Killing Bees?

A Review of Research into the Effects of Neonicotinoid Insecticides on Bees, with Recommendations for Action

By Jennifer Hopwood, Mace Vaughan, Matthew Shepherd, David Biddinger, Eric Mader, Scott Hoffman Black, Celeste Mazzacano


A possible link between neonicotinoids and honey bee die-offs has led to controversy across the United States and Europe. Beekeepers and environmentalists have expressed growing concern about the impact of neonicotinoids, concern based on the fact that neonicotinoids are absorbed into plant tissue and can be present in pollen and nectar, making them toxic to pollinators.

This report details potential negative impacts of neonicotinoids insecticides to honey bees and other important pollinators. It also makes recommendations on how we can better protect bees.

[leroy]

Yep, can't really see that there is any real likelihood than spraying that stuff all over the shop isn't having deleterious effects on apis or bombus or any of their numerous cousins. With respect, Biff, this doesn't relate to my observations or questions. But agreed, the sooner the EU gets its act together in implementing considered regulation, with an emphasis on caution in protecting insect life, the better.

I can't remember exactly what E O Wilson said about a world without the galaxy of tiny creatures that help grant us life, but it was in Cormack McCarthy lines. Levels of funding in research in this area is frightening in its paucity- the impact of losing pollinators, and particularly the hyperefficient honeybee who flits from flower to same species flower (generally) for her foraging life would be massive for morbidity and mortality rates.

[DominicJ]

Has anyone yet explained how the places that have already banned them report the highest die offs....?

[leroy]

Er, did you read the above article posted by Biff and his previous postings on this matter.? I can see that this issue is not unequivocal in locating single or multiple factors in the pathology of honeybee and wider insect decline, as I imagine is healthy in an area of progressive scientific research. The influence of national/institutional research trajectories and their funding cannot be discounted. I think, though, that degrees of conflict in findings underline what I was getting at- the need for far more independent study (and perhaps professionalisation of what is a fundamentally important role: beekeeping?) given the massive benefits to humankind and all terrestrial life of the (now post-varroa necessary) husbandry of bees and a more general respect for those who carry our litters. Given the stakes, I would say that a precautionary principle approach would be wise.

[biffvernon]

Just added a new web page: http://transitiontownlouth.org.uk/bees.html

[biffvernon]

And that web-page has an increasingly long list of bee-related links. Do let me know of the ones I've missed, please.

Latest addition is this video about a remarkable bee hotel for mason bees:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151199431891141