A native American bee whisperer tamed a 60,000-strong swarm with his bare hands when it swooped into a quiet Furzedown neighbourhood.
Gobsmacked crowds stood by while James Hamill began speaking softly to the creatures, gently scooping them all into a box without receiving a single sting. Read more here
Interesting article from the telegraph about a trip to the highest living honeybees, and the honey hunters who risk life and limb to plunder the feral colonies. To read click here
The BBKA have issued a press release reportinbg on the winter losses for 09/10, which shows that more than 80% of honey bee
colonies made it through one of the harshest winters in 30 years.
To read more about the report click here
………….. I winced as I related to his accounts of what the bad beekeeper does compared to the good beekeepers view. I, for example, have just been down to the bees and forgot my hive tool How can you forget anything so vital?
Read a smallholders account here
Bees are most valuable
Don’t swat the bees. They’re important friends. One-third of the human diet is dependent on pollination by birds, bees, butterflies, moths and flies. Of all the 3,500 species of North American bees, only one makes honey — the honey bee. It is not a native but was brought to North America by the early American colonists.
Detroit — Belle Isle will be abuzz with activity today as the first honey of the season is harvested by staffers at the island’s nature center.
A host of bee-themed activities are planned to coincide with the event, including arts and crafts projects for kids and demonstrations on how to maintain a healthy hive.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100605/METRO01/6050369/1409/METRO/Belle-Isle-to-be-buzzing-with-activity-today#ixzz0pzF16o2C
So you have decided that you want to keep bees, you may or may not have completed a beginners course, you may have some or no experience in handling honeybees, equipment etc. Or you may have had a passing interest for a while that you want to act on.
Well now is a good a time as any, you certainly won’t be alone as there has been a ground swell of interest in beekeeping recently. In practical terms, you are probably a bit late for this year as it would be difficult to obtain a Nuc etc, at this stage
But where do you start?
Well, it doesn’t matter if you live in a rural or urban area, almost anyone can keep bees.
Here at ezeebeez we would always recommend that you start out by contacting a local beekeeper. They are usually very helpful, and very willing to help those who have an interest.
Secondly, join a local beekeeping organisation/association (see the end of this post for more details). Beekeeping associations generally have classes organised over the winter/spring time.
With regards to basic knowledge, and skills, these classes are invaluable. They are delivered by experienced beekeepers with a wealth of knowledge. In addition to this, associations offer insurance at reduced rates.
That being said, there is a perception in some quarters that Associations are a closed shop, and that if you don’t adhere to convention, you are left on the outside.
This has not been my personal experience. As a member of Offaly Beekeepers Association, I have always felt welcome, and both conventional and “natural” methods have been discussed openly.
With regard to those who prefer more “natural” methods of beekeeping, unless you know the conventional, how can you make decisions on “natural”?
One word of advice though. In general I would avoid the one- day beekeeping courses that seem to be springing up. These are not always run by beekeepers with the adequate knowledge or experience.
Also be very wary of the e-books available on the internet, most of the information available in them is freely available on the web. But do buy a good book that appeals to you, and join blogs or forums, where you can get to know more about beekeeping.
Regards
James
Actual research this time, just not much of it.
read the report here
However some would say that a couple of hives doesn’t make for a quantitative study, and it’s hard to take seriously research which uses terms like “eletrosmog”. As Tim Lovett of the British Beekeepers Association pointed out, bees survive in London, a city awash with electromagnetic radiation of all kinds. So is it a case of “Town V Country bee’s?;-) The New Scientist article from last year, would not agree that there is neccessarily a problem, nor that we would lose many of our food sources if we let the bee’s die out. 
More research definately needs to be done on this subject.
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