Too many bees...

[Jon]

..in London apparently

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19913180

Definitely off message as the buzzwords are armageddon, carnage, 4 years left to live and silent spring (does no-one remember silent spring!)

How long will it be until some clever reporter notices that UK colony numbers have increased massively in the past few years. It is not just London.

It definitely won't be Michael 'holocaust' McCarthy of the Independent.

[Neils]

They were at the BBKA forum the other week with a very similar message packaged up within a talk on Urban Beekeeping. I think it'd be safe to assume that they aren't impressed with Boris. I think they're actually being more pro-active and positive than recent articles like this one tend to suggest. They've shifted far less from a "get bees on roofs" message, which i think has always come from elsewhere in any case, more to one of if you want to help bees, plant some bee friendly forage on your roof instead.

We're no-where near to London's situation at the moment but we're not seeing a drop off in interested people wanting to take up beekeeping round these parts just yet either.

[prakel]

I imagine that a lot of the overall colony increase is actually a result either directly or not of the media hysteria over the last few years which is why I always think that it's probably not wise to give these figures too much weight, I'd prefer to count colonies coming out of their (minimum) second winter in the same ownership. To me that suggests a sustainable kind of beekeeping rather than the 'I know, lets save the world by buying some bees this weekend' approach.

There's always going to be a natural fall off of new beekeepers, which, over the coming years may well outstrip the take up rate at some point.

[Neils]

They certainly gave the impression that some of the schemes have been quick to throw kit and bees at people without much in the way of either training or ongoing support.

[Jon]

The Independent is late to the party and lives up to its bizarre reputation for bee stories by again illustrating the article with a hoverfly.

Story here (http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/how-dogooders-threaten-humble-bee-8229460.html)

[Mellifera Crofter]

How funny - particularly as the article's penultimate sentence reads:


A Friends of the Earth survey by Mori last week showed that nine out of 10 people could not identify honey bees next to other insects.

Kitta

[Jon]

Missed that. Obviously should read 9 out of 10 journalists.

[HJBee]

I have to say that 9-10 people I have spoken to about beekeeping this year believed that all bees were bumblebees and did not know about the understated honeybee. So on my experience, that poll is not inaccurate, it depends in what circles you mix and choose to poll in.

When I then show people a picture, bumbles always win the pageant and I understand why.

[GRIZZLY]

A lot of people mistake honeybees as wasps because they're not so obviously hairy like bumbles. childrens artists and film makers portray ALL bees as bumbles and give honey and pollen gathering characteristics to drones in the latest film !.

[Jon]

And now a rare bumblebee gatecrashes the London scene (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20258442)...

[Adam]

And now a rare bumblebee gatecrashes the London scene (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-20258442)...

And I thought that neonicitinoids were killing them all?

[EmsE]

A lot of people mistake honeybees as wasps.......!.

I did bee keeping at the learning at work day the other week. Amongst other things I took a Nuc and a dead bee (that one got round the office in no time lol). Most said that they thought that was a wasp and commented that they thought honey bees were those big fluffy bees. The day turned out mainly an education of wasp / honey bee / bumble bee distinction. Hopefully that will save a lot of honey bees being squashed with the rolled up newspaper so certainly worth it.

[HJBee]

EmsE, maybe something worthwhile me focusing on for the Advertizer the distinctions. Maybe in April when there emerging.

[Jon]

Most said that they thought that was a wasp and commented that they thought honey bees were those big fluffy bees.

If you ever have to do a talk to a non beekeeping audience you need to get a slide up at the beginning showing the difference between wasps, bumbles and honey bees. Most people seem to have no idea. The UK press uses all manner of insects to illustrate its ongoing 'bees are dying' stories.

[EmsE]

I think that's a good idea H. :)

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