Penguins on Planes

[Black Comb]

On BBC2 tonight.
Shows Murray M bringing in bees from Italy.

[Jon]

From minute 22 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04hcrqs/penguins-on-a-plane-great-animal-moves-episode-1)

Watch Murray McGregor buy 291 packages of Italian bees - ideal for the UK according to the documentary!

[gavin]

From minute 22 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04hcrqs/penguins-on-a-plane-great-animal-moves-episode-1)

Watch Murray McGregor buy 291 packages of Italian bees - ideal for the UK according to the documentary!

So risky for bee health in these islands (shying away from mentioning UK, rUK or Scotland ... ).

Thought I saw a yellow banded penguin around 55 minutes. Any chance of getting a scan of those wings?!

Glad to be posting something. I can't spend the whole weekend absorbed by social media and UK-centric broadcast media discussing *that* question ....

[Jon]

Penguins are probably better suited to the British Isles than Italian bees.

[gavin]

So risky for bee health in these islands ....

I had no idea there would be such a quick vindication of that comment. If this is true surely it is time to lift the drawbridge?

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?1831-Small-Hive-Beetle-in-mainland-Europe&p=27200#post27200

[prakel]

Without knowing the management system used at Tillington the thing that really jumped out at me was that there were 500 empty hives from the season before. Presumably not the result of winter losses in deepest Herefordshire?

[gavin]

Without knowing the management system used at Tillington the thing that really jumped out at me was that there were 500 empty hives from the season before. Presumably not the result of winter losses in deepest Herefordshire?

There did seem to be packages being taken off for Herefordshire - see later in the programme.

[prakel]

I see what you did there, Gavin. I misunderstood what was being said; the 500 were total empties across all of his business.

When referring to 'other units' he was perhaps speaking about different companies whereas I'd assumed that he was referring to 500 in Hereford + more in other (Scottish) parts of his business.

In the past when posting on bkf he used 'units' to refer to different sections of his own business :)



There did seem to be packages being taken off for Herefordshire

Complete with hitch-hikers clinging to the outsides.

[Adam]

It looks lke the documentary was made in 2013 - after the cold winter - which might explain some of the losses. The bees were Italian, not sure where the introduced queens came from.

[prakel]

It looks lke the documentary was made in 2013 - after the cold winter - which might explain some of the losses.

That would make a lot of sense.


The bees were Italian, not sure where the introduced queens came from.

Italian bred but presumably buckfast and or carnica stock -he made some comments last winter on his twitter account about this following a visit to Italy:


"All Buckfast bees here, they do not like Italian bees. Another pic of the bees. This line selected by me for 2014".
Twitter: Jan 26/14

[Jon]

Murray got a lot of NZ Carnica queens at one point.

[GRIZZLY]

Interesting to note that the Italian gentleman daubed blue colouring on the WINGS of his queen !!

[Castor]

Crikey - I missed that!
That'll stop her.