27 March 2015

NBU & APHA Youtube channel

This could be a useful youtube channel, let's hope they find time to update it regularly.

From Beebase:-
March 2015 - Asian Hornet Videos on YouTube
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has a YouTube channel which the National Bee Unit will use to share videos on in the future. Recently, we uploaded our experiences of the Asian Hornet in Andernos-les-Bains, South West France.

The YouTube channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCz2mmKhYUpQJEviiAzOEqA

13 March 2015

Dead colony and a WBC

A little while ago I was asked to help a local beekeeper look through a dead colony. They wanted to try to work out two things. First was reassurance that the colony hadn't died of foulbrood, secondly to, if possible, find out what had caused the colony to die - something that isn't always easy.

The colony was in a beautifully appointed cedar WBC - that's the double skinned hive designed by William Broughton Carr way back in the late 1800s. It is a design has stood the test of time, and is used by many British beekeepers.

Colony history, and weather
The queen was in her second year. The colony had been large and thriving going into autumn.