I have been beekeeping now for over 25 years, selectively rearing queens of our Dark Native Irish Bee, Apis mellifera mellifera. My selection program is based on the ability of my bees to over-winter strongly, together with disease resistance, docility, productivity, colour and more. My home and main mating apiary…
East Midlands 1998
Use of plastic foundation in the Apidea mini-nucs
Use of Syrup instead of candy in Mini-nucs
Use of cut comb containers for candy
Grafting using a magnifier and torch
Preparation of cell raising colonies
Use of a cell transporter
Use of an incubator for hatching queen cells
A Simple Method of Simultaneously Raising Queens and Producing Nuclei
The method described here aims to simultaneously produce both queens and nuclei and would probably suit a medium-sized beekeeping operation, a few beekeepers working together, or an association’s breeding programme.
NatBIP News No 7
It is said that the duty of a gardener (and indeed, a farmer) is to leave the soil in better heart than it was found. As for beekeepers, the same could be said about our bees. It is good to leave better quality bees what than we started with. This could mean more ‘hardy’, ‘pest and disease resistant’, ‘good-tempered’ and ‘productive’ bees, or whatever characteristics we value.
NatBIP News No6
This month Jo gives us his musings on long-term bee improvement as well as answering the question, are queen larvae selected by the beekeeper as good as those selected by the bees? Ashbrow school report their successes in queen rearing- if 10year olds can do it, can’t you?
Webinars – Summary
Recordings of the majority of webinars are available on our YouTube Channel Don’t forget to sign up here, for free, to learn more about our future programme. This is a listing of the Spring 2021 programme, with links to the recording
Conserving black bees
Reserve signage, Oban ferry terminal CONSERVING BLACK BEES (Apis mellifera mellifera) in the Hebrides, Scotland by ANDREW ABRAHAMS, via the American Bee Journal Readers might ask, why on earth spend much of a lifetime conserving what most beekeepers perceive as an aggressive, unproductive race of honey bee — a race…
BIM Index Issues 1-25
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BBOBI Group – March April 2019 Newsletter
We know everyone is busy, but thought we’d draft a little newsletter of the topics covered in March and April. Tried to keep it short, but please get in touch if you need more information on any of the topics. Links and names have been included to try help you…
Albert Knight
an appreciation of one of BIBBA’s stalwarts, by Brian P. Dennis and Roger Patterson.