Formed in 2016 by a group of Cheshire-based BIBBA members to help form local queen rearing groups to aid the improvement of local bees and support the objectives of BIBBA
Wight Bee Improvement Group
Queen Rearing will only be carried out using IOW mongrel stock, members will be encouraged to keep records of all their own stock, using only those considered to be worthy of passing on their bloodlines
BIM 50 – Winter 2017
- From the President – Jo Widdicombe
- 54 AGM Notice 14th April, Harper Adams
- B4 Press Release
- Mount Edgcumbe – Mark Edwards
- BIBBA Conference – Roger Patterson
- More Queen Rearing Myths – Roger Patterson
- Winter Losses – Beowulf Cooper
- SICAMM Conference – Philip Denwood
- Locally Adapted Bees – Dorian Pritchard
- Queen Assessment – Dorian Pritchard
- How not to Rear Queens – Kevin Thorn
- Beekeeping on Scilly – Jo Widdicombe
Wheal Primrose
In addition to raising queens with native appearance and characteristics the group are looking to select queens with calm temper and Varroa resistance.
Godolphin-Cornwall
We have been queen rearing and improving stocks of local bees since 2015, based in the medieval garden and a small more private are on Godolphin Hill,
BIBBA Open Day – Improve Your Bees
A day of theory and practice for all beekeepers: This is an all day summer event to help increase the knowledge of beekeepers of all abilities on bee improvement. Attendees are encouraged to rear queens from desirable colonies that are docile, calm on the comb, productive and suit their local conditions.
BIM 48 – Winter 2016/17
- Miniature tracking device – Paul Cross
- BIBBA Conference – Viki Cuthbertson
- Bee house on the Isle-of-Man – Roger Patterson
- BIBBA Conference; some thoughts – R Patterson
- Varroa resistance – Gareth John
- Dark bees in Cornwall – Bob Black
- Ardnamurchan native bees – Kate Atchley
. - Queen raising criteria in N.E. European Russia –
Anna Brandorf & Marija Ivoilova - Bee Improvement – Roger Patterson
Quest to Improve the Manx honey bee –
Johnny Kipps, et al
BIM 47 – Autumn 2016
- Queen raising – Alan Brown
- Burzyan wild-hive honeybees – R. A. Ilyasov,
- M. N. Kosarov. A. Neal, F. G. Yumaguzhin
- Queen rearing on the Isle of Man – John Evans
- The SMARTBEES project – Jo Widdicombe
- Conferences and Workshops – Roger Patterson
- Working for a better bee – Mark Edwards
- Polynucs – Peter Edwards
- QR at Keepers Cottage – Peter Edwards
- Black bees in Wales – Eifion Williams
Work with Bangor University
North Wales BIBBA groups have teamed up with South Clwyd Beekeepers and Bangor University.
The first study by Bangor concerned a survey of bee wings throughout South Clwyd. The wings were analysed using DrawWing and Morphplot. The samples were collected by BIBBA breeding groups and members of SCBKA and then tested by a number of BIBBA queen rearers and the Bangor researcher Elise Keller.
A similar study was conducted in 2015 by Bangor’s Sue Loughran and a third one in 2016 by Bangor’s Cheryl Owen.
Starting this winter it is hoped that a particularly interesting study will be conducted which compares the DNA of the samples collected in 2015 and 2016 with their wing patterns and behavioural traits.
Controlled Mating and Hygienic Behaviour
we compared the levels of hygiene in colonies headed by daughter queens reared from hygienic mother colonies that were either instrumentally inseminated with sperm from drones reared from hygienic colonies or allowed to mate naturally with naturally-occurring drones.