Hon. Newsletter Editor:
Peter Edwards
E-mail: beekeepers@stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk

ORANGES AND LEMONS!

I lifted out a brood frame earlier this year and Sue and I both exclaimed ’Oranges and Lemons!’

Every year brings different colour combinations of pollen stored in our hives and this year the dominant colours have been orange and yellow.  The orange comes from, I think, the wild mignonette (Reseda lutea) which I wrote about in September 2004 and has now been in flower since June, the yellow could be from a number of sources.

Although we have seen the ‘oranges and lemons’ theme across most of the district, we also saw the vivid blue of Phacelia tanacetifolia in the Billesley and Wilmcote area earlier in the year – although the very pale yellow (almost white) of borage dominated that area later.

Oranges and Lemons!

The distinctive blue pollen of Phacelia tanacetifolia.

In some years the brilliant crimson pollen from the red deadnettle can be seen early in the season and the intense green of meadowsweet may be seen in July, but we have not seen either of these this year perhaps due to the wet spring and the July drought.

The appalling weather in May affected the collection of pollen (and honey!) very badly, so we saw very little yellow pollen from the oilseed rape, slate grey from field beans, a dull yellowish-green from hawthorn or the brick-red of horsechestnut.  Beans seem to have suffered very badly and where we had apiaries surrounded by them there was virtually no honey – and the beans do not look much good either!

I am surprised that apples seem to have been pollinated well.  Perhaps the orchards gave a little more shelter as plenty of pollen was collected, but we had no honey at all.
Peter Edwards

HOW THE HONEY BEE GOT ITS COLOURS

During our February meeting with Terry Clare, we spent some time discussing the colours of bees.  Just after that meeting, there was some discussion on the same subject on the Bee‑L list.  The following post, by Herve Abeille, is very relevant to our meeting and I am indebted to him for permission to reproduce it here:

In his book "In Search of the Best Strains of Bees" Brother Adam wrote: "The Egyptian bee is undoubtedly one of the primary races from which came the orange varieties of the Near East, that is the Syrian, Cyprian, Cilician and possibly the Armenian."  [Cilicia was an ancient region of southeast Asia Minor along the Mediterranean Sea south of the Taurus Mountains.  PE.] This has been corroborated, as DNA has shown that the bees of Egypt, Italy and the Balkans constitute one lineage.  Brother Adam did not include the Carniolan strain, but it is known that it sometimes shows yellowish coloration, and the DNA establishes the genetic link to Egypt.

Brother Adam had a slightly unconventional explanation of the origin of the European black bees.  He stated: "The Tellian bee, the native bee of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco is another of the primary races.  This coal black bee is the source of the numerous sub-varieties which spread via the Iberian Peninsula, Central Europe, and Northern Asia.  This would include the black bee of Sicily." (1)

The countervailing idea is that Apis mellifera mellifera is a separate lineage from the bees of north-western Africa and southern Spain, but that view is no longer universally held.  Following the idea that bees may have come into Western Europe from North Africa is this from a recent study:

"Apis mellifera is composed of three evolutionary branches including mainly African (branch A), West and North European (branch M) and South-East European (branch C) populations.  The existence of morphological clines extending from the equator to the polar circle through Morocco and Spain raised the hypothesis that the branch M originated in Africa.  Analyzing 11 populations sampled along a transect France - Spain/Portugal - Morocco - Guinea ... we show that Iberian populations are very similar to French populations when considering microsatellite markers." (2)

It had already been known that the bees from south-eastern Africa (scutellata, capensis, unicolor) are closely related to iberica and intermissa (Spain and Morocco) as well as to unicolor, the bee of Madagascar.  This group is branch A, mentioned above.  Unicolor, iberica and intermissa are all dark black and have characteristic African DNA. (3)

So from the foregoing it can be seen that all three lineages may have in fact come into Europe from Africa and the various colours were already established in the tropics, disputing the idea that bees are darker only in colder regions and that this coloration is "caused by" or is an adaptation to cold.  For that to be confirmed, one would also have to show that a darker colour produces some particular advantage to the colony.  This has never been demonstrated.  So, the colour of bees isn't related to latitude or climate.  Ashleigh Milner wrote: "The different races of A.mellifera can generally be differentiated in physiological terms.  Bees from warmer climates tend to be smaller in size and lighter in colour than those adapted to the colder regions, although this rule is not invariable." Actually, it is not even true.  Both dark and light coloured bees can be found all over the world so the statement is a gross oversimplification, at best.

As a side note is this on a variety of Apis cerana: "In South Sulawesi (Indonesia, close to the equator) there are two very different populations of Apis cerana.  The coastal form is very small, black and extremely defensive whereas the interior form from the higher and more forested regions is at least 50% larger, yellow, and relatively gentle." (3)  [In S. India we also saw two colours of A. cerana – one very dark and the other with much more yellow – but there seemed to be no difference in size or temper. PE]

Sources:

1 "In Search of the Best Strains of Bees" Brother Adam

2 "The origin of West European subspecies of honeybees" Franck, P., Garnery L., Solignac M., Cornuet J. M., 1998

3 "Diversity in the Genus Apis" edited by Deborah Roan Smith (Westview Press, 1991)
Peter Edwards

ASSOCIATION APIARY MEETING – 20 August 2006

Not many members attended this meeting, but David tells me that all the colonies were in good shape with the exception of one which was being robbed out and was near to extinction; the queen was removed and has been used in a safer location!  It seems that bad temper is still a problem in at least one of the colonies and at the next committee meeting we will have to decide what should be done.
Peter Edwards

BEEKEEPING COURSES

Hartpury College in Gloucestershire is one of the few colleges still offering a comprehensive programme of practical beekeeping courses, from a five day course for beginners through to queen rearing and going to the heather.  Full details of next year’s courses are on their website or you can telephone 01452 700283.
http://www.hartpury.ac.uk/courses/programme_area_index.asp?RProgrammeAreaID=13&RStudyLevelID=3
Peter Edwards

FOR SALE

Brand new Thorne’s honey settling/bottling tank, plastic with honey gate.  Half price: £9. Contact Keith Davies 01564 79 2904.

OPEN DAY AT ROTHAMSTED

Rothamsted is the oldest agricultural research centre in the world.  Visit the laboratories, meet the scientists, explore the estate by foot or bus or have a cream tea at the 16^th Century Manor House.  The famous beekeeping department will be open.  Free admission!
http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/forthepublic/OW2006.html
Peter Edwards

WASPS!

I thought that a few tips on destroying wasp nests might be timely.  I am often asked for help with wasps and destroying a nest near home or an apiary benefits me and saves neighbours the £44 +VAT that the council charges.  Pest control firms seem to charge even more outrageous prices – I heard of £76 to ‘deal with’ bumblebees recently.

I find that the best way to tackle nests is with powder containing 0.5% Bendiocarb.  This may be sold as Wasp Nest Killer or as Ant Killer; they are the same thing, but the Wasp Nest Killer is usually more expensive!  I have a puffer pack and have attached a couple of feet of plastic tubing to the nozzle so that I can direct it into awkward places.

Simply puff the powder into the entrance of the nest if you can get to it, otherwise puff the powder at the point where the wasps are entering and they will carry it in.  Very little is needed – just a couple of teaspoonfuls will kill the nest in less than 30 minutes.  I have never yet been attacked by wasps when doing this, but it is sensible to wear beekeeping gear for safety.  As with handling bees, rapid movements should be avoided.

A word of caution about the new arrival to our shores, the Median or Eurowasp (Dolichovespula media).  This wasp is about twice the size of our two most common ‘native’ wasps (Vespula vulgaris and V. germanica), and is mainly black with thin yellow bands and a bright yellow face, altough the colour is variable.  It builds its nest outdoors in trees and shrubs and is extremely aggressive if disturbed.  I have heard of a number of serious stinging incidents, so would advise full protective clothing if you tackle a nest.  However, those that I have treated did not attack and seemed very disorientated by the powder – I must admit I gave them a very large puff!  Although I spent far too much time today trying to photograph this wasp in our garden, I eventually gave up and suggest that you have a look at the excellent pictures here:
http://www.david.element.ukgateway.net/hymenoptera2socialwasps1.htm
http://www.hornissenschutz.de/klhornisse.htm
Peter Edwards

HONEY SHOW

Our Annual Honey Show will be held at 7.30pm at Stratford College on Friday 13 October and will be judged this year by Bernard Diaper.  If you have not entered before you can just pick your two best jars and enter the 'novice class' or, of course, you can enter other classes as well.  We are always short of entries for the photography class, so from now on look out for suitable subjects.  The schedule is enclosed with this newsletter; do read it very carefully as entries must comply strictly with the rules or they are rejected!
Mike Osborne