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Photograph of David Cramp wiring in the wax a little late!
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EDITORIAL
And
so to the second edition of Apis UK, and I'm writing this minutes
after hearing - on Radio 4's PM of all places - a report about the
theft of bee hives in the UK! Something to do with the shortage of
honey in the UK due to a restriction on Chinese imports. Perhaps,
but if so, the thieves can't have known much about the profitability
of beekeeping in the UK if they thought they would make much out of
nine hives. Several years ago I nearly and very inadvertently I hasten
to add, got involved in some beehive rustling myself having been conned
by a certain Pepe the Bandit, a local Spanish beekeeper (and bandit).
His feeding arrangements for his bees consisted of dosing them up
with water in which rotten figs had been soaked for days, so you can
tell what sort of cove he was. But back to business. The initial response
to the newsletter has been very encouraging with messages from various
parts of the world and a healthily growing subscriber list of several
hundred so far. I also received a message from Mr M.T. Sanford the
editor of the original Apis newsletter over in the USA which is still
going strong. URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Apis_newsletter/
I have received various articles and items of information for this
edition and to those correspondents I give my thanks. This type of
input forms the backbone of this issue. Remember that Apis UK is still
evolving, and will do so for a long time yet. So if you have something
to say of relevance to beekeepers, let me know. The world wide web
is very much an interactive medium, and beekeepers are very interactive
people, so if you have beekeeping news, don't hold back.
In the next
issue, I hope to feature amongst other subjects, Apitherapy which
appears to be an up and coming subject on the apicultural scene,
so if you have any views on the subject or interests in it, please
contribute.
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Photograph of wild comb in the roof
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
Event organisers are welcome to forward dates and details
of their events to the editor (by email) for incorporation on this
page.
10-14 June
2002 - National Diploma in Beekeeping Course at the National
Bee Unit, York. Details from the Course Director, K Basterfield
NBD, Old rectory, Gulworthy, Tavistock, Devon, PL19 8JA. Email:
ken@basterfield.com
Saturday 15 June 2002 - Ludlow &
District Beekeeping Association "Have they got Varroa?"
with David Wilkins At Wapley Hill Fort, Herefordshire, UK. Map reference:
SO 345 624 at 2.30 promptly. http://www.beedata.com/news/ludlow.htm
Monday -
Friday 1-5 July 2002 - 6th European Bee Conference. Bees without
frontiers. Cardiff, UK. Details of this conference can be obtained
from Sandra Phillips at IBRA. Email: conference@ibra.org.uk http://www.ibra.org.uk
* A more detailed description of this
event is given below.
Tuesday
2 July 2002 -The Annual General Meeting of IBRA will be held
during the above conference. http://www.ibra.org.uk
Saturday 6th July 2002 - Ludlow & District Beekeeping
Association Apiary Meeting 'Assessment of Potential Honey Crop'
with Richard Bolton at his out apiary at Clunton, Shropshire, UK
Map Reference: SO 335 810 2.30 pm promptly. http://www.beedata.com/news/ludlow.htm
12-14th
July 2002 - KENT COUNTY BEES & HONEY SHOW at the Kent Agricultural
Show, Detling, Kent UK. Come and steward and see the show. Contact
Jane Mannings, 1 Crowdleham House, Heaversham Road, Kemsing TN15
6NG Tel: 01732-763811. Download Schedule from the KBKA website http://www.kentbee.com/kbbka.htm
12-14th
July 2002 - Seale Hayne
Conference at Newton Abbot, Devon UK. Speakers include Mark
Winston and Francis Ratnieks. Details from Jane Ducker 01647 221255.
Download more information [pdf 12kb] http://www.beedata.com/files/devon-conference-12-14july2002.pdf
4-6th September
2002 8th International Symposium on Hazards of Pesticides to Bees.
Bologna, Italy. Contact Dr Claudio Porrini. Email: eporrini@entom.agrsci.unibo.it
or Dr Gavin Lewis Email: gavin.lewis@jsci.co.uk
6th to 9th Sept 2002 - BIBBA Conference 2002
at Sheffield University Halifax Hall of Residence, UK. Download
more information [pdf 9kb] http://www.beedata.com/files/bibba-conference2002.pdf
11-15th
September 2002 - INTERMIOD 2002. Moscow, Russia. 3rd International
Exhibition and Conference. For more information contact: AV Cherekaev.
Email: expostroy@expostroy.ru
14th, 15th, 16th November 2002 - The National
Honey Show the biggest honey show in the world at Kensington
Town Hall, Horton Street, London, England UK. http://www.honeyshow.co.uk
Change of
date: The German Apitherapy Congress due to have been held this
Spring has been postponed. More information can be found at: http://www.apitherapy.com
2-7 December
2002 - Canada/United States 2002 Joint Apicultural meetings.
This series of meetings brings together The American Association
of Professional Apiculturists; The Apiary Inspectors of America;
The Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists; The Canadian
Honey Council; The Empire State Honey Producers' Association and
the Ontario Beekeepers Association. For more information: http://www.honeycouncil.ca
or http://www.ontariobee.com
Details of
The Eastern Apicultural Society of North America meeting for
2002 (Honey for Health) can be found on http://www.easternapiculture.org
* Details of the 6th European Bee
Conference (subject to change), are as follows:
The Spread
of Exotic Genotypes. The Control of Pests and Diseases.
Session Leader: Ingemar Fries. (Sweden)
Introductions,
Ecological Impacts and Regulations.
Session Leader: Kieth Delaplane. (USA).
Natural
Bee Movements.
Session Leader. Juliet Osborne. (UK).
The Genetics
of Bees and their Predators.
Session Leader: Robert Paxton. (Germany).
Wednesday
Forum. This forum will include :Research Potential; Pathology;
Bee Breeding and Genetics; Pollination and Plant protection; Physiology
and Behaviour.
Existing
and Future Networks:
The Apigen Network
The European Honey Research Network.
Beekeeping and Biodiversity. (BABE Network).
Funding Tools in the 6th framework.
A fifth session
under Bernard Vaissiere (France) "Pollination: how far and
how effective" is also taking shape.
Speakers at
the conference will include bee researchers, beekeepers and bee
scientists from: Finland, Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa,
UK, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Mexico, Yugoslavia, France, Slovakia,
Poland, Sweden and the European Commission. Full details on: http://www.ibra.org.uk
Email: eurobee@ibra.org.uk
IN
THE NEWS
BEES AND WAR
Bees and War is a subject older than time, and there are many documented
examples throughout history of the use of bees to either attack
or defend a position and even naval vessels of several countries
routinely carried hives as part of their offensive armament. That
outstanding German general Von Lettow-Vorbeck defeated a vastly
superior British force in East Africa in 1914 by instructing his
men to fire at log hives hung in trees, thus causing panic and retreat
of the attacking force. This battle at Tanga, is still known as
'the battle of the bees'.
More recently,
scientists in the US were working on 'directing' swarms of bees
into enemy territory with the aim of then 'debriefing' them on return
home to the hive by scanning them for traces of chemicals etc and
thus gaining all sorts of intelligence. Now we have more evidence
of bees being recruited, this time to 'sniff out' explosives. For
the full story, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1986000/1986769.stm
Personally, I've always felt uneasy about enlisting other creatures
into involvement in our arguments and despite the fact that millions
may be spent on research into this type of thing, I'm not at all
sure that these things have ever been successful. True, if you hurl
a hive of bees at someone who is attacking you may succeed in detering
the attack, but we all know stories of total cockups in the use
of animals for warlike purposes. Was it the Germans or the Russians
who trained dogs strapped with explosives to run under tanks and
blow them up, only to end up destroying one of their own tank divisions
because they didn't teach the dogs to differentiate between enemy
and friendly tanks?
And I believe it was the Americans who developed the 'bat bomb'
only to find that the confused bats destroyed two of their own aircraft
hangers and a general's staff car before being hurriedly demobbed!
I hate to think what will happen with the current research into
'Stealth Lobsters'. Dangerous stuff indeed.
HONEYTRAPS
I'm sure most readers will have heard of 'honey traps'. The KGB
were reputed to use them almost on a daily basis to lure unsuspecting
Western diplomats/military men etc into illicit affairs with beautiful
girls (the honeys) then threatening to report the matter (usually
with incriminating photos) to the victim's superior and/or wife
unless secret information was forthcoming. Well insects use honey
traps as well and one particular insect uses a particularly clever
version of it to trap bees into doing what they want. True, it is
not a honeybee that is the usual victim but it does involve sex
and the target is a bee (the Habropoda pallida bee). If you want
to know more, (and see the photos), then go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_734000/734916.stm
HONEY. A
DANGER TO HEALTH
Did you know that as a beekeeper you (and your bees) are producing
a potentially very poisonous substance? Probably not, but according
to an international trio of scientists, honey has the potential
to carry some very very disturbing plant poisons to the dinner table.
Poisons identified by the World Health Organisation as being a serious
threat to human health. These same poisons are being regulated in
Europe when they occur in herbal medicines, but so far not in honey.
The report below is in fact not just another food scare story, but
an interesting and factual lesson in plant power and the huge potential
of plants in the medicinal world. If bees can produce honey with
substances detrimental to human health, they can equally produce
honey containing substances from plants that could be of great benefit
to health. See what you think by going to http://www.sciencenews.org/20020427/food.asp
EUROPEAN
HONEY REGULATIONS
You need to know about these essential regulations before they come
into force in August of 2003 so keep up to date by reading all about
them and what concessions are available. This information is available
on the BBKA website www.bbka.org.uk
BEEKEEPERS
QUARTERLY
The latest edition of the Beekeepers Quarterly is out and apart
from the editor's illuminating editorial, it is as usual packed
with information, articles of interest and letters of controversy.
The contents list is as follows:
Letters
to the Editor
Hodsock Priory, Open Mesh Floors, Global Warming, GM Crops, Honey
and Antibiotics - allaying consumers fears, Wrangles over swarms
Selling honey to supermarkets, First County Beekeeping Instructor?
Newsround
GM ISSUES: Trial Sites 2002, British scientists turn on GM food,
Italian police raid Monsanto, Rogue GM plant warning, Five arrested
at GM crop protest, Scottish GM, Greens take die PR shilling, HONEY:
Chinese Honey Crisis, Organic Honey in the UK; Ant supercolony;
Beekeeping Equipment.
Association News
NDB, Ken Basterfaeld - An Appreciation: Reg Gove NDB, FRES; BIBBA,
Albert Knight- Make a Swarm Box for Transporting Grafted Larvae;
Lincoln District BKA, Jonathan Korejko and Lindsey Dickens-The Beeb
and the Bees; Bees for Development, Helen fackson; FHC, Sam GreenbankBorage,
Marketing, Nestle; Apimondia - Celle Conference: Prevention of Honey
Residues in Honey, 2003 Congress in Slovenia.
The Banks of Argentina
Roy Cropley - whilst the economy of Argentina is in free fall, beekeepers
look to their queen banks for financial security.
Environment
Geoff Hopkinson NDB - The so called "Isle of Wight Disease";
The future of farming.
The Bee Colony/The Oil Company
an analogy, DrFrancis Ratnieks
Management: Do your bees have enough room?
Steve Taber- using hives with more than one brood box may be tricky,
but it is often essential.
London Rooftop Beekeepers
New York, New York! Steve Benbow and Jill Mead. From the rooftops
of London, to the skyscrapers of New York and the villages of Thailand,
bees are busy everywhere.
From our correspondents
England, Dr Nigel Payne, Scotland, Nigel Hurst Brittany, Job Pichon;
Portugal, Antonio Pouseiro; Poland, Maciej Winiarski; Ukraine, Dr
AlexanderKomissar, USA, Ann Harmwin; Australia, GeoffManning, Canada,
David Dawson; Lithuania, Rimantas Zujus; Cyprus, Roger White, Ireland,
Philip McCabe
Back to Basics
R Raff- communicating with beekeepers worldwide.
Breeding Matters
John Atkinson NDB selection for characters of economic importance.
Bookshelf
Bee Propolis, James Fearnley; The Secret Life of Bees, Susan Monk
Kydd; Bees Dance, Pr. Remy Chauvin & Patrice Seri Video: Starting
Beekeeping, Paul Metcalfe
Science Review
Factors which contribute to swarming, Janet Dowling FRES
Collectors
Corner
BEECRAFT
Bee Craft, the UK's monthly beekeeping Magazine in colour has the
following contents list with interest for all beekeepers:
Silver
Jubilee at Stonleigh
Don Hannon
Queen rearing
Paul Metcalf NDB
Beginners' Bazaar
Matthew Allan NDB
Bee kind to your back (part 4)
Sarah Weaver B Physiotherapy MCSP SRP
Going fly-about (part 2)
Celia Davis NDB
Peoplekeeping
Jonathan Korejko
The Royal Hives at Highgrove
Mike Lambert
Honey
bees, stingless bees, wasps and ants
Stephen Martin PhD
Bees and honey in the Quran
Dr Aziz Sheik & Professor A R Gatrad OBE
Beekeeping in Ireland
Eddie O'Sullivan
In the Apiary - Stonleigh & skyscrapers
Karl Showler
Obituary: John Scruby
Around the colony, Ask Dr Drone and the Bee Craft Crossword
BOOK
REVIEWS
by John Kinross. (Bee Books New and Old).
Is it Clamp
or Cramp? Some books to help.
"Don't
cramp my style" is the favourite saying of a journalist friend
who is always at loggerheads with his boss. This new production
however is by David Cramp who is beating his drum loudly from distant
Spain. I mention this because his little book "The Beekeepers
Field Guide" is one of the most useful items in the beekeeper's
library with hints on what to do in a variety of beekeeping situations,
with colour photos, (including one of a sack tent - all the rage
in lady's fashion in the 1970s) and a handy hint page on varroa.
This book is £12-95 from bassdrum Books or via your usual
bee book stockist. (I honestly didn't ask John to write that - Ed).
The Cramp disease
hits those of you who still play squash, hockey or football. It
can even strike one in bed when doing nothing but sheep counting.
The IBRA "Honey and Healing" is an interesting read and
costs only £5.50. It does have some illustrations not for
the squeamish including a bottom cured by honey. I don't think it
would work on me- too much of one and not enough of the other! Dr
Harry Riches however has written of 'Medical aspects of Beekeeping'!
£7.99 from BBNO or NBB with what he thinks about the claims
of Royal jelly etc. His earlier books by the way, "Mead Making"
at £9.95; "Honey Marketing" at £7.35 (updated
last year) and "A handbook of Beekeeping" at £12.50
are still available.
Finally, Clamps were the favourite tool in the woodworking class.
If you make your own frames or lifts or supers and use old fashioned
fish glue (seems to be out of favour due to the smell no doubt?)
you need a good set of clamps. The book for you is by Norman Chapman
and is called "Constructive Beekeeping". The special frame
clamp is shown on page 94 and is made out of elasticated luggage
hooks - until the hook flies off and hits you on the nose - which
can be very painful. Norman's book is £14.99 from BBNO.
My wife is
a great vegetable grower and our first crop of potatoes here were
covered in a heap of earth - a potato clamp, and as my dictionary
says the a clamp and cramp are the same thing I hope you will clamp
onto David's newsletter and enjoy it.
Be careful though where you leave your car. I once went to London
by car, forgot all about it, and came home on the train. By the
time I retraced my steps to where I had left the car it had been
well and truly clamped.
(Is someone
taking the mick here? Ed).
MORE REVIEWS:
David Smith. Secretary IBRA.
IBRA, is pleased that Malcolm Fraser's History of Beekeeping in
Britain, which has long been out of print, has been reprinted by
Northern Bee Books and is available from them at £13.45. The
book was in some sense a successor to his earlier work, 'Beekeeping
in Antiquity' first published in 1931. There was a second edition
in 1951 which contained an appendix continuing the story from the
classical period to the invention of printing. The preface to that
edition stated that anyone who wished to pursue the subject could
obtain from the secretary of the Apis Club for a shilling, a paper
which carried the history of beekeeping up to 1800.
It is interesting
to note that in 1958, the then Bee Research Association was announcing
that British Bee Books, a bibliography 1500-1956 was shortly to
be published as a companion volume. In fact it was not until 1979
that IBRA was able to publish the bibliography (with it's date extension
to 1976). By that time much work had been done by others, and Joan
Harding its originator had been joined by three other contributors.
British Bee Books can still be obtained from IBRA or NBB so now
at least the two companion volumes are available at the same time.
They are an indispensable pair for anybody interested in British
bee books and the history of beekeeping in Britain. In his preface
to the book, Dr Fraser mentions the records of the Manor Courts
and asked readers who came across such entries to send him a copy
of them. IBRA would be interested in receiving details of these
and indeed any other records that are available.
And finally
for bee book lovers, further stocks have been obtained of Frank
Alstons 'SKEPS' Their History, Making and Use. £10.95 NBB.
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ARTICLES
BEEKEEPING.
BALLING THE QUEEN
The subject of balling the queen has long been a subject of
discussion amongst beekeepers and yet still its reasons remain
largely a mystery. Perhaps this could be an interesting subject
for a bee research student (Post Grad Diploma/MSc/PhD etc)
looking for a subject to investigate in depth. I have seen
queen balling twice, both times on the same day with different
queens and both times after introducing a new queen to a colony.
Each time, I poked the ball around for a bit with my finger
until I realised that I was making matters worse and each
time I hurriedly re-caged the queen and let her out at a later
date.
Neither of the queens did well. (But of course that could
have been for many different reasons, including my rough handling
of the queens when attempting to rescue them!). In this illuminating
article John Yates looks at the subject from the scientific,
anecdotal and personal experience points of view.
Balling
the queen could be classed as an abnormal bee behaviour
because it is comparatively rare. I have only come across
balling once or twice during my beekeeping career which started
in the early 1940s and always in circumstances that could
be classed as normal.
There is very little information about this behaviour pattern
in the classical literature and what is available is regrettably
contradictory in places and not very exhaustive. Five well
known sources were consulted, some living, some dead and the
salient points of my search are listed below:
1.
All sources seem to be agreed that when balling of the
queen occurs, a sphere is formed consisting of about 25
to 50 workers surrounding a trapped queen. The size of
the ball is about that of a walnut. Odd clusters of two
or three bees fighting each other may be in the immediate
vicinity.
2. Three sources consider balling to be an attack
upon the queen and two consider it to be protective behaviour
(curious because the queen always dies as a result of
the balling unless the beekeeper intervenes).
3. During balling, the queen's appendages are damaged
as a result of the bees biting the queen.
4. The cause of death is variously attributed to
stinging by the workers and then eviction; being deprived
of food and air; and another source does not give a cause
of death but states that the queen is never stung. Perhaps
all are correct under different circumstances.
5. During balling, a hissing sound is heard in
the note of the colony. (Could this originate from the
queen and be confused with piping?).
6. All sources seem to agree that dispersing the
ball is best done by immersion in water and caging the
queen for re- introduction.
7. Most of the sources seem to agree that it is
more prevalent amongst the darker races of bee (A.m m).
8.
The causes of balling have been attributed to a variety
of reasons, Including:
a. Unseasonable disturbances? usually in the early
Spring. (All sources agree on this point).
b. Premature? examination of the queen after introduction.
c. The queen aquiring a strange odour as a result
of being handled. (Soap, nicotine etc).
d. The queen being frightened?
e. Poor weather when stores are short.
f. During robbing.
g. At times of stress when the queen cannot be
replaced by the bees?
h. To protect the queen from another queen.
i. Frequent and inept inspections causing colony
stress.
j. When a young queen is just beginning to lay
after a long break.
k. When a queen has recently been introduced.
l. Occasionally when a queen returns from a successful
mating flight, but not an unsuccessful one. (Curious).
m. During uniting when sometimes both queens can
be balled. |
I'm sure
that you will agree that noting all of the above points tends
to confuse rather than to clarify the issue. Note also that
it has been reported that queen losses have occurred as a
result of using the outdated tobacco smoke test for varroasis.
The mechanism could be the workers balling a comatosed queen.
Brother
Adam pointed out that balling is an 'everyday occurrence'
with the Tellian bee (A.m intermissa) and since most of our
mongrels have been derived from this bee it seems that the
observation about the dark bees could be correct. I have heard
that the balling characteristic of the Tellian bee could have
its origin in nest defence, attacking a larger adversary by
surrounding it in a ball and killing it as a result of high
temperature generated in the ball. eg the tropical hornet
which is a pest in Algeria. If so this would correlate with
the statement that the queen is never stung to death and is
more prevalent in the darker races.
The Eastern honeybee, Apis Cerana has evolved in regions where
hornets are common and SJ Martin has pointed out in a lecture
to the Central Association in 1994 that these bees have developed
a collective behaviour pattern as a defence against hornets
which results in balling by around 250 bees and killing the
hornet by raising the temperature within the ball to about
47 degrees C (117F). (The mandarin hornet suffers this treatment
when it attacks nests. Ed). I have not seen any reference
to Apis cerana balling their own queens but that may be due
to lack of study on my part about this species of bee.
The only
scientific work that I know of, referred to by Janet Dowling
in BKQ 39 was undertaken by Lensky. He induced balling by
putting extracts from the koschevnikov glands of young queens
onto worker honeybees. Atrophy of these glands occur in mated
queens older than one year.
It seems clear that there is no scientific explanation available
as to the origin of the cause of balling and most of the reasons
put forward are considered by me to be guesses or flights
of fancy. In the case of Lensky's work, if pheromones are
are
released by the queen from the koschevnikov gland which induces
balling, the queen appears to sign her own death warrant.
The
facts remain one of those beekeeping mysteries. Our own
experience is limited to two or three occasions over many
years. The most recent was a few years ago in about May. Dawn
and I were undertaking a routine inspection of all colonies
in one of our apiaries and it happened in the last colony.
The supers and queen excluder had been removed to inspect
the brood chamber. About half way through the colony manipulation,
Dawn heard the queen piping (Could this be the hissing sound
reported by one source mentioned above?). This is something
I have never heard in my life, no doubt due to a hearing deficiency.
The queen was found on the last frame and was being balled.
She was caged in a Butler cage, plugged with a wooden plug
and put into the middle of the brood nest. Two days later
she was released and she continued to head the colony successfully
until the following Spring when she was replaced. (John adds
that it emphasises the importance of having a cage handy in
your bee jacket for use in an emergency).
If
any beekeeper/bee scientist has anything to add on this subject,
let us know.
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AFB and
EFB
These two diseases are possibly the most difficult to deal with
amongst beekeepers. What you can do and what you can't; detection
in the first place before all is too late; the use of chemicals
or integrated prevention and cure techniques and so on. The bee
press and many bee books further confuse the issue because various
contributors and authors offer their own interpretations and ways
of doing things which may not have been scientifically evaluated
and may not be legal. How prevalent are the diseases? Who may treat
them? With what? Two recent articles in Bee World highlight
these problems offer both clarification and answers.
Is Contact
Colony treatment with Antibiotics an Effective Treatment for EFB?
This article written by scientists from the NBU, York, answers many
of the questions asked by beekeepers by discussing the levels of
EFB in England and Wales; The recurrence of EFB in apiaries; Contact
colony treatment; and it finally asks 'Where do we go from here?'
Here, the NBU is taking the approach of removing the source of infection
(comb and boxes), and is trialling the 'shook swarm method'. Once
infected comb is removed, the boxes are sterilised by scorching
and shaking the adult bees onto clean foundation. The infected comb
is burnt (although other sterilization methods are being investigated
such as radiation treatment). Then the adult bees are treated with
oxytetracycline (although they are considering whether this is necessary).
See Bee World 82, 3 2001, or visit IBRa at www.ibra.org.uk
IBRA members can access this and other article via www.ingenta.com
Clearing up
any confusion over AFB appears to have been accomplished by another
excellent Bee World Article with an article entitled American
Foulbrood in Honeybees.
In recent years, one of the major problems hampering the development
of apiculture is the disease AFB. In this article the disease is
reviewed in detail, including its detection and diagnosis, prevention
and control. Paenibacillus larvae larvae, the causative agent of
the disease is also examined, and products of P.l.larvae culture
are mentioned including interestingly enough the antibiotic substances
and proteases.
This latter point is emphasised by the statement that the search
for new sources of antimicrobial compounds apart from the usual
moulds and actinomycetes is a very promising area of research that
may have benefits beyond the field of apiculture.
The article concludes that in an age of rapidly booming technology
transfer and commercialisation of biotechnology there is a tremendous
impact on the methods of managing agriculture and industry particularly
in developing countries. This also changes the face of apiculture
and the way beekeepers deal with diseases
particularly AFB. For full details, see Bee World 82-4-2001, or
www.ibra.org.uk
IBRA members may access the article through www.ingenta.com
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HISTORICAL
NOTE
BEE
REPRODUCTION
Honeybee mating behaviour has for centuries been the subject
of study and interest amongst beekeepers and scientists, but
until comparitively recently, knowledge of how they mate and
when and where they mate has been limited in the extreme;
the whole subject being regarded as an unexplained mystery.
Prior to the eighteenth century it was believed by many that
perhaps bees did not mate at all. Sir John More wrote in 'Englands
Interest: or The Gentleman and farmer's friend', chapter VI:
"There is a great contest amongst philosophical bee masters
how the bees are generated: some are of the opinion that they
never generate, but receive and bring home their seed from
flowers; others say that they have amongst 'em both sexes,
yet do not agree which are the males and which are the females".
Others claimed that mating occurred in the hive or that the
eggs were fertilised in their cells by drones, but in 1775
Janscha was able to describe queen orientation flights, subsequent
aerial mating flights and her return to the hive with the
mating sign. Similarly, Huber noticed that queens only produced
workers following flight and that the return of a queen to
the hive with a mating sign was a prerequisite to the queen
producing worker offspring. Huber's observations with regard
to the production of workers following a mating flight and
mating sign effectively clinched the scientific argument -
and he was blind.
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