BBKA Forum

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/07/no-one-knew-they-existed-wild-heirs-of-lost-british-honeybee-found-at-blenheim

More Southern bee speak..

They reckon they are smaller black and hairy, interesting piece I thought and a change from doom and gloom what we're used to these days??!!

It will be interesting to see what further analysis reveals.

Yes could be quite interesting as sounds as though m Blenheim is quite isolated. Given the described characteristic of swarmy with multiple queens....and they live in a hole 1/4 the size of a normal bees nest not sure they are going to be what a beekeeper wants to keep in his hive.

They also sound very similar in characteristics to the varroa tolerant wild bees that Sealey describes in his local woods min the States.

Small and swarmy?
3/4 of my lot must have hitched a ride from Blenheim.

Yeah mine are the swarmy variety too!!

One of the main reasons I stopped keeping "local bees". The ones in my area were annual (and sometimes bi-annual) swarmers regardless of room or anything else to try and prevent them swarming. If a queen filled 5 frames of brood she was considered prolific....and I wondered why I got so little honey!