BBKA Forum

Heard on the radio today that Nottingham Trent University has new research where they have deciphered the toots and quacks of queens. It appears that the toot is a queen saying "I am free roaming and I can swarm" and the quacks are queens in their cells saying "we are available to take over if there is a swarm"
I can't find the research paper; if anyone comes across it, can the post it's location please.

Is this any good to you Adam..

Click on.. The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports on the link below

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53029218

There was a film clip and interview on the BBC news this morning about 1100 ish.

That's a slightly fanciful description Adam. I think it's more a status report that enables the bees to manage release without fighting.... but of course the whole thing is slightly undermined by the fact that we all know there can be multiple queens out in the hive at one time or you wouldn't have castes with more than one virgin queen. I wonder if the researchers realised that can happen? Of course not - they are insect biologists first and there may not be a beekeeper in the team.....
More worrying is this extract from the BBC report:
"With honeybees under threat of extinction, beekeepers and the hives they provide are crucial for their survival. The researchers hope their eavesdropping exercise will help beekeepers avoid interfering with this delicate collective decision-making and to predict when their own colonies might be about to swarm. "
Avoid interfering - so abandon swarm control? And having predicted that the bees are about to swarm we'll know not to get in the way
Scientists - Not sure it's a compliment to be called that these days
Sorry; just getting irritated by researchers assuming we know nothing and presuming to tell beekeepers what to do!

Andrew, my last discussion here was about 'natural' beekeeping and my serious concerns about it. Ok, maybe, if you live in an Italian forest! I share your attitude, of course. My colonies are in 14x12 and I always destroy all but one of the queen cells after doing an artificial swarm; I also go back in after ten days and remove any subsequent additions to the one I have left. However thorough I am (and mostly I am), I sometimes miss one or two and end up having to hive the unexpected cast. This year, two (two!) from the same hive. Sigh.

Found it on line, you can listen to it with an interview; BBC Sounds, Radio 4 Today programme 16th June (6 - 9 AM). Two hours 48 minutes and 15 seconds in.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000k2l1

Article Here:-
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-66115-5