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  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #12197  by MickBBKA
 07 Nov 2021, 11:30
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.. :roll:
 #12199  by JoJo36
 08 Nov 2021, 07:00
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??!! :)
 #12200  by AdamD
 08 Nov 2021, 09:14
It will be interesting to see what further analysis reveals.
 #12203  by NigelP
 08 Nov 2021, 12:12
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.
 #12204  by Alfred
 08 Nov 2021, 13:55
Small and swarmy?
3/4 of my lot must have hitched a ride from Blenheim.
 #12207  by NigelP
 09 Nov 2021, 09:04
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!