Kilbarchan & District Beekeepers

With one in nine species at risk of extinction in Scotland, the time to act is now 🚨

Join us to demand that our MSPs stand up for nature.

📅 Thursday 12 June
🕒 12:30-2pm
📌 Scottish parliament

Make your voice heard. Join the demo: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/stand-up-f...

@hj-bee.bsky.social prepared last of the 2024 cut comb at the weekend. Great video for you to see their anatomy, how their bodies work, the breath through their abdomen & spiracles that help them suck up the honey through their proboscis (which is multi parted) 🐝

Another great blog

What better way to finish off a great afternoon’s #beekeeping, than with a bit of #forage (in the apiary) & then blitz up a #ramson (wild garlic) pesto / marinade & sip a bottle of refreshing #Perry

I find #mentoring very rewarding, but nipping to the #apiary yourself of an evening, for a quick job is a treat. Listening to all the sounds, smelling the glorious wild garlic & talking to the locals 🐑

#beekeepers #beekeepinglife🐝 #beekeepershappylife

Minister criticised following collapse of NI bee inspection service Carla Lockhart MP has hit out at Minister Andrew Muir following confirmation that Northern Ireland currently has no dedicated bee inspectors

“The bee inspection service has collapsed, and there’s no clear plan or timeline to fix it. In the face of serious threats to bee health like foulbrood, this isn’t just careless it’s dangerous."

www.agriland.ie/farming-news...

We’re off to a buzzing start!
Our #AGM #Award Ceremony & day of inspiring #beekeeping talks have kicked off here in #Dumfries A big thank you to everyone who’s joined us – it’s shaping up to be a fantastic day of learning, sharing & celebrating all things #honeybees
#scottishbeekeepers

First impressions last Honey labelling involves an interesting combination of market research, design, information transfer and selling regulations, coupled with consideration of the label and printing costs. How can you…

[New post for sponsors] How can you print attractive and distinctive honey labels easily and economically? How do you include batch details, best before dates and provenance of the honey?
theapiarist.org/first-impres...

Coming to an apiary near you! A useful recent report (PDF) by ANSES, France on the global spread of Tropilaelaps, with particular relevance to threats to the European Union. Anthropogenic factors and climate change the issue. Something else to be concerned about 😞
sitesv2.anses.fr/en/system/fi...

The memory of swarms More on collecting and hiving swarms, their memory, how and when to treat them for mites, and a Citizen Science survey of whether swarm absconding might be due to scout bee activity.

[New post] More on swarms — capturing them, moving them and their memory — and absconding, including some Citizen Science to try to work out why they abscond.
theapiarist.org/the-memory-o...
#beekeeping #citizenscience

So rewarding to witness Scott Murray & Bill Hiddleston receiving their SBA award 🏅 for their voluntary support of our ABA 🏅

Queen fumbling You should learn from your mistakes or — in this case — mine. What to do with your feet when mishandling queens, how to retrieve the queen from a full box of brace comb, and (What? You want more?)…

[New post] You should learn from your mistakes or — in this case — mine. What to do with your feet when mishandling queens, how to retrieve the queen from a full box of brace comb, and comments on setting up and siting bait hives.
theapiarist.org/queen-fumbli...

This morning, a few of the committee taught 10 of our newer beekeepers how to construct frames with wax & nail appropriately. All went away with what they made with templates to use for the season ahead. 🔨💪🏼

Great afternoon #mentoring. Queens laying & a few cells with multiple eggs, dispatched a Queen of a colony whose temperament I was not happy with. We clipped & marked a 24 Queen (no I don’t follow year colours) & a long hive manipulation v vertical. Magic day of learning #beekeeping
#honeybees

One landed at the side of me whilst gardening yesterday

The queen cup-size rabbit hole Not all plastic queen cups that look the same perform the same, and different commercial plastic queen cups can profoundly affect the success of queen rearing. Do the dimensions of the cell cup…

[New post for sponsors] Not all plastic queen cups that look the same perform the same, and different plastic queen cups can profoundly affect the success of queen rearing. Do the dimensions of the cell cup influence the size of the resulting queen?
theapiarist.org/the-queen-cu...
#beekeeping

Another great turnout for tonight’s talk from Ilona Shilliday on the importance of pollen on bee health.

Last evening meeting till September when we will be reflecting on the spring / summer 🐝

Ragged Robin is one of our hardy native wildflowers that loves damp soil.
But the fact that it's growing in a crack in our patio shows that it'll happily grow in next to no soil and also that my seed harvesting isn't 100% efficient 😂
Great for pollinators, Rabbit proof, easy to grow 😊🌱🐝🦋
#MHHSBD

Very interesting … "variable constancy" 😄 enhances floral diversity … I recommend the plain language summary fesummaries.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/c... and the original paper besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

All the gear, no idea It's expensive to start beekeeping. Buy wisely. You don't need most things the suppliers sell. Price is not necessarily the best indicator of suitability. Compatibility, future-proofing and longevity…

[New post] It's expensive to start beekeeping. Buy wisely. You don't need most things the suppliers sell. Price is not necessarily the best indicator of suitability. Compatibility, future-proofing and longevity are far more important.
theapiarist.org/all-the-gear...
#beekeeping #beginners

🐞 Spread the word!

Registration and abstract submission are now open for our annual conference, #Ento25!

Join the entomological community in-person or online this September, with opportunities to present your work, meet new contacts and build collaborations 🔽

buff.ly/tKyJIbN

🍯Calling #Scottish #hobby #beekeepers 🐝
Help us gather vital insights into the 2024 Scottish #honey harvest by taking our survey. If you harvested and/or sold honey from #hives in #Scotland in 2024, please take the survey
forms.office.com/e/20Jt3fkXRy
Deadline 13 Apr

Thank you
#scottishbeekeepers

Absconding swarms and Citizen Science How do you stop swarms from absconding, and why do they abscond? Could it be 'residual' scout bee activity, and how could this be tested?

[New post] How do you stop swarms from absconding, and why do they abscond? Could it be 'residual' scout bee activity, and how could this be tested?
theapiarist.org/absconding-s...
#beekeeping #guesswork #citizenscience

This recent National Bee Unit best practice guide summarises key points involved in
keeping healthy bees and provides easy to follow links to resources to help learn more on each topic.
www.nationalbeeunit.com/resources-fo...

The Bee Health Improvement Partnership #BHIP 2024 Annual Report has been published today on Scot Gov site.
BHIP is a forum for Scot Gov officials & expert stakeholders, including SBA, to address the challenges affecting #honeybees & the #Scottish #beekeeping sector
www.gov.scot/publications...

As Dandelions start to flower, please remember they are a valuable early food source for honey bees and other pollinators.
Think of them as a plant and not a weed.

Mid-season mite monitoring Prevention is better than cure. Why and how to monitor the mite population in mid-season. It takes minutes to do properly, providing either peace of mind, or a useful early warning of trouble (that…

[New post for sponsors] Prevention is better than cure. Why and how to monitor the mite population in mid-season. It takes minutes to do properly, providing either peace of mind, or a useful early warning of trouble (that can be avoided) ahead.
theapiarist.org/midseason-mi...
#beekeeping

Make a hotel for hairy-footed flower bees! YouTube video by Dave Goulson

Try making a clay hotel for hairy-footed flower bees. They are just emerging from hibernation, so now is the perfect time.

youtu.be/UJSK12ArWP4

Have you ever wondered how oilseed rape is pollinated?

In the latest instalment of Pollination Particulars, we reveal the latest figures on this commercial crop.

Find out whether insect pollination increases or decreases seed yield (and by how much!) in the March BeeCraft.