The Bees of Notre-Dame
by Meghan P. Browne (Author), E. B. Goodale (Illustrator)

This is a beautiful story book about the bees of Notre-Dame.
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 – 8 years

This is one of those beautiful books you’ll enjoy even as an adult, pouring over the drawings, reading the words and stopping to pause at the page with the bees around a queen. The drawings are lovely, urban sketches of one of the world’s most famous buildings and their inhabitants.  The pictures of the fire have a Turner-esque feel to them and are very dramatic.
The inside covers have sketches of the overhead views before and after the fire.

Vive les abeilles!

The Bees of Notre-Dame

The Bees of Notre-Dame

Aff link.

A lovely book for young children aged 4-8.

Honey Bee Biology 

by Brian R. Johnson (Author), Thomas D. Seeley (Foreword)

The most comprehensive and up-to-date general reference book on honey bee biology

Honey bees are marvelously charismatic organisms with a long history of interaction with humans. They are vital to agriculture and serve as a model system for many basic questions in biology. This authoritative book provides an essential overview of honey bee biology, bringing established topics up to date while incorporating emerging areas of inquiry.

Honey Bee Biology covers everything from molecular genetics, development, and physiology to neurobiology, behavior, and pollination biology. Placing special attention on the important role of bees as pollinators in agricultural ecosystems, it incorporates the latest findings on pesticides, parasites, and pathogens. This incisive and wide-ranging book also sheds vital light on the possible causes of colony collapse disorder and the devastating honey bee losses we are witnessing today.

The study of honey bees has greatly expanded in recent years and there is more interest in these marvelous creatures than ever before. Honey Bee Biology is the first up-to-date general reference of its kind published in decades. It is a must-have resource for social insect biologists, scientifically savvy beekeepers, and any scientist interested in bees as a model system.

• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 512 pages

This book looks really interesting, it’s a hefty book too!
On my wish list!

I am a beekeeper and I am pledging to make more people aware of the Asian Hornet this year.
It’s a non native species that quite likes eating other insects and unfortunately for honeybees because they live in a colony they provide a whole larder of food for Asian hornets.

The National Bee Unit has a page on the Asian hornet  http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?sectionid=117

You should be able to get copies of the poster from your bee inspector or your bee association. It’s important to share these with relevant people – anyone who spends a lot of time outside and will observe an unusual insect. Whether it’s gardeners, groundskeepers, the council’s tree man, they all need to know.

If you’re in a bee club you’ll probably have discussed an Asian hornet action team. If not, go back to your group and ask!

The poster shows the asian hornet and details of the abdomen which has one yellow stripe. They look like lit cigarettes coming at you apparently. If you sit next to your hives you can watch for them hawking your bees.
Monitoring traps are a good idea – but need to be regularly emptied of the native species that might get caught in the trap.

If you’re not a beekeeper then you could get the poster and display it at your local garden centre – just ask, I’m sure they’ll let you put a poster up. Share it with as many people as you can. Thanks

Not a hugely cheery subject but one beekeepers need to be aware of: Asian hornets.
I’ve got a monitoring trap out at the moment and keep checking it regularly to see what’s in it.

The BBKA Asian Hornet map is updated each time a new sighting is confirmed by Defra.

There’s a video for the monitoring trap instructions here. Well worth making one. If you’re in a beekeeping group then you might already have discussed having an Asian hornet action team, and perhaps have had a day of making traps to ensure everyone has one.

The BBKA have a leaflet that has the identification information on. This can be given away to anyone who might spend time outside and might observe insects!

I’ve got lots of photos of bees, but I really need to practice taking some photos to get a really good shot for this competition. It doesn’t have to be a Bee you send a photo in of, but I’d like to think it would be!

Absolutely stunning video. Honeybee from an egg to hatching as an adult bee. Three weeks development in 1 minute of video.

Bees queuing up to get on pumpkin flowers on allotment

There’s tons of bumblebees about at the moment as well as honey bees. I spotted a third bee trying to squeeze into this flower and by the time I’d got my phone out to take the photo it’d decided to leave the two already in the flower to it.

It’s lovely to see honeybees and bumblebees about!

it’s not just
A mature tree can be the equivalent of an acre of forage for bees so it’s important to ask your local councils to be planting bee friendly trees when they replace trees.
https://www.urbanbees.co.uk/trees/trees.htm

And the BBKA have some info too https://www.bbka.org.uk/gardening-for-bees

As a beekeeper I am prepared to go and collect honey bee swarms. One side effect of being on the swarm collectors list is that I can calls about other bees.
Two calls yesterday from quite close by.
One lot in a bird box. Probably bumblebees I tell them, but send me a photo anyway and I’ll check.
Another lot in soffits. Again same response, but the lady wasn’t sure how to take photos as they were flying near the roof so I told her I’d manage with a silhouette of a bee.

So I got emailed the photos and yes both lots bumblebees.
I confirmed by email and sent them some info about bumblebees. They don’t stay a huge amount of time and are quite fun to watch.

You can’t have too many hive tools? Or is that crown boards? Or both!
This is an amazingly low prices hive tool.
Stainless Steel Beehive Tool J Hook Pry Trim Bar Beekeeping Equipment

Smoker!
This is an absolute bargain! If you’ve mistreated your current smoker, or just fancy a shiny new one, or maybe a spare one for your out apiary, then this is a great price!

AllRight Large Bee Smoker Stainless Steel Beekeeping