Honey Bee Health – The Walrus and the Honey Bee

pollen grains

30 Jan 23 Walrus

Pollen is Vital to Honey Bee Health and Survival

Grains of pollen I have returned to Manchester from three days ‘down South’ in London and Surrey, having had my eye surgery, which was a great success. The surgeon said something like “Stephen’s perfect” when describing the state of my…

York Biotech Campus

21 Nov 22 Walrus

New Research Updates From The NBU

York Biotech Campus Our Regional Bee Inspector, Mark McLoughlin, hosted delegates from the various Northern BKAs at the York Biotech Campus on 11th November. The day featured presentations about new research updates from the NBU by experts in their fields.…

dead bees and varroa mites

3 Jul 22 Walrus

Treatment Free Beekeeping

Photo by Maja Dumat - CC BY 2.0 Risky To Go Against NBU Advice The July 2022 issue of the BBKA News features not one, not two, but THREE articles on treatment-free beekeeping. That's three out of eight (37.5%). Given…

jars of honey showing label

31 Mar 22 Walrus

Hysteria Is Now Orthodoxy

Walrus Honey is delicious! An era of populism, conspiracy theories, idiotic social media clickbait and cavernous divides between rich and poor, conservative and liberal values is upon us. Perhaps the last time things were this bad was in the 1930s,…

Sister Queens different colours

30 Sep 20 Walrus

Local Bees?

Sister Queens (same mother) There are some confusing messages out there in beekeeper-land regarding bee types, imports and so forth. In a world where the news that gets picked up is the one delivered in the loudest voice, sometimes accepted…

Stay Home Sign in Manchester

10 Apr 20 Walrus

Lockdown, Neonics and Queens

Source: Manchester Evening News OK, so we've been in lockdown for a while now. I only venture outside to go shopping occasionally and to walk the dog. Oh, and beekeeping, of course. It's never been busier in the parks and…

Yes or No graphic

13 Nov 18 Walrus

Lies, Damn Lies & Statistics

I recently read a ludicrous article on BBC News, "Can Listening to Bees help save them - and us?" which continues the campaign of mis-information about honey bees. I used to think that this type of report, of which there…

Honey Bee collecting pollen from willow

13 Feb 18 Walrus

You are what you eat!

Honey Bee collecting pollen from willow It’s been a while since my last blog post, so sorry to anybody who has been struggling to get through their days without hearing about life, the universe, and bees from this corner of…

Graphic of ticket with the word Etiquette on it

21 Oct 17 Walrus

I shouldn’t talk about this, but…

Apparently we should never discuss religion, politics or money at the dinner table, or probably anywhere else. I think this must have its origins in etiquette, and if so we have the French to blame, although it is no doubt…

asian hornet on a flower

4 Oct 17 Walrus

Bee Armageddon?

Typically, when I tell somebody that I am a beekeeper I get a big smile, then I get told how wonderful it is that I’m doing my bit to save the bees, because they are really struggling at the moment…