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Beekeeping on Farming Today

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joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 08 9:53 am Post subject: Beekeeping on Farming Today

Does anyone listen to Farming Today ? Have you heard the last couple of days with the articles about Bee's?

Yesterday's

https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/farming/farming_20080428-0545.mp3

Today's

https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/radio4/farming/farming_20080429-0558.mp3

Absolutely scandalous comments are made on yesterday's show - Tony Spacey from Littleover Apiaries in Derbyshire, representing Britains biggest producer of Honey, made very serious accusations that "amateur" beekeepers are endangering human health and the survival of the honeybee by poor quality,irresponsible beekeeping. He made some pretty wild claims, including "thousands are not using the (varroa) treatments properly" and claims we are leaving strips in our hives for months on end. He says there are "appalling standards" of beekeeping.

Very alarmingly for a "professional" beekeeper he then commented that we use "organophosphates & antibiotics" for Varroa & Nosema.

I have no doubt that he has a very personal agenda going on here - Its obvious he wants Hobby Beekeepers to be banned so that folk have to go to people like him to buy their honey.

Very poor piece of journalism on the part of the BBC - They've just gone out and looked for anyone in the industry that agrees with Lord Rooker's view that Hobby Beekeepers are the reason the Honey Bee is struggling without any real research done on their part.

I also thought Tim Lovett's reply was poor considering he is supposed to be speaking with the weight of the BBKA behind him and years and years of Beekeeping experience - All very very damaging to the reputation of the many many dedicated and responsible beekeepers up and down the UK

SO incensed by all this - One of our Beekeepers - Dr Richard Sewell (the guy from whom my Queen came from) - left a comment on the BBC Farming today website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/farmingtoday/?comment=response#comment

Which is partly used in today's feature - Obviously the eloquent comment and the fact he is "Dr" Sewell impressed the Beeb enough to use it.

Have a listen and if you agree - please complain to the BBC about it - They should not get away with this level of poor journalism

Tavascarow

Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 08 1:52 pm Post subject:

Didn't hear them but will catch up later.
In some part I agree about some hobby beekeepers being partly at fault.
I knew one old guy who used to put his used strips in the freezer & use them a second time & no doubt there are others.
My opinion is that defra are mainly to blame for the resistant strain of varroa mite as when it first arrived in the UK they only licensed one drug for use & anyone knows if you don't rotate chemicals, resistant strains will evolve.
Haven't heard of organophosphates being used to treat.
Looking forward to hearing it in full.

NeathChris

Joined: 09 Feb 2006
Posts: 1387
Location: Neath, South Wales

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 08 2:12 pm Post subject:
Was a good bee keeping bit on ffermio last night, very interesting, even got me thinking of bees!

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 08 2:38 pm Post subject:

TAVASCAROW wrote:

In some part I agree about some hobby beekeepers being partly at fault.
I knew one old guy who used to put his used strips in the freezer & use them a second time & no doubt there are others.
My opinion is that defra are mainly to blame for the resistant strain of varroa mite as when it first arrived in the UK they only licensed one drug for use & anyone knows if you don't rotate chemicals, resistant strains will evolve.
Haven't heard of organophosphates being used to treat.
Looking forward to hearing it in full.

There are going to be good and bad beekeepers - Thats without question but for a commercial beekeeper to put the problem directly at the feet of hobby beekeepers and then to add insult to injury by getting the treatments completely wrong - Organophosphates are banned in this country and mentioning them and antibiotics is simply emotive and nonsensical especially as they are not used - Its synthetic pyrethroids and Thymol - Pyrethyoids were expected to have a 20 year lifespan before resistance occured - They have been available for 20 years and lo and behold - resistance is now occuring almost everwhere in the UK - In Eastern Europe - where Pyrethroids were never made available due to cost - they now have Varroa resistant bee's and Varroa is not such a massive problem

Commercial beekeepers have atleast as much if not more responsibilty f

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