Bee Campaign

I have posted this in general fishing as it could effect us all.

As your friendly smiling Toad

If any of you are so inclined I have a campaign for anyone no party no organisation no leaders just the person you see in the mirror.

Will you have to commit much? No.
Will it cost much? No.
Is it illegal? No.
Will the people of Britain benefit? Yes.

This is just a suggestion for anglers on what to many will be a silly subject. I have been reading how British Bees among others are in decline and being attacked on many fronts, so I would like us to do something about it.

We the Anglers of Britain each write one letter and send it to all the people in whatever your area is and request that they join with you in writing to the local and county authority suggesting that they begin keeping a few Bee hives on council land or increase the numbers of hives they already have to help fight for the survival of the British Bee population.

Its not going to rock the county, its not going to depose the government, its not going to send a message to people in authority which will send shivers of fear down their backs, it’s not political, it may be pro the countryside and good for the environment. Maybe it will even help keep food prices down.

Its a simple task for anyone and everyone who is interested to see just what they as an individual can do and achieve without a group, party or association.

Just a little of your time and a bit of effort nothing more.

I must add I do not keep bees nor am I involved in any area with bees and beekeeping except I eat honey.

good on ya fella
just to add that there is a school of thought that is blaming the weedkiller round up for the colony collapse disorder, needless to say monsanto's lawyers 'ave been busy dealing with the naysayers

Hate to be a bit of a spoiler on this Toad but, I can only say what I heard on the TV.
Too many people are keeping bees in cities etc and they are starving because there are not enough flowers/nectar to go round.

I did this before I heard this on TV but, I have sown plenty of wild flower seeds in my garden and I am not going to mow the lawn except for a couple of pathways. This may be the best way to support bees. That is if what they say on TV is right, but, who knows. So, I am not saying your wrong and your sentiment is well placed but...maybe more knowledge or other views on this may be required. I Don't know as I am no expert; sorry if I have put a bit of a damp squib on your post...Mark.

I do not pretend to be an expert on Bee's although I am fully aware that both flowers, plants and other growing things are not all totally dependent on British Bee's, However the British countryside will be effected and therefore the environment in which many of us fish. I think most of us enjoy the British countryside and although I have no exact idea of how many hives are being run in our cities I am more than convinced that most of what we hear on British television is mainly propaganda or censored with the odd political leaning and is never neutral pure news which I believe it should be. However I was thinking along the following rather simple lines:



Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a voting person and an angler who is interested in the environment and the general countryside, I have recently discovered that the British Bee’s are dying out. Which if allowed to continue will change this green and pleasant land into a barren wasteland.

I therefore write to you to ask you to help save our environment by calling upon the local council and county council to set up Bee hives and Bee colony’s on some of the councils land. These hives could become part of the councils green policy and assist in education of our children on natural environment areas as they could be used as a teaching example. There is the added bonus of local honey production which some income could be obtained from.

I am contacting all the anglers in the area and the media and would appreciate your involvement and commitment to protecting and saving our beautiful and varied environment, I am,

.......................................

I do not know what you think, I think it encourages people in authority to do something with a minimum of effort, the possibility of favorable media coverage and with no downside, unless that is they do not get involved. Get the hives established. Then at some future point you let then know something is attacking their efforts they should hopefully be more inclined to assist in getting rid of what is causing the problem.

I have never heard such utter tosh in all my life!
Fact: bees (mainly honey) are in decline all over the world because of a mite and nothing to do with lack of hives and food!
Fact: Bees are actually starting to thrive again in this country because of people keeping Bees in our Towns and Cities, reason, there are less insecticides used in urban areas, and that's why the honey they produce is world class!
Oh and one more thing, you should all stop reading that garbage they call the ''tabloid press'' because if it was left to them we would all be thinking the end of the world was nigh mg:

PS: To suggest to local councils to put hives on waste land is ludicrous! Toady, have you ever seen a swarm of rogue bees attacking a group of kids?...No, I didn't think so!

Come on my mate Sam, you must have something to add to this?

Bees seem to get varoa mite infestations, and that's what causes CCD allegedly but no one appears to know why they succumb more to the mites than they used to. One conclusion is that it had to be agrochemical associated as urban bees are doing very well apparently.

Farmers are always working with the agrochemical industry to get less spray used for more yield - killing bees is in no one's interest at all. So let's hope that someone comes up with a bee friendly pesticide that kills the varoa mites and not the bees.
Jerry

barbelboi said:

Bees seem to get varoa mite infestations, and that's what causes CCD allegedly but no one appears to know why they succumb more to the mites than they used to. One conclusion is that it had to be agrochemical associated as urban bees are doing very well apparently.

Farmers are always working with the agrochemical industry to get less spray used for more yield - killing bees is in no one's interest at all. So let's hope that someone comes up with a bee friendly pesticide that kills the varoa mites and not the bees.
Jerry

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Things are looking up for British bees at the moment Jerry, Its the papers that are filling everyone with doom and gloom...And certain Bloggers of course mg:

I can only state what I have read and / or seen on the TV which is for most non experts like me the only way I learn. Mind you I agree that it cannot always be trusted. So, I just use my own judgement as much as possible. But, in this case I do not think any propaganda issue was trying to be put on us; just some good science/facts and common sense.
.
The statement I was referring to just said that many more people are now keeping hives in cities and that there is not enough flowers to sustain this amount of hives. Most park and garden flowers are not rich in nectar being artificially produced specimens for their show factor and in fact often have no nectar at all.. So, this could make sense to me.

Therefore, a campaign to grow more meadow/wild flowers could be more helpful. A patch in your garden to help the wild bee population could do a lot and this is advised by many experts. There are many solitary bee species that do not live in a hive and these need help as well.
I did think of keeping bees once but, decided against it on the grounds if they swarmed and attacked a child I would not forgive myself. On balance, I agree with Mark, probably best not to encourage lots of bees in urban areas because of this.

Random TV facts-

I understood the insecticide factor was causing the bees to lose their directional abilities which resulted in hives going wrong but, the scientists are isolating this chemical and trying to get it banned. Their are bee hives from Australia being imported that are resistant to the mite and also a virus that attacks them.
In Japan they have to employ hundreds of people to go round with a feather strapped to a long bamboo cane to pollinate their cherry trees as they have all but lost their bee population. 80% of all the worlds food is pollinated by bees or something like that.

I will not be joining Toads campaign but, would rather let the experts get on with what they are doing to rectify the problem and follow their advice. Sorry Toad, but I think you aught to give this up. there is nothing wrong with being wrong now and then. But, its your prerogative to disagree, no problem.

markg said:

I can only state what I have read and / or seen on the TV which is for most non experts like me the only way I learn. Mind you I agree that it cannot always be trusted. So, I just use my own judgement as much as possible. But, in this case I do not think any propaganda issue was trying to be put on us; just some good science/facts and common sense.
.
The statement I was referring to just said that many more people are now keeping hives in cities and that there is not enough flowers to sustain this amount of hives. Most park and garden flowers are not rich in nectar being artificially produced specimens for their show factor and in fact often have no nectar at all.. So, this could make sense to me.

Therefore, a campaign to grow more meadow/wild flowers could be more helpful. A patch in your garden to help the wild bee population could do a lot and this is advised by many experts.
I did think of keeping bees once but, decided against it on the grounds if they swarmed and attacked a child I would not forgive myself. On balance, I agree with Mark, probably best not to encourage lots of bees in urban areas because of this.

Random TV facts-

I understood the insecticide factor was causing the bees to lose their directional abilities which resulted in hives going wrong but, the scientists are isolating this chemical and trying to get it banned. Their are bee hives from Australia being imported that are resistant to the mite and also a virus that attacks them.
In Japan they have to employ hundreds of people to go round with a feather strapped to a long bamboo cane to pollinate their cherry trees as they have all but lost their bee population. 80% of all the worlds food is pollinated by bees or something like that.

I will not be joining Toads campaign but, would rather let the experts get on with what they are doing to rectify the problem and follow their advice. Sorry Toad, but I think you aught to give this up. there is nothing wrong with being wrong now and then. But, its your prerogative to disagree, no problem.

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Sorry if I sounded a little blunt Mark, I did not mean to offend you
My uncle kept bees a few years ago and he had to get rid of one group that went AWOL and attacked the kids on next doors garden! The swarm in the hive next to them were very placid and no trouble at all!

Was not offended at all Mark, Its very rare that I am anyway. So don't worry and thanks for the sentiment.
Just wanted to make the point that although you are totally correct in your opinion on some TV programs I didn't believe there was a propaganda background to these program's and in fact they were just given some good knowledge and advice in the main. I have been following this stuff for a few months now and it appears to me there is a lot of common sense behind some of the reasoning and it is worth consideration.

I am all for listening to some expert advice and supporting their campaigns if they ask for it, but, starting one of your own based on limited knowledge is not a good idea but, that's just my opinion.

Agree about the swarming bees, may be rare and who can guess which colony and when but, who wants to risk it on their conscience. Not me.

---------- Post added at 08:01 ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 ----------

Just to add to the above. I know what you mean about all the doom and gloom; I get tired of it as well. Hundreds of people kept knocking on my door in 1999 telling me the world was going to end and it was imminent IE, midnight 2000.
I still see some of them in the high street and I take great delight in going up to them and waving my arms about and saying "look I am still here". Well, you have got to have some fun in life.

When bees swarm it means they are actually dividing an existing colony in two thus creating a new ‘hive’. As a natural occurrence in the wild this swarming propagates the species. It is always a planned event (on a sunny day with little wind) and can be caused by overcrowding, starvation or other internal hive problems. Overcrowding is the main reason though.

By placing just one or two empty brood combs in the brood nest at the right time can usually inhibit swarming.
Jerry

mark brailsford 2 said:

Come on my mate Sam, you must have something to add to this?

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What I know about bees could be safely written on the back of a postage stamp. Therefore, there'll be no comment beyond this. That's a slight exaggeration, I was (very) peripherally involved in a commercial beekeeping project on a patch of the North Yorkshire Moors a few years back. Apparently, all that heather is a rather wonderful resource for bees and the bees are a rather wonderful resource for heather. The happy side effect is top quality honey, hence the commercial interest.

I think a lot of the problem is all this bloody decking.

beerweasel said:

I think a lot of the problem is all this bloody decking.

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Now, now, nobodies talking about decking anyone. calm down.

sam vimes said:

What I know about bees could be safely written on the back of a postage stamp. Therefore, there'll be no comment beyond this. That's a slight exaggeration, I was (very) peripherally involved in a commercial beekeeping project on a patch of the North Yorkshire Moors a few years back. Apparently, all that heather is a rather wonderful resource for bees and the bees are a rather wonderful resource for heather. The happy side effect is top quality honey, hence the commercial interest.

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Ha, Heather Honey, the best tasting thing on the planet The Aussies can keep their over priced Makuna...or is that New Zealand

mark brailsford 2 said:

The Aussies can keep their over priced Makuna...or is that New Zealand

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It's New Zealand; but it's a bit too earthy and florid for my tastes though.