Wales Feed

Bees versus the super bugs

2011-06-21T10:18:27+00:00

Bee-keepers could hold the key to new superbug treatments in their back gardens.

Cardiff University and the National Botanic Garden of Wales are appealing for help in building up a DNA profile of the nation's honey.

They hope to use the information to identify plants which could fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as the 'superbug' MRSA. The honey project could also help fight the diseases currently attacking Britain's bees.

Honeys have long been known to have anti-bacterial properties and are used in wound dressings today. Different honeys act against different microbes depending on the chemicals in the plants visited by bees.

Now the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University and the National Botanic Garden of Wales are asking honey-makers across the country to send them samples, along with a list of plants near their beehives.

A screening test developed at Cardiff will test for activity against two of the most common hospital-acquired infections, the bacteria MRSA and Clostridium difficile.

The honey project could help fight the diseases attacking Britain's bees.

The National Botanic Garden of Wales will identify the plants which contributed to the most powerful honeys, using a DNA profiling process being developed as an application of their Barcode Wales project, which has DNA barcoded the flowering plants of Wales.

The team will then investigate the plants found in the honey for the potential to develop new drugs.

The joint University and Garden team, who are supported by the Society for Applied Microbiology, will also be looking for honeys which help bees resist pests and bugs.

In particular, they will test for resistance to the Varroa mite, which has caused a rapid decline in the UK bee population, and the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, responsible for American Foulbrood, which is one of the most destructive of all bee diseases.

Bee pollination is worth an estimated £100m to British agriculture every year, and it is vital to halt the fall in bee numbers.

Dr Natasha de Vere, National Botanic Garden of Wales, said: "We have nearly completed our Barcode Wales project to DNA barcode each of the 1143 flowering plants in Wales and are excited to be developing our first applications that use this fantastic resource.

We can see which honeys have the best results against infectious diseases that affect humans and bees and use DNA barcoding to identify the plants making the honey."

Anyone who wants to contribute their honey to the research project should send a 200 gram pot with their address, postcode, and details of the plants their bees feed on to:

Jenny Hawkins, Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff University, Redwood Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3NB.

25,000 new residents for Carmarthen

2010-07-30T09:35:57+00:00

Don't panic! It's not a new government housing initiative for West Wales - It's bees.

Remember the joint partnership between the BBC and the National Trust - Bee Part Of It that I blogged about back in May?

The plan was to introduce 45 new honey bee colonies to the UK with two being in Wales, which will be adopted and monitored by Radio Wales.

Beekeepers and the new hive:

I'm happy to announce that the first hive for Wales is now in place at Dinefwr on the outskirts of Llandeilo where 25,000 new bees have recently taken up residence.

Over the summer, Radio Wales presenters - Jamie Owen and Louise Elliott will tell the story of the hive with help from Jo Horsley - the Beekeeper at Dinefwr.

"We're so excited to represent Wales in the 'Bee Part of It' campaign" Said Jo.

"When the bees arrived, the delivery driver leapt out of his van and told me he had live bees on board expecting me to be shocked but was amazed when I told him they were for me!"

"Thousands of little heads were sticking out of the box very anxious to get out and search for food and they were soon zooming off over the deer park looking for flowers in their new home."

"The bees were blessed with glorious weather and an abundant supply of forage in the form of white clover so it was a perfect time to settle them in."

Three local volunteers - Kevin Henry, Owen Williams and Michael Saywell who are all new to beekeeping, will be helping Jo to look after the hive.

Jo went on to say: "We look through the bees every nine days or so. They are an absolute pleasure to handle, so different from the Welsh Blacks I keep in my own hives who soon make it clear they would rather be left alone."

Bees in the hive:

"The large, very yellow queen is happily settled and has produced lots of eggs and young larvae. The worker bees have done a great job of building the honeycomb cells where they will raise their young."

"We've also given them a second box to encourage them to store honey. The National Bee Inspector for Wales has also paid us a visit and has confirmed that the bees are happy and healthy in their new home."

Visitors to the Newton House at Dinefwr will be able to see the hive from the garden.

Gull

Die hard feral bees wanted

2010-06-30T15:37:57+00:00

Following recent publicity about the West Wales Bee Breeding project, scientists at Bangor University have been inundated with messages of support, offers of help and reports of feral colonies from beekeepers around Wales.

The project aims to breed a stock of disease resistant bees that are easy to work with and suited to the challenging Welsh climate.

An apiary in spring. Image by the West Wales Bee Breeding Program:

A website has just been launched for the project - www.bees.bangor.ac.uk so please get in touch if you have any information to share or phone (01248) 383735.

The team hopes to visit promising colonies and take nucleus colonies (a common method of increasing hives) which will raise their own queens.

These 'nucs' will be left in place until the queen has mated with drones of local provenance, and then moved to a specially established apiary in Mid Wales over winter.

In 2011, the team will rigorously compare the performance of these colonies in order to choose the best to enter the breeding program.

Gull

The importance of wildflower meadows

2010-06-15T12:28:51+00:00

Native wildflower meadows in the UK have seen a dramatic decline, leading to a loss in habitats for a wealth of insects, flora and small mammals.

Springwatch presenter Chris Packham talks about their importance to our countryside and the role they play as a food source for many pollinating insects, including the UK's struggling bee population.

Tree bumblebee discovered

2010-06-04T09:32:58+00:00

A rare tree bumblebee (bombus hypnorum) has been discovered at the National Botanic Garden of Wales.

This particular bee has never been seen so far west before and was first spotted in 2001 in the New Forest, Hampshire having flown over from France.

Previously in Wales, it had only been found in Cardiff - so it appears to be expanding its reach here in Wales. With other bee species in serious decline this is great news.

Tree bumblebee:

It's a distinctive bumblebee with a brown thorax, black abdomen and white tail - no other bumblebee looks like this, so it's fairly easy to spot. It naturally nests in tree holes but will also happily nest in bird boxes.

You can see exactly what they look like at www.bumblebeeconservation.org

Ironically the discovery was made on 'Bee Aware Day' at the Garden, when talks, tours and stalls were organised to raise awareness of the need to conserve bees.

BBC Bee Part Of It

View our bee pictures

Plight of the bumble bee

2010-05-16T22:00:26+00:00

This summer, the BBC joins forces with the National Trust for a national campaign, launching on Monday 17 May to investigate the plight of honeybees in Britain.

The Bee Part Of It campaign is supported by BBC Local, Springwatch and wildlife presenter Kate Humble, who now manages her own bee hives at home.

Bees are the world's most important pollinating insects and honey bees are worth around £200 million a year to British agriculture. Their dramatic decline in numbers recently has become a cause of global concern.

Bees, along with other pollinators like butterflies, moths, beetles, and hoverflies are crucial to the entire ecosystem.

Albert Einstein is alleged to have once said that, without bees, humanity would die out in four years - now there's a scary thought!

Perhaps Hollywood should stop making movies about apocalyptic global warming scenarios and focus on the extinction of bees instead?

As Iolo Williams recently mentioned - the biggest threat to our planet is mankind and it is us who will ultimately suffer. Nature will resume, long after we're all gone...

As part of the build up to this campaign I've been asking you to send in your best bee photos. Here's a gallery of some of the best ones so far.

All native bees have been in decline for some time and a combination of factors are believed to be responsible: habitat loss, pesticides, and disease are key.

A bee by Steve Tynant:

Recent poor summers have also caused enormous damage to honey bees: a third of all colonies were lost in 2008.

Matthew Oates, the National Trust's Chief Conservation Advisor, says: "Bee consciousness is vital and we can all help; we can do simple things like planting bee friendly plants and flowers to encourage bees into our gardens. We want more people to understand the crucial role that bees play in our food chain."

The main focus of this campaign is the honey bee, and as part of this project, Radio Wales has adopted two new hives on National Trust property.The first will be at Dinefwr in West Wales. The second hive location has yet to be confirmed.

Each hive comes with a bee keeper who'll look after the hive for the summer and hopefully deliver up to fifty jars of honey at the end of the season. I've already bought a new toaster! ;)

We'll monitor the hives progress for the duration, and you'll be able to follow the story locally on the Jamie & Louise show as well as on the BBC Wales Local websites.

We're also giving away packs of bee friendly flower seeds in June (details to follow), and bees will feature at the Springwatch Wild Days Out.

In the meantime, find out which species of flowers are bee friendly from the RHS website and get planting.

Bee keeping isn't just a rural operation - bees can thrive in villages, towns, and cities, as long as the conditions are right.

Bee Facts:

There are 250 species of bee in the UK consisting of bumblebees, honeybees and solitary bees.

Pollination delivers â¬14.2bn to the European economy, most of this is through bumblebees and honeybees.

Bumblebees have smelly feet. They produce oily secretions to inform other bees which flowers have already been visited

Source: The Bumblebee Conservation Trust

That's it for now. If you've got a story concerning bees in Wales then do get in touch. I can mention it here in the blog and pass on any useful information to colleagues involved in the campaign.

Gull

Having trouble identifying bees? Try the BWARS image gallery.

Slow mow

2010-04-22T13:25:29+00:00

Now here's something we can all willingly help out with this summer.

Not only does it give nature a helping hand - it also gives 'the mowers' amongst us a very good excuse not to mow the lawns quite so often! ;)

RSPB Cymru are asking us not to mow our lawns quite so much and to spare a thought for the wild flowers that may or may not be springing up in the middle of your lawn.

Not only do they look nice but they provide valuable pollen for our insect friends and we all know how much trouble our bees are in currently.

A hoverfly feeding on a daisy by Gareth Morgan:

And let's face it, the flowers tend to be past their best after a couple of weeks anyway, (depending on the species) so enjoy them while you can.

I've recently spared two types of primrose and some rogue 'forget-me-nots' and my lawn is pretty small.

So, longer lawns = more flowers = more insects = more food for our garden birds = more food for chicks.

Another tip is to shorten the blades on your lawnmower so the grass remains a little longer after cutting.

Now, if all this sounds like too much hard work (I can't believe it would) but if it does, then how about setting aside a little area in your garden for some longer grass? It could just be a foot square but left a little longer for a couple of weeks.

Thrushes, blackbirds, dunnocks, finches and house sparrows all love to feed in longer grass.

It's not just us though...The RSPB are also urging local councils to leave roadside verges to grow for a few more weeks, before they're trimmed.

I've noticed loads of dandelions lately as I drive home from work and they bring a lovely splash of colour to an otherwise dull roadside. They also provide a valuable source of nectar for bees.

Fancy turning your garden into more of a wildlife haven?

Visit the RSPB website and BBC Breathing Places for some simple ideas that will make a big difference in your garden.

If you've tried any of these out then take a picture and send it in or let me know what you've been up to in the comments area.

Thanks

Gull

Beehave yourself

2010-03-16T09:33:06+00:00

Here at BBC Wales Nature and Outdoors we're always striving for excellence, pushing the boundaries and delivering the latest nature scoops straight to your desktop or inbox (if you subscribe to our blog...)

We've recently had our first bee pictures of 2010 sent in.

Steve snapped this early riser back in February in Penpedairheol, Rhymney Valley:

This lovely macro shot comes from Ann Riggs in Haycastle:

'Oakwoodlott' spotted this bee stocking up on much needed nectar from a crocus, on St David's Day in Caerphilly:

Our native bees need all the help they can get. If our bees vanish then we're all in real trouble.

Besides not having any tasty honey on our toast in the mornings - much of our agriculture would be lost as there'd be no cross pollination.

In the U.S alone, the value of bee pollination is in the region of 8 billion pounds every year.

We can all do our bit though by planting bee friendly plants and flowers in our gardens and creating homes for bees.

Traditional cottage garden plants and wild flowers are best as they contain the most nectar. They're also very hardy and in some cases - slug resistant, so try growing some this summer.

Viper's Bugloss is highly recommended and flowers from June through till August.

Find out how to make a bee house for your own garden.

Have you seen any bees out and about yet? And do you have bees nesting in your garden?

If so let us know in the comments area.

You'll need to sign up to BBC ID if you don't already have an account, but it only takes a few seconds and is fairly painless!

Gull

Defra - Bee Health

Save Our Bees Campaign

The Bumblebee Conservation Trust

British Beekeeper's Association

The bee's knees

2010-01-26T14:48:51+00:00

A project to protect bumblebees in Pembrokeshire is in the running for a UK prize to expand its work on creating habitat for the endangered species.

The shrill carder bee is only found in 6 populations across the UK and we're proud to report that 3 of those are right here in Wales!

A common carder bee by Ash Lindop on Flickr:

Find out more about bees on our website or browse the video vaults for some great clips to watch.

Take a look at all of the bee photographs on our BBC Wales Nature Flickr page.

Related links:

Bumblebee Conservation Trust website