At last, my bees are official!

Posted by Jon on Sep 30, 2010 in Regulations | 5 comments

Way back in the mists of time, we obeyed the latest missive from the French government and sent off our paperwork to tell them the location and number of our hives. We then waited, and waited, and waited……and finally forgot all about it as the summer arrived and there were lots of other more interesting things to do.

Book Review – Natural Beekeeping

Posted by Jon on Jul 19, 2010 in Books | 1 comment

Natural Beekeeping – organic approaches to modern agriculture by Ross Conrad

Rating:

Having ordered this over the internet, I picked it out of my postbox with great excitement. At nearly 250 pages, this is a comprehensive explanation of all aspects of organic beekeeping but be warned, it is not for the light-hearted. Whilst the author clearly knows his stuff, his delivery is dry and text-book like and in my own view, a little over complicated. 

Book Review – Guide des abeilles d’Europe

Posted by Jon on Jun 22, 2010 in Books | 0 comments

Rating:

Needing a reference book to help me identify the various bees in our garden, I invested in the Guide des abeilles, bourdons, guêpes et fourmis d’Europe by Hans Bellman. A compact book with over 300 pages, it contains excellent photos to help identification and does what it says on the cover!

I would have rated it 5/5 except for the lack of any mention of the Asian Hornet. It was originally published in 1999

Eric Tourneret

Posted by Jon on Jun 12, 2010 in Bee behaviour, Resources | 0 comments

Whilst researching some facts for this blog, I chanced upon the website of Eric Tourneret – Le Peuple des Abeilles, The Bee Photographer. Trained in France in photojournalism, his photos of bees are breathtaking and a must for anyone with an interest in bees.

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)

Posted by Jon on Jun 9, 2010 in Beekeeping, Research | 3 comments

CCD strikes fear into the heart of all hobby beekeepers – the unexplained disappearance of all the worker bees from a hive or the death of a hive over winter are two of the things that we least want to find. Whilst we all know that CCD has been around for many years, it is the unexplained increase in the loss of colonies globally that is concerning.

Asian Hornet Notification

Posted by Jon on May 30, 2010 in Asian Hornets, Hornets, Regulations | 0 comments

If you see an Asian Hornet adult or nest, please take the time to notify INPN who are mapping the spread of hornets across France. The procedure is easy – simply fill in the form detailing the location of the nest and enclose a picture and/or hornet samples, then send off to the address. By tracking the spread of the hornets, INPN hope to better understand their biology and prevent further spread. Given the speed of the spread through France, there is a real worry that they will continue to spread to other countries including the UK.

To help, we have done a quick translation of the form – if your French isn’t very good I’m sure they will still appreciate all the info in English. Fiche_signalement_Vespa Eng