Letter: What About Black Bees?

Published on: 13 Sep, 2017
Updated on: 13 Sep, 2017

From Harry Eve

In response to: Beekeeper’s Notes September 2017: Marauding Wasps, Honey And A Lot Going On

A fascinating article once again from Hugh Coakley.

The view of the frame makes me think it would be interesting to follow an individual bee and see what route it takes before leaving the hive.

The BBC Countryfile programme last Sunday (September 10) had an interesting piece on native “black bees”. If I understand the point correctly then bees from Europe have been imported over the years and hybridised with the native bees.

Most of the honeybees that I see locally have an orange band or bands at the front of the abdomen suggesting that they are hybrids or imports. But I do occasionally see honeybees with the orange missing or greatly reduced.

I would be interested to know more about this topic.

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