BeeS have been around longer than human beings and yet their future has never been more critical owing to the fact that their ability to pollinate plants is fundamental to our survival.
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Generally speaking, bees are responsible for pollinating 70% of our food, so they are one of the most important species that must be conserved.
Robert Taylor explains the fascination – and the importance – of beekeeping.
In Scotland there are currently about 1,400 hobby beekeepers who are also members of the Scottish Beekeepers’ Association, with an estimated further 1,000 hobbyists who are not. In addition, there are around 25 commercial bee farmers who are members of the Bee Farmers’ Association and whose businesses depend on the management of healthy honey bees. South of the Border more than 29,000 beekeepers managing around 126,000 colonies were registered on the National Bee Unit’s BeeBase database in 2013, compared with 15,000 beekeepers managing just under 80,000 colonies in 2008. Although honey bees have been ‘domesticated’ for thousands of years they remain wild insects. They have been bred to be more docile, but they still retain natural instincts such as swarming when a hive becomes over-populated and there is always a desire to create new colonies. Until the early 1990s, the UK had a very healthy wild bee population outside those contained in hives. Unfortunately with increasing temperatures and the introduction of imported bees to the UK, the native wild bee population was pretty much
wiped out. A large part of this was due to the Varroa mite which is a notifiable pest which originally only occurred in Asia but reached the UK in 1992. The Varroa mite possibly has the most pronounced economic impact on the beekeeping industry and is considered to be one of multiple stress factors contributing to the higher levels of bee losses around the world. Thankfully colonies can be treated with a variety of products so hands-on management is essential for the welfare of a hive. Bees are an incredible species. They live socially in colonies and are adapted for feeding on nectar and pollen with the former primarily as an energy source and the latter for protein and other nutrients. Most of their pollen is used as food for the larvae. Beekeeping or apiculture has been practised for millennia, since at least the times of Ancient Egypt and Greece. Depictions of humans collecting honey from bees date to 15,000 years ago and efforts to domesticate them are shown in Egyptian art from 4,500 years ago. Jars of honey have even been found in the tombs of pharaohs, showing how important it was to people of that time. Apart from honey and pollination, honey bees produce beeswax, royal jelly and propolis. They Page 10 | Rural Matters | Summer 2019 | galbraithgroup.com
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With increasing temperatures and the introduction of imported bees to the UK, the native wild bee population was pretty much wiped out.
