New Blackmore Vale, July 9, 2021
Letters
Commercial beekeeping practices may Your last three issues have featured items on honeybees and this is to be welcomed, but the biggest threat to them has gone largely unreported, but if continued may see the end of them as a viable species. Queens are increasingly failing without obvious explanation, but the likeliest is commercial breeding which tends to in-breed them. The system honeybees have evolved to perpetrate their species naturally is one where every queen is superseded by a daughter, or by several daughters, if by swarming. Many beekeepers purchase and breed from queens raised by professional breeders in isolated apiaries which are themselves conducive to in-breeding. They may take their “best” mother queen and make (say) 100 daughter queens from her. These daughters are then distributed worldwide to local breeders who may make a further (say) 100 granddaughters from each of those daughters for local distribution. This means that 10,000 grand daughters of minimum genetic variation are loose on the planet. These “best” queens are selected for such qualities as temper, brood pattern, honey gathering and reluctance to swarm, not for genetic diversity. There is a tendency for all creatures to breed ‘out’ rather than ‘in’, to achieve hybrid vigour or Heterosis. This deepens the gene pool, but is confounded by commercial bee breeding practise. Worker bees cannot select the best eggs to make new queens. (There is a royal line present in the hive which is bypassed). The best drones do not get to mate with the queens due to commercial use of artificial insemination. The best queens do not get the opportunity to select the best drones to mate with nor to fight and win over other queens for possession of the hive. This would all not be so bad if (as in beef cattle) the end of the “line” was Sunday lunch, but 40
excellence in education which was the hallmark of St Mary’s. Mrs Corinne Gibbons Chairman. Shaftesbury Old Girls Association
Cartoon by Lyndon Wall justso caricatures .co.uk
these (almost) cloned queens are then allowed to breed in the wild themselves, reinforcing the inbreeding tendency. The genetic pool shrinks whenever selection for our needs takes precedents over the bees for theirs, which is to out breed. Fewer and fewer queen lines produce more and more of the queens on the planet, reducing the size of the gene pool. There are reasonable grounds to assume a reduction in genetic diversity will compromise the viability and survival of the honeybee We have an international industry tirelessly churning out queens from a decreasing genetic base that have been selected for qualities such as a quiet temperament, but are always in danger of in-breeding and indeed could be a sign of it. A British Standard Code of Practise (BSCP) needs to be drafted by government for the breeding of honeybee queens so that the commercial tendency to inbreed is curtailed Bill Summers (46 years a beekeeper), Sturminster Newton n Many former pupils and staff who attended St Mary’s school were saddened to have it referred to as the ‘Marie Celeste’
n I should like to express my gratitude to whoever it was who found the purse which I had dropped in the car park in Gillingham on Thursday, June 8 and handed it in to the Waitrose store. Your kindness and honesty is much appreciated. Thank you! Una Moore, Motcombe
(New Blackmore Vale, May 28) after considerable efforts have been made to remove items of personal and historical importance. This was always going to be a difficult and emotional task for all of us in the school community and we have all made a special effort to undertake this difficult part of saying ‘farewell’ to a beloved institution with tact and sensitivity. There is a generous offer from Vik Verma, education officer for Dorset Council, to take advantage of the hire of a marquee for an educational conference planned for special education professionals on the site in July, in order to hold a service of thanksgiving in the school chapel. This event is not a reunion and because Dorset are limiting the numbers of participants, it will be held by invitation only for those staff and former pupils in the top years most affected by the sudden closure of the school last summer. If all goes well, we very much hope to re-start school reunions in the proper sense again in the future provided these can be accommodated in the new SEND school that we are so pleased to know will continue the 75-year tradition of
n I do hope the council is giving serious thought to where and how a tourist information centre could be re-established. It is an absolute disgrace that this facility has been allowed to disappear from such an interesting and historic town. The absence of a TIC is surely also hugely detrimental to Sherborne’s high street, which is already struggling after the lockdowns and many town and local events which it publicised and for which it also sold tickets. Last week I was stopped by a couple in a campervan with cycles attached, asking where they could find the TIC. They had been recommended to visit the town and had a few hours to spare. They also wished to cycle around the area. They were amazed to hear the TIC no longer existed and I felt ashamed to be telling them this. This is a decision that has not been thought through and it needs addressing urgently. Face to face service is irreplaceable. I am sure volunteers to help staff a TIC could easily be found among Sherborne’s very active and motivated residents. Mrs AV Oliver Stourton Caundle n I feel compelled to reply to Mr Hoare MP ref the gravediggers’ strike comment he made. Here are the facts of the matter. I do wonder if Mr Hoare would have dug graves for £35 a week when the national average was over £80. Easy to condemn
