Let’s be clear about the scale of this “Global Honey Crisis”. The honey industry is facing a serious crisis. A staggering 60-90% of products labelled ‘honey’ are actually sugar syrup. Authorities at both national and EU levels are investigating this issue. Recent tests by the Honey Authenticity Network UK revealed that over 90% of samples from British retailers failed authenticity tests. To ensure you’re buying genuine honey, consider supporting local beekeepers or purchasing single source honey. Ultimately innovative, thinking and entrepreneurship will solve this crisis. If a contaminant can enter the food chain and left to circulate at this scale, it begs a question. Are technical leaders in the food industry playing their part, i.e. building supply chain resilience? Lucky the contaminant is an innocent contaminant.
Editor’s note: I raised this paragraph via the link below, but it did not respond in the usual way, and I was glad to get the above, albeit shaded version from it, as it emphasises the shameful nature of what is going on.
Here is some very sad news. The prestigious biennial Apimondia event has cancelled its honey awards because of the rampant adulteration of honey, world wide. Recent issues of the Newsletter have drawn attention to this appalling practice, but who would have imagined that it would progress to this?
… The awards are normally presented at the congress, typically held every two years, and attended by thousands of beekeepers, scientists and industry representatives. Dozens of entries in recent honey competitions have been rejected because adulteration was suspected.
About 45% of honeys were rejected at the awards in Montreal in 2019 for a variety of reasons, including suspected adulteration. At the Istanbul congress in 2022, 39 out of 145 honeys were withdrawn for the same reason. The awards also have other categories, which will still be judged at next year’s competition, including beeswax, mead, innovation and publications…
…An EU investigation published last year found 46% of imported sampled products were suspected to be fraudulent, including all 10 from the UK…
A summary of activities to Middle October reveals:
• 20 nests found in 15 locations and destroyed.
• There has been considerably more investment from APHA in the YLH eradication programme so analysis is happening later than 2023.
• 11 nests have already had DNA analysed and it is encouraging news that to date:
• No queens show relatedness to 2023 nests ( ie all are new arrivals not UK grown population)
• 3 recent nests (Great Maxfield in East Sussex, Shirley in Southampton and Dymchurch in Kent) had developed sufficiently to produce drones. These will likely be the focus of spring Queen monitoring activity.
• 3 of the 11 nests analysed to date show an entirely triploid colony, meaning the queen mated with 1 drone only, who was diploid himself. This reinforces the view of a weak population.
There’s more information at: www.NBU beekeeping-news/asian-hornet-2024-rolling-update/
Beekeepers Urged To Support AH Watch APP
One key statistic from Nigel Semmence’s Honey Show update was that the Asian Hornet Watch app had received 28,000 reports of Hornets or nests, it is concerning that only 50 of these proved to be Yellow legged hornets or their nests. That is less than 0.18% accuracy and is using up a lot of national resources. So much so that reports not including a photograph are not being triaged or reviewed.
“Whilst it isn’t sexy or brave to be encouraging the public to learn about YLAH in comparison to hunting hornets on a track and trace mission, it is a critical part of the defence of our county that we can all take part in,” says Helen Worwood, Surrey County AHAT Co-ordinator.
“I urge you to download the Asian Hornet watch app yourself, and encourage friends, family and honey customers to do the same. Talk to your divisional YLAH co-ordinator about keeping a few YLAH “credit” cards in your wallet or purse so that you can hand them out and improve the accuracy of reporting possible sightings throughout Surrey.”
Monitoring
During October we also secured 20 “Nestsweeper” monitoring stations which were distributed to divisions. We have used them with varying degrees of success and fed back to the manufacturer our thoughts about how easy they were to use. They remain with divisions and can be used by any verifier needing to investigate a potential sighting.
Developing our network
In his lecture about BDI at the National Honey Show Martin Smith spoke about Surrey’s use of the eR2 membership system to develop our network of Monitors and Verifiers. It had been noted that Surrey as a “medium risk” county had been using the system well. As a result it is likely that other associations will be encouraged to adopt eR2 based monitoring in Spring 2025.
“We still have many squares to ‘colour in’ on the map so please chat with your local team and join the team. ,” says Helen Worwood. “We continue to see the benefits of ‘together everyone achieves more’ approach and are increasingly admired for this way of working.”
Significant Find In Southampton
One of the biggest YLAH nests to be discovered this year has been destroyed. Following the capture and verification of a Yellow legged Asian Hornet worker in the Maybush area of Southampton on Thursday, 19th September there was an extensive search for its nest.
As is often the way, the hornet nest was located in the most awkward of positions. It was high up in a tree was in the old cemetery of Southampton Common. The large many branched tree was covered in ivy and surrounded by dense undergrowth littered with ancient graves.
It took National Bee Unit Inspector, Dan Etheridge, and tree climbers several hours to cut an access route to the nest. After the nest was sufficiently exposed, the team employed the latest long lance to inject double dose of insecticide into its depths After an hour’s break, it was safe for the tree climbers to cut out the nest and lower it to the ground.
The 75cm-wide (2ft 4in) nest – which could hold some 3,000 hornets – was declared one of the most significant finds so far this year. Alan Baxter, Hampshire BBKA’s AHAT Coordinator, who was present at the nest’s destruction, said the NBU, pest controllers and tree climbers did a fantastic job. Dan Etheridge said: “It was good to have the Asian Hornet Coordinator involved, and we hope that AHATs will continue to be a part of future operations.” You can listen to BBC Radio Solent’s interview with Alan Baxter here: YLH Nest in Southampton.
The 27 September report from the National Bee Unit shows that so far this year there have been 55 credible sightings of Asian hornets in Britain and 19 primary and secondary nests have been located and eliminated. Apart from two single hornets found inside buildings in March, almost all of the other sightings and nests have been in Kent and Sussex. The most recent sighting has been of a single hornet in a cemetery garden in Upper Shirley, Southampton, Hants – (and incidentally in Ambridge!)
In Surrey we have been holding back in using our supply of attractant bait until there is an indication that Asian hornet is in our area. Those of you who have some attractant left from last year can set up wick traps or open tray lures. A more general distribution of bait and the Bonne Maman jar traps will be organised if the need arises.
Everyone should be on the lookout for Asian hornets. Likely places to see them are around beehives and other places where there are aggregations of insects that they can prey on. These include wasp nests, fallen ripe fruit and any plants in flower that are attracting pollinating insects. At this time of year, ivy flowers are a good place to look for Asian Hornets.
Andrew Halstead
National News
AH Week Boosts Public Awareness
BBKA Outreach officer, Kirsteen Thorne, is sending a big thank you to everyone who helped to raise awareness during Asian Hornet Week (Monday 2nd to Sunday 8th September).
By sharing ideas, resources, social media posts, or contributing towards the media coverage – teams around the country generated a great deal of national publicity and discussion about the dangers of the insect invader.
One such collaborative effort involved teams from across Kent, Jersey, the NBU and central BBKA who contributed to a detailed feature “The Killer Hornets” which was broadcast locally by BBC South East on 6th September and then made available to audiences across the country via the BBC iPlayer. You can listen to the feature by visiting the BBC iPlayer and searching the-killer-hornets.
There were also interviews on ITV Meridian, BBC 5 Live breakfast and BBC Surrey (which included our very own Helen Worwood whose moment of fame starts 1:40 minutes into the following link). Apart from broadcast media, a large number of organisations, councils and online news sites and specialist media shared BBKA press releases and AH spotting sheet on their digital channels, and BBKA social media communications during the week were further picked up on and shared on a number of other external stakeholder platforms.
Rise In YLH Sightings
Unfortunately, there has been an increase in Yellow Legged Hornet sightings across the southeast, most recently a confirmed sighting in Southampton. A total of 18 nests have been found and destroyed this year.
The NBU Bee Inspectors have observed that the hornets are now feeding on fruit/fallen fruit and flowering ivy so an alert will be published on BeeBase asking beekeepers to lookout for insects feeding on this type of forage.
As ever, there’s more up-to-date information on the National Bee Unit’s Rolling Update.
The ID sheet that was designed for AH Week has now been amended for general use. It is attached to the email update, along with a couple of variations that may be useful when asking people to identify a suspected AH sighting. Please feel free to use it as you wish.
Positive Feedback and Local Shows
Beekeepers from Surrey Divisions continue to attend a number of local and county shows and promote awareness of the Yellow Legged Hornet.
Our thanks to volunteers from across the whole of SBKA who give up spare time (is there such a thing for beekeepers?) to attend these events. We always get great feedback from the public who increasingly value our input on everything from what to plant in the garden to support bees, to how to download the YLAH watch app, to why local honey tastes so much better than the stuff from the supermarket.
Appeal for Shows Committee volunteers
If you’ve enjoyed taking part in your local county shows and would be keen to engage with the public on a wider scale, the BBKA Shows Committee team are seeking more volunteers to help share the BBKA story and promote the importance and understanding of beekeeping to a wider audience.
The BBKA attend some of the biggest events around the country and the role can be incredibly fulfilling and fun, offering access to some brilliant shows – if you’re interested in finding out more, why not drop Kirsteen Thorne a line.
New YLH Co-ordinators
There have been some personnel changes in Surrey’s YLH Co-ordinator team. Helen Worwood has welcomed new members Alex Haswell at Croydon and Nick Fry at Epsom. Thanking outgoing team members Anna Slade, John Futcher and Jonathan Brookhouse, she said: “Your support getting us to the place where we are is much admired by our neighbouring counties, and we are really beginning to see the benefits of this “together everyone achieves more” approach.” Surreys AHAT Co-ordinators are shown in the table below. To contact one of them, click
And I thought that I was the only beekeeper in the world that does not clip queens’ wings. So, what a nice surprise when Michael Main said to me the other day, “I don’t clip my queens; I did so only once and felt terrible for the rest of the day.”
But, to be a bit more serious.
There is a well-known bee farmer, David Cramp, who managed 4000 hives in New Zealand in the early 2000s. He wrote an article (on queen clipping) in the November 2009 issue of Beecraft.
The article begins:
“I consider this a method of swarm control which is as ineffective and old fashioned as sulphuring bees to obtain honey…” It continues “…Clipping wings is one of the best ways of introducing uncertainty into apiary management that I know of… Honey production was my chief income for many years with many hives. I literally couldn’t afford swarming so had to find the best ways of limiting it. Damaging my production units and introducing uncertainty into my apiary/hive management definitely wasn’t on the list”.
You can read a copy of David Cramp’s full BeeCraft article below.
In his book, A practical Manual of Beekeeping, (2008, p. 10), he says, “Clipping wings should have no part in beekeeping. On a large scale it would be far too time consuming, and on a small scale it achieves nothing anyway”.
I personally am really not prepared to mutilate a beautiful queen in order (it is claimed) to reduce the chance of losing a swarm. You will see that David Cramp feels that the generally assumed advantages of clipping are negated anyway.
As with many things in which we get involved in life, clipping, in general, is often unquestioned – it’s just what you do. As another example, I recall the often repeated “fact” that a queen lays 2000 eggs in 24 hours. If you look thoughtfully into this, and apply a bit of simple arithmetic, that seems extremely unlikely to happen on a regular basis.
In the picturesque region of northeastern France, a group of beekeepers encountered a curious and colourful dilemma in August 2012. Their bees, known for producing honey of the purest golden hues, began to return to their hives with nectar that transformed their harvest into shades of blue and green. This unusual occurrence puzzled the beekeepers until they discovered the source of the vibrant colours: a nearby M&M’s factory.
The factory, which processed waste from candy production, had been disposing of sugary residues in a manner that attracted the local bee population. The bees, drawn to the high-energy waste, incorporated it into their nectar collection routines. As a result, the honey produced bore the unmistakable mark of the confectionery’s bright dyes.
While the honey retained its natural sweetness, the unconventional colours rendered it unsaleable, leaving the beekeepers in a sticky situation. The incident highlighted the unintended consequences of industrial waste on local wildlife and the importance of responsible waste management. In response, the biogas plant responsible for processing the candy waste implemented measures to prevent future bee access, ensuring the integrity of the region’s honey production and the well-being of its invaluable pollinators.
This reminds me of something I heard a number of years ago during a talk; I have no idea who the speaker was. He said, “We really must look after our young beekeepers. One told me that he had harvested green honey from his hive”. I think that the above article may well be relating to the same incident. Oh well, what goes round comes round (as they say).
Thank you, Frank Crosnier, for this alarming item.
Frank included a photo of a frame containing blue-green honey, but it can’t be reproduced here as it’s from Facebook. If anyone would like to see it, I can send the whole item.
You will probably think that foundation costs rather a lot of money; it does. For example, 20 sheets of wired foundation for a BS broodbox plus fifty sheets of wired BS shallow foundation would cost you £55.00. By saving your unwanted wax from melted down old combs, etc, and exchanging 8.53 lb of it, you would get your foundation for nothing. Or by presenting Thorne’s with 3.93lb lb. of wax plus £14.45 you would get the foundation for a discount of 74%.
This arrangement applies to Thorne’s Premium grade wax only.
Similar deals are offered by other foundation suppliers.
I have been surprised more than once to discover that some beekeepers of many years standing do not know about this. of this way of getting your foundation for nothing, or at a discount of at least 70%.
In general, depending on the exact wax order, discounts of between 70% and 85% are obtained with the wax plus cash arrangement, and of course the foundation is free with the ‘straight swap’ system, but in this case, you need to trade in about twice as much wax as for the ‘cash plus wax system’.
When trading in wax, it does not need to be pristine, just reasonably clean as from a solar extractor.
See Thorne’s current catalogue for the full details.
As some of you may have picked up on the NBU website, or had email notifications, EFB has unfortunately reared its head again in Surrey this year. It has been found in the WBK area of NBU designated square TQ06, with 3 cases. TQ06 according to the NBU webpage is Weybridge, but in reality covers the area based on the 10 square kilometre grid intersects with the settlements of: Addlestone, Brooklands, Burwood Park, Byfleet, Charlton, Chertsey, Cobham, Egham, Laleham, Littleton, Littleton Common, Lyne, New Haw, Ottershaw, Penton Hook, Pyrford, Row Town, Sheerwater, Shepperton, Shepperton Green, St George’s Hill, Staines-upon-Thames, Stonehill, Stroude, Sunbury-on-Thames, Thorpe, Thorpe Green, Trumps Green, Upper Halliford, Virginia Water, Walton-on-Thames, West Byfleet, Weybridge, Whiteley Village, Woking & Woodham. Although there were no cases reported in Surrey in 2023 (noted that the SBIs were very busy on Asian Hornet activity), in 2022 there were 12 cases; 7 again in TQ06. It is crucially important that Beekeepers:
Register on Bee Base if they have not already done so the SBI can identify their apiaries and ensure their data is up to date.
Swarm collectors in these areas be extra vigilant and make use of the division’s isolation apiary if collecting swarms in this area – contact David Parker for access on 07712079307
Beekeepers in this area be extra vigilant when inspecting their hives and report anything suspicious with photographs of this to our Seasonal Bee Inspector, Stewart Westsmith.
Thank you to members who have collected empty Bonne Maman conserve jars (not their compot jars), which will be used to make live capture Asian hornet monitoring traps. If we are to have enough jars to monitor every one-kilometre square in our part of Surrey, we will need about 250 jars so more are needed. Asda and possibly other supermarkets use similar jars for their own brand conserves, so they can also be used. The critical dimension is a 73mm internal diameter at the top of the jar where a plastic insert can be placed to complete the trap. Ask your friends and neighbours if they have jars of this type.
