Black honeybees rediscovered in Britain

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/18/black-honeybees-rediscovered-in-britain?intcmp=122


Native British black bees are darker, larger and have longer hair than their southern European cousins. Photograph: Bibba


The native black honeybee, feared to have died out in all but the remote reaches of northern Britain, has been found in north Wales, east Anglia and as far south as West Sussex.

The Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders' Association (Bibba) claims the black honeybee could hold the key to reversing the dramatic decline in honeybee colonies in Britain because it is more adapted to the UK climate than the southern European honeybee subspecies used by many UK beekeepers.

"There is a lot of anecdotal evidence among our 300 members that the survival rate is higher for black honeybees," said Terry Clare, president of Bibba. "They are hardier and have smaller populations going into winter, so they need less food to survive, and they also have fewer mouths to feed during a cold spring snap."

Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture at Sussex University, said: "People claimed the black bee went extinct, but it's good that this research proves that their genes are still around. It makes sense to use native bees because they are better adapted to the local climate."

[pipoman]

1. It is always good news

when a species believed extinct is rediscovered.

[intaglio]

2. I am certain i have seen them here (Cornwall)

Will try to photograph

[pscot]

3. This seems to suggest (falsely) that the weather

has been killing the bees rather than pesticides and herbicides.