NEWSLETTER #13 (English) from URS & IZZY, your local beekeeper

Urs & Izzy Blossom & Forest Honey from your local beekeeper

Jan-Feb 2022 (Issue #13)

Welcome to the new format of our Newsletter! Easier for you to read on your mobile, and easier also for us to make :-)

You can scroll down or click on the links, to read the latest news about our Bees, our honey and our Beekeeping experiences. Of course, you have available also last year's (pdf) newsletters version, for more insights into a plethora of subjects. Now, in a much more user-friendly format...

Don't hesitate to send us an email at baerenhonig@gmx.ch , or whatsaupp us, if you like more (or less) this format!

News from the Beehives

Where is my Honey?

Facts & Figures

Did id you know that....?

Swiss Bees

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News from the Beehives

Between the extreme tempeststs of February, there were a couple of sunny days when we could go and visit our little bees without danger of falling branches and trees on the forest.

It was still about 14 ° C – way too cold, to open the colonies, but warm enought, for the first 'spring' bees to fly around - and the 'old winter' bees, to come back from looking for the first hazelnut pollen. Remember, they use this early pollen to feed the first bee- offspring of 2022.

The good news is that ALL COLONIES WERE FLYING HAPPILY IN- & OUT- OF THEIR HIVES!! We were ecstatic! Nature prevails! These are superb news! We were afraid that our little bees wouldn't have enough food to survive the winter. Remember that 2021 was a horridly cold and wet year, so there was not enough honey (nor for them, neither for us). But our little bees are very resilient.

What does it mean? Crossing fingers, all of them will survive they still expected cold (snow?) spells during March, before spring starts.

Where is my Honey?

If you sent us recently a WhatsApp or an email E-Mail asking for delivery of honey, probably you got an answer from us with a 'Sorry, we are sold out!'

Last year (annus horribilis, they say in Latin) our Bees could only produce about 30% of a normal year. We obviously did NOT remove from them the .

We will have again Spring Honey (=Blossom honey) in late June / early July 22 and Forest Honey (Summer honey) im late August / early September 22 , and crossing fingers, some Honey-on-the-comb in August (if you want to have wild honey-on-the-comb, please PRE ORDER, as these are in VERY LIMITED quantities, and are sold in first-arrived-first-sold basis)

Facts & Figures

All of the new Queenbees, that are born during 2022 will be marked (if the beekeeper finds her, that is) with a yellow dot in their back. The colour changes each year, rotating between white, yellow, red, green and blue. How can you remember the sequence? Easy! Ask yourself the question... Will You Raise Good Bees? - thank you for the sentence tip, Ron Miksha!

When (and/or if) the Queenbee is marked, it is much easier to spot her among the other 60,000 look-alike bees from a colony at its full (in Spring & Summer). Why is it interesting to find her among the multitude of bees? To make sure that any manipulation of the honey- or brood- frames is made without hurting or risking her, the most important of all of the bees.

And it is not only the Queenbee the one that follows the 'colour coding' fashion (or colour blocking, as the fashion term is), as you can see on the photos!.

Did you know that...?

There are more than 500 species of stingless bees. Yes, they cannot sting! Stingless bees are found in most tropical or subtropical regions (Asia, Australia, Africa and America).

The majority of colony bees in Central and South America used to be stingless bees, although few of them produce enough honey to be reared by humans. Called meliponine bees, they look like a regular bee... without the stinger. Their honey is valued as medicine by many African and South American tribes. But be careful, they may not sting... but they bite!

Swiss Bees

Especially in the age of fake news, it is once again becoming clear what an indispensable role sound, independent research plays in our society. However, high-quality research takes time and comes at a price. Fortunately, in Switzerland, the Institute for Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern & Agroscope, Center for Bee Research, Bern can provide objective, research-based answers to the questions:

Are nicotinoid pesticides harmful to bees? (Answer: yes). How fast Nosema (a viral infection of bees) spreads in colonies and which bees are most affected (answer: the drones spread it!). It's great that there is such a serious statement in Switzerland that helps provide answers to difficult questions!