Bees solve the travelling salesperson Problem

I love just stories, showing that the world of bees is unexplainable beyond individual intelligence and that even the most brainiest scientists can explain how they do it!

Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London and Royal Holloway, University of London have discovered that bees learn to fly the shortest possible path between the flowers, even if they discover flowers in a different order. Bees solve effectively "Travelling salesperson Problem", and these are the first animal found to do this.

The travelling salesman must find the shortest route, which makes it possible for him to visit all locations on its route. Computers resolve it by comparison of the length of all possible routes and choose the shortest. However, solving it without computer assistance bees using a brain size of grass seeds. [...]

Co-author and Queen Mary colleague, Dr. Mathieu Lihoreau adds: "there is a common perception of that smaller brains restrict animals must be simple retro-machines. But our work with bees shows advanced Cognitive capacity with very limited neuron numbers. There is an urgent need to understand the neuronal hardware supports animal intelligence, and relatively simple nervous system of insects such as do this mystery more tractable.

As long as the scientists think only of bees as individual insects, they will continue to miss the point.  Same to the planet really.  As long as Governments to see us as individuals, they will also miss the point.  Time for more research in swarm intelligence and subtle energies allow colonies to survive and thrive.

Honey Bees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary, 3rd Edition

Beekeeping is enjoyable and satisfying, whether you're a professional or a novice. With a bit of ingenuity and a little knowledge, anyone can successfully raise honey bees. Learn how to set up and maintain your own honey bee colony from Keith Delaplane, Ph.D., one of the nation's foremost entomologists as he guides you through each step, from buying tools and selecting healthy bees, to havesting and selling honey.

Price: $24.90

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The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping

A classic text from one of the world's experts on bees. This comprehensive guide will give beginners all they need to start and maintain a healthy bee colony, while experienced beekeepers will find advice on expanding into new areas of the business and how to refine their skills. Subjects covered include: • Buying a colony of bees • Managing bees throughout the seasons • Selecting equipment and a good apiary site • Preventing swarming • Extracting, processing, and selling honey • Controlling pests, predators, and diseases • Rearing queen honey bees Photographs and technical drawings illustrate the text, and appendixes define technical terms, list sources of supplies, and tell you where to go to find more information. 49 black and white photographs, 3 illustrations, index.

Price: $17.95

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How To Become A Bee Keeping Pro - Discover How You Can Be A Successful Beekeeper! AAA+++

Do You Have A Passion For Choosing The Road Less Traveled? Do Bees Intrigue You? Do You Feel You Are The Daring Kind To Get Into Beekeeping, But Unsure Where To Start And How To Start?

At Last! Discover How You Can Be A Successful Beekeeper! You Can Now Learn Little-Known, But Highly Efficient Tips And Tricks On Beekeeping… And Enjoy Home-Harvested, Fresh Honey…!

Bee keeping is an exciting job, given that you know your bees well. The 59-page eBook, “How To Become A Bee Keeping Pro” will teach you everything you need to know about bees and bee keeping, right from the nature of your queen bee to the intricate details of marketing the honey that you produce. The book is written with the purpose of helping you become a successful and professional bee keeper.

Do You Have A Passion For Choosing The Road Less Traveled? Do Bees Intrigue You? Do You Feel You Are The Daring Kind To Get Into Beekeeping, But Unsure Where To Start And How To Start?

These Are Some Of The Tips You Will Find In The Book :

* Family owned beekeeping companies
* California's Almond Orchards
* Beekeeping in different areas of the world
* Beekeeping and the Apple Orchards
* Acquiring the Bees
* Beekeeper Training – An Industry In The Making!
* Queen Bee – The Key To Survival Of The Hive
* History of Beekeeping
* Swarming – A Natural Process Of Mating!
* Processing Of Raw Honey
* How to market your honey
* Honey – Natures Sweetness Delivered By The Bees!
* Harvesting Honey
* Curbside Honey Sales
* Beekeeping Equipment
* Beekeeping Companies Are Owned By Families Down The Line
* History of Beekeeping
* Honey Extractors
* Packaging Your Honey
* Marketing The Honey Locally
* Starting your own beekeeping business
* The Ecology of Bees
* The Life Cycle of the Honey Bee
* The Science and Technology of Beekeeping
* Bee Keeping Safety Equipments
* How To Transfer Your Bees to Their New Home

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Global Bee emergency!

Click here or on the image below to sign the petition to save the bees and our crops and send this link to everyone you know!

Calm, globally, billions of bees dying, threaten our crops and food. But a global ban on one group of pesticides could save the bees from extinction.

Four European countries have begun to ban these hazardous substances, and some bee populations recover. But chemical companies lobbying hard to keep all killer pesticides on the market. A global outcry now in favour of a ban in the United States and the European Union, where the debate is raging, could provoke a total ban and a ripple effect around the world.

Let us build a gigantic global buzz requires these dangerous chemicals, outlawed in the United States and the EU until and unless they are proven to be safe.

Click here to sign petition to save the bees and our crops and send it to all.

More on: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/call-to-ban-pesticides-linked-to-bee-deaths-2190321.html

Heater bees

A large programme from the BBC on the heater bees broadcast tonight.

Unfortunately, you can't see the entire application more, but there are some clips here:

http://www.THE BBC.Co. uk/programmes/b00rqgh4 # Clips

And this amazing photograph:

 

Escaped prisoners!

It is a while since last I wrote a post.  Life has been a little hectic.  I was expecting to have been even more hectic, as we are halfway through compromise rme season, but I have only collected a swarm so far this year.  The rest of this entry is about to swarm.

A few days ago I received the pleasant calls at around 16.00 from anyone in the local city to say that he just had seen a swarm of bees land in his back garden.  I had received about eight calls so far this year, but for one reason and another, I was not able to intercept the bees.  So I was determined to get this one.  In any case, I have two people in our area who wanted to start beekeeping – which had no bees-so that was even more pressure on me to collect.  Swarm was right at the top of a pear tree – around 10-12 feet, but the owner had only a 6 ft ladder.  So here I was, however, the opportunity to test my new probe catch contraption, which I had designed after the only swarm, which I do not catch properly last year (it was around 16 ft in the air – although on the call, the woman had told me it was only about 8 ft.  Height from the ground and accessibility are two really important question, when catch swarms!

Nevertheless, I went to the House.  It was a beautiful summer evening.  I made up a very "Heath Robinson" contraption from string, duck tape all at core box used which was then connected to the end of a pole long yellow heavy expansion that painters use for painting high ceilings.  It worked a treat!   Here is a picture of it:

In one movement swung into the box up at the top of the tree, pretty right on top of the swarm.  I assured then the handle of the bar to the top of the step ladder with some more duck tape so that the pole remained in position until it was time to swing box back down to Earth.

I went shopping for approximately one hour and waited for bees to climb in the to box.  When I returned, most of them in.  With a little smoke went the rest time approximately 15 minutes.  I took the pole and lifted the box from the top of the tree.  It was much heavier!  In swung box back to Earth and placed on the market step ladder to invite the rest of the flying bees in the to box.  Overall, it was a great success.  Swarm was housed in my garage overnight before deciding who to give them to.

The next morning I rang the prison.  They were happy.  It was only the day before had they say, they wanted to have some bees.  So I went over there with Andrew to put them in their new home.  Since our first site visit (where we had found the old place where vodka bees were kept), prison staff had decided to move the site for new Apiary to prison gardens – behind the wire.  So that is where we put the bees.  It took about an hour, and I gave a short lesson at the same time.  Mick, prison groundsman was enthusiastic.  The bees finally returned back to prison.

Since I left through the main gate, I joked on guard that he now had around 30,000 new inmates, that none of them had names or passport, and that an entire was already break out through the fence!  He laughed.  A little knew how true my analysis was.

It was only yesterday did I ring Mick to find out how they got.  I wanted to give him some help on his first inspection.  He was quite low in spirit.  He had gone in the hive in Monday and only found around 100 bees in it — even though they had very lengthy comb.  Last Saturday was a very hot day, and I can only think that they had become uncomfortable in their new hive and found a better location.  So swarm really had escaped.

In other words, it is back to the drawing board.  We must find a location where the bees will be.  I am in favour of the old site (bees of course seems to return to where they have been before.  We shall see.  One thing is certain, but the bees don't like be kept prisoner.  They will surely buzz-off if you do not give them a good place to do their home!  I think in this case, the site was a little exposed and possibly quite unpleasant in sunlight at about at 10: 00 am the next morning.  We live and learn!

Rename the hives: Unit, kindness, melody and freedom

As is custom on our Apiary, called no swarms we prisoners of the names of places, we caught them in – but only in the first year.  If they get through the winter, they are given new names – which are all virtues.  We started with faith, hope and charity.  The only one of the original registry hives, we started with five years ago is faith.  And she has re-queened at least twice.

So on Sunday, we set to the Apiary, that there was enough food in the hives after all the recent cold weather — and to remove any hives, who had not made it through the winter.  There were two such hives: Joy and confidence.  Joy went queenless in July and I re-queen not here, because we had so many hives with so!  Confidence was very weak at the end of the year-and I was not surprised to find an empty hive.  But what a surprise to me was that the Trust had quite poor Woodpecker damage around entrance …. which will require some woodwork to boycott.

So we now have seven hives!  New names are with bold.  Old hives are in italics.

Unit – probably strongest hive creation for all.  Caught the day before the wedding of the owners of the land, where we caught in swarm!

Kindness -good swarm trapped in a hedge beside local cricket pitch from a local village starts with the letter "K".

Melody -very black bees – possibly from the church bell tower in local city starts with the letter "M".

Harmony-imported from Essex two years ago.  Joy was her sister, but the joy was not through the winter.  Oh Joy!

Faith – (good old faith!)  Longest surviving the hive, have re-queened her with a thoroughbred from Western 4 years ago!)

Grace – also fully buzzy – but not as strong as freedom.

Liberty -strong but still quite buzzy!  Could be an old Queen, since this was swarm from the local Golf course (beginning with the letter "L"), which later triggered a violation on the same George bush about a week later!  We gave cast to a beekeeping friend – and it also has over wintered well.

Start this year with seven hives is a record and a nice position in have gone to a hive this time two years ago.  We have a number of friends who ask for bees, so I expect that we will go a couple of them as the weather becomes warmer.

Urban Beekeeping: A Guide to Keeping Bees in the City

Now, more than ever before, is the time to keep honey bees. Taking you through the beekeepers year this book covers all the essential requirements for small-scale beekeeping and considers the advantages for urban bees over their country living relations as well as giving advice on bees and children, neighbors and pets. It covers where and how to buy bees, transportation, legal issues, positioning the hive, planning the arrival, routine and management, cleaning the hive, swarming, equipment, health and safety, security, training, resources set up and running costs as well as collecting and producing honey, beeswax, candles, soap and other by-products.

Price: $24.95

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The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting

This definitive work by world-renowned bee authority Eva Crane offers a fascinating account of bees and their complex relations with both humans and animals. Comprehensive, absorbing, and lavishly illustrated, this scholarly, yet accessible volume explores how bees, honey and other bee products have been gathered and utilized throughout the world.

Beginning with the rock paintings of the Mesolithic cave dwellers, readers will learn about the variety of methods used by human beekeepers, the stratagems used by animal honey-hunters, and the multitude of products humans have derived from bees. The first in-depth book on the subject, the World History of Beekeeping and Honey-Hunting is the ultimate work on bees for scholars in biology and the life sciences, professional and amateur beekeepers, and anyone who is interested in bees or the collection of honey.

Price: $190.00

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The plight of the Honeybee

So you want a small bee me to write a story about the current situation in the bee Kingdom of (or more strictly correct, queendom)?

People have been still more attention to the stresses and strains that have been placed in the bee population.  Honeybee not only, but the bees, and other types of bees.  There has been a lot written in the newspapers and alarming comment to documentary film.

So what is really going on, you ask?

Good has put it in context, bees have been around 50 million years.  People much less than that!  So, as you often say bees "been around the block a few times!"

We have survived global warming, global cooling, global volcanic disturbances and the impact of many out of the space objects like you never could consider.  And we are still here!  Some of your scientists have predicted that, if there was a nuclear war, we would be one of the few creatures that survive.  I am pleased, even if you have decided not to press the button and try that, in particular, the theory!

It is, we are all connected.

We contribute as a worldwide population of bees, to provide about 50% of your food.  And we continue to do so without complaint, to get with our daily lives.  Yet you are poisoning our food (and their) with chemicals, which should never be used in such a concentrated force.  You are also changing seed, grow food, so that they become pre-laden with further concentrated toxic substances.  And it makes you now on a massive scale.  We are all connected.  Your wife is our poison your married.

We are used to suffering local disasters, but in some parts of the world, large proportions of your domestic honey bee hives are loaded into trucks and transported across continents and then poisoned and fed on junk food — just so that we can pollenate your Almond groves.  The industrialization of your food industry is one of the largest man-made disasters in the last century.  We are all connected.  Your company-mega-industrial process creates our junk food, which creates your junk food.

We have some problems like the mite that attacks us, makes us weak, so we are susceptible to virus attacks.  We have faced these problems before.  Your beekeeping methods help us to tackle this problem.  You also understand other aspects of bee health and good animal husbandry.  We are all connected.  Our health is now dependent on your help, which is dependent on you become more aware and more connected with your food and your environment.

We are all connected.  Buy more honey.  Take more of an interest in our small bees.  Become a beekeeper!  You can become dependent on a hobby for a lifetime!

Posted in current, beekeeping, Bee Beetwixt and Beetween | Leave a CommentBe the first to like this record.

The year's honey harvest and dissolved notes

With the first two weeks on vacation the bees had to wait until the last weekend before I removed the honey.  We took four full honey magazines – which will produce a good crop-although I do not have packaged it yet. Planning the next weekend.

I always leave a super on each hive to survive the winter.  Some beekeepers believe this is a waste of good honey – but I think that the bees become more healthy, if they are eating their own honey rather than sugar substitute.

While inspection of hives I took my notebook out of the Toolbox to find it had been leaked to some water – and all this seasons records literally was dissolved.  Quite extraordinary!  So my records are now my rusty old memory and odd blog entry.  A doctrine that use a location — perhaps indelible ink or something?

The purpose of beekeeping

"Bee-keeping or bee-keeping is the art of managing bees in order to get the maximum return from this work with a minimum of expenditure.
The bees produce swarms, queens, wax and honey.
Production of swarms and queens should be left to specialists.
The production of wax has some value, but this value is reduced by the cost of reproduction.
The production of honey is the main objective of beekeeping, beekeeper who pursues before anything else, because this product has been valuable, and because it can be weighed and prices.
Honey is an excellent food, a good product, best of all sweeteners. "

From the chapter opening in "Beekeeping for all" by Abbé Warré.  Translated from the French original version of L'Apiculture Pour tous (12th edition) by Patricia and David..

At sunset – things to look for

 

1. Queen Cups
One of the most obvious compromise rme behaviour is the construction of Queen cells. These cells normally live on the edge of the frames, but they can be displayed almost everywhere. In order to prevent compromise-monitor Remote Queen these cells, unless you require to super seed, etc. See picture to the right:

2. Queing and over population
If the gate of the hive is fully opened (i.e., no mouse guards, etc.) and bees are queing or you notice a lot of bees collected around the gate of the hive-it could be a pre-cursor to Sunset. If many bees ends the hive and cluster around the gate when you approach it, it could also be characters bees lack a little space. Add more space by adding a second brood box and/or power.

3. large Cluster at the bottom
If you look through the gate of the hive and the bottom of the bee cluster hive then fills the missing space width and will probably see to swarm. Add more space by adding a second brood box and/or power.

4. Not laying space
If the brood frames are all full of juveniles and the hive honey stores could then look to start swarming. Add another broodbox and framework in order to prevent this.

Swarm is most likely to occur between the beginning of June to the end of August.

Bee safe, not sorry

Silently, billions of bees dying and our entire food chain is in danger. The bees make honey, not only they are a giant, humble workforce, Pollinating 90% of the plants we grow.

Several scientific studies to blame a group of toxic pesticides for their rapid disappearance, and bee populations have increased in four European countries have banned the use of these products. But powerful chemical companies lobbying hard to keep the sell this poison. Our best chance to save the bees now is to push the United States and the European Union to ban this deadly product — their efforts are crucial and will have a ripple effect for the rest of the world.

We have no time to waste — the debate is raging about what to do. This is not just about saving bumble bees, of survival. Let us build a gigantic global buzz requires the EU and the United States to prohibit these killer chemicals and save our bees and our food. Sign the emergency petition now and send it to all, and we will deliver it to the central decision-makers:

https://Secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?VL

Bees are vital for life on Earth — each year, pollinating plants and crops, with an estimated $ 40bn value, over a third of the food supply in many countries. Without immediate action to save the bees could we end up with any fruit therefrom are no vegetables, no, no oils and no cotton.

Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations — some bee species are now extinct and the other is only 4% of their former numbers. Scientists have obscure answers. Some studies claim the decline may be caused by a combination of factors, including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals. But leading independent research has presented strong evidence for blaming neonicotinoid pesticides. This has led to beekeepers and scientists in France, Italy, Slovenia and even Germany, is the main manufacturer Bayer based, already pushing correctly to the ban of one of these bee killers. In the meantime continues Bayer to export its poison throughout the world.

The problem is now coming to the boil, as major new studies have confirmed the extent of the problem. If we can have European and American decision-makers to take other measures, will follow. It will not be easy. A leaked document shows that the environmental protection agency knew about the pesticide dangers, but ignores them. Document says Bayer's "very toxic" product "great risk concern to non-target insects (bees)".

We must make our voices heard for counter Bayer very strong influence on policy makers and researchers in both the United States and the European Union where they finance studies and sit on the political bodies. The real experts — beekeepers and farmers — these deadly pesticides shall be prohibited, until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let us support them now. Sign the petition below, and then forward this email:

https://Secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?VL

We can no longer allow our delicate food chain in the hands of research run from the chemical companies and the regulatory authorities in their pockets. Prohibition of this pesticide will move us closer to a secure for ourselves and the other species we care and depends on the world

 

3D bees! – Scanned Beehive reveals bee life live in 3D

Zoologist Mark Greco and his colleagues at the Swiss Bee Research Centre in Bern, Switzerland, and researchers at the University of Bath, led by Professor Cathryn Mitchell and Dr. Manuchehr Soleimani is pioneering a new way to display it inside a beehive.

3D single Beehive photo
The technique is called diagnostic Radioentomology (DR) that scans the hive takes a series of 3D images. These images create a vivid picture of the news going on inside the hive, which means that we can achieve a greater insight into what the bees are doing behind closed doors. These live images produced by x-ray computerized tomography can also be used to track individual bees in the hive, so that the tracking of the Queen, again to give a greater insight into her movements.

Mr Greco told the BBC when interviewed, "the approach is non-invasive and does not alter their normal behaviour …..We can accurately assess the number of bees and where they are at the time of scanning. "

Researchers are working to improve this new technique, which will hopefully result in clearer 3D pictures, and more precisely the bee population, measuring quantities of pollen, wax and honey in a hive.

University of Bath researchers are also working on new computer models, which will hopefully provide better assessment of parasites and pathogens affect the hive.

"Because the method is extremely accurate, we will see critical thresholds pathogen and parasite loads and loss of food resources from which bee populations cannot recreate," explained Mr Greco, who is completing his PhD dissertation.

"[We will also examine] how pathogens such as mites, viruses, bacteria and fungi can interact both with each other and with the pressures on the environment or stress factors that produce colonial decline or collapse."

The team also hope that the new imaging technique may indicate what reduces the number of other solitary bee species.

"Many solitary bees feed on the same floral resources to those of honey bees, some also suffer from the same pathogens, such as fungal infestations in their nests."

UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, together with the British Government spending £ 10 million to research the population decreased bees, some of the money could be used to promote these new techniques to gain greater insight into the inner-workings of hives.