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A swarm of Africanized bees killed two dogs in Midland and injured the dogs’ owner, stinging the man more than 50 times in a frenzied attack.

James Roy of Midland went outside to check on his dogs on Thursday and thought the two dogs were fighting, but they were in fact being attacked by a swarm of bees. The two dogs, Susie and Sammy, were stung more than 1,000 times, according to News West 9, and the dogs later died at a veterinarian’s office in Midland.

The dogs were rescued just under a year ago, Roy told News West 9.

The swarm then attacked Roy, chasing after him as he ran for help. The bees ultimately stung him more than 50 times, the West Texas TV Station reports.

A neighbor and some contractors were nearby and helped him by using a water hose to douse the bees on his body.

An expert spoke with the TV station and said there’s no way to prevent this type of bee, but large groups of bees should be avoided. If there’s a hive nearby, an expert should be called to remove it from the area.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/af...ure-owner-with-more-than-50-stings/ar-BBtRn3e
 
Muhammad Ali: Bee swarm settles outside boxer's 'Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee' mural
'The irony is not lost on me at all,' says local beekeeper
Maya Oppenheim

Muhammad Ali is famed for a lengthy list of quotes but it is his declaration he would "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" before his 1974 fight with George Foreman which is most exalted of all.
In a timely tribute to the late boxing legend who died on Friday night, a literal swarm of bees have taken note and gathered outside a mural bearing the iconic quote.
According to CBS affiliate news site WLKY, the bees have settled in a tree next to the mural outside Ali’s childhood home in Louisville, Kentucky.

Local beekeeper Kevin McKinney told WLKY there were about 15,000 bees in the swarm. "The irony is not lost on me at all," he remarked, adding that this was the first swarm he had ever spotted in the tree next to the mural.

The bees showed up on Sunday morning, just days after Ali's death, and are in viewing distance of the memorial where thousands of people are paying their respects to Ali with bouquets of flowers and notes.

Across the world, fans have paid tribute to the celebrated boxer and social justice campaigner. Ali passed away after being admitted to hospital with a respiratory condition earlier this week and had experienced Parkinson’s disease for almost 30 years.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/p...utterfly-sting-like-a-bee-mural-a7067681.html
 
On my walk home today I passed by an office building with a small garden in front of the entrance. Part of the pavement was blocked off with traffic cones and yellow tape and a few people had stopped to stare at something in the garden. A notice affixed to one of the traffic cones stated that a colony of honey bees had been found in the garden and a beekeeper had been contacted about removing it. The notice warned passersby not to go near the colony. From what I could see, the colony appeared to have formed in a small tree.

I have walked past this office building nearly every day for years and this is the first time I've seen any evidence of bees. I wonder if there might be a new tree or plant that has attracted the bees. I saw no evidence of anything Muhammed Ali-related. :p
 
BEST FIGHTER JET IN HISTORY GROUNDED BY BEES
F-22BEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS

By Kelsey D. Atherton Yesterday at 4:46pm
jetbees1.jpg

Carlos Claudio, U.S. Air Force courtesy photo

Bees On An F-22

Look at this little swarm on this expensive plane.

Drones aren’t normally a problem for the F-22. The U.S. Air Force's advanced stealth fighter is built to clear the sky of any hostile aircraft, be it another fighter, an encroaching bomber, or even an unmanned aerial scout. It turns out, however, there’s a kind of flyer that even the F-22 can’t defend against: bees! No, really. Bees.

In June, a swarm of bees found its way into the exhaust nozzle of an F-22 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. Rather than exterminating the bees, the maintenance crew that discovered the swarm decided to find someone who could relocate the bees. ...

http://www.popsci.com/best-air-superiority-fighter-in-history-grounded-by-bees?src=SOC&dom=tw
 
US beekeepers fear for livelihoods as anti-Zika toxin kills 2.5m bees
  • ‘It kills everything’: conservationist warns over threat to other animals
  • Regulators: ‘clear and public health crisis’ allows use of Naled chemical
Sunday 4 September 2016 11.55

Huddled around their hives, beekeepers around the south-eastern US fear a new threat to their livelihood: a fine mist beaded with neurotoxin, sprayed from the sky by officials at war with mosquitos that carry the Zika virus.

Earlier this week, South Carolina beekeepers found millions of dead honey bees carpeting their apiaries, killed by an insecticide. Video posted by a beekeeper to Facebook showed thousands of dead insects heaped around hives, while a few survivors struggled to move the bodies of fellow bees.

“This is what’s left of Flowertown Bees,” a despondent keeper says in the video. Company co-owner Juanita Stanley told the Associated Press her farm looked “like it’s been nuked” and estimated 2.5 million bees were killed. .

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-bees-livelihoods-beekeepers?CMP=share_btn_tw ..
 
Threat to honeybees as Asian hornet's arrival on UK mainland confirmed
The Asian hornet’s long-feared arrival on the UK mainland has been confirmed, government scientists have said, with ecologists warning of dire consequences for honeybees if the species is not swiftly eliminated.

The hornets eat honeybees and have become widespread in central and southern France, prompting warnings in recent years that they could arrive in the UK via pot plants from France.

While not considered a threat to humans, the arrival of the hornets add to the woes of Britain’s honeybees, which are vital for pollination of many crops but have been suffering declines for decades.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...t-arrival-uk-confirmed-defra-invasive-species


 
I'm taking part in a quick unofficial unscientific survey on who knows the most bee keepers and where they are! doing it in the past counts.

So far I have 2 current - one in Wiltshire and one near Toulouse.

Anyone I can add from here? :)
 
When I was in the coastguard in Milford Haven - in the 70s, one of the Station Officers was a bee-keeper. He must be long retired by now, but perhaps like Sherlock Holmes he still keeps bees in his retirement.
 
I know someone who keeps bees near Newmarket.
 
Thank you people!!!!!!!!

:D
 
“Zombie” Bees Confirmed In North Carolina
Is it me, or is all of the news surrounding bees always terrible? While the terrifying prospect of honey bee extinction continues to loom overhead, some recent developments have shown that maybe we don’t understand bees as well as we previously thought. For one, a new species of rock-eating bee was discovered in the American Southwest earlier this year. As if rock-eating bees aren’t scary enough, news outlets across North Carolina are now reporting the discovery of parasitized honeybees that display “zombie like behavior.”


According to Charlotte, NC National Public Radio affiliate WFAE, the “zombie bees” were spotted in the Appalachian mountain town of Banner Elk. Local beekeper Claire Kimmel discovered the zombie bees when her 6-year-old granddaughter found several dead bees scattered across her front porch:

After that, we started leaving the porch light on and we’d come out in the morning and there would be – in addition to some dead bees – there would be one or two bees walking around erratically in a circle or a figure eight.


Kimmel sent several of the bee corpses to a biologist, who confirmed them to be infected with the parasitic fly Apocephalus borealis, which infests and lays eggs inside live honey bees. ...

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/11/zombie-bees-confirmed-in-north-carolina/
 
“Zombie” Bees Confirmed In North Carolina
Is it me, or is all of the news surrounding bees always terrible? While the terrifying prospect of honey bee extinction continues to loom overhead, some recent developments have shown that maybe we don’t understand bees as well as we previously thought. For one, a new species of rock-eating bee was discovered in the American Southwest earlier this year. As if rock-eating bees aren’t scary enough, news outlets across North Carolina are now reporting the discovery of parasitized honeybees that display “zombie like behavior.”


According to Charlotte, NC National Public Radio affiliate WFAE, the “zombie bees” were spotted in the Appalachian mountain town of Banner Elk. Local beekeper Claire Kimmel discovered the zombie bees when her 6-year-old granddaughter found several dead bees scattered across her front porch:

After that, we started leaving the porch light on and we’d come out in the morning and there would be – in addition to some dead bees – there would be one or two bees walking around erratically in a circle or a figure eight.


Kimmel sent several of the bee corpses to a biologist, who confirmed them to be infected with the parasitic fly Apocephalus borealis, which infests and lays eggs inside live honey bees. ...

http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2016/11/zombie-bees-confirmed-in-north-carolina/

The Walking Buzz ? , joking aside, I've read about these parasite re-animated bee circumstances in the past .. creepy as f**k ...

(I've found this vid link thanks to your reminder)

 
When I opened the lint collector in my dryer the other day I found a very woozy bee inside which I released outside.
It must have been on the sheets when I brought them inside.
 
18th century Bodmin bee hives given heritage listed status by Historic England
By Oli_Vergnault | Posted: January 01, 2017

15750211-large.jpg


A series of 18th century Cornish bee hives have been added to the list of protected historic buildings.
The Bee Boles at Dannonchapel Farm, St. Teath, Bodmin, now have Grade-II listed status after being added to Historic England's list of heritage sites.
The bee hives made with Delabole slate stones were granted special heritage status because of the architectural interest they represent.

The boles take the form of five slate shelves divided by four 'V'- shaped splayed piers of approximately nine 9 slender courses of stone, narrowest at the bottom and progressively wider towards the top. Each bole was used for the storage of a bee colony, usually in a skep.

In its heritage list, Historic England officers said: "The structure is of architectural interest because it is built using a Cornish method once that is not only structurally sound but also provides distinctive 'V' splayed piers in local stone as an interesting if modest example of the vernacular vocabulary.
"The bee boles are of historic interest as they are a distinctive physical record of an historic agricultural activity.
"Bee bole structures are relatively uncommon survivals and these are largely intact."
...

In 1958, the Bodmin bee boles were recorded for the Register of Bee Boles by the National Beekeeping Museum and at this time it was considered that they were at least 100 years old.
Bee boles were built as an integral part of a wall, open only at the front, in which a straw skep (holding a bee colony) was placed to shield it from wind and rain. The wall is shown on the tithe map of 1843 and may date to the construction of the adjacent farmhouse, in late 18th century or early 19th century.
The farm, now redundant, was bought by the National Trust in 1991 and incorporated into the Cornwall North Coast Path.

http://www.cornwalllive.com/18th-ce...isted-status/story-29993503-detail/story.html
 
http://www.breitbart.com/california...llions-bees-pollinate-central-valley-almonds/

Thieves Steal Millions of Bees that Pollinate Central Valley Almonds

by CHRISS W. STREET
23 Jan 2017
Newport Beach, CA

Hundreds of bee hives worth over a half million dollars shipped to California’s Central Valley for the annual almond tree pollination were stolen on January 17, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Montana beekeeper Lloyd Cunniff, owner of Beeline Honey Co., shipped 488 bee hives to Sutter County in mid-December to service his almond grower pollination contracts. But after tending his bees in a grove near Meridian on Monday, he returned Tuesday morning to find his $542,000 of hives missing.

Bee pollination is not only important to rural agricultural communities throughout the Central Valley; it also provides a global economic benefit of about $290 billion in 2015.

There are an estimated 115,000 – 125,000 beekeepers in the United States. Although the vast majority of beekeepers are hobbyists with fewer than 25 hives, there are a few thousand commercial operators with 300 or more beehives.

The 2.6 million domestic honey bee colonies in the U.S. produced 149 million pounds of honey in 2013. With a wholesale price of about $2.12 a pound, the crop was worth about $317 million. California was the fifth largest American producer with 10.9 million pounds, worth $22.9 million, according to the National Honey Board.

Because millions of acres of U.S. fruit, nut, vegetable, oilseed and legume seed crops worth about $19 billion depend on bees, commercial operators are paid by growers to migrate their colonies each year to provide pollination services. But with demand drastically outstripping California’s local supply, Beeline travels 900 miles from Choteau, Montana each year to service contracts around the Sacramento area.

According to government U.S. agricultural data, the cost of renting honey bee hives for almond pollination has vaulted for about $50 per hive in 2003, to $150-$200 per hive today. It now takes more than a million bee colonies to service California’s annual crop.

After 500 hives were stolen last year, the California State Beekeepers Assn. issued an advisory to beekeepers across the state to beware of an “unprecedented” rise in beehive thefts.
 
A massive swarm of bees sent Padres and Rockies players ducking for cover

Bee swarms at spring training games have become an annual tradition at the Cactus League. It’s a weird thing that happens in Arizona around this time of year, but few bee swarms have been as intense as what we saw Thursday in Peoria, Ariz.

In the ninth inning of the Padres’ game with the Rockies, players and umpires had to take cover as a massive bee swarm emerged on the field. There were so many bees that it was clearly visible on the TV broadcast.



http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/03/massive-swarm-of-bees-padres-padres-spring-training
 
Truro woman shocked to discover huge swarm of bees taking over her garden
Picture Gallery: 7 photos.

A woman from Truro was shocked when she returned home to see thousands of bees swarming in her garden - for the second time.
Kerry Spiller, 31, said she was scared and confused when she first found a huge swarm of bees flying outside her house in 2016.

She called a local beekeeper to come and collect them, as she did not want the bees destroyed, and thought that would be the end of the matter.
But when Kerry returned to her home in Truro on Monday she was greeted by the all-to-familiar buzzing, as the huge swarm had returned.
Video: 10s.

Kerry, a receptionist, said: "It's pretty terrifying, the first time it happened I thought the world was going to end.
"This is what happens when the queen is on the move, all of the other bees follow her to protect her. This is the second time it's happened, it must mean the queen was moving around.

"I called the British Beekeepers Association in Cornwall so some one would come and collect them, rather than gassing them because that's what pest control would have done.
"Bees are important, they're endangered so I didn't want them to be killed.
"It was beautiful to watch, the bee keeper that came was able to capture the queen and put her in a bag, then all the others just followed her in there.
"When he takes them back he just pours the bag into his hive, and they all make a home there.

"It was scary to see them all buzzing around like that, but they weren't interested in me. I'm sure they wouldn't have stung me, they just wanted to protect the queen."

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/new...of_bees_taking_over_her_garden/?ref=mrb&lp=4#
 
I'm thinking that this lady has a pure, unspoilt garden that hasn't had any pesticide or weedkiller applied to it. The bees are just going where they feel safe.
 
Truro woman shocked to discover huge swarm of bees taking over her garden
Picture Gallery: 7 photos.

A woman from Truro was shocked when she returned home to see thousands of bees swarming in her garden - for the second time.
Kerry Spiller, 31, said she was scared and confused when she first found a huge swarm of bees flying outside her house in 2016.

She called a local beekeeper to come and collect them, as she did not want the bees destroyed, and thought that would be the end of the matter.
But when Kerry returned to her home in Truro on Monday she was greeted by the all-to-familiar buzzing, as the huge swarm had returned.
Video: 10s.

Kerry, a receptionist, said: "It's pretty terrifying, the first time it happened I thought the world was going to end.
"This is what happens when the queen is on the move, all of the other bees follow her to protect her. This is the second time it's happened, it must mean the queen was moving around.

"I called the British Beekeepers Association in Cornwall so some one would come and collect them, rather than gassing them because that's what pest control would have done.
"Bees are important, they're endangered so I didn't want them to be killed.
"It was beautiful to watch, the bee keeper that came was able to capture the queen and put her in a bag, then all the others just followed her in there.
"When he takes them back he just pours the bag into his hive, and they all make a home there.

"It was scary to see them all buzzing around like that, but they weren't interested in me. I'm sure they wouldn't have stung me, they just wanted to protect the queen."

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/new...of_bees_taking_over_her_garden/?ref=mrb&lp=4#

I bet the neighbours call her Honey.
 
Bees, particularly swarming bees, tend to leave pheromones on the first temporary site on which they first settle, before finding a hopefully permanent home & this tends to persist & attract further swarms.

Twenty plus years ago, I can remember a bee keeper with about forty hives on one site, extremely rare even then, who had old ladders permanently positioned up certain trees into which he knew the bees would swarm.

Don't even ask about health & safety!!!!!!!!!
 
Thousands of bees swarm into car in Hull
12 June 2017

_96454650_bees2.jpg


A swarm of up to 20,000 bees has taken over a car in Hull.
Shirley Taylor said the bees took residence in her Nissan car parked outside her front door in Watt Street, on Sunday.

Chairman of the Beverley Beekeepers' Association, Chris Coulson, has been trying to lure the swarm out of the vehicle since.
He said it was not clear what had attracted the bees to the vehicle and it could take a while to clear them.

Mrs Taylor said the bees had arrived on Sunday when she received a message from a neighbour warning her to be careful of her car when she got home.
"I just went indoors and closed all the windows and the neighbours did as well," she said.

"It has been a bit of a hair-raising experience.
"There were thousands all over the place and I have been stung and my daughter and granddaughter also got stung.
"It is like Nightmare on Watt Street."

Mrs Taylor said: "I did ask 'why pick on my car?' but my husband, who is a bit of a joker, said it was because of all the Bee Gees CDs in the car."

Mr Coulson said bees usually swarm when their hives get too large and a colony breaks away to form a new one.
However, he said he had never seen such a large swarm descend on a car before.
"These cars have all kind of recesses and the bees seem to have gone into every one they could find.
"We are trying to make them fly. In the box on top of the car we have young bees, some eggs and things like that and the bees in the car will hopefully try to cover those to make sure they don't die."
He said he hoped they could remove the bees and find them a "more acceptable" new home.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-40252990
 
I was stuck in traffic this afternoon, on a lovely rural stretch of the A26 in the Ouse Valley, as I crawled past the turning for Tarring Neville the car was enveloped an swarm of honey bees!

Quickly wound the windows up, and shut the sunroof - only two of the blighters got in.

The cloud cleared as quickly as it arrived, so first chance I had I opened up again and let them out. I think they caught up with their chums.
 
A large number of bees were killed and more than two dozen hives were destroyed by fire in separate attacks.

A farm in the village of Sellindge in Kent found 26 hives had been burnt out and others stolen.

It is an attack thought to be linked to the theft of two hives from another farm nearby.

PC Daniel Mills from Kent Police said: "This damage is not only cruel but detrimental to the beekeepers who will suffer a financial loss."

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-40351718
 
23rd June
Bees given a home at university after swarming onto campus
Helen Dale Reporter

A swarm of bees which turned up on the Penryn university campus has been allowed to stay.
The honeybees arrived at the University of Exeter’s campus at Tremough last week and, after causing a brief buzz, they were re-homed in a research apiary on site.

Swarming bees could cause chaos outside the average workplace, but the campus is a hive of world-renowned bee experts so Dr Pete Kennedy soon had things under control.
“The swarm arrived outside the Environment and Sustainability Institute,” said Dr Kennedy said. “The bees were successfully removed and relocated to our research apiary on campus, where they are settling in to their new home.

“Swarming is a natural part of a honeybee colony's seasonal cycle, although it is typically managed by beekeepers to minimise disruption to the general public.
“The origin of this swarm remains unknown, but it will help support our research efforts into bee behaviour and factors affecting their survival.”

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/new...sity_after_swarming_onto_campus/?ref=mrb&lp=8
 
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