Westerham bee breeding project
The Westerham bee breeding project is focused on raising varroa resistant, locally-adapted colonies and queens for club members initially. We are also selecting for native/near-native Apis mellifera mellifera genetics over time. We believe that building a stock of these colonies will create a local population of healthy bees, adapted to the local environment, pests and…
Read MoreNovember 2025 BIBBA Monthly
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Sorry, we couldn’t find any posts. Please try a different search. Honey bees, with only one species, that are those that beekeepers keep. There is a lot more to know about them than is usually given in books and training courses. It isn’t often appreciated that some bees suit the locality better than others, need…
Read MoreOctober 2025 BIBBA Monthly
Joe Ibbertson
- Varroa Resistant Colonies – October Update
- Red Listed – Wild Western Honey Bees Now Classified as Endangered
- Join us at the National Honey Show
- Optimising a Honey Bee Brood Box before Winter
Red Listed
Joe Ibbertson
Wild Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) are now classified as Endangered in much of Europe, including southeast England, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Free-living colonies face severe threats from habitat loss, pesticides, invasive species like Varroa mites and Asian hornets, and genetic impacts from modern beekeeping.
Key survival depends on natural nesting sites and diverse foraging habitats, including urban areas.
Conservation efforts highlighted by the Red List include:
- protecting habitats
- controlling invasive predators and parasites
- promoting native bee subspecies,
- avoiding non-native genotype introductions
- expanding research
Without action, Europe’s wild honey bees — vital pollinators — face further decline.
Read MoreOctober: varroa‑resistant colonies show strong hygiene
Discover how varroa-resistant bee colonies thrive through natural traits like brood uncapping and pupae chewing out.
Read MoreSeptember 2025 BIBBA Monthly
- VR behaviour after the main flow
- Autumn Queen Bee Introduction
- CaSCA Winter Course 25/26
- Teaching Toolkit Update
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Bees Many people, including beekeepers, are often unaware of the different types of bees, thinking that bees are bees are bees and so on. In the UK there are about 270 species of bees, less in Ireland and the islands, with some being localised owing to habitat and suitable food sources. Bees are in three…
Read MoreAugust 2025 BIBBA Monthly
- Varroa Resistant Colonies
- The Wasps are Winning
- EBA Update
- BIBBA Videos
Bumblebees
Bumblebees are among the most
endearing and familiar of our
garden insects. The sight and sound of bees, droning methodically from flower to flower, is a quintessential part of a summer’s day.
