A story which captured my attention on TV news recently was about the indigenous British black honeybee which became all but extinct in the 1920s as a result of the invasion of a mite from the Isle of Wight.
I learnt that the bees I have been enthusiastically photographing in the summer months (such as these two above) are most likely imported bee species. Chris Wilkes, a retired army major, is attempting to set up a colony of native black bees with a view to re-introducing them to our countryside.
He has permission from the MOD for his hives at Imber, a village on Salisbury Plain which had to be evacuated by its residents in 1943 in order to be used as a training ground for American troops preparing for the D-Day landings. The inhabitants never returned.
The village was opened to the public for a short time this August - unfortunately I found out about it too late - a piece of history in more ways than one.
stunning contrasts here--works well as a diptych
HOw very cool that you are capturing the species of bee being reintroduced! The world needs its honey bees desperately
Stunning capture of the bee (s), Great information provided to go with the photo of the reintroduced native black bee. So, glad that you share this with all of us. Thank you Hazel.
Oh I think I saw a Songs of Praise with a bit about Imber - it was quite sad because of people not being able to visit loved ones buried there if I remember rightly (if I was watching SoP I must have been ironing and not paying full attention). I've always said we shouldn't trust the Isle of Wight. Beautiful diptych.
Great photographs Hazel and what an interesting story I love the difference in colours between the two flowers and the bees and I must admit I had a great time at the lavender farm seeing all the different species but didn't realise we had so many imported bees!
It will be open again around Christmas time so I hope to go then and may find out more about it. I don't know about not trusting the IoW but I find it shabby, as opposed to shabby chic.
HOw very cool that you are capturing the species of bee being reintroduced! The world needs its honey bees desperately
Beautiful capture Hazel
It will be open again around Christmas time so I hope to go then and may find out more about it. I don't know about not trusting the IoW but I find it shabby, as opposed to shabby chic.
I knew nothing about any of it until I saw this news item on local TV!