SUSTAINABILITY

FEATURES
MOD supports the native
British black honey bee
Prior to the 1950s the British black
honey bee Apis melifera melifera (Amm)
was common throughout the UK
having been here since the last Ice
Age. For many hundreds of years this
bee has been used almost exclusively
by the British beekeeper. That was
until the indigenous population of
Amm was almost completely wiped
out by Isle of Wight disease in the late
1940s and most recently by the varroa
mite, which was imported into
southern UK in 1992.
However, throughout the UK a few
isolated pockets of almost pure Amm
still exist, those we know of are in
Scotland, in Northumberland, on the
Isle of Man, in North and West Wales
and in Cornwall.
These colonies of black bees are,
generally, looked af ter by beekeepers,
as in truth, wild or feral colonies of
bees no longer exist, having been
wiped-out by the varroa mite.
In Cornwall and Devon, BipCo (Bee
Improvement for Cornwall) and B4
(Bring Back Black Bees) have been
carrying out DNA analysis to identify
whether the British black bee still
exists, and its whereabouts in each
county. Interestingly this analysis has
shown that yes, Amm is still present
Cornish black honey bees returning to the hive after a day foraging on the ranges © Nick Bentham-Green
and what is more, there is a unique
Cornish version or ‘deme’ of Amm.
Also, that there is a significant
percentage (approx. 40-50%) of Amm
in many honey bees throughout the
UK, and by careful selection (i.e.
breeding) that percentage can be
increased over a relatively short period
of time (a few years).
Amongst the many challenges facing
the British black honey bee, one of the
greatest is hybridisation and, for the
bee breeder, how to keep the genetic
line as pure as possible. This is made all
the more diffcult because many
beekeepers import bees from abroad;
in fact, last year between 12-15,000
queen bees were imported.
So in an effort to ensure our native
Amms breed true, the breeding must
be carried out at isolated sites.
With that in mind, through the
auspices of the Anthony Conservation
Group, the Commandant for SW
ranges, Lt Col Andy Westcott was
asked if an area at Tregantle Fort could
be used as a site for breeding Cornish
black honey bees. The answer was yes,
and a subsequent recce, carried out by
Defence Infrastructure Organisation,
Landmarc and BipCo proved that the
butts at the end of a disused range
would be an ideal spot.
The bees were moved onto site last
year, and the ranges at Tregantle
have indeed proved most successful.
It is hoped this year to build on that
success, and if possible to expand
the project onto more MOD sites in
the future, which provide one of the
key criteria to breeding pure strains
of bee – isolation.
The author and beekeeper John Chadwick outside Tregantle Fort © Nick Bentham-Green
Nick Bentham-Green
Chairman of BipCo and member of
Anthony Conservation Group
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Sanctuary 44 • 2015