First research results
At our location in Hungary, it has been "high season" for the bees for a good three weeks. The fruit tree blossom is in full swing, the maple is blooming, the temperatures are around flight-friendly 20° and the sun is usually shining. So ideal conditions.
The now finally warmer weather also allowed us to carry out a first inspection of the 10 test hives from which no honey was taken last year, in comparison with around 60 other hives from which honey was taken between 10 and 25 kilograms.
Of course, the observation of only one year does not result in any reliable results and statements on the development of bee health. Nevertheless, the first research result makes us confident. In the 10 test colonies we had the total loss of only one colony. Except for a very few, the bees were no longer in the hive.
There can be two reasons for this. Our first assumption is the CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), which has been observed worldwide for several years. The bees fly out, lose their orientation for reasons that have not yet been proven and can no longer find their way back into the hive. Scientists assume that the increasing exposure to high-frequency radiation (particularly triggered by mobile communications) is responsible for this.
The second possibility lies in a special weather situation that we had at our location at the beginning of February. Temperatures of up to 20° motivated the bees to go out. At that time there was almost no food supply. In the early afternoon, the temperature quickly dropped back into the low single digits and there was night frost. This situation, which caused the bees to drastically increase their energy requirements, lasted for about 10 days. Due to the lack of food and the rapidly falling temperature, many bees died or were unable to return to their colony.
Both reasons are also the cause of bee deaths in other colonies. Of the 60 comparison colonies (with honey extraction). Here we recorded a loss of 14 colonies, which corresponds to a percentage loss of approx. 23%. So a value more than twice as high. About 60% of the bees were dead in their hives, some of them had "flighted away" without returning. It should also be noted that offers of food that we made during the warm phase in February were hardly accepted by all colonies.
In summary, we can say that there are many reasons why the path we have chosen in the research project will bring measurable results. Whether the key to significantly better bee health lies in not extracting honey can only be reliably said after a few years and further development of test colonies. However, we are encouraged that the population size of the remaining 9 test colonies is comparatively higher than that of the other colonies.
We look forward to your questions about our project and of course to your support.
Kind regards and be(e) good,
Klaus Heinzel