The generally accepted reason for the waggle dance may be wrong. It may be just a case of post decision rationalisation on behalf of Karl von Frisch and for which he received a Nobel Prize. Beginners accept it as received wisdom before they can judge it accuracy. It must be accepted that bees dance, since we have all seen it. There must be a reason, but if not to give direction and distance to forage then why do it. Suspicions about the veracity of the waggle dance as a direc

This can be collected by beekeepers at the spring clean or in a propolis trap made for that purpose. Just because it is free and not made by Big Pharma let us not dismiss it too quickly. Claims are made that it boosts the immune system and prevent those diseases that are a consequence of a compromised immune system. That will be most of them. If anyone can find some well documented clinical trials on propolis and its effects on human health I would be pleased to hear about th

We have been drenching the environment for 40 years with neonicotinoids in a species war against insects. Michael Gove has finally managed to ban them for use in the UK. The downside is that we may soon have to be cleaning squashed bugs off our car windscreens. In the 60’s I had to stop my Ford Prefect regularly on a warm summers evening to do so. Safe from neonicotinoids, the battle for better bee health needs to shift to the basic bee hive design. We continue to hark back