News
New links
Please see "member organisations and links" page for new links from the Netherlands.
New Secretary general
After 14 years as our first secretary Nils Drivdal decided to leave the position. At the meeting in Aviemore a new secretary was elected.
Philip Denwood is the new Secretary general for SICAMM. Philip has been active within Sicamm for 9 years and has been a beekeeper for 37 years. He lives in Hertfordshire, England.
Dorian Pritchard handed a gift to Nils as a token for the appreciation of his efforts for saving the mellifera bee during these 14 years.
Text and photos by Per Thunman, Sweden.
Aviemore Conference
The 9th International SICAMM Conference was successfully held at Aviemore from 6th-11th September 2009. Participants came from England, Finland, Germany, the Irish Republic, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland and Wales. For further details see under "Past Conferences".
Dark bees discovered in the Netherlands
A colony of dark bees has been discovered in a poplar wood in sand dunes near Amsterdam, where wild colonies have been known for many decades. Wing venation tests by Dr.Fuchs of Oberursel, Germany, now show that the great majority of workers from the colony are relatively pure Apis mellifera mellifera, long considered to be extinct in the Netherlands.
Source: Mellifica, August 2009 (Association Mellifica, Belgium), translated from Natuuronderzoek, Newsletter of the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen, 2005.
New links
Please check the "Member organisations and links" page for new links to sites in France (L'arbre aux abeilles; Terre d'abeilles) and the UK (Black bees in Pendle); also the relaunched site for mellifera.ch in Switzerland.
Josef Stark Award
The Josef Stark Award for 2009 is given to Alejandra Vásquez, PhD, and for 2010 to Tobias Olofsson, PhD, both researchers at the Microbiology Laboratory, University of Lund, Sweden.
New website
SICAMM is very grateful to Bosse Malmgren for designing our website and running it for several years, alongside his site with photos of bees, flowers, Swedish national dress and other subjects (www.bogi.nu).
The website has now been redesigned with the help of Chromefire Design and Marketing (www.chromefire.co.uk). The webmaster is Philip Denwood. Please send us all comments on the new design using the contact page.
German mellifera beekeeper honoured
Amateur bio-beekeeper Wolfgang Strube of Kroppenstedt was awarded first prize of 1500 euros in the biennial awards for animal welfare, State of Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany by Agriculture Secretary Dr. Herrmann Onko Aeikens in Magdeburg on 4th Oct 2008. On this occasion the awards focussed on the protection of endangered livestock.
Wolfgang Strube has devoted himself for many years to the dark honeybee, a robust but endangered race. He keeps fourteen colonies including eight of the dark bee and follows the EU guidelines for biological beekeeping. Racial purity of introduced queens is certified, and the bees live in a natural habitat near the Hakelwald and Heteborn. Colony health is maintained by observation of flight entrances and floorboard debris, qualitatively and quantitatively suitable feeding, overwintering on honey, participation in the preventative monitoring system of the State Beekeeping Institute, and varroa control using formic and oxalic acids. Queens are not clipped and migratory beekeeping is not practised.
Wolfgang Strube is active as a Bee Expert (BSS), association president and lecturer.
In presenting the award, Dr. Aeikens remarked that the winners testify that the keeping of endangered livestock is both race-preservation and at the same time animal welfare.
Source: Ministerium für Landwirtschaft und Umwelt - Pressemitteilung Nr.: 121/08
Magdeburg, den 2. Oktober 2008
New dark bee conservation area in Brittany, France
Grâce à la mobilisation des apiculteurs locaux, l'abeille noire a pu être préservée sur l'île. Les professionnels se sont regroupés il y a quelques mois, en créant l'Asan-GX, Association pour la sauvegarde de l'abeille noire sur l'Île de Groix. Leur travail a été présenté au forum des associations de Port-Lay. Le but : la création d'un conservatoire identique à ceux d'Ouessant et de Belle-Île.
Le rôle de l'association dans ce futur projet sera d'animer ce conservatoire, par la création d'un rucher éducatif et pédagogique.
La municipalité, de son côté, par un arrêté municipal validé par la préfecture, s'engage à protéger l'abeille noire de l'île. Des mesures phytosanitaires ont été prises et les importations d'abeilles sur l'île, autres que l'abeille noire, sont désormais interdites.
L'Asan-GX souhaite également apporter son aide à toute personne désireuse de maintenir ses colonies en état sanitaire correct (contact : Christian Bargain au 02 97 86 58 07). Les responsables de l'association rappellent par ailleurs que « la déclaration de rucher, qu'il s'agisse d'une ou de plusieurs ruches, est obligatoire et gratuite, auprès de la DSV, Direction des services sanitaires ».
Pratique. Contact : 6, avenue Edgar-Degas, 56 000, Vannes. Tél. 02 97 63 29 45.
6 Oct 2008
Thanks to the mobilisation of local beekeepers, it has become possible to preserve the dark bee on the island of Île de Groix. The bee farmers joined together some months ago to create l'Asan-GX, the association for the preservation of the dark bee on the island. Their work has been presented to the forum of associations of Port-Lay. The aim: to create a conservation area identical to those on Ouessant and Belle-Île.
The role of the association in this future project will be to take the lead in this conservation area by setting up an educational and teaching apiary.
The municipality has for its part undertaken to protect the dark bee of the island by a municipal order validated by the prefecture. Phytosanitary measures have been adopted and the importation of bees other than the dark bee onto the island is henceforth forbidden.
The Asan-GX association would also like to extend its assistance to anyone wishing to maintain their colonies in a good state of health. The office-holders have also issued the reminder that "registration of apiaries, whether of one or more hives, is compulsory and free of charge, following the DSV, Direction des services sanitaires."
