Listen to Bee Farmers

The latest televised coverage on the plight of our bees still seems to miss the main point! Though I did see the Bee Farmers hit the nail right on the head: varroa and Neonicotinoids hold little relevance at this moment - the poor summer last year meant many new queens did not get properly mated, and colonies were poorly nourished for the long, hard, cold winter which followed and from which we are only now (May) just emerging. Many colonies have perished as a result or have been left small and probably weak. Depending on how this "Summer" unfolds our bees, or what are left of them, are again already under new stresses to survive.