In the bee world, black is the new Italian

Beekeepers have long favoured Italian honeybees since they are perceived to be more industrious, but with its population falling by about 30% in recent years, the black honeybee may be the better choice.

In response, British beekeepers hope that by reintroducing the native black honeybees to hives, they may be hardier and thus useful in raising the number of bees in the country.

The Co-operative Group agrees and has donated £10,000 to the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeder’s Association (Bibba) in order to aid with finding and mapping the black honeybees throughout the UK countryside.

Head of the Co-op’s social group committee, Paul Monaghan, stated that the Co-op believes the resilient black honeybee may be able to stop the decline in the UK honeybee population even if it has received a bed reputation in the past.

Sussex University professor of apiculture, Frank Ratnieks, commented that the Co-op and Bibba’s plan makes logical sense given the black honeybee is naturally native to the UK, but that it would be helpful, once the populations are located, to breed them with less aggressive bees to make harvesting honey more practical and efficient.

However, Ratnieks also noted that even black honeybees have been affected by climate change and resulting starvation so conservation efforts must also be made for honeybees in general otherwise the black honeybee will face the same eventual demise as the non-native Italian honeybees.

In the last two years billions of bees have died from erratic weather, pesticides, parasites, and a lack of food, threatening the world’s delicate ecosystem balance and honey production.