The Asian Yellow-Legged Hornet - Vespa velutina - has rampaged through France and for the last three years has occupied Jersey in the Channel Islands, threatening to invade mainland Britain using any means possible.

We were on the Bovey Heathfield Nature Reserve, near Bovey Tracey in Devon, looking for Heath Potter Wasps with the noted naturalist John Walters, so I took the opportunity to record a short interview... Brigit's new book, Dancing with Bees, is published by Chelsea Green and available from http://beestrawbridge.blogspot.com  

Ragna invited me to Norway to talk to beekeepers about the possibility of using different ways to look after bees, and different hives, including, of course, the top bar hive. I had a very enjoyable week in this beautiful country, thanks to my hosts Ragna Jorgensen and Joshua, who will feature in the next podcast, once I have finished editing our long discussion in the car, while driving around the stunning north western coastline of Norway. This recording was made in the woods outside...

The Asian Yellow-Legged Hornet, Vespa velutina, is a serious threat to bees and beekeeping in Britain, given its predatory nature and the fact that a large nest may contain 10-12,000 hungry insects.  It also poses a secondary threat to birds and bats, as it has the ability to consume massive numbers of their prey, while themselves being virtually immune from attack by any of our native species.  PLEASE LEARN ABOUT THIS DANGEROUS PEST and look out for news about it, preferably by checking...

I hosted this discussion with about 25 other beekeepers at the Eden Project in Cornwall as part of the BIBBA SW Conference Febriary 16 2019.    

A talk from the 2018 BIBBA conference

Jim Ryan is a beekeeper with many years under his belt, who is not afraid to admit to making mistakes. He is current chair of the Galtee Bee Breeders. This talk was recorded at the 2018 BIBBA conference in Chippenham, Wiltshire.    

The ZEST hive is unusual in that it is made from solid building blocks arranged to form a long, deep container, with multiple, upper entrances. It is easy and relatively inexpensive to build, with the help of Bill's web site - www.thezesthive.com - and his YouTube videos.

Willie Robson and his family have been keeping bees in Northumberland since the 1950s. Few people know more than he does about honey farming with the native black bee, and fewer still have successfully kept them for so long in a commercial context. This is one of two talks by Willie that I recorded at the 2018 BIBBA conference in Cirencester. The Robson family run Chainbridge Honey Farm and you can see their web site at https://www.chainbridgehoney.com  

Bryn Simon, President of Sydney Inner West Beekeepers, NSW, Australia, was in the UK and asked if he could visit and ask me some questions. The sound quality is not perfect: there was a fair bit of background noise from road drills and seagulls, and I had the gain turned up a little too high, but if you can overlook that, we had a good chat about bees and beekeeping.

Dave Goulson is Professor of Biology at Sussex University, founder of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and has published over 200 scientific articles on the ecology of bees and other insects. His published books include Bumblebees; their behaviour, ecology and conservation (2010, Oxford University Press) and A Sting in the Tale (2013, Jonathan Cape), and A Buzz in the Meadow (2017, Vintage Books. Brigit Strawbridge is a campaigner on behalf of bumblebees and other wild bees and is currently...

Caring for bees needs to start with a healthy soil. Modern agriculture uses a lot of chemicals just to grow our food, let alone the processing. That harms the soil, plants, and the pollinators. There is a different way, and we need more people educated to create that healthy environment. Daniel, who is the interviewer in this podcast is currently gathering funds to learn soil microbiology from the perspective of growing any kind of plant without chemicals, and guaranteeing maximum nutrition...

I was invited to the BIBBA Conference on the Isle of Man this year to talk about top bar hives. This is my talk, lightly edited to remove the soundtrack of a video at the end.  My talk was introduced by Johnny Kipps, a resident of the island, who took me to see his top bar hives during one of the lunch breaks. You can see the video of his hives, complete with local black bees, here https://youtu.be/jRebDnqj-wc    

I met up with Kate Atchley after a weekend spent teaching a group of beginners at Glenuig, in the Lochaber area on the coast south of the Isle of Skye. Kate started beekeeping in London, later in Edinburgh and latterly on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, just north of Mull. We had an interesting conversation about black bees (Apis mellifera mellifera) and other aspects of beekeeping in Scotland.  

This is Part 2 of the session with Willie Robson, which has a somewhat better sound quality as the storm had reduced in strength by the time we had finished lunch. Willie spent an hour answering questions from the audience and I think you will find this session very interesting, especially if you keep or are planning to keep black bees. I should also mention that I have just published another book, called Balanced Beekeeping II: Managing the Top Bar Hive. It has taken me nearly two years to...

Willie Robson runs between 1500 and 2000 hives as a family business in Northumberland, the most northerly county in England. This is a challenging environment, with high rainfall and cold winters, often with weeks of snow. He uses only native "black" bees, which have adapted to the climate and - according to Willie - to his management methods, which are of necessity based on a relatively low-interference protocol. This recording was made in Cornwall on 6th February 2016, where Willie was...

This is possibly the most important podcast I have recorded this year, not so much because of my part in it, but because most of it is a recording of a talk by Dr Vandana Shiva at a conference held at Dartington Hall on October 7th 2014. Vandana is one of the leading lights in the fight against the corporations that are intent on patenting life in all its forms, and owning the entire food chain, worldwide, from seed to mouth. If you think I am exaggerating this claim for dramatic effect,...

This is a chat with Alys Fowler with a contribution from Steve Benbow about her venture into beekeeping with a top bar hive, and the book they are writing together.  

A half-hour conversation with RSPB Council member Kevin Cox, discussing the dramatic decline in the populations of many birds in the UK, and what we could all do to improve the situation.    

I woke up early, just as the birds were starting to sing, so I opened a window and switched on my recorder.     

Eve Carnall is about to set off on a four month journey, across the length and breadth of England. In this interview, she talks about her science background, her work at the Environment Agency and the motivations for her journey. To find out more visit her blog - buzztour.org Twitter - @buzztour email - [email protected] divestment - http://gofossilfree.org/uk

Recorded about 4am, so please excuse me if I sound a little sleepy... I talk about the weekend course just completed at Brinscall Hall, Lancashire, and the other things happening there this year, including the Friends of the Bees Northern Gathering in August. See www.biobees.com/training.php for training and www.biobees.com/events.php for events. Then follows a bit of a rant about AI queens; the evils of packages, and the inflated prices charged by bee breeders.  

Alys Fowler is writing another book, this time with London beekeeper Steve Benbow. It will be full of great gardening tips, focusing on how to plant for pollinators - especially bees. Steve talks about the book and his plans for siting top bar hives at the Tate Gallery. This is where to find out more about the book - http://unbound.co.uk/books/letters-to-a-beekeeper