Bees entering their hive

2015 Vita Bee Health Initiative Award Winners

It was exciting news to hear that the Devon Apicultural Research Group (DARG) was recently awarded the Pinnacle Winner of the first Vita Honeybee Health Initiative Award for research in the Done Laying Queen Survey in 2012. Westland Countryside Stewards played a significant part in supporting the project with a donation of £1000 which investigated honeybee queen fertility.

Seven Distinction Winners have also been announced with a wide range of projects including group bee disease identification, a children’s project and a bee wellness programme.

The overall winner, the UK Devon Apicultural Research Group, has conducted research into the apparently increasing number of drone-laying queens. They have involved a group of scientists and potentially 900 beekeepers in their county. Following the preliminary study in 2012 that showed how amateur beekeepers and professional scientists can work together, they are now considering further research to test the hypothesis that the queen’s spermatheca can be damaged by a virus possibly being sexually transmitted.


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