Harbour Honey
 Logo of Harbour Honey since establishment | |
| Formation | 24 June 2023 [1] |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Eastbourne, United Kingdom |
Founders | Marcus Berry and Joseph Berry |
| Website | https://sites.google.com/view/harbourhoney[dead link] |
Harbour Honey is a beekeeping enterprise based in Eastbourne, United Kingdom. The project was established in June 2023 by Marcus Berry and Joseph Berry. As of November 2023, their occupied hive count is 2.
History[edit]
The idea of Harbour Honey was first conceived in late December 2022, and serious plans were first initiated in early January 2023. Their first colony of bees was ordered in late January, at the same time they became members of the Eastbourne Beekeepers Association.[2] They set up their website around this time.
In March, they purchased their first beehive, WBC1, and they installed their first colony on the 24th of June 2023[3] in Sovereign Harbour, Eastbourne.
List of Hives[edit]
| No. | Colony Reference | Type | Colour | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WBC1 | WBC | White | Sovereign Harbour |
| 2 | NUC2 | Nuc | Grey | Sovereign Harbour |
| 3 | NUC3 | Nuc | Green | N/A |
| 4 | BSN4 | BS National | Purple | N/A |
| 5 | BSN5 | BS National | Green | N/A |
| 6 | BSN6 | BS National | Yellow | N/A |
| 7 | BSN7 | BS National | Blue | N/A |
2023 Asian Hornet Threat[edit]
On 16 September 2023, the beekeepers of Harbour Honey spotted an Asian hornet in Sovereign Harbour, in East Sussex. It was hunting the bees surrounding the entrance to WBC1.[4] Luckily, they caught the Asian hornet in a plastic container, and were advised by the National Bee Unit (NBU) to freeze it overnight.[4] On the morning of 17 September, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) collected the dead hornet and sent it for genetic testing at the NBU Headquarters in Sand Hutton, North Yorkshire. A trap was placed between WBC1 and NUC2 and was left to attract any other nearby Asian hornets. This would establish whether this was a stray hornet - this could be from France, or even as close as Kent - or part of a nearby nest, which would subsequently be destroyed. This was the first Asian Hornet sighting in the Eastbourne and Wealden Area,[4] and the 3rd sighting in East and West Sussex combined since Asian hornets were first found on the British Isles in 2016.[5]
The trap was being regularly checked from Sunday 17, and on the evening of Thursday 21 September, three Asian hornets were found in the trap. The beekeepers were in contact with the NBU again, who sent the APHA to track the flight path of the Asian hornets on Friday 22. The hornets were now fixated on the liquid inside the trap, so after they were set free, they returned within 4 minutes. This meant that the nest was nearby. On Saturday 23, Harbour Honey and the APHA tracked down the nest and located it.[4] It was on the wall of a block of flats in Sovereign Outer Harbour.[6]
The nest was destroyed a few days later, and whilst there, the APHA found a second hive in the gardens surrounding the fountains at Columbus Point. This nest was also destroyed.[5]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Harbour Honey - June 2023". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Harbour Honey - January 2023". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-12.[dead link]
- ↑ "Harbour Honey - June 2023". sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-12. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Harbour Honey - September 2023". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-12.[dead link]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Asian hornet sightings recorded since 2016". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
- ↑ "2023 Asian Hornet Rolling updates » APHA - National Bee Unit - BeeBase". www.nationalbeeunit.com. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
This article "Harbour Honey" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Harbour Honey. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
