to Compare Bees

Surprising as it may seem, there is considerable variation in the colour of the abdomen of honeybees.  

The original British bee was very dark in colour and often nearly black.

In the 20th century beekeepers thought it would be a good idea to import honeybees from Italy and the Caucusus.  These were much more yellow in colour.  Happily that idea is going out of fashion and attempts are now being made to re-establish the traditional British black honey bee with all its attributes of hardiness and resistance to disease.

So this is a good old Manx bee and as you can see it is pretty dark in colour. That is probably a reflection of it being resident on an island.  Here she is collecting nectar from the flowers of a leek.  In the next few weeks these seeds will mature in preparation to become my leek crop of next year.