Blog posts by year and monthJune 2010
Posts (126)
Die hard feral bees wanted
Following recent publicity about the West Wales Bee Breeding project, scientists at Bangor University have been inundated with messages of support, offers of help and reports of feral colonies from beekeepers around Wales. The project aims to breed a stock of disease resistant bees that are easy to work with and suited to the challenging Welsh climate. An apiary in spring. Image by the West Wales Bee Breeding Program: The research team are trying to follow up as many leads as possible and would like to make an appeal to other beekeepers in Wales, to let them know about any feral colonies they know of - that have survived in the wild for at least three years. Anita Malhotra said: "The fact that these feral colonies can survive without medication and feeding by beekeepers suggests that they may be a source of very useful genes". Moving bees to the heather in August. Image by the West Wales Bee Breeding Program: "We have also been told about managed bees from lines going back a long way, or which have particularly interesting characteristics". "One of these is apparent resistance to the parasitic varroa mite, so that colonies do not need to be treated". "Another very useful trait would be bees that are particularly good at adjusting egg laying to suit the prevailing conditions". "This characteristic is important in the changeable weather we get in Wales, so that the bees don't starve when the weather turn bad because they need to feed a very large brood nest while they can't forage". The end product. Image by the West Wales Bee Breeding Program: A website has just been launched for the project - www.bees.bangor.ac.uk so please get in touch if you have any information to share or phone (01248) 383735. The team hopes to visit promising colonies and take nucleus colonies (a common method of increasing hives) which will raise their own queens. These 'nucs' will be left in place until the queen has mated with drones of local provenance, and then moved to a specially established apiary in Mid Wales over winter. In 2011, the team will rigorously compare the performance of these colonies in order to choose the best to enter the breeding program. Gull
Welsh West End stars line up for charity concert
Welsh stars of musical theatre including Over The Rainbow finalist Sophie Evans will join together for a charity concert at St Fagans Natural History Museum in July. Sophie Evans in BBC One entertainment show Over The Rainbow A Night At The Musicals on Sunday 18 July is part of the Every...
A brief history of Cardiff Airport
These days around 1.6 million passengers use Cardiff Airport every year, flying off to destinations as varied as Florida, the Algarve and the Greek Islands. Most of them hurry through the terminal, eager to board their plane, and give little or no thought to the actual airport itself. Yet the st...
"Old balls please"
As viewers across Britain settle down to another week of Wimbledon - I wonder how many of them have ever wondered what happens to the old tennis balls? It turns out that RSPB Wales has found an ingenious use for them. Local residents in the Newport area are being asked to donate old tennis balls so they can be used to provide homes and shelter for harvest mice at the Newport Wetlands Reserve, which I visited back in March. Anyone for tennis? RSPB and CCW staff make a small entrance hole in the balls, cut another slot so a stick can be threaded through and then stand them about one metre above ground level in the reedbeds. To make things more comfortable - the balls are stuffed with hay and some bird seed is added as a final, welcoming touch. What mouse could resist? A harvest mouse in a natural nest by Mike Lane, (RSPB- images.com) It's a tried and tested method though and helps with the monitoring as the balls are easy to find and check. Anyone with spare tennis balls is being asked to take them to the nature reserve on West Nash Road near Newport and hand them in at reception. 30 - love Gull
Historic records go online
A new website will enable people to explore the history of more than 100,000 archaeological sites across Wales. Archwilio, which translates from Welsh as "to explore", catalogues the Historic Environment Records (HER) of Wales and contains details of excavation works as well as images of artef...
2011 Welsh competitor: John Pierce
Tenor John Pierce won the final of the 2010 Welsh Singers Competition at St David's Hall, Cardiff on Monday 28 June. John Pierce receives the trophy from Bryn Terfel (photograph: Brian Tarr) John wins a trophy and £2,000, but the most valuable part of the prize is to represent Wales i...
Evaluating the Arts Council funding review
The long-awaited Arts Council of Wales review into funding is out and, inevitably, there are winners and losers. Some organisations that have enjoyed revenue funding will no longer get the annual grant from the Arts Council; others which have previously not had it will be celebrating their chang...
Gillian Clarke commemorates Six Bells with new poem
National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke has a written a new poem to mark the 50th anniversary of the Six Bells colliery disaster. Monday 28 June marked 50 years since the explosion at the Arael Griffin pit at the Six Bells Colliery that killed 45 men. Photograph of Gillian Clarke © Academi /...
Arts Council of Wales funding announcement
The Arts Council of Wales has today announced that it will cease funding 32 arts organisations in Wales from April 2011, following a spending review. Among those affected are the Hay Festival of Literature and Art, Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, umbrella body Voluntary Arts Wale...
Breakfast at the heart of AMs' photo exhibition
The annual photography exhibition by Wales' National Assembly Members has gone on display at the Senedd, after AMs were given the challenge of creating images on the theme of breakfast. Alongside an open category, the members were challenged to create images of the most important meal of the ...
