Wiltshire Wildlife Trust

The Warminster Supporter's group of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust had their December lecture on Monday 14th at the Athenaeum, their new venue.   The speaker was Ron Hoskins from Swindon and the subject was 'Bees bite Back'.

His unbelievable knowledge has been gleaned over 70 years, from his boyhood.  Swindon Council have allocated him a woodland site for his many hives and his research.  He has also built a shed there, where he teaches other people the art of bee keeping.

His scientific knowledge involves trying to get to the root of the verroa mite problem which is affecting bees worldwide.  After years of meticulous research he has found that he can breed a strain of bee that manages to bite the mite and kill it.  Not only that, but they can detect a mite in a cell with a grub, whereupon they destroy the grub, the mite and the cell, so they can start again.  His main aim is to find a way of defeating the problem naturally, rather than with chemical sprays.

The importance of a healthy bee population is underestimated.  It is, after all, pollination that is the basis of most growth and agriculture.  Ron Hoskins was fascinating and is making great strides with a problem that affects us all.