Filipe Salbany has been working with bees in various environments for 50 years. Most of his life has been in Africa although he has lived the last 18 years in the UK. It was in Africa where he developed a passion for wild bees and the intricate relationship honey bees have with their environment in the wild and also in suburbia.

He has helped in commercial bee operations in the USA and South Africa particularly as regards subspecies of bees, their foraging requirements and, of course, concerning varroa.

"My work has taken me to Blenheim Palace and the ‘small’ free living population of honey bees in the ancient woodland. Wild bees are an incredible resource and provide a critical piece of the puzzle in terms of how we approach our practices, look at the environment and work with bees.

"The talk will be a presentation of how we can look for free living bees, what we can learn from them, my experiences over the years and what we can do moving forward with our ideas and keep learning."

The Guardian covered the story about the newly discovered subspecies which is believed to be related to the indigenous wild honey bees that foraged the English countryside for centuries. Until now, it was presumed all these bees had been completely wiped out by disease and competition from imported species.

Zoom

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NOTES: Under 18s - SBKA is for everyone, but anyone under the age of 18 should be accompanied on camera by an adult

County Associate Member

If you are a member of another association or are from overseas and would like to support Somerset BKA, then you can become a County Associate Member for an annual fee of £7. It will give you access to lecture recordings as well as to our events and newsletter. Email us to join: membershipmanager@somersetbeekeepers.org.uk