Over the
centuries, a breed of bee developed in the British Isles. It’s known by the name the “British Black
Bee” to its friends. But, in scientific
circles, its formal name is Apis malifera malifera.
This remarkable bee was destined for
great things.
Beekeeping
is older than written history with prehistoric cave paintings showing people
harvesting honey from beehives. Good
honey-making bees, honeybees, thrived
easily in the warm climates of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, but most didn’t fare
so well in the cold winters of Northern Europe
But the
British Black Bee was exceptional. More
or less exclusive to the British Isles, the British Bee was a great honey-maker
for commercial beekeepers and it
easily tolerated rather cold winters.
The value
of this treasure of British beekeeping was not lost on North American
colonists. Some British Black Bees landed
at Plymouth Rock and arrived in Virginia in the 1620’s. The British Black bee thrived in New
England’s harsh winters.
Then, the
British Bee found its way to Germany where it was a great success. As the British Black bee spread from Germany throughout
northern Europe, it got an inaccurate new name: the “German” Bee.
But all
honeybees have a weakness: disease. Any serious
card-player might tell us that even the best and greatest streak of luck
eventually runs out. The British Black
bee enjoyed centuries of dominance in the British Isles, North America, and
Northern Europe. But, in 1919, that same
bee drew another card from the deck: the
Ace of Spades.
Beginning in the late 19th
century, something called “Foulbrood” disease and a likely version of the “Isle
of Wight disease” slowly wiped out almost all the British Black bees in America.
But, in the
British Isles, the end came suddenly. Some
say that after smoldering for a decade and a half, “Isle
of Wight disease” caught fire.
Others blame the swine flu epidemic, which some believe affected not
only people, but Black bees. Over a
period of only about three years, what can only be described as the honeybee version
of a plague swept over the British Isles killing every last pure bred British Black bee. By 1919,
in the U.K., the British Black bee was extinct.
During the
Black Plague of the middle ages, survivors would gather in churches to pray for
their own safety and to honor those who had already passed. But there was no time for mourning the
complete disappearance of this native British bee.
The British
Black bee was the only bee used by British beekeepers. Honey production in the U.K. came to a swift,
unexpected, and complete halt. This wasn’t just a disaster. It was an emergency. Fortunately, a replacement was found in the
British Black bee’s southern cousin, Apis mellifera ligustica,
the Italian honeybee. The yellow and
black honeybee – the one you last saw outdoors -- was an Italian bee. In the U.K., most have never seen anything
more than a picture of the British Black bee. Everyone knew that, for the
British Black bee in the U.K., the story was over.
93 years
later.
In 2012, the
warden of the 19th century Whitfield’s
Holy Trinity Church in Northumberland found dead bees all over the
church. Recognizing the obvious signs of
a nearby infestation he called for assistance.
Fortunately,
he didn’t get a simple exterminator.
Conservation Officer Dorian Pritchard of the Bee Breeders’ Association
arrived and traced the bees to the roof of the Church. Slates were removed using an electric
saw. The area was found to be filled
with one or several large, thriving colonies of honeybees. In spite of the noise and disruption, the
bees never became agitated. No one was
stung.
The size of
the infestation was so great that Pritchard called in experts for advice on the
best method of dealing with problem.
Then, he noticed something strange about these bees. They looked like a type of bee that he would
never have seen outside of old photographs.
At least, not in the UK. He
suspected he’d found something . . . impossible: A surviving wild colony of “extinct”
British Black bees.
When
experts arrived to examine the infestation, they agreed. But almost doubting their own eyes, they
captured a sample of a few bees and sent them to yet another group of experts
for identification. Yes, these were
British Black bees. A surviving colony
of British Black bees had been found hiding in the roof of a church in . .
. in
the U.K.
There would
be no extermination.
Plans for the
transfer of the bees began at
once. These British Black bees were
scheduled to be “repatriated” throughout their native land. Johnathan Archer, the estate maintenance
manager expressed good wishes for the departing British Bees with the hope that
these bees “will go from strength to strength with help from experts who know
how to take care of them.”
A side
note: U.K. media reports of the rediscovery of this native bee reintroduced
into currency the first and “proper" name for this distinguished
breed of A. mellifera, the “British
Black bee.”
Let’s all
wish these rescued insects the best of luck.
Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood,
Missouri
& Belleville, Illinois
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