The Native iirish Honeybee Conference was held last Saturday, There was a large turn out with some interesting talks. The conference was opened with two talks from People working on Genetic variation and genotype of AMMs, What I gathered from this although some of it was over my head is that a lot of Dark coloured bees (AMMs) may not be Amm at all but would have different genetic makeup so looks like you need testing of DNA to confirm what you have.
This was folowed by an interesting talk on the practical and legal aspects of setting up honey bee conservation areas.
After lunch there was another interesting talk on The Irish Pollinator plan from the Biodiversity data Centre.
Finally Andrew Abrahams gave an entertaining talk on the reserve for Amms on Colonsay Island Scotland He has 60 hives there, but there was an interesting discussion afterwards as to how many hives the island could support and how genetic diversity could be improved and the problems of inbreeding. Lots to keep beekeepers talking for the future.
