Ron’s buzzing after £6k grant success (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Ron’s buzzing after £6k grant success
2:40pm Saturday 2nd October 2010 in News By Emma Dunn
THE beekeeper who may have saved the honey bee population is delighted after receiving a grant from the British Beekeepers’ Association.
Ron Hoskins, who has been beekeeping for 67 years, has been awarded a £6,000 research grant, to help him continue in his quest against the deadly parasitic mite, varroa.
Ron, who is nearly 80, spent 14 years trying to find a cure for the mite, which attacks honey bees, and wants to use the money to help get other beekeepers involved.
“We have got what has been termed the super bee.The studies I’ve been performing have been to develop this bee and I wish to pass it on to other beekeepers,” said Ron, who is president of Swindon and District Beekeepers’ Association.
“It’s the bee that we have bred in Stanton Park and we wish to spread it out,” he said.
“I want them over a wider circle – at first to cover Wiltshire. The world’s the limit.”
The money will be used to provide 20 local beekeepers with special hives and microscopes with special lenses to help them work with Ron to increase the gene pool of the selected bee strains that will counter the parasite.
The varroa mite was first found in the UK in 1992 and within four years had spread across the country. The grandfather-of-five applied for the grant in April and was granted it after his story appeared in the Adver in August.
“It caused the international upsurge of publicity that caused the British Beekeeper’s Association to realise there was more to what we had done than they realised,” he said.
“This is only a start, we still need to raise more cash. Every £6,000 we can raise gets equipment to help another 20 beekeepers.
“At my age now I must realise that there’s a limit to what I can do personally so my ambition now is to get other beekeepers involved in this essential work to continue it. It’s very essential to the life of the honeybee and the life of us.”
Brian Ripley, BBKA chairman, said: “We are delighted to be able to help Ron and his co-workers in the Swindon honey bee conservation group. The work that will be undertaken by this group of experienced amateur beekeepers is a fine example of beekeepers helping each other.”
Ron, who is grateful for donations already made, can be contacted at ron@honeybee1.org.uk or call 0773 7400 515. He will be at Kingsdown garden centre in Ermin Street, Stratton St Margaret.
He will be raising money to help save the honey bees by selling honey, as well as giving demonstrations and information on beekeeping.
Ron will be at the garden centre from 9am until 6pm today and 10am until 5pm tomorrow.
Comments(18)
WiltshireLeppard
says...
7:58pm Sat 2 Oct 10
So long as they don't sting me!
Tony Hillier
says...
10:08pm Sat 2 Oct 10
Queen Bee at eighty
Ron does the biz
Makes super bee buzz
Saving Polly Nation
Yes, yes you do
You do Ron, Ron
reality_check
says...
10:17pm Sat 2 Oct 10
Robfm
says...
7:05am Sun 3 Oct 10
Wasn't a University in Scotland recently given £1.8 million to do research earlier this year.
How Soon Is Now
says...
9:05am Sun 3 Oct 10
Tony Hillier wrote:Tony Hillier
Do Ron Ron
Queen Bee at eighty
Ron does the biz
Makes super bee buzz
Saving Polly Nation
Yes, yes you do
You do Ron, Ron
community poet
never ceasing in his plight,
to write some ditty
but oh, what a pity
they always turn out
..not very good
How Soon Is Now
says...
9:08am Sun 3 Oct 10
itsamess
says...
9:17am Sun 3 Oct 10
sun_sets
says...
9:20am Sun 3 Oct 10
Tony Hillier
says...
10:57am Sun 3 Oct 10
How Soon Is Now wrote:haven't you missed out an asterisk How Soon ?
..sorry, I meant ****
..'they always turn out s****'
thanx for response ...that's all we aspirant poets ask..
cheers
t
PaulD
says...
11:41am Sun 3 Oct 10
sun_sets wrote:the honey aspect is irrelevant. Without bees there would be a massive reduction in pollination of many types of plant and tree, which would be devastating for the entire food chain of the planet
The bees need saving and investing in so that they can pollenate the flowers and make honey. Its all about the beautiful flowers! The mites are the problem and the beekeepers will do what they can to prevent them affecting the bees.
sun_sets
says...
11:45am Sun 3 Oct 10
How Soon Is Now wrote:H.S.I.N-Ron has worked tirelessly for many years dedicating his life to bee keeping and i'm sure he will be chuffed to bits with a few chosen words with meaning.
What a great man - well done Ron.
How Soon Is Now
says...
12:27pm Sun 3 Oct 10
Tony Hillier wrote:Well spotted Tone, I did put sh*te but it didn't get through, sorry old bean.
How Soon Is Now wrote:haven't you missed out an asterisk How Soon ?
..sorry, I meant ****
..'they always turn out s****'
thanx for response ...that's all we aspirant poets ask..
cheers
t
sun_sets
says...
12:55pm Sun 3 Oct 10
reality_check
says...
12:57pm Sun 3 Oct 10
Not likely, not a chance
Just can't do it, but can't admit it
Continues just the same
With no talent and no wit
Leaves composition to chance
If only he would cease, and quit it
Discontinue, please, this game.
sun_sets
says...
1:05pm Sun 3 Oct 10
and don't we all know it!
He can make people laugh,
Even to those who don't deserve it,
He is on the mend,
From a spend in the hossy,
Watch out for those mites
Boy do they bite!
Smokin Joe
says...
1:44pm Mon 4 Oct 10
Mankind would all but be extinct,
Said Albert E, explaining how,
All life on earth is interlinked
No bees - no pollination. Crops,
Would wither on the vine and die.
We need the bee, regardless of
It’s sting, its summer lullaby.
So Schwarzenegger, take a hike,
Batman – keep your cape unfurled,
We don’t need action heroes, just
A pensioner to save the world.
The Dixie Cups
says...
2:46pm Mon 4 Oct 10
How Soon Is Now says...
4:35pm Sat 2 Oct 10