News FR
Vita’s first hangout
Vita held its first « Hangout » yesterday to discuss the secrets of the honeybee bite.
The Hangout on Google+ is like a webcam conference call, but anyone can view it — either live as it happens or after the event. You can see the recorded version below. There were a few sound and vision issues, but the concept really worked and has huge potential for beekeepers.
In the Hangout about the honeybee bite, Claire Waring Editor of Bee Craft and Cassandra, an Italian beekeeper, were able to ask questions of two of the research team: Dr Max Watkins of Vita in the UK and Dr Alex Papachristoforou of the Thessaloniki University in Greece.
Vita is planning further hangouts – if you would like to take part, read on …
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Secrets of the honeybee bite revealed
A previously unknown honeybee defence weapon against varroa and a potential new natural anaesthetic for humans
Researchers have discovered that honeybees can bite as well as sting and that the bite contains a natural anaesthetic. The anaesthetic may not only help honeybees fend off pests such as wax moth and the parasitic varroa mite, but it also has great potential for use in human medicine.
The surprise findings discovered by a team of researchers from Greek and French organisations in collaboration with Vita (Europe) Ltd, the UK-based honeybee health specialist, will cause a complete re-thinking of honeybee defence mechanisms and could lead to the production of a natural, low toxicity local anaesthetic for humans and animals.
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Vita’s new online videos show that treating honeybees for varroa is easy
Vita videos now online
A new series of online video clips just launched by Vita (Europe) Ltd, the honeybee health specialist, shows that treating honeybees for varroa and other ailments can be very straight-forward.
The eight product videos, each between 1 and 3 minutes long, show beekeepers how easy it can be to treat bees to control the varroa mite (Apiguard and Apistan), to control wax moth (B401), to test for European and American foul brood (EFB and AFB diagnostic tests), to boost honeybee health (Vita Feed Green and Gold) and how to catch those elusive swarms (Swarm Attractant Wipe).
Vita launches 2012 honeybee and beekeeping photo competition
Anyone with an interest in honeybees and beekeeping is invited to enter a photographic competition run by Vita (Europe) Ltd.
There will be cash prizes and beekeeping products for the winners, and the best pictures will feature in the Vita 2013 Calendar.
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Vita celebrates its 15th anniversary
From one product to the world’s largest dedicated honeybee health specialist in a decade and a half
Vita helps fund new research to halt honey bee killer
A major investment from public and private sector organisations is helping scientists to develop completely new ways of tackling the biggest killer of honey bees worldwide – the bloodsucking Varroa mite.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen and the National Bee Unit, part of the Food and Environment Research Agency, have worked out how to ‘knock down’ genes in the parasitic mite causing it to die.
So far the work has only been done in the lab but now the team can take their work a step closer towards developing a product that could help beekeepers thanks to funding worth over a quarter of a million pounds from Biotechnological and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Vita (Europe) Ltd.
Vita gets a new home and a new home page
Vita (Europe) Ltd, the world’s largest dedicated honeybee health company, has moved to new offices and launched a new-look website at www.vita-europe.com as the hub of its growing online presence.
The new offices, named Vita House, are in the heart of Basingstoke in Hampshire, an English county renowned for its beekeeping heritage. The new premises give the company a lot more space, more light and an altogether better working environment. Read more…
Honeybee health research boosted by new treatment test Researchers discover the fastest and most reliable way to test varroa treatments
The fastest and most definitive way of testing the effectiveness of treatments to control the varroa mite, the scourge of honeybees, has been developed by Vita (Europe) Ltd with a team of researchers at the Aristotle University in Greece.
This new ground-breaking bioassay is reducing testing time from potentially days to hours, and it is so sensitive that it can be used to identify mites resistant to specific treatments. Relatively small adaptations should also enable it to be used with a wide range of insect pests. Read more…
Vita Research Prize 2011
Vita (Europe) Ltd is calling for applications for its 2011 Vita Research award for honeybee health research. Application information for the prize, valued at up to Euros 10,000, is available on the Vita website www.vita-europe.com. The closing date is 1 July 2011. Application form here. Read more…
Vita Gallery Photo Competition winners announced
The Vita Gallery Photo competition attracted entries from across the globe and the judges have reached their decisions. Read more…