News
Italian beekeepers benefit from a new bee health partnership
Vita Bee Health has a new and prestigious distributor, Chemicals Laif in Italy.
Based in Padova, north-east Italy, Chemicals Laif is the exclusive supplier of Vita products throughout Italy. With a 40-year history of zootechnics expertise, the company is renowned for its work in honey bee health and nutritional products.
Gianfranco Cadeddu of Chemicals Laif said: “We are honoured to collaborate with such an established company in the world of beekeeping, and to bring innovation and health to beehives throughout Italy. With this expansion of our range, we hope to satisfy the health and nutritional needs of Italian beekeepers even further.”
Sebastian Owen of Vita Bee Health said: “With more than 70,000 beekeepers managing more than 1.6 million colonies, Italy’s contribution to pollination and honey production is enormous. We are thrilled to have such a well-respected company as our distributor in Italy and to benefit even further from their expertise.”
Chemicals Laif joins Vita Bee Health’s international network of more than 50 distributors.
About Chemicals Laif
Established in 1965, Chemicals LAIF has been working in the zootechnical field for more than 40 years. The first production was dedicated to disinfectants, detergents, animal nutrition and feed premixes. Today Chemicals LAIF is a renowned international reference for its specialties for honey bee health and nutritional products. The company is located in Vigonza (Padova) in the north-east of Italy.
2024 Vita calendar winners
The overall winner of this year’s Vita Bee Health international photographic competition is Susan Kimber. She wins Є100 and the two runners up, each winning Є50, are Grace Madden and 宋俞瑩 牧野工坊.
The 2024 month-by-month line up is:
January Grace Madden
February Sue Howe
March Claudia Gannon
April Keith Pownall
May Ann Chilcott
June Karen Jeffries
July Wendy Noblet
August Susan Kimber
September 宋俞瑩 牧野工坊
October Sue Howe
November Bryan Nellist
December Vincent Hakizimana
Sebastian Owen, commercial director of Vita Bee Health, said, “As ever, we thoroughly enjoyed looking at the superb entries and were then challenged picking winners. The winning photograph by Susan Kimber beautifully encapsulates the honey bee and its work. Congratulations also to Grace Madden and 宋俞瑩 牧野工坊 who have captured apiaries in different parts of the world – England and Taiwan.
“We warmly thank everyone who entered and the judging panel. Please feel free to download the pdf of the calendar.”
Winners will shortly be receiving the beautifully printed limited-edition desk calendars.
High-resolution pdf 2024 Vita Bee Health calendar
The winning image by Susan Kimber:
Vita Bee Health’s 2023 photo competition – the round dozen!
Vita Bee Health is calling for entries to its 12th annual international photo competition. Winning entries appear in the sought-after limited-edition calendar, which is sent to the Vita distribution network across the world. The closing date is 31 October 2023 (all time zones considered!), and entries are now being accepted.
The outright winner of the competition receives a cash prize of €100, and two runners up €50 each. The photographs of eleven other winners will also appear in the 2024 Vita Bee Health calendar and feature in Vita’s monthly email newsletters. All winners receive a copy of the desk calendar.
Photo competition winners 2022
This year’s overall winner of the Vita Bee Health international photographic competition is 辜立萱（KU, LI-HSUAN) with a beautiful image of brace comb being built above frames.
Featured photographers – in calendar month order – are:
Jan 辜立萱（KU, LI-HSUAN)
Feb Ainars Millers
Mar Karen Ford
Apr Leka Huie
May Sue Howe
Jun Keith Rolleston
Jul Kelvin Liu
Aug Iain Bailey
Sep Ann Chilcott
Oct Joseph Nicolai
Nov Margaret Edge
Dec Ainars Millers
Plus Shu-Dhan Chen
Sebastian Owen, commercial director of Vita Bee Health, said, “We were especially pleased this year to see entries from all over the world, the winner being from Taiwan. Another, by Kelvin Liu showed a stunning photo of an apiary alive with honey bees and glowing fireflies. It was a fitting competition for our 25th anniversary as a company, showing the reach of our invaluable and committed distributors.
“We warmly thank everyone who entered and the judging panel. Please feel free to download the pdf of the calendar.”
Winners will shortly be receiving the beautifully printed limited-edition desk calendars.
Canadian beekeepers have new treatment to counter recent high winter colony losses
Last winter, Canadian honey bee colony losses in many areas often exceeded 50%, affecting honey production and honeybee supply for crop pollination across the country. Several factors have been implicated in the honeybee colony losses, the most serious reported being a failure to control the parasitic varroa mite, Varroa destructor. Nosema, other bee diseases and severe winter conditions are also in the mix.
Following huge Canadian honeybee losses last winter and spring, a product to combat two major honeybee diseases has been revitalized and reintroduced to market by honeybee health specialists Vita Bee Health. By helping to stem the losses of honeybee colonies, the treatment, OxyTet-62.5, will also be of huge benefit to Canadian agriculture which is so dependent upon healthy and plentiful pollinators.