Christine Phillips has asked me to write something for North Herts Beekeepers contribution to February’s Herts Bees. Christine, Colin and Andy are overwintering in New Zealand with their son, a resident there, who is also a beekeeper.
She writes:
It really didn't seem like Christmas here - nice to be warm and see the sun though. We have been looking at Nick (son's) bees. Lots of nice placid yellow bees, five supers on in some cases and no varroa! That's how beekeeping should be. It almost seems too easy.
Well, I’m not sure what I can report. Our Christmas party, which John and Miriam Hill kindly offered to host at Boxwood, was cancelled on the day due to a heavy fall of snow. I favour Jennifer Veasy’s suggestion that we re schedule with a barbecue at some time in June.
Thanks to our members Chris Humphries and Nick Brett Who alerted members with hives to the fact that green woodpeckers are creating carnage at our association apiary at Nortonbury. They seem to have developed the facility to attack hives even though they have been shielded with chicken wire. I guess the long cold spell must have made them desperate in their efforts.
Our next evening meeting, the first for 2011, is on 15th February at 7.30 at Howgills, the Friends Meeting House, Letchworth. Our speaker for the evening is Chris Woodard, Stevenage Borough Councils head of pest control, who is a specialist in all things creepy crawly and should have some interesting anecdotes to tell.
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