by Peter Mathews
NEXT MEETING!
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow ie Tuesday 31st at The Waggoners, Ayot Green. Let me know if you want me to bring frames or foundation. I will also have my rota and tickets for Hatfield House.
SMALL HIVE BEETLE
On 8th August the Bishops Stortford Beekeepers Association is holding a talk by John Carr on the Small Hive Beetle. This free talk is open to any member of HBKA. The venue is Hopleys Plants in Much Hadham ( www.hopleys.co.uk) starting at 8pm. Space is limited so RSVP to Paul Cooper, propolis@me.com
NEXT APIARY MEETING
Saturday 4th at Knebworth Golf Club 10.30am. Directions to the apiary are attached separately.
Hatfield House & Knebworth Country Shows—Help
We need lots of Honey and You! Unless we hear otherwise, unsold produce from Knebworth will pass on to Hatfield House.
Final details will be sent out to helpers for both events nearer the time.
KNEBWORTH COUNTRY SHOW
We need helpers and honey at the Knebworth Show with 3/4 people to set up our pitch on the Friday.
Contact, Peter Folge:- the_beekeeper@hotmail.com
HATFIELD HOUSE COUNTRY SHOW
I now have tickets for Hatfield House. Please let me know your preferred days. It will make things easier to get tickets to you sooner rather than later. This is a very enjoyable day and is highly recommended. This year we have more space which we will use for a display covering bee diseases.
This year we are sharing the event with North Herts—so lots of new beekeepers to meet and swap tales. Our Herts BKA President this year is John Mumford from South East Herts. We look forward to meeting John and Jill on the Saturday. We are also invited to drinks with Lord & Lady Salisbury at 6.30 pm on the Friday.
Contact :- petermathews@gmx.com
IN THE APIARY
A few weeks back I noticed that one of my hives had a single sealed queen cell bang centre in the middle of the frame. The location and time of year suggested this was a supercedure cell. So I decided to leave it be. Next visit, a week later I could not find the original queen, but I did find a beautiful new queen. The colony was still very strong, so am sure, or fairly sure, they did not swarm. Some days later I got a call from Nick to say that he had found, what could only be, the original queen in the grass about 20 m in front of the hive with a handful of attendant bees. So that’s what happened to her! Am quite surprised that a queen with both wings clipped short could make it so far. My previous clipped escapees have never managed more than about a metre.
DIARY DATES
31st July, Tuesday - Social and bee chat evening at The Waggoners, Ayot Green at 8.00 pm
Suggested we might go through the syllabus for the Basic Assessment ? Or, whatever.
Let me know if you want me to bring along frames or foundation. I will have tickets for Hatfield House
4th August, Saturday Apiary Meeting at 10.30am at our new apiary at Knebworth Golf Club
8th August Wednesday— Talk on The Small Hive Beetle (Bishops Stortford)
11,12th August— Knebworth House Country Show, — organiser Peter Folge, setting up on the 10th
17,18,19th August— Hatfield House Country Show — organiser Peter Mathews, dropping off on the 16th.
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Offering an excellent range of beekeeping equipment at affordable prices.
Providing quality and affordable beekeeping equipment is what we are all about here at Beechwood Bees. Being passionate about beekeeping as well as being beekeepers ourselves gives us an insight into what beekeepers want and need.
We have worked hard with our beekeeping suppliers to ensure we stock an environmentally sensitive range of beekeeping equipment, while never compromising on quality and service.
Take a look at our range of beekeeping equipment including beehives, a full range of beekeeping protective clothing and exceptional range of beekeeping accessories - perfect for experienced and novice beekeepers alike.
Welwyn news - July 2012
by Peter Mathews
WELWYN STREET MARKET
Whilst we did not enjoy a hot, sunny day we were extremely grateful for a dry morning. The Street Market is one of our more successful events as far as honey sales is concerned. A very late sale took our last jar for a complete sell out. Sales were up on last year with 107 honey sales made up of 85 1lb jars and 22 cut comb. Think we have always reckoned to sell 100 lbs during the 3 hrs. This is about 4x that of most other events.
The Dartington, or in its manufactured form ’The Omlet Hive’ is very stable and is popular among the new roof top beekeepers in London. Older members will remember Dale Emery’s rooftop apiary in Welwyn Garden—Dale was one of the first users of the Dartington long hive.
We finished the afternoon with a wonderful tea and lots of bee talk. The weather was kind with a short sharp shower breaking a largely sunny afternoon. Many thanks to everyone bringing cakes. Kerry’s chocolate cake was a winner.
NEW APIARY IN KNEBWORTH
We were very pleased with our visit to Knebworth Golf Course. The service track running alongside the greens and separated by mixed woodland leads to almost unlimited apiary space with good access, security with locked barrier and easy parking. What more do you want? It is one of the best apiary sites we have been offered and is ideally located for most members. We will be following up on this, more to follow…....
SHOP
A run on foundation means that we are out of stock of 14x12 foundation. We have plenty of foundation of super and std brood size, and all sizes of frames. We also have pins and Fumidil (Nosema treatment). I will be re-stocking in October…….must remember to get more 14x12. I am also out of jars.
EVENTS SECRETARY
Peter Johnson - We welcome Peter to the committee as Social / Events Secretary. If you have a new event etc please contact Peter first just to ensure we are not already treble booked. Also give Peter a call if you have any ideas for a meeting, offers of a garden meeting etc. E-mail p.johnson293@ntlworld.com
HATFIELD HOUSE & KNEBWORTH COUNTRY SHOWS - HELP
We need helpers and honey at the Knebworth Show with 3/4 people to set up our pitch on the Friday.
Contact, Peter Folge:- the_beekeeper@hotmail.com
I now have tickets for Hatfield House. Please let me know your preferred days. It will make things easier to get tickets to you sooner rather than later. This is a very enjoyable day and is highly recommended. This year we have more space which we will use for a display covering bee diseases.
Contact :- petermathews@gmx.com
IN THE APIARY
Don’t forget to check that your bees have adequate stores. With colonies at maximum strength and continued wet weather, colonies are consuming more stores than they ar bringing in. I have heard of people finding dead colonies.
OTHER NEWS
Herts Bees is back! The Herts BKA website is up and running again with lots of news in and around the county, including this newsletter. You can find us at :- http://www.hertsbees.org.uk/
DIARY DATES
14th July, Saturday—Apiary Meeting at Raffin Green, at 10.30am
31st July, Tuesday - Social and bee chat evening at The Waggoners, Ayot Green at 9.00 pm.
Suggested we might go through the syllabus for the Basic Assessment ? Or, whatever. Let me know if you want me to bring along frames or foundation. I will have tickets for Hatfield House.
11,12th August— Knebworth House Country Show, — organiser Peter Folge, setting up on the 10th
17,18,19th August— Hatfield House Country Show — organiser Peter Mathews, dropping off on the 16th.
WELWYN STREET MARKET
Whilst we did not enjoy a hot, sunny day we were extremely grateful for a dry morning. The Street Market is one of our more successful events as far as honey sales is concerned. A very late sale took our last jar for a complete sell out. Sales were up on last year with 107 honey sales made up of 85 1lb jars and 22 cut comb. Think we have always reckoned to sell 100 lbs during the 3 hrs. This is about 4x that of most other events.
HONEY WORKS
A dozen of us enjoyed a wonderful afternoon hosted by Robin and Christine. Robin is the inventor of the Dartington Hive which offers a number of novel features designed to make your beekeeping that much easier. Construction is quite simple and is traditionally in marine ply, which is good for DIY beekeepers and those wanting to make savings. With a greater horizontal spread the full hive is lower than an equivalent National box—good if you are not very tall. The higher working height and smaller boxes are also better in avoiding back problems.The Dartington, or in its manufactured form ’The Omlet Hive’ is very stable and is popular among the new roof top beekeepers in London. Older members will remember Dale Emery’s rooftop apiary in Welwyn Garden—Dale was one of the first users of the Dartington long hive.
We finished the afternoon with a wonderful tea and lots of bee talk. The weather was kind with a short sharp shower breaking a largely sunny afternoon. Many thanks to everyone bringing cakes. Kerry’s chocolate cake was a winner.
NEW APIARY IN KNEBWORTH
We were very pleased with our visit to Knebworth Golf Course. The service track running alongside the greens and separated by mixed woodland leads to almost unlimited apiary space with good access, security with locked barrier and easy parking. What more do you want? It is one of the best apiary sites we have been offered and is ideally located for most members. We will be following up on this, more to follow…....
SHOP
A run on foundation means that we are out of stock of 14x12 foundation. We have plenty of foundation of super and std brood size, and all sizes of frames. We also have pins and Fumidil (Nosema treatment). I will be re-stocking in October…….must remember to get more 14x12. I am also out of jars.
EVENTS SECRETARY
Peter Johnson - We welcome Peter to the committee as Social / Events Secretary. If you have a new event etc please contact Peter first just to ensure we are not already treble booked. Also give Peter a call if you have any ideas for a meeting, offers of a garden meeting etc. E-mail p.johnson293@ntlworld.com
HATFIELD HOUSE & KNEBWORTH COUNTRY SHOWS - HELP
We need helpers and honey at the Knebworth Show with 3/4 people to set up our pitch on the Friday.
Contact, Peter Folge:- the_beekeeper@hotmail.com
I now have tickets for Hatfield House. Please let me know your preferred days. It will make things easier to get tickets to you sooner rather than later. This is a very enjoyable day and is highly recommended. This year we have more space which we will use for a display covering bee diseases.
Contact :- petermathews@gmx.com
IN THE APIARY
Don’t forget to check that your bees have adequate stores. With colonies at maximum strength and continued wet weather, colonies are consuming more stores than they ar bringing in. I have heard of people finding dead colonies.
OTHER NEWS
Herts Bees is back! The Herts BKA website is up and running again with lots of news in and around the county, including this newsletter. You can find us at :- http://www.hertsbees.org.uk/
DIARY DATES
14th July, Saturday—Apiary Meeting at Raffin Green, at 10.30am
31st July, Tuesday - Social and bee chat evening at The Waggoners, Ayot Green at 9.00 pm.
Suggested we might go through the syllabus for the Basic Assessment ? Or, whatever. Let me know if you want me to bring along frames or foundation. I will have tickets for Hatfield House.
11,12th August— Knebworth House Country Show, — organiser Peter Folge, setting up on the 10th
17,18,19th August— Hatfield House Country Show — organiser Peter Mathews, dropping off on the 16th.
Time for a Change
by Luke Adams
For over six years now St.Albans have been running their annual Beginner’s Course at the beginning of each year attracting an oversubscribed number of people to their fortnightly theory evenings to be ready for the practical hands-on beekeeping sessions come the Spring. This was then complemented by mentoring from experienced beekeepers at their two out-apiary’s Prae Wood and Oaklands College. However now St.Albans have decided to take a bold new step and take an entirely new approach to training these beginners.
The two main organisers of this year’s course, Marian Whittaker and Anne Phillips decided to run the practical mentoring sessions first and then carry out the theory sessions the following winter. This means that the theory training will still take place in January but this will be to the beginners who have undergone a beekeeping year with mentors at one of the out-apiary’s.
It was felt that serious beginners would find out what the practical side of beekeeping is all about and any that are unsure of whether they will like it or not will definitely know during the practical sessions rather than going all through the theory and then giving up which may waste valuable training time and also take up a beginners space on the course.
Marian and Anne together with a few other members have come up with a brilliant Beginners Pack which consists of an Apiary diary of when they are visiting the out-apiary, who their mentor is and also some basic bee information. The brilliant bit is that they have a course tick-box training plan that their Mentor’s sign when they think the beginner has achieved that appropriate task. Bearing in mind these are beginners, who haven’t learned any theory yet, all of the tasks are at a very basic level; like how to light a smoker, how to recognise a drone etc but their Mentor varies with each visit so they can see a variety of ways of doing things.
Another clever part of this idea is that their Mentor will be a Junior Mentor (ie a beekeeper who has been on a previous course less that 3 years ago) and they will show them the practical sides of opening up a hive and carrying out the examinations. On hand also will be Senior Mentors (experienced beekeepers) who will do the signing off process for the beginners Course training plan.
It is hoped that with their gained practical knowledge they will go into their theory course with a greater knowledge and they can be taught more detailed and important aspects of beekeeping.
We will give updates on how this new approach is working but it started the first week in April.
For over six years now St.Albans have been running their annual Beginner’s Course at the beginning of each year attracting an oversubscribed number of people to their fortnightly theory evenings to be ready for the practical hands-on beekeeping sessions come the Spring. This was then complemented by mentoring from experienced beekeepers at their two out-apiary’s Prae Wood and Oaklands College. However now St.Albans have decided to take a bold new step and take an entirely new approach to training these beginners.
The two main organisers of this year’s course, Marian Whittaker and Anne Phillips decided to run the practical mentoring sessions first and then carry out the theory sessions the following winter. This means that the theory training will still take place in January but this will be to the beginners who have undergone a beekeeping year with mentors at one of the out-apiary’s.
It was felt that serious beginners would find out what the practical side of beekeeping is all about and any that are unsure of whether they will like it or not will definitely know during the practical sessions rather than going all through the theory and then giving up which may waste valuable training time and also take up a beginners space on the course.
Marian and Anne together with a few other members have come up with a brilliant Beginners Pack which consists of an Apiary diary of when they are visiting the out-apiary, who their mentor is and also some basic bee information. The brilliant bit is that they have a course tick-box training plan that their Mentor’s sign when they think the beginner has achieved that appropriate task. Bearing in mind these are beginners, who haven’t learned any theory yet, all of the tasks are at a very basic level; like how to light a smoker, how to recognise a drone etc but their Mentor varies with each visit so they can see a variety of ways of doing things.
Another clever part of this idea is that their Mentor will be a Junior Mentor (ie a beekeeper who has been on a previous course less that 3 years ago) and they will show them the practical sides of opening up a hive and carrying out the examinations. On hand also will be Senior Mentors (experienced beekeepers) who will do the signing off process for the beginners Course training plan.
It is hoped that with their gained practical knowledge they will go into their theory course with a greater knowledge and they can be taught more detailed and important aspects of beekeeping.
We will give updates on how this new approach is working but it started the first week in April.
General Husbandry Assessment
by Peter Mathews
HBKA members, have you thought of taking the BBKA General Husbandry Exam? Well, next year you can take it for free.
Hertfordshire BKA have one of the lowest number of people taking the Basic Assessment across the country. One reason for this is that we are desperately short of examiners. To be an examiner you need to have been successful in the BBKA General Husbandry Assessment, followed by an examiner training session at the BBKA apiary at Stoneleigh. We will fund exam fees together with travelling costs to Stoneleigh. To qualify for funding you will agree to act as an examiner and to be involved in coaching members preparing to take the Basic.
Now is a good time to think about it as you will need to show your 2012 hive records for the 2013 assessment. You will also need to have the Basic Certificate and have kept bees for 3 years. And, you will also need to have 3 strong hives available on the day of assessment.
Further information including application form and syllabus together with guidelines are available on the BBKA website: www.bbka.org.uk/learn/examinations__assessments/general_husbandry_certificate
Workshops outlining what is involved are held from time to time around the country. There will be a session at The National Honey Show at Weybridge in October together with a workshop at The Spring Convention in April.
If you are interested then contact our Examination Secretary, Phil Raine e-mail: phil@fourpharm.demon.co.uk.
The closing date for applications is the end of February. Funding decisions will be made in January.
HBKA members, have you thought of taking the BBKA General Husbandry Exam? Well, next year you can take it for free.
Hertfordshire BKA have one of the lowest number of people taking the Basic Assessment across the country. One reason for this is that we are desperately short of examiners. To be an examiner you need to have been successful in the BBKA General Husbandry Assessment, followed by an examiner training session at the BBKA apiary at Stoneleigh. We will fund exam fees together with travelling costs to Stoneleigh. To qualify for funding you will agree to act as an examiner and to be involved in coaching members preparing to take the Basic.
Now is a good time to think about it as you will need to show your 2012 hive records for the 2013 assessment. You will also need to have the Basic Certificate and have kept bees for 3 years. And, you will also need to have 3 strong hives available on the day of assessment.
Further information including application form and syllabus together with guidelines are available on the BBKA website: www.bbka.org.uk/learn/examinations__assessments/general_husbandry_certificate
Workshops outlining what is involved are held from time to time around the country. There will be a session at The National Honey Show at Weybridge in October together with a workshop at The Spring Convention in April.
If you are interested then contact our Examination Secretary, Phil Raine e-mail: phil@fourpharm.demon.co.uk.
The closing date for applications is the end of February. Funding decisions will be made in January.
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