Editorial by Paul Cooper
Another winter is almost here so make final checks that mouse guards are secure and the chicken wire is in place. Heft each hive to get an idea how much they weigh when full of winter stores.
Next month will be a double edition covering December and January so please send me your news for December through to mid February.
After Frank had explained the intricacies of artificial and shook swarms at our first winter meeting last Tuesday (with the help of various cardboard boxes and a rather fat wooden queen) we were treated to an antique quiz. This had been threatening to make an appearance for several years and wasn't advertised in case no-one turned up! It was concocted in the old days when beekeepers knew a thing or two, and amazingly some people knew the answers to some of the questions, even though there were several on skep beekeeping. Graham claimed chairman's privilege and read out the questions and, more importantly, the answers. It was enjoyed by all, and as Derrick said, everyone has now spoken at a bee meeting. Thanks go to Derrick for organising it.
We also discussed the money paid to the BBKA by some large chemical companies for allowing them to use the BBKA logo on their products, and the proposition put forward by Twickenham and Thames Valley BKA asking for this to stop. All present voted to support this proposition and I have forwarded your views to the Hertfordshire committee, but we are just one of eight Hertfordshire divisions and so have a very small voice.
The N. Herts Christmas party was discussed and one idea put forward was to have a bonfire party this year (if a suitable venue can be found) - sort of winter solstice festival! If this idea appeals to you or if you would rather keep to a more traditional event please let Graham know. Or come to the next meeting and help to decide.
Next meeting :
November 16th at 7.30pm at Howgills - a talk by Richard Smith - "Honey from Hive to Jar"
Winter meetings
26th November 2010 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our Honey Tasting Social. This is an informal evening where members bring a jar of their own unlabeled clear honey along and we all taste, judge and present a cup to the winner. Everyone also brings a plate of food which makes for an enjoyable evening. All members and their families welcome.
4th February 2011 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our AGM. We intend to hold our usual Wine and Cheese Social afterwards.
We had a good attendance for our first winter meeting of the year on 15th October. Emma Wright, a PhD student working at Rothamsted in Harpenden, gave us a very interesting, humorous and enlightening presentation on the current research she and her colleagues are doing on 'Interactions between honeybee diseases and bee behaviour'.
Also at the meeting was Christopher Snow, a 3rd year veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College, who as part of his animal husbandry project is looking at the various methods employed by beekeepers to control varroa levels in their hives in order to maximize productivity levels of the bees. He distributed confidential questionnaires to interested members and has offered to send a final report to us.
Both he and Emma stayed on for the review of the beekeeping season which was a lively question and answer session.
Beginners course 2011
Preparations are well under way thanks to Eileen Remnant who once again is co-ordinating.
On Sunday 3rd October, Andy Clavey, with the three members who keep bees at the Apiary, set about extracting two of three supers removed from the new Association hives. They assembled in Lindsay and Diane Bruces' bee proof utility room and the Association extractor was used. Diane later bottled up 41 x 1lb jars. The flavour was very good. The honey in the third super had crystallised but will no doubt be used on one of the hives for winter stores.
This month we had the last of our apiary meetings this year. It was nice to see nearly all the West Herts BKA Committee members there along with other members new and long-term! After a hectic week it is easy to think - can I really spare the time to attend an apiary meeting? However, once there, I am swept along in the peaceful "away from it all" atmosphere. The jobs at home are forgotten, that is, until I look at my watch and see that nearly two and a half hours have slipped by and it's time to say goodbye.
Don't forget our Harvest Supper at the Nags Head in Little Hadham at 8pm on Friday 12th November. If you have not booked then please contact Jane Moseley to see if there are any spare places.
We have negotiated a 10% discount for members of HBKA from www.beesuitscheap.co.uk. All you have to do is enter the code BKS100 when you make your purchase. The site also contains gloves and smokers for sale and will have other tools for sale by Christmas.
by Jane Moseley
Now if like me you are thinking what the heck is the BBKA Forum, I will endeavour to explain in very simple terms. Each County sends 2 representatives to discuss topics of interest/concern as proposed by the County Divisions & BBKA at a one day meeting. These findings are then presented back to the representatives and submitted to the BBKA for action.
Chaired by Brian Ripley, BBKA Chairman, the meeting opened on time with a keen start straight into the subject area of Commercial Chemical Endorsements which had been raised by the Twickenham division. The result of the debate was mixed and nothing was really determined.
We moved on then to the Course in a Case, which you may have heard me banging on about. Well this is a comprehensive detailed Bee Keeping Course, in a Case hence it’s name, which has been developed to provide each Division with quality materials that enable us to provide up to date current information at a Basic level. Heavily subsidised the course is both in printed and electronic form and the Bishops Stortford division will be using this material in its forthcoming course in the new year. Additional materials are being created - to take BeeKeepers to the next level and the first of these should be available at the ADM (Annual Delegates Meeting) in January.
BBKA has funding from FERA specifically for the training of trainers but works with Government Departments on the Healthy Bee Board in addition to developing it’s own courses. Through the FERA funding BBKA hopes to push through 400 trainers through the programme between November and March, when the fund may well be cut. So if you want to take advantage - do so now! See the next edition which will have a big education theme for more info on what’s going on and available education wise. We then broke out into discussion groups to discuss the materials and how it can be delivered to improve standards throughout the year to all members.
In the current environmental climate it has been determined that Research is vital to enable us to improve the health of our Bees. The question asked of attendees was what’s the best way to spend the meagre £63k of funds within the BBKA Research fund. We were asked to consider Applied, Case Awards, Scale and Topics for Research. Unanimously every break out group determined that Bee Keepers in the field could take part and that we should use our extensive membership intelligence as a resource for research undertaking and analysis.
Dear Secretary
Can I take this opportunity for thanking you for any help you gave in encouraging members to complete the honey survey, we needed 1000 responses to make it credible and we received 1386 which was excellent and will allow careful analysis. As it is getting nearer to Christmas could you pass the following information to all your members as an email, or flag it up in your next newsletter so that we can reach as many BBKA members as possible well before Christmas.
Ideas for Christmas that help the honey bee
Look at the choices on www.Adoptabeehive.co.uk to order call 0871 911 1818 and quote 'BBKA 7'.
We have arranged a discount just for BBKA members on stationary for sale on the Adoptabeehive web shop, with 20% off all cards
Christmas cards, set of eight, two different snowy beehive scenes
Price to BBKA members £4.76 (saving £1.19 on each set)
Rainbow notelets, set of seven, honey bees on colourful flowers
Price to BBKA members £3.68 (saving 92p on each set)
Gold print wood cut skep cards, set of six
Price to BBKA members £4.48 (saving £1.12 on each set)
All profits from the sale of these cards go towards the research and education fund to support the honey bee. For example money from BBKA sales has recently been awarded to Ron Hoskins to help develop his varroa resistant bees.
To take advantage of this offer you must order BY PHONE 0871 911 1818 (calls cost no more than 10p minute) and quote 'BBKA 7 member offer' . ‘Adoptabeehive’ and ‘Spread a little Sweetness’ sets would also make an unusual present and help the honey bee, and can also be bought online at www.Adoptabeehive.co.uk or by calling 0871 911 1818.
Dear Beekeeper,
Please download from here the new National Bee Unit Small hive beetle brochure.
This has been developed and updated by the National Bee Unit, incorporating information on risks from the recent Defra funded Pest Risk Assessment and containing new information about contingency planning.
We hope that you find this leaflet a useful addition to your beekeeping information.
Kind regards,
National Bee Unit
by Richard Alabone (courtesy of Essex Beekeepers Association)
Of all animal species in the world, the honey bee is unique in that the multiple mating of queens creates colonies of half sister workers, fathered by drones of dubious parentage but all from the same geographical area.
Too much in-breeding reduces virility; therefore the inevitable cross mating, within the geographical area, is a good thing.
We know that honey bees have remained virtually unchanged for at least 50,000,000 years and this has been achieved by their unique method of avoiding in-breeding which will destroy a good strain in a few generations. Apis Mellifera avoids in-breeding by queens flying several miles to be multiple mated, which has resulted in at least 12 identifiable races, that have bred into 12 different geographical areas to best fit the climate of those areas. This gives beekeepers a wealth of breeds to choose from to make crosses, some being dreadful, while others are very satisfactory.
We all know that plant and animal breeders have made dramatic improvements in output by crossing natural breeds, and bee breeding is no different in that respect. Honey yields can be increased by a factor of 10 by careful selection of crosses. The only problem being that in so doing we have now compromised the individuality of all the different breeds due to the bees own method of avoiding inbreeding. But bees will probably survive another 50,000,000 years despite our intervention.
This makes "pure-bred queens" difficult to produce and the best that can be done is to carefully select breeder queens and only mate them with good drones of the same strain. This is known as line breeding. As a result of multiple mating, the control of suitable breeding is a very inexact science, unless horrible instrumental insemination is used.
We buy pure bred yellow Italian queens from Hawaii, where queens are cheap to produce, which would not survive in this country unless pampered by the beekeeper. This race of Apis Mellifera has the hereditary factors best suited to survive in Italy.
A bee more suited to our climate is the Buckfast, sometimes regarded as a pure breed, but is in fact a carefully contrived first cross originally produced by Brother Adam's beekeepers at Buckfast Abbey in Devon. It is highly prolific and hard-working because it is a cross of two separate races. This high degree of virility is almost never achieved in bees of a single race because there is always too much inbreeding. Brother Adam showed that the first cross of two races produced very different offspring, and by the crossing of two line-bred carefully selected strains the desired characteristics could be achieved to give a user-friendly breed capable of much increased honey yield. This was achieved by crossing, the highly selected European bee, bred at Buckfast Abbey over many years, with the bee from Carnica in northern Yugoslavia which has a range of important characteristics like, remarkably good temper, calmness on the comb and resistance to brood diseases.
Today we can buy "Buckfast strain" queens raised in this country which are prolific but sometimes very aggressive due to the difficulty of having pure strains to cross. Other bee breeders are more honest and sell them as "user friendly", or as their own breed.
Carniolan bees were once known here as the "best bee" but they have disappeared into our mongrel population in this country, while they are still line-bred in Germany as I read in Brother Adams book "Breeding the Honey Bee". I make no apology for using his title, as this article was based on his book, published by Northern Bee Books.
For me the interesting thing is the fundamental question of what makes a bee what it is, or for that matter what makes me what I am. We know that heredity plays a part in some way, and although scientists in their wisdom have rejected it, the answer is the inheritance of acquired characteristics. This is what formed the distinct bee races within the species. Scientific opinion dictates that it is the DNA which is the building block of the species, but biology is not able to explain this, with some biologists believing that there must be an information transfer mechanism between members of all species that dictates species form and instinctive behaviour. This mechanism has been given various names, but for me the obvious one is telepathy, which is very occasionally experienced by humans, and is that same mechanism which dictates growth, form and shares instinctive information between the members of every species. DNA is only the key of each species, rather than the complete description, ensuring that only species information is received, but blending with the acquired characteristics of heredity which is recorded in DNA.
I am aware that this all raises more questions than it answers. Some of the answers are on my website: www.Sublimity.org.uk.
Britain’s backyard beekeepers are to be helped to avoid the problem of winter bee deaths by 400 Government-backed volunteer teachers.
Soaring numbers of people are taking up the hobby amid concern over honey bee decline. But due to challenges from pests and diseases, inexperienced beekeepers are losing more colonies over winter, so better skills are needed.
400 experts across England and Wales are to be trained to teach beekeepers good husbandry as part of a new project under the Government’s Healthy Bees Plan. It will be run in partnership by the British Beekeeping Association (BBKA) and National Diploma of Beekeeping Board (NDBB), and jointly funded by Defra.
For more information click here.
Editorial by Paul Cooper
Another beekeeping year draws to a close. As well as the usual divisional reports, there is an extensive report from our busy-bee president, Jane Moseley, notes from the recent HBKA Exec meeting, details of the Honey Show and advice, if not too late, from the National Bee Unit on how to prepare colonies for winter.
After a few warm days in September, autumn is finally here with wet and windy weather at the start of October. If we do have any sunny days the bees will be out collecting the last of the season's pollen and nectar from ivy flowers which seem to be in great profusion this year, at least in east Herts. Hopefully you should now have completed the varroa treatment and also finished feeding your bees if using syrup. Now is the time to put on the woodpecker protection (a wrap of chicken wire) and fix the mouseguards across the entrance.
Winter meetings will be held as usual on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm at Howgills, 42 South View, Letchworth, SG6 3JJ
Events at which N. Herts BKA will have a stall to promote beekeeping and to sell honey:
At our apiary meeting on 18th September, we were delighted to welcome Jane Moseley, President of the Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association. Members old and new were able to chat with her and she joined in the teaching session which is carried out around the beehives. The meeting was once again well attended with about twenty people present
In last month's news I mentioned the "starvation swarm" which Diane Bruce had just collected. I have since learnt that it had originally swarmed in a compost bin but after a while it swarmed on to a nearby fence, being unable to survive any longer in the bin due to a lack of fodder in the locality. I was most impressed to hear that this small swarm, after only a few weeks, was (with a little help from Diane) already increasing in size with fresh brood on several frames. Through their hard work and dedication, Lindsay and Diane have supplied ten new colonies to beekeepers this summer!
As reported in last months HertsBees nearly all colonies have been removed to other apiary sites. Concerns over security issues at Prae Wood had been ongoing with our landlord for some time prior to these thefts. He intends to rectify this matter over the winter months.
The waiting list is now over 50 and as we can only take around 25 on the course there are unfortunately going to be some disappointed prospective beekeepers.
Varroa treatments and winter feeding now completed it is time to protect our hives for overwintering. Mouse guards and anti-woodpecker protection are essential.
September has been busy but fun, I have met lots of lovely people. So in order to report back fairly I am keeping 2 of this months reports back for the next newsletter
It all started on the 11th September with Welwyn Group. I had missed one of their earlier apiary visits and wanted to be sure that I got a site visit in before everything moved indoors. Obviously nothing is straight forward and their meet coincided with our meet, which I was hosting so it was to be a full on Bee Day.
When I arrived at the Apiary site I was happy to see more idylls of the Hertfordshire countryside. Beyond the gate was a lush paddock with the farmhouse and out buildings bordering on two sides. Despite the shiny new gate there was the feel of a Victorian farm as a wide variety of of domestic fowl were running around doing their thing - Geese, Ducks, and a whole host of chickens. Peter was there ready and waiting with all his Bee paraphernalia neatly boxed up in his boot and a warm welcoming smile.
I don’t know why but I had this notion that Peter had done all the exams to become a Bee Inspector and hadn’t been keeping bees for more than 10 years because he looks so young. Don’t ask me where I got this idea from - it just came to me in my meeting him previously. Any way you could have knocked me down with a feather when he told me he’d been keeping Bees for over 25years! Gob smacked I was and still am.
Due to the weather forecast and the grumbling weather - dull overcast and a tad damp - not many of the local group had turned out to see Peter do what may well be his last inspection of the season.
The objective of the meeting was to ascertain the food stores for each of the hives, remove Queen Excluders where appropriate and to ensure that the Bees were ready for winter. Having already been treated for Varroa with thymol it was just a question of checking the brood levels and the feeding as required. Having left them with additional honey stores this year to see how they fared and of the 7 hives we inspected 3 required feeding. A young visitor popped by with his Mum to check out exactly what goes on at an Apiary visit and both were provided with veils so that they could get a closer look.
Others in the group already had their wood pecker protection sorted and were ready for Winter.
Welwyn is a strong group with over 60 members and have 2 Apiary sites with a third having been offered. Earlier this year the administration of the group was redefined and has enabled the group to work more cohesively and has strengthened their operations and given them a greater sense of organisation and direction.
Top tip from Peter - clean your tools in soda crystals - flipping brilliant it really does work!
The Capel Manor open day is co located with the City Farms event which draws in people from all over London and SE Herts. It is an event supported this year in whole by SE Herts. Honey was for sale, course information available, a colouring station and an Observation Hive - complete with wasps. The latter with the wasp inclusion was a big attraction for the children in attendance, they thoroughly enjoyed that whole bee on wasp action, which seemed to be very long lasting.
In support of SE Herts I hauled over my extractor and a couple of supers which weren’t all ready and had fun doing demos with children of all ages dipping their fingers and getting truly sticky. At 2.15 I had to leave to get to the next .....
As we all know the siting of our Hives is a key consideration at the planning stage. Well South West Herts were in the right place when it came to Apiary sites back in the day.
I pulled into Croxley Green to discover that they had a wonderful Steam Fair on the Green. Nestled in a walled garden gathered a group of folk beneath the shade of the trees in the dappled sunlight with a kettle on a gaz stove. Robin the Chair introduced me and we were away inspections ahoy, split into 2 groups.
A group apiary site with 2 divisional hives which has been within there since the group started. While watching and listening to the advice being given by Frank’s mentor Brian. I learnt that the man I was speaking to was SW Herts Presidential representative, and what an interesting man Brian is with a family steeped in Bee Keeping, he is the 5th/6th generation to keep Bees with over 50 hives. To hear someone make reference to ordering jars by the pallet and sugar by the ton for personal use was an eye opening notion. I look forward to catching up with him again for my legacy book.
New members to the group benefit from the mentoring system they operate, this is a pattern that has emerged throughout the county Apiaries. Potential Bee Keepers were in attendance and enjoyed the experience immensely. Secretary Diane was the holder of the Apistan strips which were ordered as a division and then members could buy at the price of £5.00 per hive, a brilliant system I thought. This results in the site all having the same treatment which can be changed year on year according to the results -simple, effective and intelligent.
I had such a good time, I am going back!
THANK YOU to everyone for their hospitality and warm welcome.
Next Month......
Later that week I stopped by Buzzworks and met with Robin and his team. Now I have to say that a year ago I had no real idea who or what Buzzworks was or is, but when I was informed by a fellow BSBKA member I became intrigued to learn more. So in my capacity as Honorary President I had perfect excuse for a nose around.
Brilliant blue skies welcomed Suzy Perkins, the Honey Show Judge, and I to the Barnet Honey Show. Barnet is the largest of the divisions with 100+members a fact reflected in the entries to the show - 47 honeys and a full selection of bakes, wax and mead.
by Paul Cooper
As editor of Herts Bees I get to attend the HBKA Exec meetings as an observer. So what follows is not a formal record of the meeting (for that you should speak to your divisional representatives) but just some key points that I noted that may be of interest to a wider readership.
It was reported that urban bees this year have produced a good honey yield; rural bees less so.
"More beekeepers means more swarms. This gives beekeepers a tarnished image". If this is correct then as responsible beekeepers we must have better communications with our neighbours to inform them of this natural process.
As the awareness of beekeeping increases amongst the general public, so local councils are keen to offer their sites (such as allotments) to local beekeepers. However, most of us have back-garden apiaries or communal apiaries and therefore there is not much uptake of these offers. Hives on allotments could be prone to vandalism or be of concern to allotment holders. It was suggested that the National Farmers Union could be approached as farms hosting an apiary can help local farmers with funding.
Small hive beetle has been found in Hawaii so no more importing of Hawaiian bees.
Spraying has commenced in some areas for the Oak Processionary Moth. Contact your local authority for details.
The Little Allotment Company is interested in bees, along with pigs, ducks and hens on allotments. Visit their website for more details. You can advertise honey sales at your apiary at the Urban Honey Collective for £4 per year. Or you can advertise for free if you live in Hertfordshire by emailing me.
There are 358 recorded members of HBKA. But as each of the eight divisions has quite a few members that have slipped through the net and are not recorded on the BBKA register, it is therefore estimated that there are over 400 members in HBKA. We have pretty much doubled in size over the past few years.
Please update the BKA (Editor: and the HBKA) website for details of your local swarm officer.
Bee Craft magazine is available at discount if taken as part of the group membership. Contact your local secretary for details.
Membership fees are due on 1st April and 1st September. Can the late payers please contact David Brown. Also, please complete your Gift Aid forms if not already done so.
HBKA has received some very generous donations over the past few months so a Donations button has been added to the website incase anyone wishes to make further donations in the future.
The recent thefts from the St Albans apiary led to some prevention suggestions, e.g. screwing down the base to the frame and branding or giving a distinctive mark to the hive parts. See last month's newsletter.
Bee World went extremely well at the County Show. At the date of the Exec meeting the Capel Manor event was still to happen. The next division on the rota would determine what would be done next year.
EARS - Beekeepers in East Anglia today are buzzing with excitement, as a £100,000 bee research project gets underway. Public appreciation for the plight of honey bees has never been higher. Pollination contributes £165,000,000 to the agroeconomy, yet beekeepers report up to a third of their colonies have died in each of the last two years. Member associations of The East Anglian Bee Forum decided to do something for themselves and have obtained funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to investigate the interaction of honey bees and varroa – a parasitic mite implicated in significant UK bee loss. The beekeepers from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, West Norfolk, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Essex and Suffolk have committed some £16,000 over four years to support a PhD research studentship at Sheffield University, with the balance of £100,000 from BBSRC. Hertfordshire BKA has been approached to provide sponsorship.
Hertfordshire Beekeepers Association has created a new division covering Hertford & Ware. Dr Michael Cook is the chairman of the new division and he can be contacted at eismcook@aol.com or on ☏ 01992 423092.
The 79th National Honey Show, the U.K’s ‘gold standard’ honey show, is just weeks away. It will be held in Weybridge, Surrey from 28th to 30th October. There are almost 250 classes and beekeepers come from all over the world to enter so it is truly an international show. Why not book a ticket now to see the best of the best?
Apart from the world class honey show there will be a full programme of workshops and lectures throughout the event and a wide selection of trade stands with lots of equipment and books to buy. Speakers include Kim Flottum, Editor of Bee Culture, from U.S.A. and Dr Mark Goodwin whose research team carries out most of the honey bee research in New Zealand. Workshops (which should be booked in advance by 23rd October) cover a wide range of subjects including wax modelling, skep making and tips on passing the BBKA Basic Exam. You can see the line-up and download the show schedule on the NHS website www.honeyshow.co.uk Advance tickets are available now.
You can become a member of the National Honey Show for £10 (or £11 via PayPal) and then entry for the duration of the show is free. Admission for non-members is £12 per day. Accompanied children of 16 years and under are free and additional family members over 16 years living at the same address can come in for £5 each. On Saturday admission for non-members after 12 noon is £5. You can join by contacting the membership secretary, Mrs Sandra Rickwood, 19 Kenwood Drive, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, KT12 5AU. Alternatively, email srhoneyshow@googlemail.com or telephone 020 33 55 8716 and leave a message. You can also pay on the door but it is better to get an advance ticket and avoid the queue. A programme and show schedule is available on request.
The official closing date for show entries is 1st October but late entries will be accepted until 22nd October on payment of a £5 late entry fee.
Exhibitors delivering personally to the show must bring their entries on Wednesday 27th October between 2.30pm and 6pm. You hand them over to a steward who will stage them for you. You could use a courier or post to The National Honey Show, c/o “Facilities”, St George’s College, Addlestone, Weybridge, KT15 2QS. Postal entries must arrive at St Georges College after 20th October and before noon on 27th October. Why not persuade one member of your association to bring all the entries from your association to the show? You could split the fuel costs. Don’t forget someone will also need to collect them at 4.30pm on Saturday 31st October, immediately after the show closes. Thornes have, once again, kindly agreed to take exhibits to the show on your behalf. You can drop your entries at Wragby by Monday 25th October or at Windsor or Stockbridge by Friday 22nd October. Jeremy Burbidge of Northern Bee Books has kindly offered the same facility to anyone who can deliver to him. (By Monday 25th October and please call him before you visit.) Scout Bottom Farm, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire HX7 5JS (01422 882751 – jeremy@recordermail.demon.co.uk)
The show is at St Georges College, Woburn Hill, Addlestone, Weybridge, Surrey, KT15 2QS
Opening times: Thursday 28th October 1.45pm to 6pm Friday 29th October 9.00am to 6pm Saturday 30st October 9.00am to 4.30pm
By road: from junction 11 of the M25 (marked Chertsey) follow signs to Weybridge. At the roundabout, take the third exit, A317 to Weybridge. Turn left at the next roundabout into the college.
By rail: Trains leave from Waterloo station to Weybridge. Then, either take a taxi or a connecting train to Addlestone – the college is ten minutes walk from the station. Please make sure in advance that there is a suitable connection. www.nationalrail.co.uk or 08457 48 49 50.
Public transport advice: www.traveline.info or 0871 200 22 33
The show programme, which is available on request, (see above), includes maps and directions. See you there!
As we approach the end of the summer season the National Bee Unit has created an advisory document called 'Preparing honeybee colonies for winter' (click to view). We hope that this is of use to you as a beekeeper and the document will also be available on BeeBase for future reference. Please send us your comments as feedback is most welcome.
Kind regards, National Bee Unit
Many apologies to those beekeepers who already received this email in June. If you have completed the Husbandry Survey for 2010 many thanks for doing so and please do not re-complete. We are once again conducting a national survey to obtain information on current honey bee husbandry practices and would be very grateful if you could take 10 minutes to complete it. The survey will be of great value to beekeeping in the UK. All answers are strictly confidential and will be used only for the purposes of this study. The survey can be found here:
https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/surveys/husbandry2010/survey.cfm
It can also be found in the 'Recent News' section on BeeBase: www.nationalbeeunit.com. Please note, however, if you use Google Chrome as your internet browser that the survey may not load properly and you may need to switch to a different browser to be able to successfully submit it.
Kind regards,
National Bee Unit
by David Wootton
I was aided in writing the book by my mentors, a husband and wife with 30 years experience of bee keeping. The book is published 15th October and is being printed to the highest standards on 170gsm high grade white satin paper. Printed in the UK the quality is superb with the images really standing out on this paper.
I am self marketing the book and you are able to view pages from the book on the website www.beekeeping-book.com.
The website give full details on the book, enabling the viewing of the first 22 pages and enables viewers to order the book online.
I hope that you find the book of interest and will be willing to pass information re the book and the website to your association bee course tutors and prospective new bee keeping members.
Welcome to Herts Bees after a summer break. This newsletter is long overdue but hopefully worth the wait.
How should I summarise the summer? It was late (frosts in May), a good honey flow in June/July, cold & wet in August (again) and a good year for all insects including bees, wasps and earwigs! I hope you had a successful beekeeping season and are well into your winter preparations of treatment and feeding.
It was disappointing to hear of the hive thefts in St Albans. The measures some people will go to!
Capel Manor is happening on 18th September. Please go along and support South East Herts who will be putting on the show.
Finally the way that articles are submitted will be changed to ensure a more timely publication in Herts Bees. Articles should appear within a day or so of submission. A monthly summary will still be circulated.
Paul Cooper
15th October 2010 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall.
Speaker will be Emma Wright of Rothamsted. After the refreshment break it is proposed to have a review of the beekeeping season with a question and answer session. These are always lively discussions and with so much knowledge amongst our membership - there is a lot to be learned by us all.
26th November 2010 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our Honey Tasting Show and Social.
4th February 2011 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our AGM.
During the summer months our Saturday afternoon sessions at Prae Wood Apiary have welcomed many interested visitors. Some have made it a one visit only, realizing the commitment needed, but quite a few have found it so fascinating that they wish to learn more. They have put their names on the waiting list for our beginners course (Feb/March/April 2011) in the full knowledge that we are over-subscribed but that they may be lucky when the time comes to book themselves on the course.
Apiary visits are now ended until next Spring.
It is gratifying for the committee that all our hard work over the past few years is now paying off. Declining membership over the last twenty years meant that about eight years ago we were down to 23 members. At this point the momentous decision was taken to actively encourage new members. Richard Peterson focused us on the possibility of doing a course and the committee decided to run with it.
A Beginners Course was put together by Eileen Remnant and all the committee were encouraged to learn to become tutors. We applied for a Lottery Grant and purchased a projector and laptop. David Brown arranged for us all to have instruction in creating Powerpoint presentations which was a steep learning curve for most of us.
Over the years we have perfected our technique, learned much and are still learning, moved with the times and embraced all that has been thrown at us. Our 'Hives for All' scheme, again made possible by a grant, gives our beginners a hive and Nuc of bees for their first year at our apiary, plus a mentor. All members on this scheme have gone on to purchase their hive and colony from us at the end of the year (we then have the funds to replace these items for our next intake the following year).
By encouraging our early beginners to become tutors and very importantly 'mentors' at our apiary sites for our beginners in their first year of beekeeping we have produced an amazing group of younger members with loads of enthusiasm and new ideas.
And now we are proud to announce our membership has reached 80 and still climbing. Granted the BBKA initiative and media coverage has been a real Pandora's Box but without the dedication of the committee past and present we wouldn't be in this healthy position.
We now have a vibrant, growing association - so a big thank you to everyone who has made this possible.
Varroa treatments are now in place at our apiary sites and winter feeding will commence shortly. Reminders regarding this and woodpecker guards will be posted on the St Albans BKA 'blog' in due course.
August has been an interesting and busy month. In the middle weeks of the month I heard about two swarms which were collected in the Oxhey area, and another one collected by Diane Bruce which was a "starvation swarm". When I heard this I did not know what this was so Lindsay Bruce kindly explained to me (and I apologise to the readers who already know this) that bees will swarm at this time of year if there is not enough food in the hive. They take the queen with them and go in search of a location where they can find more food!
Once again there were two good apiary meetings this month. At our most recent meeting a fast clearer was put on one of the Association hives and, after half a day, three supers of honey were taken off. Some of this honey will be given to Croxley House by way of payment for use of their grounds, and hopefully the rest will be made available for new members to purchase.
The most recent meeting was at Tony and Pat O'Conner's house. It was a good meeting with 26 people present and plenty of cakes and tea!
Next Apiary Visit - Saturday 11th September.
What will you see - 5 Hives all of which have done OK, have tried artificial swarms and just recently have been trying out no sugar syrup - just honey stores, but it is time to reduce them down and get them ready for winter - even though 4 of the 5 are rammed to the rafters with Bees and food!
In addition to the Hive inspection we will also be having a honey tasting so be sure to bring along a jar of yours to share with the rest of the group - the range of flavours was amazing last year, obviously followed by Tea and Cake!
So that I can get my baking started and dust down me best china, I'd be most grateful if you could let me know if you will be coming - tel: 01920 463645, email: janemoseley1@gmail.com
David Massey and John Brooksbank held a very interesting open day at their apiary in Charlton on Saturday 17th August. The Charlton site is on waterworks land and has been used by N. Herts beekeepers since 1943. There are plenty of trees and shrubs and surrounding fields supply extra forage, the only drawback being the occasional need for the waterworks to flush out their pipes which causes the site to flood. David and John were well prepared, with a shelter in case of rain and even a toilet tent! Tea was made and cakes eaten. It was a pity that apart from David and John's families only two of us turned up. The date was on the calendar part of HertsBees website, but perhaps the lack of a July newsletter or perhaps just August holidays prevented more people coming along. So here are some photos to show what you missed.
John makes his own foundation. If you look carefully you can see the newspaper he uses instead of wires to strengthen it.
John's homemade smoker
First indoor winter meeting:
October 19th at 7.30pm at Howgills, South View, Letchworth.
3rd October - Another chance to talk about bees and sell honey at Codicote Garden Centre.
The HBKA will stop sending Divisions printed copies of Newsletters in 2011, but will continue sending it out by e-mail. This will increase divisional costs which for us will mean an increase in subscriptions for 2011. The committee propose to increase subscriptions to cover the increased costs, and give those who receive the Newsletter by e-mail a discount. All this will need to be decided at the next AGM.
The beekeeping season is nearly finished for 2010. Just the last of the honey extraction to be done and the storing of empty supers protected from the dreaded wax moths, ( frost will kill all stages of wax moth). And any feeding necessary should be completed by the end of the month. And most importantly Varroa control.
At the association apiary meeting on Sunday 5th. September we took three well filled supers off, and Tom Dawson kindly took them away to extract the honey - thanks Toms. We put the Varroa treatment on the one hive and straighted up another that had been taken over by a swarm. Roy Cropley marked and clipped the swarm Queen, but they will need about 6-Killogrammes of sugar in syrup form to ensure they get through winter.
We have a couple of events coming up which need some attention.
1. Saturday 18th. September 2010 : -
SE Herts will be heading up a show at Capel Manor with help from the Bishops Stortford Division and we aim to put on the following stalls.
At the moment I don't know at what time we can start setting up on the Friday afternoon, however we can get on to site at 8.00am on the Saturday. The Show will be open to the Public from 10.00am till 5.00pm on Saturday.
We will need some volunteers to man the stalls ! - Please let me know if and what time you can give - please don't just turn up on the day - it make me look a right twitt when one minute there is no-one around and the next minute those who have volunteered for a slot are swamped with casual helpers.
Please let me know on 01992 624639 If and what times you can do - I can then make out a rotor.
2. Saturday 9th. October 2010 : -
Possibly the most enjoyable event in our calendar. Daphne Rooke who has headed up the groups who have done the catering for many years, has decided that "enough is enough", and it's time for someone else to take over, (I know exactly how she feels).
So we need a volunteer to head up a catering group, and volunteers to help out. Daphne has indicated that she is prepared to give all advice necessary to her successor.
So members, members partners, and members children. get it all for FREE ! Visitors will be charged £5.00 per head.
Please let my know what help you can give!
by Jane Moseley
....and all for 12 Jars of Honey
Following Christine’s clear instruction the Apiary was found nestled in woodland minutes from the City Centre. As the traffic roared past, an air of calm descended as everyone gathered in the late afternoon sun. We congregated in a semi circle, surrounded by beautiful trees with lush green grass beneath our feet and all eyes focused on Eileen who was opening the meeting with a talk about Varroa. The presentation was packed with information and resources were distributed as reference items with encouragement to access them on line rather than wasting association resources on printing. One of the Key issues raised was that of co-ordinating the Varroa treatment within the apiary so that all Hives were treated at the same time, something that was unanimously agreed.
St Albans Prae Wood Apiary has been on the existing site since offered by the Gorhambury Estate for a 12 jars of honey a year, which still standstoday. The apiary is protected by trees and there is a small clearing where the Hives are situated but is now almost at capacity. A second site has been acquired which expands their offering to both new & existing members, which is key as this chapter grows year on year.
Although some members keep their colonies off site, new members are encouraged to take part in the Hire a Hive scheme that St Albans offer,which supports new members with a Mentor and the opportunity to buy the colony after your first year, which definitely seems to be working for everyone.
One of the concerns raised before tea & cake was circulated, was theft. This appears to be a growing problem and it was suggested that the Hives be branded so that another BeeKeeper would know that they were being sold stolen goods. An ongoing debate for their recently launched website which appears to be going well and being used by the members.
As the homemade scones, ginger cake and other yummies appeared miraculously from their on site hut along with steaming cups of tea the meeting dissolved into groups chatting about their personal Hive concerns, before drifting offto attend their particular Hives. From the road it looked as though a top secret experiment was taking place.
A thoroughly enjoyable and informative afternoon. Thank you for your hospitality and warm welcome
Apologies to West Herts & Welwyn - due to unforeseen circumstances I was unable to attend your meetings BUT I will be coming soon!
August is a funny old month, people on holiday, awareness of the changing seasons as summer draws to a close. As honorary President I have failed in getting to see as many groups as I had hoped this month due to personal commitments, that said September is already packed with dates in the diary for meetings I hope to attend.
I did manage to get along to the Hatfield Country Show, where Welwyn Beekeepers were spreading the word and selling their wares. While there I managed to have a chat with Peter Fogle, their Chair, about how the group is now flourishing and they have applied a clear structure to their group which now has nearly 60 members. Having a clear structure to their branch has been the making of the group in Peter's view and they have just been invited to take on a second Apiary site.
Interestingly I noted that Welwyn are selling their honey for £4.50 per lb, I think this is marvellous and is the rate that we should all be charging. I don't know if anyone from the county has entered the Honey Show, if so do please let me know as I'd love to check it out when attending the event in October.If you have Good Luck with your entry.
Sorry it's short this month but am sure that you are all too busy with Varroa treatments, holidays and the like to be reading this from me.
There have been an increasing number of hive thefts this year. The St Albans group lost two complete hives in August from their Prae Wood apairy and as a consequence have moved all remaining hives to the St Albans group's other site. This was clearly not a random theft as both hives were full of bees and must have been stolen by someone that knows how to handle bees. The police have been informed.
One way to discourage theft of hive parts is to personalise them as Inga Armstrong has done with a rather interesting design. The technique is called pyrography and if anyone is interested then contact Inga via the St Albans group.
by Derek Driver
Recently at a dinner, the lady next to me mentioned that she belonged to the W.I and her group had bought a new hive for one of their members. Intrigued, I asked, how many colonies did the recipient have? The reply was, none. I then said, oh, she’s going on a beekeeping course? No, was the reply. Now I was puzzled, so I then asked why did the W.I. buy her anew beehive? Back came the reply, to help the bees of course!! This set me thinking as over the last few years there have been reports of individuals and small groups receiving cash ranging from hundreds to thousands of pounds, “to help the bees”! I was reminded of when I was twenty and in the civil service. (Not for long) There were individuals who with Machiavellian delight would write wonderful eloquent reports on major schemes / projects, ticking all the political correct boxes, including of course "education, education, education" thus persuading the finance department to fund these projects, none of which these individuals believed in. Surely all funds gained by members, should be sent to BBKA, to be totally spent on research for the benefit of every beekeeper in Britain and not just be used for the benefit of the few, who know how to tick all the correct boxes ?
by Peter Mathews
These bees, which were first reported in the New Forest in 2001, seem to be increasing numbers in a big way. They favour settling in elevated locations like trees as their name would suggest. Last year Welwyn had a dozen or so calls from people with bees in their bird box. These were identified as the tree bumble bee. From some of the calls, you would think it was our fault that they had bees rather that blue tits.
Tree bumble bees are readily identified by the 'ginger' patch behind the head and white tail. Many web sites are out of date and give them scant mention. The BBC Gardeners' World site doesn't mention them at all, whilst others describe them as rare.
So far this year they have been the most common bumble bee reported. Admittedly, we only get reports of bees that are in obvious places. The tally of 'bees in soffits' reported in the Welwyn area so far this year is estimated at over 60 calls. I have fielded 11 in one day. All appear to be tree bumble bees. Members are reminded that they should not get involved. Removing the colony would almost certainly involve some building work such as lifting tiles. You are uninsured and are at risk! Any damage caused would be your responsibility.
by Peter Mathews
You should have received your 2010/11 membership card together with the June "BBKA News". If you have "BBKA News" and no card, you probably tossed it in the bin with the letter and envelope! If you have neither then contact your branch Membership Secretary who will chase this up for you. If you are a recent member, then your membership may well be 'in the system'. With so many new beekeepers everyone is struggling to keep records up to date. [Note - BBKA registration is not included if you have only local, or social membership]. Keep your card in a safe place as you will need it for BBKA web access, discount from Stoneleigh, Booker etc. More importantly you will need it should you have to claim on your insurance. Do not lose it ! [ You know who I'm talking about !]
As editor of Hert Bees I receive some interesting requests from members of the public. I recently received an email from Paul Hickling who now lives in Spain. Paul writes:
I used to have a house in Albury many moons ago and a menswear shop in Bishop's Stortford (Donald Hickling) and have lived in Spain since I left Albury in 1977 where I have a restaurant (www.romanoasismanilva.com). I wonder if you could give me some advice. We have a large bees nest above one of our doors that has been there a couple of months and I don't know what to do with it. Needless to say I can't get any information here. Questions: if I just leave it will they eventually go away? Can I take some honey and if so, how? Whilst we can use another door to get in the house it is inconvenient but in no way do I want to hurt them. If you can help me I would be most grateful.
I gave them some advice about smoking them, being extremely well protected and the possibility of taking some honey but when he sent the picture (top-right) I advised seeking the help of an expert as the bees seemed well established. The next email from him contained a picture of an improvised bee suit and his thanks for helping him obtain some wonderful honey for his breakfast. The suit is made from a ski suit & gloves, some wide-brimmed hats, nylon netting and lots of sticky tape.
If anyone is going on holiday to Malaga then I'm sure Paul Hickling would welcome a fellow "beekeeper" into his restaurant.
Bees are fed a substitute for nectar which is made by mixing and dissolving white sugar in hot water. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved. For autumn feeding mix one kilo of sugar with half a litre of water (2lbs:1Pint). For spring and summer feeding mix one kilo of sugar with one litre of water (1lb:1 Pint). The Winter feed requires a higher ratio of sugar to water. If winter feeds have too high a water content the bees might not be able to dehydrate it enough to prevent fermentation before winter sets in. Another way to feed in the winter months it to use baker's fondant (the soft icing on cakes) as this won't ferment and the bees can eat it straight away. Never use unrefined or brown sugar as this causes dysentery in the bees. There is no evidence that refined beet sugar is any better or worse than refined cane sugar. Sugar syrup has no smell to the bees, so add a little honey to make it more attractive and give it an aroma. A honey and water mixture can also be used as feed but be careful the honey you use is from a known and trusted source or you could infect your bees with foul brood or nosema spoors. Liquid feed is given to the bees in containers placed above the brood box from which the bees can help themselves. Access to the syrup is restricted to prevent the bees from falling in and drowning. Never put an open container of syrup in a hive or you will lose hundreds of bees. Most beekeepers use purpose made containers made of plastic and holding approximately one litre (2Pints) of syrup.Ensure the bees can’t enter the hive under the roof or you will encourage robbing. The feeders should be put on in the evening when the bees have stopped flying. Doing this allows the initial excitement of the bees to subside over night and reduces the risk of robbing. Reduce the entrance size to allow the bees an advantage when fending off robbers. Also, be careful not to spill syrup around the outside of the hive. Remember, pure sugar syrup has no smell and it is possible that bees will ignore the food just above their heads. To avoid this problem either dribble a little syrup into the brood to provide a trail to the feed or add honey or do both!
We are getting closer to that time of year when we feed our bees. It may still be a little way off, but thinking ahead can save you money on sugar. One of the benefits of BBKA membership is that we qualify for membership of Bookers Wholesale Stores [N.B. you will need to show your BBKA membershipcard!]. Bookers are far cheaper than the supermarkets. The downside is that they don't have a branch in every town. There are branches in Watford, Tottenham and Luton. If you leave things to the last minute, you end up either making a special journey, else going to Sainsburys etc. Plan now, and drop in when next passing that way.
For members with only a couple of hives, trekking over to Bookers may not beworth the petrol. Pound Stretchers are currently selling sugar at 59p/kilobag - this compares with about 97p in the average supermarket and may be abetter alternative. This is a special offer and price may go back to the previous price of 69p/kilo.
Bishops Stortford news by Jane Moseley (July 2010)
Top Bar Hives & Friendly Bees
Another beautiful sunny afternoon spent with 22 members of the BSBKA group and an interesting afternoon it proved to be. A big thank you to Paul and Julie Cooper for hosting the meeting and supplying us with never ending pots of tea and a wonderful selection of homemade cakes, including some made from their own honey.
We welcomed Carol & Steve Rogers to the group as new members, who have yet to get their Bees but like so many are avidly absorbing as much information as possible before they arrive.
Paul has 4 Hives, 3 of which are located on the edge of farmland in a neighbour’s field and one in his back garden. As a large group it was deemed that we stay in the garden a look at those there, Paul wanted to see how much had been capped and demonstrate how to remove laden frames from the hive with minimal excitement.
Before we got to see them he unveiled his Top Bar Hive which Paul had made this spring. Although it was without Bees at the time it was a great opportunity to see this up close and personal, hear about the problems he had encountered using this type of hive. Having adapted plans from the internet the Bees had rejected the new hive for reasons he could only summise.
Prior to doing an artificial swarm with his ‘nice’ bees each of the Top Bars had been loaded with a strip of starter wax. This was done by melting a strip of foundation into the channel routed into the bar. One of the bars had been given a section of drawn comb to encourage the Bees to follow suit. Two artificial swarms have been attempted in this so far, the first was done just before the frost snap in May and unfortunately the space was too large and they died as a result of the cold snap. A second attempt was made with another artificial swarm and they drew one comb and then decided that it wasn’t for them and departed.
On inspection of the comb that had been left one thing was very clear to all of us, the cells that they had drawn were much larger than those on the imprinted foundation we all use! Why this would be? The primary notion, recorded on the web, being that these bigger cells help the Bees in their management of varroa, but beyond that we were all in awe. Paul had been toying with the idea of a Top Bar for a while and having now made one he will not be thwarted by its’ lack of success and has learnt so much by his first attempt that he will continue to get it right. Deemed a more natural form of Bee Keeping the Top Bar Hive is, for those who don’t know, a style of hive used in developing countries as it is a simple form of beekeeping. Honey taken is from the outer frames, pressed or used as cut comb, which is a premium product for many.
Problems encountered and questioned include the following - warping of the top bars, which Paul thinks is due to the quality of timber bought from the local DIY store, levels of insulation using the recommended ply density which Paul agreed should probably be greater based on previous experience. We discussed the pros and cons of Top Bar Hives and ultimately we found the whole thing to be VERY interesting.
We moved on to Paul’s WBC which housed a deep national and one of his favorite Queens, highly productive and importantly, as located in the garden - good natured. Unfortunately Paul had had an incident with an aggressive colony resulting in a family member being stung. So they had to go through Queen replacement, and what a lovely Queen she is too - a beautiful long golden body and a yellow bindi.
Although some frames were capped not as many were as ready as Paul had hoped within the 2 supers. The brood chamber was text book, with beautiful brood pattern, pollen, nectar and capped honey. This was an informative and exercise as so many new Bee Keepers were in attendance, brushing the bees off and removal of the laden frames was all shown so that everyone had the opportunity to learn.
We were fortunate that Stan, one of the groups founding members was with us and shared his knowledge and experience with us. He was pleased to see a thriving group and that Bee Keeping was on the up in the area. Malcolm high also joined us for the meeting and it was a pleasure to welcome him.
Meeting – held at Prae Wood Apiary
Saturday 10th July 2010 at 3.00pm
The last apiary members meeting of the season and on the topic ‘Current varroa treatments’ by Eileen Remnant was very well attended. Members, beginner beekeepers and visitors all enjoyed a very informative talk and discussion. The following is a synopsis of the talk.
Apiary visits
We are still welcoming visitors to our Saturday afternoon sessions and it was good to see Jane Moseley and a beginner beekeeper Ken from Bishops Stortford attending our meeting on the 10th July. Jane came as 2010 President of Herts BKA and says she is enjoying visiting all the divisions and nosing around the apiaries.
St Albans BKA ‘Meet the Public’ events in 2010
Our last event of the season will be at the Earthworks Open Day - Sunday September 5th (Hixbury Lane, St Albans). Co-ordinated by Eileen Remnant. Volunteers very welcome.
Winter meetings
15th October 2010 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall.
Speaker will be Emma Wright of Rothamsted.
26th November 2010 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our Honey Tasting Show and Social.
4th February 2011 at 8.00pm at Chiswell Green United Reformed Church Hall is our AGM.
Out Apiary sites
We have recently received offers of out apiary sites in Redbourn and Flamstead. We have a list of possible sites so any members looking for new locations for their hives may like to contact committee members:-
Robin Moore on 01582 762508 robin@honey4u.plus.com
or David Brown at 01582 715575 dabrown@globalnet.co.uk
Great Amwell Scout Group at the Ware CarnivalAnother Balmy Summer Afternoon
......saw us all convene chez Dennis Osbourne. A fine strong group of Bee Keepers gathered in the garden before making our way to the Orchard where Dennis keeps 3 of his 5 Hives. On entering it was a case of choose your spot n get your gear on, much to the amusement of the residents of the house opposite, ready to inspect the Bees.
The first colony was the result of an artificial swarm that was done in June. It was as a small colony. Dennis saw her emerge from her cell at the beginning of July and so he was keeping a close eye on her build up. Although not seen there were signs of expansion plenty of packed brood stores et al
Hive two was again on the build and was doing OK and this is where Dennis gave an introductory talk about feeding and Varroa. A demonstration of the equipment was given and quantities of sugar needed for feeding in the build up to winter. We were also given an insight into the Varroa treatment he will be using this year - Apiguard pre-sealed and easy to apply.
Hive 3 was doing well and had 2 supers on which were capped and ready to go. Yum! Our non Bee Bee Keepers (does that make sense apart from in my head?) were able to get an idea of the weight of a frame of food again to get a sense of how heavy a super can be.
As we moved into the Brood Chamber it became more hands on, Lesley christened her new gloves and others got a chance to have a good look at what a brood frame should look like and the Queen was spotted.
The wasp catchers were doing their job but there were still plenty hanging around making a nuisance of themselves much to everyone’s annoyance.
Dennis reassembled the hive and we then transformed ourselves to normal looking people and headed back to the house for a cuppa. Another wonderful selection of cakes and steaming teas were ready for us upon our return, where we undertook a survey of training requirements and Harvest Supper attendees.
All in all a wonderful afternoon and a big thank you to Dennis and his wife for hosting this meeting.
After one of the best honey seasons I can ever remember it’s important to get the honey off so that Varroa treatments can begin. But remember, a colony should always have a minimum of 10lbs.. of honey stores at all times and that it is most important that colonies can raise lots of young unparasitized healthy bees to see them through the winter.
Feed until they won’t take any more is a recipe for disaster. Combs full of stores will mean that the Queen won’t have anywhere to lay, and the bees won’t have any empty cells to cluster in at the start of winter. A colony will use about 1Lb of stores per week between the end of October and the beginning of February ((10 to 14 Lbs.). Then brood rearing starts and consumption quickly increases. If necessary candy can be give during February, and syrup in March, after which most bees will be self-sufficient.
SE. Herts will be providing a show at Capel Manor on Saturday 18th. September, together with some help from the Bishops Stortford Division. setting up time will be from 8.00am till 9.45am. the show will open at 10.00am. and close at 5.00pm. It would be nice to see some volunteers other than committee members. If you can help out in any way then please give me a ring. Hive produce for sale would be appreciated. Homey will be sold at £4.00/Lb and £2.50/½Lb.from which a 10% commission will be taken.
July saw three apiary meetings in N. Herts, all well attended and each one different. The first, at Standalone had to be held in the evening after visitors to the farm had left and I'm told that the hives were very quickly looked at and much time was spent enjoying tea.
John and Frank hosted the next meeting in John's orchard. The bees were very well behaved and in one hive we saw how John and Frank had managed to cut out some wild comb from a well established swarm and attach it to frames. The bees were in the process of completing the job by joining up the gaps (see photos)
A delicious tea provided by Miriam and Pauline was enjoyed by all.
At Nortonbury a marathon session of teaching/inspection was led by Peter Folge. We started and 2.30 and, with a break for tea the last hive was closed up at 7.00pm. Some hives were full of honey, some were lacking in stores, some were good and strong, some needed uniting, some were quiet and some pinging off our veils, but by the time we reached the last one which was reputedly the most aggressive we were too tired to worry.
Thanks to Peter we learned a lot.
Next meeting: David Massey's bees at Charlton on August 21st at 2.00pm
Please visit our website www.caddon-hives.co.uk for more details.
For orders of 10 hives or more we can offer a 10% discount plus free delivery to one address.
After many weeks of hard work supplying orders over the beekeeping season, we are at last in a position to announce dates for our 2010 Open Day, Sales Days and Winter Sale.
The first one will be the Sale Day at our Windsor branch - Saturday 9th October.
Then the Sale Day at our Stockbridge branch - Saturday 23rd October
This will be followed by the Wragby Open Day on Saturday 20th November. It will be at our new premises at Rand - now renamed as the Beehive Business Park, Rand, Nr. Wragby, LN8 5NJ
Finally, our online mail order Winter Sale will start on Monday 29th November.
Keep an eye on our website and the beekeeping press for further details.
Just a note about our new premises. Thank you to so many of our customers for their good wishes on our exciting project to move our factory after almost 100 years on the same site. The builders are now knocking down internal walls to make the shop and despatch area and the dust extraction system will start to be installed in a couple of weeks. Then we will start to move, department by department, as quickly as practical.
But, for the moment, we are still at Wragby.
Gill Smith
E.H. Thorne (Beehives) Ltd, Beehive Works, Wragby, Market Rasen, LN8 5LA
Tel 01673 858555 sales@thorne.co.uk
Flaming June and the honey flow is in full swing, the supers are filling up and swarms are happening. Oilseed rape flowers will soon have finished so make sure you get those supers out and spun before the honey sets solid. Don't wait for them to be fully capped as it may be too late. Providing nectar isn't dripping out when shaken they should be ok.
This is a short newsletter this month. I guess many contributors are too busy in the apiary to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.
It seems that the various recent events went very well. Congratulations to St Albans for organising Bee World at the Herts county show. Did anyone attend the Rothamsted open weekend as I'd be interested to know how it went.
A change to the way that this newsletter is distributed was discussed at the recent Exec meeting. It was agreed to phase out central printing and distribution of the newsletter and this will be taken over by the divisions. This will give savings in both time and distribution costs. I would like to personally thank Peter Mathews for many years of printing and distribution of the newsletter for both me and my predecessor, Oonagh Gabriel.
With the swarming season suddenly upon us our new “beeline” seems to be working very well. Helen's good planning and organisation is allowing volunteers from each area to be contacted to collect swarms and those wanting a swarm to receive one, so a big thank you Helen!
Beginners
After Graham and Derrick's indoor beginners meetings, outdoor teaching began at Graham's apiary in April but will from now on be at our Stevenage Garden Centre apiary where there is, so far, one association hive and several others belonging to individual members.
Please meet in the car park at 12.00 on Saturdays.
Apiary meetings
Graham hosted the first of the year (our chairman does keep busy!) and an interesting afternoon was enjoyed by 16 people, with tea and cakes magically appearing from Graham's bus.
Nortonbury clearup was not well attended but thanks go to Dave Mathews and John Nichol and Graham.
Next meeting will be at Andy Johnston's on June 5th followed by PatVeasey's on June19th
Events
The several public events where N. Herts BKA will have a stall are on the calendar but a new one is Stevenage Fun Day on August 22nd in the Town Centre Gardens. Anyone who would like to participate in any of these events will be very welcome either selling honey or talking about bees. It's an experience worth having at least once! Just get in touch with those running the stall or me.
The following should have appeared last month but got lost in the email.
Apologies to North Herts.
Now that our last indoor meeting of the season has passed, a long summer of bees and apiary visits and honey awaits – I hope. All dates will be on the calendar section of the website, but since the last newsletter there are a few new items:
May 15th at 2.00pm Annual clear-up at N. Herts Association apiary at Nortonbury – mainly strimming nettles and chopping down elder. All volunteers welcome.
May 28th at 7.30pm a talk on “Colony Collapse Disorder” at Letchworth Settlement (in Nevells Road, Letchworth). This is one of a series of science lectures and presumably aimed at non-beekeepers. Entry is £5 but free entry is offered to real beekeepers in return for a jar of home produced honey! Contact the Settlement to book your place on 01462 682828
June 5th and 6th. BBC Springwatch is coming to Fairlands Valley Lakes in Stevenage from 12 midday on Saturday 5th June until midday on Sunday 6th. This is linked to something called Bio Blitz and will involve 24 hours of bat watching, bumble bee recording etc. We have been invited to take part. Peter Bracey and Brian Fairey have offered to provide a display of honeybee information, honey for sale and an observation hive, for a few hours each day. As there are likely to be a lot of visitors to this event they would welcome offers of help and need 2 or 3 more people for each day. Please contact Peter or Brian if you can spare an hour or two.
July 3rd at 5.30pm Apiary meeting at Standalone Farm. (Dave Mathews and others) This meeting has to be after the visitors to the farm have left so note unusual time.
July 17th 10am – 3.00pm Earth Day, a new event, in Letchworth town centre. More details later, but again displays of information and volunteers to talk to the public about bees and beekeeping are needed.
I wish everyone a good summer, healthy bees and lots of honey, and hope to see you at some of the events.
WELCOME all our new members. Our membership is now around the 35 mark, which is fantastic and we hope that you enjoy attending the Apiary Visits, which enable you to have a nose into other folks Hives and to get your hands on frames etc which we hope proves to be useful experience before you get your own Hives. For those with Bees it gives you an insight as to what you may or may not want to see in your own Apiary.
As secretary I endeavour to keep you up to date with what's going on where and when, with a mini review of what happened at the last Apiary Visit incase you missed the meeting. If you take pictures at the meeting, please send me a copies and I can include them in the email review.
A Big Thank you to Julia and her husband for hosting the latest Apiary visit.
For those who couldn't make it you missed a great learning experience down at the Allotments and some scrumptious cakes!
Julia has one hive which had a case of the *Vanishing Queen*. Dennis, our Chair, was called in to get to the bottom of what was going on as the Bees had appeared to swarm as they hung off the rear of the hive, but all rehoused themselves quite quickly. There didn't appear to be an issue, as everything seemed to have settled down and eggs were present, on the next inspection. Queen cells were present and Julia was keen that today we would be able to get to the bottom of what was going on.
It seems that the clipped and marked Queen had fled and as a flightless lady she was rendered useless, so yes they had swarmed. Eggs were present but the give away was 2 in a cell - a worker had tried to gain the crown and this was reconfirmed by the number of Drones present. With no brood the only option is to re-queen, but how would we be able to achieve this all in one afternoon, it looked like a delve into Julia's purse to buy a Queen :(
BUT no, the tale has a happy ending as John Palombo, came disguised as a Knight in shining wellies, despite having problems removing them unassisted. He has a Queen cell, with which he had just created a nuc and he offered it to our damsel Julia, who's bees will hopefully no longer be in distress.
After such a close inspection, I think the majority of those in attendance managed to get a good look at what was going on, a cup of tea was much needed. We regrouped back at the Old Police Cottage and were welcomed by 2 super dogs who were very friendly and well behaved and had a good old natter about what was what. Malcolm High from South East Herts came to the meeting and it was so nice to welcome him, so many new members & interested parties to the Apiary visit. Malcolm invited everyone to attend the SE Herts meet which he was hosting the following afternoon. - More on that below.
Dennis & I popped round to have a look at Nigel's Bees, what a great location - babbling brook nice level ground, wind protection from established trees and wide variety of food sources for them locally. His Bees were doing very nicely and we saw both Queens and they were laying well. And here is a pic to prove what a tidy spot he's got - see attached.
Next Apiary Meeting
Our next Apiary Visit was scheduled to be at Alan's but unfortunately as is without Bees at the moment following a disastrous winter and as a consequence the meeting will be either hosted by Sherri or myself on 12th June To be confirmed this week. Obviously I will let you know.
Our membership numbers have increased massively over the last month and as a consequence it would be really helpful to all hosts if you could please let us know if you think you will/won't be coming, we don't want anyone to go without cake, tea or a seat so it just helps if you could let me know by return email, or call the host direct - thank you.
With thanks
The WI have very kindly donated £200 to the Stortford group to help us with our Bee Keeping, how we use those funds has yet to be determined but a letter of thanks has been sent. While in thanking mode, Valerie who used to be our group treasurer and has been BeeKeeping for over ?? years is to have her years of service to BSBKA recognised with a commemorative trophy, presentation will hopefully be at the next meeting. Both Valerie and Stan have a wealth of Bee knowledge and are honorary members of our chapter.
Latest Vanishing Queen Update
Julia re-queened her Hive with that donated by John, so all should be well!
Meetings - all to be held at Prae Wood Apiary
Saturday 19th June 2010 at 3.00pm
For the third members meeting Crispin Baker will explain 'Winter feeding,how and what…'Saturday 10th July 2010 at 3.00pm
The fourth members meeting will be about 'Current varroa treatments' and will be demonstrated by Eileen Remnant.
'BeeWorld 2010'
A very successful Hertfordshire BKA BeeWorld was held at the Herts Show on the weekend of May 29th/30th . It was St Albans turn to host the event and Marian Whittaker did a wonderful job of liaising and pulling everything and everyone together. Thank you Marian.
Assisting us were Welwyn, North Herts and Barnet Divisions and an unending stream of interested people visited the stand in the Horticultural Tent both days keeping all the volunteers very busy. Thank you to all the St Albans members who supported the event and made it the success it undoubtedly was.
St Albans BKA 'Meet the Public' events in 2010
Redbourn Rural Day on Sunday May 23rd on Redbourn Common was a scorching hot day. Fortunately we had our gazebo placed close to the Lime Avenue across the Common nice and cool during the morning but by early afternoon we were in full sun. There were lots of very interested visitors and feed back from the organizers indicate that we were '…a much talked about stand and everybody was delighted to have us there.'
My sincere thanks to my volunteers Sally, Svenja, Marian, Eric, Robin, Mike and Erika and especially to Garri who talked bees and demonstrated the workings of a hive throughout the long hot day. He was a STAR. Oaklands Open Day - Sunday June 13th 10.00 - 4.00 (Smallford Campus, St Albans)
Co-ordinated by Anne Wingate
Harpenden Discovery Day - Saturday June 19th 10.00 - 5.00 (Harpenden Common)
Co-ordinated by Robin Moore
Earthworks Open Day - Sunday September 5th (Hixbury Lane, St Albans)
Co-ordinated by Eileen Remnant