November&December

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Are you doing this
Just Rambling
Lost & Found
Apimondia
Comment
Help Needed
Attacked by Lions
Odds & Ends
Hartputy College Courses
Christmas Puzzle

 

Are You Doing This?

                                    You should be sitting back and reading a good book.

                 

 Ideas for Christmas presents:

    Everyone should have a copy of Ted Hooper’s “Guide to Bees and Honey.”

   Every family will enjoy a copy of Joyce White’s “Honey in the Kitchen”

JUST RAMBLING

I was interested in Pam's note on Wax Moth. All the summer I have left out 2 hives complete with comb, nominally I called them bait hives, but to confess, I had other things on my mind at the time, not good beekeeping I know. Now, much to my surprise, there was no trace of Wax moth, big or small in the frames with comb, or for that matter in one that had a super.

Two things struck me, firstly the hive had a mesh floor about 30 cm off the ground, and secondly there was at least one large spider in occupation. My observation is that Wax moths do not like "open" situations, preferring the top groove of the top bar, the groove in the side bars and in the debris on a solid floor, and they use the lug groove to pupate, all "hidden" places.

Perhaps another advantage of mesh floors, or an excuse to grow spiders, though I have never seen a spider in a living colony, probably for good reasons. Has anyone tried to winter their empty supers in this way, on an open mesh floor perhaps with the injection of a spider? I suspect the bees would soon clear out any spiders web when they were replaced in the spring.

The latest issue of Bee World is on circulation, a long and detailed article on the pollen & nectar producing characteristics of oil seed rape. The conclusion seemed to be that OS rape was a very useful crop for both the farmer, with increased and more consistent yields, and for the beekeeper with plentiful nectar and pollen. It reports that the quick crystallisation is probably due to the high glucose content of the nectar. It suggests 2 to 4 colonies per hectare. Also mentions a production method where F, hybrids of male and female plants are sown in wide rows and the male plants are mown out after flowering, something I have not seen in this country.

Also a NBU article on the recurrence of EFB in largish apiaries after they had been treated with an antibiotic, leading on to the use of the shook swarm treatment system. A bit of a difficult article to read, and it made me wonder if any observations had been made on the colonies where recurrence had occurred, with particular reference to housekeeping, stocking, and bee type. It would seem to me that a simple record, together perhaps with a note of weather conditions & nectar flow might provide useful data.

Also an article on the giant Himalayan bee and its role in ecotourism in Nepal.

Two interesting articles in the press, the first concerning a bumble bee from the continent, Bombus Hypnorum (Bumblebee of the mosses), seen for the first time in the UK, particularly noticeable by its orange thorax, black abdomen & white tail. If you see one please send details to Dr Goulson, Southampton University.

The second concerns a false spider mite where the creature is exclusively female, caused by a bacterium. The female lays an egg which in its turn is a female and so the species continues, with no need for males, interesting thought for the ladies! It is unique that it only has one set of genes, perhaps a disadvantage as there is no variation possible in the offspring. But it seems to have got on well so far. I wonder if given time laying worker bees could develop like this, no good for us beekeepers though. Would save them the trouble and energy of producing drones!

Compliments of the season to all.

Dick Sadler, 23/10/01

 

LOST & FOUND

John Holden has lost a personal book called “Plants and Bees” which one of the people at a  practical session at his house borrowed and has not yet returned. If you have this book please return it asap.

If you have any library books out please bring them to the AGM and show them to the librarian in case someone else wants a chance to look at them. If for some remote and unavoidable reason you are prevented from attending the AGM, then please could you get in touch with the librarian so that he can do his stock taking—namely John Holden Tel. 01495 311007

Apimondia 2001

There will be some more detailed reports of this event in time but I would just like to make a short remark on how it compared with the Canadian one that we attended two years ago. It was not so well attended I am told, there was a noticeable lack of many from the USA. The trade stands reflected the more down to earth type of bee keeping that I suppose prevails over much of Africa  There were very few (I think I saw two ) suppliers of large scale industrial equipment, in fact not much in the way of suppliers at all. Thornes were noticeable for their little novelties as well as the labelling machine, both of which were very popular. There were no other purveyors of little bits and pieces, only one stand had therapy  products – as in pollen and propolis preparations -  and I had to “order” a piece of foundation which was specially brought in for me the following day.

The talks were very good. There seemed to be more science about than in Vancouver but that may be because we had met some of the scientists. They do have some very specific problems with their cape bee and they have not had varroa for long so there was a lot to discuss.

                                 Bridget

Comment

We had a wonderful holiday in South Africa. Our companions were exemplary, the weather was fantastic, the scenery was stunning, the bees were around and the animals were unbelievable.

I understand that there has been quite a lot of sun here. I have had more complaints from people who have found supers full of honey needing extraction when they wanted to find nice clean supers ready to be stored. The bees were still flying last weekend, they were on my Mahonia in great abundance—collecting pollen, I’m not certain about whether it produces much nectar.

There is considerable discussion going on in various places about breeding bees resistant to varroa. It is now thought that we should not be trying to be too effective at removing ALL the mites, as this prevents the bees establishing any sort of natural selection for those of them with resistance. It is thought by some that we should maintain quite a high rate of infection so that the totally unresistant bees die out in favour of those who can survive. Oh well, let’s wait and see. I think we will have to be a bit cautious on account of all those viruses we keep being told about.

We did actually see some African bees in the Kruger. Les had heard about some research going on there so asked if we could go and talk to the people doing it. The research was actually to establish the density of wild colonies in the park, and also to identify the bee—whether it is Apis mellifera scutellata , which is the one that was taken to America, or not. So we think we have seen the bad-tempered African bee but we are not certain. The bees are very much smaller than ours. I managed to acquire some foundation which I shall give to George and he can let me know, I hope, how much smaller.                                                                                                                   Bridget

HELP NEEDED

 

Mary Walsh of “The Cwm”, Welsh Newton, is desperate for someone to look after a colony of bees for her.

In her orchard there is room for more hives if someone wants a place to keep some.

If you live anywhere near Welsh Newton and think you can help PLEASE would you let her know phone no: 01600 713316

 

Close Encounters

As beekeepers we are often on the receiving end of animal aggression, but while in South Africa Jill Chirnside unfortunately fell victim to an attack by a lion. She managed to staunch the flow of blood and quickly recovered her composure.

Our roaming photographer was not on hand to record the incident but did get a later shot of  Jill in a forgiving mood.

See  photo & click to enlarge

wpe5.jpg (8930 bytes)

Odds & Ends

 

What did I forget to do this autumn? I forgot to take my pliers with me to remove the varroa strips. As a result I had much more difficulty removing them.

 

Take a look at the picture gallery                   Is there a mistake here I ask myself!

 

There are also pictures of the Worcester BKA honey show taken at the Malvern Autumn Show. This included Worcester and (Malvern  and Upton) associations. Between them they put on a splendid display. One lady beekeeper was particularly worried, as I think we all are, about the resistant mites found in Devon.

 

The Apple and Cider Fayre went well at Llancaich Fawr with people interested in our products. There were a number of requests for information of the beginners’ course and also with talking to schools about beekeeping. The Cardiff Morris Dancers put on a splendid show and were most entertaining.  See these pictures and others at www.gbka.org.uk

 

George Kinman returned empty frames to the bees for cleaning after extraction and found, because of the warm September, that they had refilled them. The honey taken was light and has a good taste. We have no idea of the source of the honey, and even at the Honey Show in Kensington there was nobody who could say from what source the honey came.               Graham

 

  Hartpury College Courses

There are a number of short courses being offered at Hartpury ranging from a 5 day introduction to beekeeping course to evening courses for BBKA exams. Also Queen rearing and Improving your honey yield.

If you are interested:

            phone them for a brochure 01452 700283,

look on their website www.hartpury.ac.uk

or         get in touch with me and I will bring the prospectus to the AGM.

Bridget 

 Hidden within this square is a Christmas message for you,of some 29 words or more that can be strung together in variaty of ways. One solution can be found, in the feedback section. (dont Cheat) Can you find more?                           

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