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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” 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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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? |