GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
Why not join our discussion group here
|
GBKA Registered Why not join our discussion group here
|
This is a very peculiar year. a)
Check your colonies to make sure they don’t need
feeding. b)
Keep
feeding any nucs. c)
There
is still a chance of swarming but it is remote. Remember: “a
swarm in July isn’t worth a fly.” Janet Dowling, always readable, makes some interesting
comments on the reasons for swarming in a review of a paper in the latest issue
of Beekeepers Quarterly. The experiment essentially was to spray the colony with
an additional dose of queen substance when they appeared about to swarm. This
appeared to delay swarming but did not suppress it completely. The usual reasons
were noted for swarming, colony size, congestion, age of the workers and loss of
queen substance, but interestingly not weather conditions neither short nor long
term with their influence on nectar/pollen supply, which seem to me to play an
important part. To me the important question is who makes the decision
to swarm. Is it the queen or is it the colony as a whole who makes the decision?
If it is the latter then this is an argument to treat the colony as a single
animal with many parts. Professor Ratnieks makes some sweeping comments in a
comparison of Honey Bees and bumble bees. In my view they have very little in
common except that they both rely on Nectar and pollen for their food source. Sometimes I think bees have a mischievous turn of mind.
Various keen gardeners in Monmouth decided to hold an open day, on the basis
that you buy one ticket and it allows entry to all the gardens. But what
happens, the bees, not mine, decide to swarm, and what's more they settle on a
magnolia right in the entrance drive to one of the gardens. With some gardening and beekeeping interests it is
fairly obvious who is called in. Very easy to collect in the usual cardboard
box, hanging nicely with nothing under the branch but with a slightly bigger
audience than usual, though it was not a big swarm. Box inverted behind the
magnolia and picked up later in the evening. Nobody was stung, I think it shows that when bees
decide to swarm they have their mind, single or collective, on one thing only
and ignore these silly humans. Dick Sadler, 26/6/02,
There are work parties going on every Wednesday evening. There is a great deal of work that needs doing to the buildings. Anyone
who is willing to help will be appreciated. Please phone Eric if you can make it: 01633 412617 This is just a
reminder so that it isn’t too much of a shock to us all when it happens. Malawi Beekeepers
When you read the letter from PAM you will find that she is leaving her post as RBI. I am sure you all feel as I do how much we will miss her help and enthusiasm. In September she is going to Malawi with Sue Bentley (a member of GBKA). Sue went to Malawi last year and made contact with some hard working beekeepers who had formed themselves into a co-operative and were producing vast amounts of honey but had nothing to put the honey into, no transport for taking it to market and no money to set anything up. Sue was extremely concerned about their plight which she was sure could be overcome with a small amount of help and advice and has been working on getting this help ever since. The GBKA committee has agreed to finance an annual subscription for Beekeeping for Development for the group. If anyone would like to send a donation towards the trip to help these poor beekeepers I’m sure they would be very grateful. If you want to, write a cheque to ‘Bees Abroad’ and send it to Pam: Pam Gregory, Pentrebwlen, Llandewi Brefi, Tregaron SY25 6PA Since Varroa mites that are resistant to Bayvarol and Apistan were found in this country last year there have been a number of methods devised for testing bee colonies for the presence of pyrethroid resistant varroa mites. The NBU have now issued 3 kits to each association so that members can use them to test their bees. Each kit can be used many times. Graham is going to co-ordinate the movement of the kits, so if you would like to use one please phone him. Tel.no. 01495 762827. He will tell you the location of the kit nearest to you for you to collect. On July 18th at 7.30 John Holden will demonstrate how to use the kit in the apiary. Please come to the demo if you are unsure what to do. There are of course full instructions with the kit, and you can ask the person from whom you collect the kit how THEY did it. Did you notice that
the blackberry was in flower before the end of May? It has coincided with the
elderflower, which is not surprising as they fruit at about the same time but
usually I associate blackberry forage with August. So what will the bees be
foraging in August? There are many thistles about (in my patch) but they seem
likely to be over by then too. And I have noticed a great deal of ragwort
around. On the road verges near Cardiff it is already in flower but round here
it is not so evident yet. Remember it is classified as an injurious weed as it
not only makes ghastly honey but is
poisonous to cattle and horses, so people are urged to uproot it. I gave this
information last year, but in the September newsletter, when we were urged by
the Welsh BKA to destroy any specimens that we came across. So this really is a
peculiar year. I have found quite a few seedlings in my garden even though I
know that I didn’t let any flowers seed within eyesight of my patch last year.
The seeds are light and blown considerable distances in the wind so be on the
lookout. There is now a field
of blue within sight of my bees. I went to investigate and it is not lovage but
flax, or what the farmers call it—linseed. It is very pretty even if not
useful for forage.
Bridget On
Saturday June 22nd Gareth Baker held an open day at his home in Redbrook. He
didn’t let me know until the last minute so I couldn’t let you know, but it
was an event worth going to. Those of you who have been before will know his set
up, but he has recently become a full time beekeeper and has therefore had to
invest in some more streamlined equipment to meet his increased work load. I was
extremely pleased to see him using a method of cutting out complete combs and
melting the comb and honey to cope with rape that has solidified or even is
about to be solidified. After the
experiments that I described last month, which Dick regards as messy (I can’t
contradict him), this was the way to do it. He assured us that the honey never
gets too hot or for too long, and the quality was better than spun honey. There
were murmurs of disagreement about that, but I have heard that spinning honey
does introduce a great deal of air and this can cause deterioration of the
product as significant as over heating. He has a very impressive heated room in
which he can warm a vast amount of honey to make it ready for bottling, and a
very nice filtration system. The
first person I saw on entering the premises was our very own web master! What
was he doing here I thought. Well you know about Wales and extended families? It
turns out that Gerald is Gareth’s uncle. And one of his main workers turns out
to be his mother. Apart
from the honey production which was very interesting, Gareth has somehow
acquired an enormous amount of bee-keeping equipment that was in a museum in
Reading until the owner died. This is piled in a rather (forgive me Gareth)
unpromising heap outside his shed. But if you snoop around, or are shown
what’s there, there are all sorts of ancient bee hives that you have read
about in books that have actually been in use and are there to be played with.
He does hope and intend to get some bees living in some of these gems, but it is
difficult with so much to do. If you like historical pieces then you must
definitely try to go to the next open day.
Bridget You may remember an article about the loss of bee colonies in France over the last five years. This had been blamed on the use of Gaucho, an insecticide incorporated in pelleted sunflower seeds. Sunflowers provide a late crop for French beekeepers and they thought that the insecticide entered the nectar and caused death of the colonies over the winter. The debate has now widened with claims that cheap pesticides are being imported from Spain and used by farmers in Southern France and these are the cause of the demise of the bees. Whatever the cause, French bee keepers are still losing a lot of bees and modern agricultural methods are taking the blame. I wonder if they have spray liaison officers. Spring 2002 My apologies for being so long in sending out this Spring Newsletter. Mainly this has been because of the time taken by the SBI recruitment. At last however, the full Welsh team is decided. There are some changes. Doug Jones, who is already a well known SBI in Cheshire is joining us for the season to help with inspections on the eastern edge of Wales where we have been experiencing some unresolved disease problems. Frank Gellately will be joining us to help John Verran out in East Carmarthen and West Glamorgan. The main reason for this change is that I am leaving the CSL/ NBU at the end of June. John Verran will be taking my place for the present. So, this will be my last newsletter to you. I want to take this opportunity to say how much I have enjoyed collaborating especially with those many enthusiastic associations who have been working hard to promote the craft of beekeeping and especially those who have so constructively used me as a resource. I am sure I will still meet the many friends I have made throughout Wales as I shall still be around and keeping bees. There are already far more areas than I would like to see where the SBIs have found disease outbreaks. It looks as though it could be a bumper year for brood disease with 15 cases of AFB and 8 cases of EFB already confirmed. This includes areas that have been historically relatively free of disease as well as the usual problem areas. Beekeepers should always be vigilant and keep an eye on their colonies but beekeepers in these 10K squares are at particular risk. 10K squares are easily identified from a good quality road map. Beekeepers throughout Wales should ensure their disease insurance is up to date and that they have insured for enough colonies otherwise the insurance may not be valid. Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI) is a wonderful institution but it can't survive without your support and patronage. It only costs a few pounds per year to protect your hives. Insurance may not stop the upset of getting disease but it certainly helps when it comes to the cost of replacing colonies. Don't forget - if in doubt give the Bee Inspector a call. The service is free, expert and there to help you. The following 10K squares are affected with American Foul Brood Spring
2002 Clwyd
Gwynedd
Dyfed
SJ24 Llangollen SH44
Bryncir
SN45 Mydroilyn
SJ36 Hawarden
SH13
Porthoer
SH33
Pwllheli The following 10K squares are
affected with European Foul Brood Spring 2002 Dyfed SN67 Llanilar SJ23
Chirk SN14 Cardigan SN30 Llansaint SN24 Llandigwydd
Pyrethroid
Resistant Varroa Mites The SBIs will be testing colonies where they find significant numbers of varroa during the season. The NBU are also giving out testing kits and instructions to Beekeepers Associations throughout Wales to follow up the demonstrations already done with many associations. If you wish further training contact John Verran to book his expertise for your winter meetings. There are three kits per association, enough initially for 30 tests. Beekeepers Associations would be well advised to encourage their members to learn how to do the testing themselves and so be forewarned of any problems over time. If you have not yet received your test kits please contact me to arrange delivery. The best time to test colonies is in the summer months - June, July and August before applying treatments. The only way we will be able to tackle this problem will be if we can find it early enough. Pam Gregory June 2002
|
|
Click to email the News Editor
|
