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Presentation on behalf of Preliminary beekeepers course to Course Director Sam Miller
Transcript of a letter of support for Beekeepers from Jim Nicholson MEP I must confess that up until recently I was a bee novice. To me bees were honey producers and something that were to be swatted away during the summer months. Until
Michael Young Chairman of the Institute of Northern Ireland Beekeepers
got in touch with me regarding the plight of bees here and across the
rest of the United Kingdom I was unaware of the vital role they play in
the environment, for plant life, for agriculture in general and as a
County Armagh man something close to my heart: orchards. I
think that it is vital that we find a cure for the 'plague' that has
decimated hives in Europe and Northern Ireland. If we can’t find a cure
then we must at least try and contain the problem.
In
understand that if we fail to act Europe’s bees face extinction within
a decade. To put this into stark relief I understand that at least 70
crops and 90% of all flower fruit trees contribute significantly to the
overall economy depend directly on pollination by the bees. So the
knock on effects of a failure to act will directly impact food
production and our rural economy in general.
The US, as you know, has had to import bees to try and avert a crisis. In
the current economic climate there are serious questions over the EU's
capacity to produce enough food to satisfy demand, and with stocks
dwindling to 30 days the implications of a similar outbreak here would
be disastrous. I
was therefore quite shocked after writing to the UK Government and our
local Minister Michelle Gildernew that they were unwilling to increase
funding in this vital area. They also seemed unconcerned or just not
switched on to the problem. The Government currently provides only £250
000 towards bee research. I am sure you all agree that this is a drop
in the ocean for such an important issue and an indication how much
they value the role of bees in our eco-system. Given
that the government and Stormont Minister were slow to act, I have been
working with other MEPs to raise the issue in the Agriculture
Committee. I am delighted to tell you that the European Parliament is
finally taking this problem seriously. Working with Astrid Lulling,
who is the Chair of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, we
got support from our fellow MEPs for a proposal to increase the budget
line available for bees and bee research. We have also tabled a motion
for resolution to the European Commission calling for more to be done
to help beekeepers.
The
European Parliament as a whole now fully supports the work you are all
engaged in to get to the bottom of this serious problem and I am doing
my level best to secure the much needed funding to keep your craft,
skills and immeasurable contribution you make to the environment alive
and well.
As
a final point I would like to say that is has been an eye-opening
experience learning about your work from Michael Young and the
Institute. We have come a long way since our first meeting when I was
given the task of marking the queen with trembling fingers. We have
raised the profile of beekeepers in the national and local press and
brought your plight to the heart of the European Union. That was the
easy part. The hard work of securing and building upon that work must
begin today.
Yours truly Jim Nicholson MEP
Greetings from America
DearDavid, Billy, Arthur, Leo, and Alan, I
was having a look at the RVBKA web site this morning. I enjoyed reading
(and looking at photos) about your association activities especially
the honey show. It appears that there is keen competition to be had at
your show! Congratulations to David for his first place in honey for
the tasting. First out of 31 entries, quite admirable! I
would like to thank you all again for allowing Robert Brewer and I to
present at the July session. Speaking for myself, it was a wonderful
opportunity. The hospitality extended by you all made me feel truly
welcome! Meeting the members and sharing thoughts and ideas on
beekeeping with them was a highlight both professionally and
personally. I will treasure that opportunity for years to come. I am
still amazed that as Beekeepers we all struggle with the same basic
issues, even though we are separated by an Ocean and major climatic
differences. The world is truly smaller than we think... Please feel free to contact me if I may be of service. I look forward to Breathing the Danny Boy Air again soon! Sincerely, Keith Fielder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Keith Fielder Putnam County Extension Coordinator
January
Some members have spotted flying bees
on the milder days. Increasing activity will use up residual food
supplies. Check adequacy by hefting hives gently (you dont want to
knock them over or disturb sleeping bees do you?). If the hive feels
light get some bakers fondant on immediately. This should sit on top of
the crownboard (provided it has a hole). Otherwise you could set a thin
slice under the crown board on top of the frames, provided you pick a
mild day and work quickly. Most early spring bee losses are because of starvation.
February Meeting Notes
Prof Delaplane with the usual suspects. You all know who they are
Prof
Delaplane provided members with an insight into current research on
the problems experienced by bees in relation to their pollination
abilities as affected by parasite infestation. He pointed out that life
would not cease with the decline of honey bees, despite the much used quotation often attributed wrongly to Albert Einstein. It
seems that of the top 12 plants between them providing 90% of world
nutrition, none requires pollination by bees. We might end up without
the ubiqutous american cheeseburger for which bees are necessary in the
production of the hamburger meat, cheese,pickle, tomato and relish,
(leaving only the bun accounted for, and no need for a RVBKA BBQ), but
the prof recconed that if we could survive on a third world diet we'd
get through. He then went on to talk about the matching of pollination
requirements against agent drawing a complex linkage between plant
specificity and vector dependance. Bees within this spectrum are
generalist pollinators, thus their importance in commercial
horticulture particularily in USA. Problems in pollination associated
with parasitic bee decline may be felt at an individual, colony or
community level. Prof Delaplane answered a variety of questions from
our practical audience and gave some useful tips. He advocates
supplementary feeding throughout the year, arguing that episodic
feeding can result in bursts of activity and consequent colony
collapses. He also suggested that the use of toxic chemicals within the
hive by beekeepers in the fight on varroa has been shown to result in
bee toxicity with demonstratable impact upon memory, brood development
and bee activity. He advocated natural methods of control particularily
focusing on the use of icing sugar dusting along with ventillated
floors, to encourage cleaning and hygenic behaviour. To finish with he
discussed some excitin emerging technologies which may develop in
importance in the future in controlling viral replication using
sophisticated RNA silencing techniques. So the future may not be so
bleak after all.
Within
the general discussion it was evient that most members had seen flying
bees and the collection of snowdrop pollen, which has a characteristic
orange colour. There was a note of optimism that losses may not prove
to be at the levels experienced last year.
Albert Einstein and his friend. Does either know anything about beekeeping?
REPORT ON MARCH 09 MEETING Guest speaker Dr Robert Paxton with RVBKA officers
Guest Speaker Dr Robert Paxton (Queens University Belfast)
Nosema infection in bees
Dr
Paxton began his talk by outlining work on bumble bees, some species of
which carry Nosema Bombi, a microsporidia parasite related to the other
microsporidia species but which is harmless to honeybees. His research
lead him to study Nosema Apis which is an eukaryote closely related to
fungi. It is an intracellular parasite which penetrates the cell wall
by use of an ingenious spring loaded spiral polar ligament which
produces characteristic appearances on electron microscopy. The route
of transmission is via ingestion of spores which enter the bees
proventriculus (stomach). As few as 100 spores will result in a 50:50
risk of infection, and 100,000 spores will lead to inevitable
infection. At day 15 over 25 million spores are released into the gut
by infected bees, and this heavy soiling particularily when bees are
confined by poor spring weather, will result in severe colony infection
resulting in poor colony build up, but not normally in colony loss. The
seasonal incidence allows colonies to recover, but spores are highy
resistant and will survive for years. Acetic acid can be used to kill
these spores, using concentrated (glacial) acetic acid in laboratories,
or N10 available from commercial outlets (Caution This concentrated
version should be treated with great care). Dr Paxton went on to
describe the work that he and Prof Fries carried out in identifying a
new species- Nosema Ceranea, identified by Prof Fries in China in 2004.
Dr Paxton described his work on genetic marker development in Belfast
using ribosomal RNA banding. He indicated that examination of
historical material from worldwide sampling prior to 2003 had failed to
show any evidence of this new strain, but that in the period 2004-8
Nosema Ceranea has now spread worldwide, reaching Ireland in 2008, with
all populations appearing to originate from one genetic source. Dr
Paxton described how his experimental models have shown that although
spores from N.Ceranea are less robust than N.Apis, the disease is more
virulent and is capable of killing bee colonies with 50% mortality
levels in one recent experiment. As in other Nosema infections in honey
bees, it is possible to control an outbreak using Fumidil B, but we now
know that this product is withdrawn from sale Europe-wide.
Dr Paxton has kindly provided members of RVBKA with a copy of his lecture. This is available to download as a PDF file. Click on the link below. Paxton.pdf
Your computer should be able to open PDF files already. If not you can obtain free software (Adobe Reader v9) by going to http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/
Report on April Meeting
An attentive audience listening to Rev Sam describe the stages in queen production see whats new page for Billy's photo coverage of the auction
The
April meeting held in our newly finished clubhouse began with a
demonstration to our new beekeepers by Leo. The club has healthy stocks
overwintered from which to develop new colonies for members (more
later). This
was followed by the auction of beekeeping equipment kindly donated to
the association. This raised the excellent figure of £240. Members then
inspected the handiwork which was on display in the clubhouse now
almost twice its original size, and a vote of thanks was passed to all
those who had assisted, and in particular to Billy who masterminded the
operation, and who is now available to take commisions.
The
general consensus from members was that the overwinter losses this year
were considerably lighter than last, and most members reported good
spring buildup with losses in the 10-15% level. The speaker this month was Rev Sam Miller who described his method of queen rearing. This year both
Sam and the club intend to produce queens for new beekeepers and to
raise the genetic stock. Sam started by indicating that prior to
getting down to queen rearing the first step is to identify from your
colonies the one in which the bees exhibit the desirable traits which
could include quiet temprament, productivity and hygenic behaviour.
This colony should be marked as the donor colony. When you have decided
to re-queen a colony (the recipient colony) start by removing the
redundant queen along with a frame of supporters into a nuc as a spare.
The remaining bees will begin to build queen cells around larvae
available to them, from the colony brood, starting with the 2-3 day old
larvae. These need to be totally removed remembering to search out
those cells hidden in secret corners. The object is to allow the bees
to use their own larvae options completly so that when you introduce
cells from the donor hive they will be instantly receptive to them and
will grow your queens from the better genetic stock. The donor brood
frame from the desirable colony should be cut in a saw tooth pattern
removing larvae to
leave one every three or four cells along the edge. When this is
introduced to the recipient colony they will immediately (within hours)
begin to construct queen cells. If you intend to produce multiple
queens these can be harvested for your waiting nucs as soon as they are
ready. Dont leave them all to hatch otherwise the first out will bump
off the others.
Telegraph
By Louise Gray, Telegraph Environment Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:10PM GMT 03 Mar 2009
Bee collapse could have been handled better - auditors
The loss of honey bees to a deadly disease could have been controlled better by the Government, according to inspectors.
Photo: GETTY
The National Audit Office (NAO) report on the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) Animal Health Agency said
recent outbreaks of avian influenza and foot and mouth disease were
successfully contained. But it said the agency had been less successful
in its management of bovine TB, which affects cattle, and the varroa
mite affecting honeybees.
Beekeepers have reported unusually high losses of honeybees in recent years,
largely attributed to the endemic varroa parasite, and some experts fear
dire consequences for other types of agriculture due to the bees' crucial
role in the pollination process. The NAO report said the control of varroa was hampered by the limited
inspections of colonies carried out by Defra's National Bee Unit. It said an estimated 20,000 beekeepers were not known to the unit's inspectors
which raised concerns about whether the extent of the disease was being
recorded.
NAO
head Tim Burr said: "Defra eradicated outbreaks of avian influenza and
foot and mouth disease in 2007 before they could spread further. "But
Bovine Tuberculosis and the varroa parasite continue to pose
significant risks to the livelihoods of farmers and beekeeper "The department could tackle disease more effectively by working with
farmers and their vets to improve farm biosecurity and by enforcing
compulsory testing as well as encouraging beekeepers to register."
The
British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) welcomed the report but said the
strategies adopted in the past failed to prevent the pest becoming
endemic. Around 3,500 people started beekeeping in England and Wales in
2008 and the association said there was an urgent need for more formal
training and registration. BBKA chairman Martin Smith said: "We look
forward to a closer consultative relationship with DEFRA and the NBU
and expect financial and practical support from the NBU in training
beekeepers to apply better husbandry techniques needed to combat the
threat to the UK honeybee population." She said: "Improving bee health
is another key priority and we will bring forward a strategy urgently
following the recent announcement of an additional £4.3 million
funding. We will now consider this report in detail before responding
more fully."
The Guardian
Wednesday 4 March 2009 00.15 GMT
Bee parasite devastates colonies as hives go unregistered and uninspected
Millions of insects could be wiped out because thinly staffed inspectorate does not know where half the country's beekeepers are
A
deadly Asian parasite that threatens to wipe out millions of bees
across England and Wales has become endemic because Whitehall does not
know the location of more than half the hives in the country, the
National Audit Office reveals today. The auditors estimate that
at least 20,000 beekeepers are unregistered, which means they are never
inspected and no action can be taken to eradicate the parasite before
it destroys the bee colony, the report warns. The registered number of
beekeepers stands at 17,000. Failure to act could wipe out the
country's £100m apple harvest and seriously damage pear, raspberry,
strawberry and runner bean crops because they are highly dependent on
bees for pollination. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs describes the pest as varroa, "a serious Asian parasitic mite of honey bees". "The
mites feed on both adult bees and [the] brood, weakening them and
spreading harmful pathogens such as bee viruses. Infested colonies
eventually die out unless control measures are applied," it says. Even
where beekeepers are registered, the number of inspections by the
National Bee Unit is low. In the Lake District, Pennines, Durham and
north-east England, just over three quarters of registered hives are
not inspected every year. The highest level of inspections is in
south-east England, which includes 39% of Kent orchards checked for the
disease every year. In Wales, nearly half the registered beekeepers are
inspected. The report says: "Increasing the number of beekeepers
registered with the department depends upon inspectors and others, such
as local associations, encouraging people to participate and the
accessibility and ease of use of the web-based register. "The
National Bee Unit has no national strategy to encourage beekeepers to
register. However, over the past three years the bee inspectors working
in the eastern region have increased the number of beekeepers
registered in BeeBase by around 1,000." It
reveals that there are only 37 bee inspectors in England and nine in
Wales. The report says they spend most of their time visiting areas of
high-risk outbreaks and training registered beekeepers rather than
searching out colonies that have not been registered. Treating
the parasite has become more difficult as it has become immune to some
chemicals. Some beekeepers are using oxalic acid – obtained on the
internet but illegal to import or use in the UK – to kill off the
parasite. The veterinary medicines directorate is considering licensing
the product to make the fight against varroa easier. Edward
Leigh, the Conservative chairman of the Commons public accounts
committee, said: "Action to stem the very high losses of honeybees in
recent years crucially depends on a regime of comprehensive inspections
and treatment of colonies. At the moment, this isn't being done." Jane Kennedy, the farming
and environment minister, said: "Improving bee health is a key priority
and we will bring forward a strategy urgently following the recent
announcement of an additional £4.3m funding."
Research money has beekeepers buzzing
By Sarah Mukherjee
Environment correspondent, BBC News
Spring is always a busy time for honey bees
There is, according to the old proverb, no honey without the
sting - but beekeepers across the world are increasingly worried that
there will be no honey or sting in years to come, as bee colonies are
attacked by a variety of diseases.
On 21 April, the UK government announced that £10m will be spent on
research for pollinators - bees, butterflies and other insects - to see
if the decline in UK populations can be halted.
We all just hope the research will come in time
Tim Lovett, British Beekeepers' Associatio
The government is contributing £2m with the rest coming from the
Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council, the Natural
Environment Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish
Government.
Certainly the bee hives in Reigate in Surrey are humming with
activity early in the morning, despite the chilly start, on what is
promised to be a clear, crisp spring day.
The collection of hives - the apiary - is set in grassland and fruit trees.
Bees, apples and pears are a traditional combination, as there tend
to be few pollinators around other than honey bees when the trees are
in blossom. Indeed, many traditional orchards still have several hives, shaded
by the dappled sunlight of the fruit-laden branches that the bees
helped create. It is these tiny creatures' value to the economy that beekeepers are keen to highlight.
Many beekeepers have lost colonies to diseas
"Bees pollinate crops worth potentially hundreds of millions of
pounds to British agriculture," says Tim Lovett, president of the
British Beekeepers' Association. "Take a meat pizza - without the bees, all you'd be left with is the
bread base, as in many countries cows are fed on pollinated crops like
alfafa." And yet in recent years a series of diseases has affected bee populations in this country and elsewhere. In many cases we neither know the causes of these illnesses or the
cures for them, but they are having a terrible effect on bee
populations. "We have moved bees across the world, changing their living
conditions and spreading diseases," says Bob Maurer, one of the Reigate
beekeepers, as he carefully lifts one of the wooden frames to reveal
the bees hard at work, surrounding their queen. "Good bee management is now essential," he adds. He judiciously uses a few puffs of smoke to keep the bees calm.
Because they are woodland creatures, the smoke is a signal that there
may be fires around; so they gorge themselves on nectar, making them
more docile, in preparation to flee the nest.
'Eleventh hour' On the frame, hundreds of bees are filling the honeycombs with precious nectar. While beekeepers are glad that the government has recognised the
scale of the problem, they say there has historically been a lack of
funding for bee research. Vital staff have been lost, and their skills take time to replace. Mr Lovett points out that the vast majority of hives are kept by
amateur beekeepers, with just a few hives each; and if dying bee
colonies become too widespread they will simply give up their hobby. "This announcement has come at the 11th hour," says Mr Lovett. "We all just hope the research will come in time."
ITN NEWS
Bee research gets £10m
Published:
Tuesday, 21 April 2009, 12:57PM ITV News
The Government is investing up to £10 million on researching the decline of bees.
Over
the last two years, 15 per cent of honeybees have died out, while the
numbers of other pollinators - like butterflies and moths - have also
declined. The initiative to make funding
available to researchers also involves the Biotechnology and Biological
Science Research Council (BBSRC), the Natural Environment Research
Council (Nerc), the Wellcome Trust and the Scottish Government. BBSRC
chief executive Professor Douglas Kell said investigating declines in
bee numbers formed a "significant part" of work to ensure food security
for the UK. "Without effective pollination we will face higher food costs and potential shortages. "This programme will help us understand why numbers have decreased and the steps we could take to reverse this." The
announcement follows the decision by the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to commit an extra £2 million to
research into bee health, which will make up part of the £10 million
pot. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said:
"Aristotle identified bees as the most hard working of insects, and
with one in three mouthfuls coming from insect-pollinated crops, we
need to support bees and other pollinators. "This
funding will give some of Britain's world-class researchers the chance
to identify the causes of the decline we're seeing in bee numbers, and
that will help us take the right action to help." The
announcement was welcomed by the British Beekeepers' Association
(BBKA), which has been campaigning for more funding for research into
the problems facing bees. The organisation's
president Tim Lovett said: "It is vital that these funds are committed
to the work that can make a real difference and meet the challenges
facing honey bees."
The
june meeting included a talk by Sam on the honey bee. This month he
focused on the exocrine glands which are essential to the various
activities of bees including the production of bee food derived from
secretions of the hypopharyngeal gland and mandibular, thoracic and
cranial salivary glands. The sting is also linked to an exocrine gland
and most of you will be familiar with its effects. The nasonov glands
on the dors al (top)side of the abdomen produce a feromone scent which
is used to alert bees and to help with pinpointing colony activity,
being unique to each colony. The production of wax is also controlled
by secretions of the wax glands on the under (ventral) surface. Sam's
lecture was well received and we are hopeful that he will continue the
series for ordinary members and that a repeat of his preliminary
beekeeping class will get underway later in the year for new members.
Leo
then took the floor to demonstrate his preferred method of swarm
control, the artificial swarm. Although it is complicated to explain it
is simple in concept. Upon finding queen cells in a hive, Leo says this
is the time to act. Breaking down cells may stall aswarm for a week,
but wont prevent the instinct. Immediately move the hive (minus supers
which were removed for the inspection) to the left hand side between
two to six feet away from the original hive location. Then set up a new
brood chamber on the site of the original hive. This should contain
nothing other than foundation of frames. The next bit is the crutial
part. Just go through the beehive and find your queen. It shouldnt be
difficult since there is just one and only about fifty thousand other
bees in there. Those who had marked their queen might find this a
little easier, but in case you are feeling smug, remember that the
marked queen may have been superceeded or the paint may have been
licked off. My tip is to phone Leo, because unlike me he has a knack of
finding the queen within a couple of minutes whether marked disguised
or in hiding. When the queen has been located move her and the frame
she is on into the new hive, ensuring that there are no queen cells on
this frame. Sam suggests putting in a second frame and possibly a
little food in case the June weather turns bad, but if its good, this
shouldnt be necessary. Now close the hives up. Flying bees will emerge
from the old hive and return to the new one because of its location
(they return to their old location). They will think they have swarmed
because there is no brood nor comb and their numbers are smaller and
will go to work building comb. Non flying nurse bees will manage the
brood in the old hive, and the new queen will emerge. On day 5 you need
to move the old hive to the other side of the new one. This is to get
the new flying bees to join their old comrades in the new 'swarm' hive.
Dont delay this step otherwise the new queen may be flying and will go
to the wrong place. Once the new queen has had time to fly, mate,
mature and start laying (about three weeks) you now have to decide what
you want to do from the possible options. If you dont want to increase
your hive numbers, you can remove the old queen, then amalgamate the
hives with a sheet of newspaper between. Or you could keep or sell a
spare colony.
Report on July meeting For photos go to the album page from the left hand menu, or click here
This
year's annual RVBKA BBQ was an outstanding success. Dave & Leo kept
everyone fed with their double brood Barbeque, sited at the entrance to
the marquee, as previously, supplied by Dave and errected by the
Committee. Billy who was in charge of the tea tent made sure that no
one left without a supply of the sweets from his smaller but equally
waterproof marquee. Everyone pottered around the stunning Walworth
gardens, enjoying a welcome bright & dry evening, so the tents
werent necessary after all, although no one could have predcted that at
seven oclock. Plenty of talk of Beekeeping could be heard amongst the
herbaceous borders, and some of us came to the conclusion that if Brian
cant produce gold medal winning honey he certainly wont be able to
blame his selection of available nectar and pollen sources. Of
particular appeal was a spectacular mature lime tree which could easily
absorb all of Roe Valley's bees, and a beautiful Tulip tree with its
flowers just emerging. Someone must have a few photos of the event,
which we would love to post for you, if only so that everyone can
re-live seeing the real Paddington Bear (AKA Beekeeper of the Year, no
less) with his peculiar hat and pechant for a drop of honey
Report on August Meeting
This
month the club members were treated to two talks. The first from Sam
continued his series on bee anatomy. We studied the exocrine gland
structures which provide the bee with its characteristic behaviours.
Those
who are lucky enough to have salvaged a little honey before their
workforce gave up then heard from our most successful honey showing
member James how he processes his raw honey to produce the award
winning golden nectars we know. Apparently the secret is to select the
right frames (to minimise pollens, debris etc.), warming prior to
uncapping & extracting, filtering, retaining warmth (95 degrees)
for three to four days, then repeating the filtering with extremly fine
mesh. The cleared honey is then placed in cleaned and polished warm
jars above the necessary level and left to settle. The inevitable scum
can then be carefully spooned off to leave a clear product. James
might be holding something back, as if it was that simple we could all
do it. It is apparent that meticulous attention to detail is in there
too.
Leo's methods are broadly similar, but he uses a slightly
different temperature combination with a short period of raised heat to
140 degrees (for 1 hour) carefully controlled to avoid carmelisation.
Leo also described the necessary attention to presentation.
If
this is encouraging you to have a go there are a number of honey shows
coming up, culminating in the Roe Valley 25th Annual honey show on 7th
November. Dont forget that Dave has produced for us a comprehensive
guide to honey temperatures. You'll find it in the Science section
under Honey. Click here Science
September Meeting Notes
The
September meeting held in Roe Valley Hospital LCDI building was as
usual well attended. The programme began with a talk by Dave in which
he elaborated the rules, guidelines and proceedures used in the annual
honey show. Following this James gave us further tips for preperation
of exhibits. Brian gave a talk on feeding and demonstrated a home made
direct feeder made from a round plastic sweetie container. Arthur then demonstrated available feeders thymol preperations and other equipment.
The
sudden improvement in weather has allowed bees the opportunity to
forage and everyone reported that their bees were active and that a
good flow of nectar was in progress. The poor weather in August during
which bees were using the remnants of their stores has resulted in many
colonies becoming broodless. The importance of autumn bees in
preserving the overwinter colony was discussed and it was reassuring to
note that most queens had begun to lay. The difficulty exists that the
queen will be competing for laying space with the foragers filling
brood frames with honey. The solution may be to introduce some drawn
brood comb.
If
you are new to beekeeping, ahoney show is a popular and exciting
event when members of all abilities can demonstrate their skills in
honey production and much else besides. You'll get an idea of the
competition categories at the honey show page where last years' winners
are listed.
And dont forget
that our honey show experts will be providing members with their top
tips for preparing exhibits at monthly meetings this autumn From our Chinese Correspondent Dylan
Just
a quick note to say hello- I'm not beekeeping yet but met my first
local beekeeper yesterday. He has six hives of Chinese honeybees,
unfortunately they were empty as the local bees abscond the hives if
forage is poor. It seems I will be able to get either local A cerana
bees or Italian A mellifera bees. We are set up in a village house so
I have access to the hillsides - full of wild flowers and I even have a
shed (an unheard of luxury in Hong Kong). Hopefully when our belonging
arrive off the ship I'll get started. I will send you some photos of
beekeeping in China when I get a chance. It has all been a bit frantic
up to now. The children are settling in well and adjusting to the
heat. It has been well over 30 degrees celcius every day since we
arrived. Bit of a shock to the system. It should cool off in a month
or so and we are definitely looking forward to that.Please pass on my
regards to the beekeepers at your next meeting hopefully my brother
Reuben will have made it along as he has taken over the care of my
hives. Good luck with the honey show and conference.
Success for RVBKA members
RVBA
recipients of the Preliminary Certificate of Proficiency in Beekeeping
which were presented at Massereene Golf Club on Monday 5th October 2009.
November Meeting
David
opened the meeting with a run down of the recent honey show, thanking
everyone who had contributed to the success of the event.
Congratulations were extended to Leo recently crowned Beekeeper of the
Year.
The highlight of the meeting was a beautifully illustrated
talk by Rev Sam Millar in which he presented hi experiences of
beekeeping in New Zealand. Everyone was bowled ver by the spectacle of
unprotected beekeepers in their teeshirts and shorts handling hugh
Langstrom hives bursting at the seams with placid yellow bees. The norm
seemed to be to use double brood boxes topped with further deep boxes
to collect the harvest. Its no wonder Captain Cook called it the Bay of
Plenty. It was evident that beekeeping is a big business, and one which
is regulated and supported by government including registration of all
beekeepers, and a compensation scheme to assist with replacing
colonies. Sam encouaraged young beekeepers to visit the land of milk
and honey for a spot of practical beekeeping during our winter, but it
looks like you might need to do a bit of weightlifting training first.
.
For all your beekeeping supplies at Thornes catalogue prices MINUS postage,contact
Greetings from America
We all just hope the research will come in time
