Dear Members

At last the end is in sight again for Dave. We went to Birmingham on 26^th and everything is still on course for his Op on the 6^th April.

June.

There are still some outstanding! Please note we have a new Treasurer so they should be sent to Dan Wenczek, Hopleys, Bearwood, Pembridge HR6 9EQ.

NB The cut off date to notify BBKA of membership details was the 15^th March. This enables BBKA to send membership cards with the April BBKA News. So, please if you haven’t sent Dan your sub. please do so now!.

If you haven’t renewed yet your BBKA insurances will be void until 6 weeks have passed. This is why we are so anxious that you renew in plenty of time; and dear members, you have had three months since they were due! If you are not renewing please tell me then I will take you off our mailing list. BUT I don’t want to do that!

I am very pleased to welcome the following:-

Mr John Munday from Brilley

Mr Paul Maslin from Pontrilas and his wife Juli (family member)

Mr David Williams from Bearwood, Leominster and his wife Diane (family member)

Mr Maurice Morgan from Leominster.

We will look forward to meeting them all very soon and wish them all the best in their beekeeping.

Format is the same as usual- the club has 10% commission on sales. Do come along,

there are usually lots of bargains to be had. Goods can be brought in between 2-5.0p.m. on Saturday 5th and on the morning of the sale between 10.00-12.00pm. If you have anything to sell and have problems with transport contact us or any committee member. Please make sure anything you bring is clean and in a reasonable condition as we have been let down a little in the past with goods complete with dead bees, cobwebs etc and it does bring the standard down.

It may seem a long way away but it isn’t- now is the time to look out any surplus equipment you have and put it out ready.

As you will have seen neither Dave nor I will be at the Auction this year. The Auctioneers will be Geoff Dutson as usual, and Bryn Brooks from Dorstone.

April 18^th, 19^th, 20^th. Always worth a visit.

in the courses. Sometimes we have established beekeepers do the course to bring themselves up to date. If you would

like to come either ring me or Suzanne or just turn up on the day.

Our Beekeeping Display and Stand was at Maylord Orchard as last year. Our thanks go to Val and David Bannister for erecting and manning the stand all day and to Steve Williams who came to help in the afternoon. They reported quite a lot of interest shown and gave out several course applications etc. They were also able to bring other beekeepers up to date and give them the Ministry varroa books. We must thank Val and Jim for obtaining more posters, getting them laminated and supplying more photos etc and material for the display board. This is very important as it is our link with the general public at these events and we need to maintain a professional display.

We are going to hold our meetings at Madley Village Hall for the next twelve months at least as it appears to be more central to our members than Hampton Bishop.

There may be a lot of them about soon. If you are looking for a swarm then please let me know as obviously we are the first people who are contacted when swarms appear. Even if you do not really want a swarm would you be willing to help members of the public by removing one in your area. If so, again please let me know.

From what I can see the bees have made a dismal start this season. However, we must remain up beat until we are able to examine the bees properly. Without wishing to teach my grandmother to suck eggs it is most important to examine your bees thoroughly for the presence of disease EFB and AFB. This will be one of the first tasks which you should undertake when you examine your bees before placing any additional equipment on them. This is most important, the reason for all this is obvious. If you have been unlucky, you will not be transferring that disease to other equipment. Simple, and if you have marked your supers the previous year you will know which hive they belong to. These are very simple steps which any beekeeper can undertake without draining the grey matter and it is basic, good husbandry. Now most of you are aware of the current problems we are experiencing from varroa, and related problems and the so called colony collapse disorder. There are many theories floating around about the causes of this phenomenon. So far as I can establish from various sources of information the jury is still out on the subject, and no firm conclusion has been arrived at. However, it is clear that we are all experiencing problems with our bees from one end of the country to the other. I have been in touch with various authorities to bring you up to date with the most current developments in this area, and it will be published here as soon as I hear any new developments. Now, if I may be permitted through these notes I would like to go back in time, and talk about the old days of beekeeping. My personal knowledge goes back to a very early age somewhere around 1945. In those days it was very common most years to get a surplus of honey from your bees, and I can remember honey stored everywhere. Beekeeping in those days was much easier and flora was more abundant than it is today. Of course, even in those days one had to be careful of the brood diseases. It was far easier to produce good crops annually than in the latter part of the 20th century. One or two of you may have heard me speak about this before. I have always maintained that the general health of the bees will to a large extent, be controlled by the flora which is available for them and the weather pattern. We have seen the recent decline in the bees, which is very sad and I am not sure we are doing the best we can for our bees. There are some encouraging signs in that the bees are to some extent beginning to show some ability to deal with varroa themselves. I am still not convinced about the open mesh floors that everybody seems to be advocating. This to me goes against what we have been taught in the past. However, we must be open minded and try new approaches to make progress. This does not rule out the use of varroa floors but may be indicative in the way they are used. Any new approach should be done on a trial basis first and over a number of years to get a true picture of the overall benefit to beekeeping, and only then be introduced on a wider scale.

I first met Bill when I started coming to the Herefordshire Bee Meetings in 1976. He was with his wife Diana who had multiple sclerosis and was in a wheelchair. Bill did everything for her and was a devoted husband until she sadly passed away in 1980. Bill came with us when the Wye Valley BKA was formed in 1978 and has been a member ever since and a staunch supporter attending most of our meetings. In fact he was at the AGM on 16^th February and seemed on good form, telling Wallace that he was looking forward to being 90! Bill passed away on Feb 29^th having been on life support following a series of strokes.

Bill had kept bees for over 60 years having got his first hive from his father-in-law. Being good with his hands he was always experimenting with gadgets for beekeeping. He was a very good gardener and a very keen fisherman. David has very fond memories of going fishing with Bill near his home, and of competing with him in the Honey Shows. Bill nearly always won the cake class as well as Honey classes and I remember he used to make the most wonderful bread and put honey in it.

He also made incredible tapestries. He would take a picture even as small as a postage stamp, get someone to photograph it and enlarge it, then divide it into squares and work out the stitch pattern. When he worked it he had the canvas rolled up so he never saw the entire picture until he had finished it! Those who attended the celebration of his life in Hereford on 10^th March would have seen some of his tapestries on display, including The Last Supper, Oriel College Oxford, and Christ knocking on the door.

After he was widowed Bill made frequent trips to Zambia where his daughter Esther worked at Hillwood Children’s Home. At his service donations were received for this home and his son Michael wishes to give a huge ‘thank you’ to any members who went and contributed to this cause. They raised over £700. Wye Valley BKA did send a contribution on behalf of members.

To conclude: Bill was ‘one helluva fellow’ and will be sorely missed. We send our deepest condolences to his son Michael, and daughters Esther and Naomi and his grandchildren Trudie and Adam.

dj.gva@zen.co.uk

Wye Valley BKA Web Site