ar Members

As I think most of you are aware Dave has got to have a triple by-pass op. This has been brought forward to Feb 15^th so I’m afraid neither of us will be seeing you at the AGM. I know you will all join me in wishing Dave all the best for a speedy recovery. Everyone keeps assuring me I’ll have a new man!

June.

Please send these to Jim as soon as possible to help with the administration of the Association. If you are not re-joining for any reason please tell me and I will take you off our mailing list. Not that you are going to drop out are you?! Thanks to those who have sent their subs promptly- it does make life easier. Let’s make a New Year Resolution together:

You will have seen a place on your form for e-mail addresses. If we have your correct e-mail address we can contact you quickly if necessary. Some addresses are no longer valid so please make sure we have your current e-mail address. Many thanks.

We are delighted to welcome our first new member of 2008.

Mr Jeremy Moody of Coleford, Glos. Jeremy attended our course last year and successfully passed his Basic Assessment.

When you get your new calendars please mark this on them. The last 3 years we have had an excellent turn-out with nearly all members present. We can’t run a democratic association if only a few people

make all the decisions. Refreshments as usual . After the interval we are holding an open Forum so any queries you have about beekeeping you can hopefully find answers for. Val and Jim’s scones are not to be missed either!

Beekeeping Display and Stand at Maylord Orchard as last year. If anyone has anything of interest to bring along or can come and relieve committee members for rest stops it would be appreciated. If you would be prepared to come and help us set up/ take down stand etc please give Val a ring.

Saturday March 29th- Welsh Beekeepers’ Convention at the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells.

This is always worth a visit- there are lectures by various speakers, trade stands and of course the opportunity to meet beekeepers from neighbouring areas. The lunches are very good too!

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 2-4.0p.m. on Saturday 5th and on the morning of the sale between 9.30-11.30am. 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.

The dreaded woodpeckers are about so do watch your hives. Protect them with some form of netting if necessary. We have had a few reports of damage. If we have another cold snap do be vigilant. From now on you will need to be looking carefully at the food situation, and if necessary put a block of candy on. This is a very useful way of keeping a small lot of bees up together until they start to expand.

February and March are the main months when they will start to consume ever more food as they expand. You will see if the colony is active by the small pieces of debris at the entrance which is a tell-tale sign that everything is ok.

You must still be vigilant regarding varroa. If you are using oxalic acid now is the time, before much brood is present. Pick a day when the bees are flying.