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November Newsletter
Dear
Members Once again we have had a pretty good month
weatherwise apart from the horrendous rain
we had last week. Dave, Rich and I went up to Carlisle on the 12th
–18th and we had a
lovely week. We went to see Steve, our eldest, and his wife Lillian. June New Member We
are pleased to welcome Christine Ruby from Presteigne and look forward to
meeting her soon. Future
Events Saturday 14th
November- Moccas Hall 2.0pm. Talk
by a member of Bees for Development – Sustainable Bee- keeping in Africa. This
talk is being given by our own member Janet Probyn. Janet, who comes from Welsh
Newton works for Bees for Development and also won the Dover Cup for being the
best novice beekeeper on our Practical Course this year. Bees for Development do
a tremendous amount of work in under developed countries and their talks are
always interesting. It never hurts us to learn how others have to manage.
Let’s have a good turn- out and support Janet. June (Quick reminder
to Committee members- there will be a short meeting at the end of the afternoon) Saturday
December 5th- Pre-Xmas Lunch The venue for this will be the Riverbed Restaurant at
Fownhope. Forms are enclosed and should be returned to me asap
to let them know numbers There is plenty of space and we do especially want to
see members who are to receive their Basic Certificates and Cup winners from the
Honey Show as we like to present these at the lunch. June Past
Events Saturday
10th October – ‘Using Nucleus Hives’ Jim Vivian-Griffiths. Jim gave us a highly informative and extremely
interesting illustrated talk on how to set up nuclei, explaining the advantages
of learning how to undertake this procedure. "Nucs" have a smaller
number of frames than a standard hive and usually the nuc box itself is smaller. Nuclei can be used to generate new queens, as holding
space for queens, or to amalgamate a newly-raised queen to a standard hive. A
nuc box
can be used for hiving a swarm, especially a smaller cast swarm. Many beekeepers
have a number of nucs in use at any time. It is possible to hive nuc colonies
over winter but they do need careful feeding. This is advanced beekeeping and does involve a
considerable amount of work but the benefits are well worth the time and
trouble. Nucs can be a rewarding source of income, too, as there is always a
demand for new colonies. Jim is willing to email his Management of Nuclei
notes to Association members and I strongly recommend these, not only to
experienced members but also to new members who want an excellent reference
document for the future Ask
Jim for his notes at jimvg@jimvg.f2s.com Rosie
Bashford November Notes
Well, here we
are almost at the
end of the season.
I hope you all
have fed your bees
and settled them for
winter. This for
me is a time for reflection
and perhaps formulating
a few things for
next year whilst they
are still fresh in
one’s mind. One
of the major things
which happens time and
time again is not
having sufficient equipment
to carry out those
necessary manipulations during
the season. With that
in mind you could
try and estimate your
requirements for next year.
It goes without saying
that bees will automatically
swarm. They have been
doing it for centuries
now and I imagine
will go on doing
so. The motto
is be prepared and
get those pieces of
equipment ready for
use. Now is the
time to clear up
all those jobs which
you have not been
able to get at
during
the season, hive parts
and your excluders
ready for next
year. What about
taking a
book from the
library and reading
up on Queen rearing
and perhaps select
a hive to
rear a few Queens
next year. There
are many interesting
topics which you can
study in your
spare time; microscopy is
one such subject
which you could study. Dave
Contributions by the 20th
month please to June
and Dave Williams, Golden Valley Apiaries
Long Lane, Peterchurch,
Hereford. HR2 0TF Tel: 01981
550320 dj.gva@zen.co.uk
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