September Newsletter

Dear Members

I have only had a few Harvest Lunch forms in so far.

We welcome 2 new members this month:- MrAndrew Weston from Bucknell, Shropshire & Mrs Janet Woods from Clifford.

Future Events
free to fully paid up members, spouses, partners, friends or special members.

It is vital that we know the numbers coming. Please fill in and return the slip enclosed with the schedules last month if you have not already done so.

Just be on the lookout for that nice well-capped frame of honey when you take it off. We need exhibitors; without entrants we cannot have a honey show. There is a class for novice beekeepers who have never won a prize before, everyone has to start somewhere.

Our Judge this year is Mrs Dinah Sweet and she is happy to give a commentary as she judges for those who want to watch. We will be having a raffle so small prizes would be appreciated.

June

Saturday September 26^th

Visit to Maisemore Apiaries with lunch at the ‘Rising Sun’ at Hartpury.

This is an event to which members travel on their own to Hartpury. If you are in difficulty with transport or if you are prepared to offer a lift to someone please will you let me know and I might be able to help on both counts.

This is strictly a ‘1^st come, 1^st served’ outing as there are 2 tours of Maisemore Apiaries only for 12 people each. The morning visit will be from 11.0am –12.30pm and the afternoon visit will be from 2.30pm – 4.0pm.

Lunch at the Rising Sun is booked from 12.45 to 1.0pm start. They have an extensive menu of which I have a copy and are also well-known for their fish lunches.(Huge portions of cod or plaice for £7)

However these are cooked fresh and do take a while, so if you order fish bear that in mind especially if you are on the afternoon visit.

A form is enclosed for you to fill in and return to me as soon as possible.

What the committee had in mind was that the group going to Maisemore in the morning might go and look at the Bee Boles in Hartpury churchyard after lunch and vice versa for members visiting Maisemore in the afternoon. Of course apart from Maisemore you are all free to do your own thing obviously. You don’t have to come to lunch at the Rising Sun or ‘do’ the Bee Boles- we just thought it would be nice to get together.

I was pleased to find the article Wallace Knowles wrote about the Bee Boles in 2003 and I have copied this on the reverse of the form with directions to Maisemore.

Please make sure you fill in details on the form though for me.

June

Octtober 5^th- Planning and committee meeting

If there is anything you would like to see in the 2010 programme please tell me or any other committee member before this meeting.

June

Saturday 10^th October – ‘Using Nucleus Hives’ Jim Vivian-Griffiths.

Moccas Hall 2.0pm

Past Events

Saturday 22^nd August 2.00pm

Preparing for Winter

Charles Millar our new Regional Bee Inspector gave a very professional talk at Moccas hall . His main subject was on Varroa and its control. We had a very good turn-out, 22 adults and 2 children. We provided a nice tea of sandwiches , cakes and Rosie’s delicious scones which was very well received! It was nice to see new members present. All seem to approve of our choice of Moccas hall as a venue. The facilities are excellent.

June

Silver Spoon British Sugar at Trade Prices for beekeepers

Members of UK beekeeping associations are now welcome to shop at any of Booker's 173 trade-only Cash and Carry stores. Booker's price for granulated sugar is about 60p per kilo.

Booker is a trade-only wholesaler, and each member should register individually with their local store. When registering, each member should present their current BBKA

membership card if in England, or their current BDI insurance certificate or local BKA membership card in Wales. They will then be registered and able to shop straight away. A membership card will be sent by post within 14-21 days.

Payment is by cash or debit card when leaving the store. Members can visit www.booker.co.uk to find their nearest Booker store.

Pointers for the honey show

Get to know your judges, not all judges like the same thing

a) Always read your schedule thoroughly.

b) The flavour of your honey is down to the bees and the forage which they have been working on.

c) Selection of your honey is the first thing you must do. From time to time you will come across a few frames of honey which you particularly like the flavour of. It may only be in three or four frames in the middle of the super. Put to one side and extract separately, don’t mix with other honeys which may not have the same flavour and aroma

d) Do not over heat, gentle warmth is all that is required

e) Filtering or straining can be adequately carried out with two thicknesses of muslin. I have never found it necessary to do anything more than that.

f) A pound must be a pound and not underweight.

g) No distinguishing marks - all jars to match and labels affixed approximately half a inch from the bottom of the jar.

h) Remember clear honey must be clean with no bits of extraneous matter whatsoever with clean caps with no hint of dust on the surface of the honey. Use a torch to shine through, this will usually show up any problems.

i) Granulated honey must be granulated with no hint of moisture on the top, no little black specks in the bottom of the jar and set unless classified as soft set.

j) Maintain a high standard of cleanliness with all the exhibits clean with no finger marks.

k) Comb honey should be suitable for extraction with no granulation within the comb and all cells filled and capped with nice white wax cappings. If you shine a torch through the comb you will see any pollen if present; of course this is not what you want.

l) Remember exposure to light can affect the colour of your honey- light, medium or dark should conform to the standard grading glass which most shows will have present for checking the appropriate class for any borderline cases.

This is not an exhaustive list just a few pointers to help. Remember we can’t have a honey show without exhibitors and you are the most important part of any show for it’s success. I do hope that judges will not be too harsh as a little encouragement will help to perpetuate and enhance future shows. This aspect is overlooked at the detriment of shows. I know a lot of judges which are far too strict and will not award cards. Sometimes this is not in the interest of the show. Most would say that we have to maintain standards, correct but not at the expense of the perpetuation of shows. From my own experience they have declined. With a little help and encouragement a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment can be maintained. These are just my thoughts.

Dave

Apiary Notes for September

Over wintering:

Okay it seems as though we have had in this part of the world yet another poor year for honey yields. it would be very easy to leave the bees and not bother with them and leave them to their own devices, however I don't think that would be very wise. What can we do to prepare our bees for the coming season? Preparation for next year as most beekeepers will know starts this season with the proper preparation for winter. What are the bees’ main requirements for successful wintering? It goes without saying you will have good and bad years for wintering bees and as far as I can see nobody has come near to explaining why there is such a variation in the winter. I too have experienced losses over many years.

So what can we do to prepare our bees for winter? These are my suggestions - colonies should be headed by a good fertile Queen. Any colonies which do not have a good Queen should be united with others. Please be sure there is no disease present before doing so. You should have been managing your varroa and the mite level should be very low. Feeding should be adequate for the next five months or so; in the region of 2 gallons will in most cases be sufficient. If you are in doubt feed a little extra, of course this is assuming you have stripped down to the brood box. You should be aiming at a total weight of approximately 50 pounds, normally this will do. Protection from predators, i.e. woodpeckers is also very important. Some form of netting over the hive will usually suffice; this is assuming you are where woodpeckers prevail. Usually they attack hives when there is a very cold snap and snow on the ground when there is no other food source or very little. Mice can also be a problem, make sure you have entrance blocks in. Personally I have never found it necessary to apply mouse guards to my entrances but you must make sure your entrance blocks are a good fit. Hives should be 15 to 18 inches above ground level, not in contact with the ground, to keep the base as dry as possible. There are many theories about wintering bees, there will always be variation between sites. Timing of feeding in my opinion is most important, get feeding and any treatments done as early in September as possible. This in most cases will follow what the bees do naturally and will give them adequate time to evaporate any excess moisture and settle properly for winter. Once the bees are in cluster it is not generally necessary to interfere and some would argue detrimental. I personally would not disagree with this. What else? Oh yes treatments! I do not believe in treating bees with this or that unless you have first proven they have a problem, then and only then should you use the appropriate treatment. You do not want your bees to become immune. We are in 2009 and to my knowledge we have not had a bad winter for many years, certainly not since the arrival of varroa. Those operating mesh floors would be well advised to watch this very carefully. Bees need to maintain their temperature within the brood nest even during winter. Historically we have seen bees perish on the combs in very bad weather conditions. Even so it is surprising how much cold and damp bees can put up with. Breed from your best colonies in the spring; some would argue culling of bad colonies of bees is a good plan, but we all know it is not as simple as that. Okay we have poor colonies, some would argue it is bad practice to unite with good stocks. The reasons given for this are spread of pathogens etc unknown to beekeepers, viral infections by their nature are very difficult to detect and in most cases beyond the normal beekeepers remit. I do hope that these notes will help stimulate the thought process most of which I have come into contact in one way or another over the years.

Dave

Contributions by the 20th month please to June and Dave Williams, Golden Valley Apiaries, Long Lane, Peterchurch, Hereford. HR2 0TF Tel: 01981 550320