Editorial
Welcome to summer. At long last the weather has turned this bank holiday weekend, the oilseed rape is in full flower, and the bees are flying. There have already been reports of swarms at the end of April so check for queen cells.
There have been some significant colony losses again the winter (almost as bad as two years ago). The cold spell during March & April hasn't helped with a lot of colonies having been lost in the past couple of months. As was reported last month Nosema may have played a role. None of the vendors exhibiting at Stoneleigh had any Fumagillin left as there had been such a demand this year.
Following the AGM, HBKA will soon be surveying the membership to ensure that it is meeting everyone's needs. Please find a few minutes to complete and return the survey form.
Apologies for the late arrival of the newsletter this month but as you can see there have been some further changes. This time you should be able to print the newsletter directly from the web page. Many thanks for your patience over this.
Paul Cooper
North Herts news by John Hill
Just as everything in the garden was lovely, so to speak, and the bees were getting organised and 'raring to go', along came the East Wind and the temperature drops for nearly a week and now everything has 'battened down the hatches', and not a bee in sight. It could be a portent of the type of Spring/Summer to come. The rape is nearly out, the laurel is in flower, so too the pear blossom. Now, today at the time of writing, it's raining with the easterly wind still blowing across from the near Continent. Maybe, I should be feeding the little blighters once again..!? It will be another five days, according to the forecast, before the temperature will be high enough to open up the hives to have look. It's all so depressing, isn't it?
Mr Brown does not seem inclined to save the British bee from extinction by allocating more Research Cash, so prices of fruit, vegetables, and cereals etc will continue to rise, and maybe he won't be getting as much biofuel from rape as his so called advisors think! Reading the press/media, there are suggestions that the British British bee is more than likely to be extinct by the end of the next decade if no real research is carried out on the current diseases. So Politics will dictate the future prospects for the Beekeeping Community....Shame on them!
Mr Jarndyce in Bleak House, by Charles Dickens said:
"The wind's in the east, I am always conscious of an uncomfortable sensation now and then when the wind is blowing from the east"
I don't get an uncomfortable sensation ... but I've found that it always takes a good while for the westerly winds to shift it!
At our last indoor meeting of the current season, we had approx nineteen members attending, when Graham Beesley, our Chairman, gave an introduction to hive types, and reviewed the pros and cons of various aspects of hive hardware. After splendid refreshments provided by Rosemary F. we held a Honey Tasting Competition. There were two clear winners, Messrs Roman Gorski and Sam Greenbank took the prizes. The latter exhibited some wonderful Heather Honey from the Derbyshire moors,... "very tasty, very sweet"!
Here is the list of our Apiary meetings for this year:-
- 26th April, Clear-Up, Nortonbury
- 10th May, Nortonbury (With Peter Heath attending).
- 18th May, Boxwood
- 24th May, Andy Johnson, Shillington, with Beds. BKA
- 21st June, Pat Veasey, Gosmore
- 19th July, Buzzworks, Hitchin
All meetings at 2.30 pm.
The Answer to last month's teaser is:- Two blankets at one inch each is warmer due to the air gap providing greater heat retention than the two inch thick cover.
Here's another:- Why did the fashion for silk hats in the US lead to an increase in the number of small lakes and bogs? (it's not a trick question).
St Albans news by Anne Wingate
By the time you read this hopefully Spring will have arrived. It is wonderful the ways bees manage despite the weather. I put a super on a hive on 30th March minus 2 frames thinking' the bees need more space and as it is so cold the space will not matter'. The weather continued to be cold wet and windy, but 2 weeks later I found 2 beautiful combs attached to the crown board. It can't have been that cold and the OSR and Spring flowers were producing sufficient nectar!
The next meeting for ALL members is at 3pm on17th May at the Apiary. The theme will depend on the condition of the colonies,could it be Swarming time? The regular Saturday 2-4pm sessions have started so learners and enquirers are welcome.
This is a new date for your calendar. St Albans Committee have agreed to have a table at 'Larks in the Park', 11am-5pm on Sunday 29th June 2008. This is part of St. Albans Festival with the Theme this year 'Food' We will have an observation hive and sales of honey, candles etc. The event gives us a good opportunity to meet the Public and present beekeeping in a positive way. Please offer to help for an hour or two during the day.
Several people have mentioned to me the recent media coverage on Beekeeping. I hope you are using the form provided by the BBKA in their April News letter to get relatives, friends, work colleagues and any members of other Clubs you may belong to,to sign. Please write to your M.P. as well.
I hope you all enjoy a good Season.
Bishops Stortford news by Paul Cooper
Three new members joined us at Alan's for his first inspection of the season. It was a bit cold so we didn't stay long. The brood was starting to build nicely so Alan decided to add a super. We retired to Alan's house where abundant tea and cakes were served.
The next meeting is at 3pm on Saturday 10th May at Susie's in Widford. Please call me on ☏ 771231 if you need directions.
Welwyn news by Peter Mathews
In spite of a fairly dull and chilly day we had 14 people attend the first of our Apiary Meetings at Raffin Green. These are held at 10.30am on the first Saturday of the month ie same day as Hatfield Farmers' Market. These are a good opportunity to go through the beekeeping year, and provide a chance to get answers to all your questions.
For those about to order beekeeping equipment, I have a couple of sets of catalogues from suppliers. We have also purchased a DVD "An Introduction To Bee Keeping" - this is available for loan against a £20 deposit (the cost of the dvd, and the only way I know I can get it back).
Too late for 2008. I went to the BBKA Spring Convention at Stoneleigh. The sales exhibition area is claimed to be the biggest in the world. If you were setting up you could have more than saved the cost of the weekend with some special price offers. There is always 2009 !
Extractors - We now have 2 extractors. Our original radial extractor is available from Peter Folge tel 01438 816211. We have also purchased Phillip's old tangential extractor which will be available from me. Check my e-mail explaining the differences. And, let me have you e-mail address if you think I haven't got it. You are missing out on a lot of news. Sorry, but I can't post this out.
Want bees but have nowhere to keep them? We have apiary sites at 1) Raffin Green, 2) Hatfield House and 3) Potterheath.
West Herts news
No news this month.
Barnet news by Michelle vonAhn
No news this month.
South East Herts news by John Mumford
The New BBKA Constitution with the revised method of paying Capitation Fees is still causing much confusion, and the letter by Tim Lovett in the April BBKA News doesn’t make things any clearer.
The New BBKA Constitution Clause 8.1, states:- “Each AAM (HBKA), shall pay to the BBKA each year a total sum equal to the product of the number of Registered Members, Partners Members, and Country Members declared by the said AAM on the due date and the relevant capitation fee per class as determined by the BBKA according to the terms of this Constitution.”
Obviously it has been drafted by Lawyers and Accountants and has nothing to do with the real world that I have to operate in! We have Members “Joining” and “Leaving” all the time, and so our Membership Register is continually changing. I have to assume that anyone paying their Subscription late is “Leaving” and therefore their name is taken off the BBKA Register, else the Division will be liable to pay an Affiliation Fees for them, even if they don’t renew their membership. All my efforts to get clarification on the subject have bee a complete failure.
The cold weather during March and April made it very difficult for colonies to build up as normal, and with only a month or so to go before the start of the main honey flow I can’t see this being a good honey year. But bees never cease to amaze ! Which is why I find beekeeping such fascinating hobby.
Most of my colonies are two or three weeks behind, with supers just going on, while a couple of others that went into winter in double brood boxes with 60lbs+ of stores are now in Nuc Boxes while they recover from the effects of raising too much brood early on, and then having to do a lot of Kamikaze foraging for Pollen and Water to feed their brood. The first supers I’m putting on have a couple of frames of last years honey that I didn’t get round to extracting(marked with a drawing pin). They will all survive, with a little TLC.
The Association bees are doing fine. On 13th. April one colony had 5/6 frames of brood, while over the hedge is a field of Rape in full bloom but no signs of any surplus. One of the other colonies had a lot of liquid stores (Rape Honey?) and so were given a super.
Congratulations to all those who spotted the unintentional error in our Programme for 2008 ! The Broxbourne Council Open Day is of course on the first Saturday in July which as everyone knows is the FIFTH (5th.). Why don’t you treat yourself and come along.
Swarms; yes there will be some, there always are ! Anyone wanting a swarm rules:- Let me know if you would like a swarm - you are then put onto my list as I receive your requests - I collect the swarm and notify the name at the top of my list - if the swarm is not collected within TWO days then it is offered to the next name on my list, and the name not collecting their swarm then goes to the bottom of my list. I have three names on my list at present and its SE Herts Members first.
The next Apiary Meeting is at 3.00pm. on the 18th. May, and I would remind all those who took the Beekeeping course that you are Full Members and entitled to all the benefits we provide.
The next Committee Meeting is at 8.00pm. on 23rd. May at 23, Andrews Lane.
BuzzWorks
Summer beckons – but still keeps its overcoat on. Four colonies have been moved in – two fine, two rather small. We are keeping slow feeders on until the weather is reliably warm. Plants are behind – but we have only three weeks now to dig the garden beds before planting out. An open invitation to join us has been sent to the allotments waiting list.
The media have found us. The local paper had a piece last week and also a video clip on its website: www.TheComet24.co.uk - Buzz in the Town. On 21 April, Anglia TV News filmed a six minutes piece on the loss of colonies that could be seen later on www.itvlocal.com/anglia/news/ - click ‘Go Local’ in the panel on the right, select Beds/Bucks/Herts and scan down to ‘Bees could become extinct’. I opened a small colony and then a large one – to demonstrate the difference that disease can make. Embarrassingly, both were being held back from lack of liquid food in the combs in this cold spring – but there were signs of DWV in the smaller.
Petitioning the PM
If you would like to petition the Prime Minister to fund scientific research into maintaining UK Bee stock please go to petitions.pm.gov.uk/BeeResearch/ and sign the petition. There is another at petitions.pm.gov.uk/Beeappeal/ so please get signing. I am not sure of the difference but it is worth signing them both anyway.
Wanted and For Sale
Royal Jelly Wanted
We have had a request from a person near Worthing looking to buy royal jelly from a British beekeeper. He wants unprocessed pure stuff. Please contact Steve Newport (newport47@ntlworld.com) if you have some you can offer.
Estates want beehives
Tom Chapman has had a call from Cokenach Estates, Barway, Nr Royston. They are looking for beekeepers who want to keep hives on the 2000+ acre estate. If anyone is interested please contact Sarah at Cokenach Estates on 07912 632352. Tom is meeting the farm manager next week so may have more information then if anyone needs it.
Stansted Hall in Stansted village also wants beehives to be sites in their grounds. Please contact hertsbees@gmail.com if you are interested.
Consultation On The Defra Bee Health Strategy
by Andy Wattam
Ladies & Gentlemen
You will all no doubt have heard via the Bee Press that a Bee Health 10 Year Strategy was being prepared by Defra, and this strategy was to be published for public consultation to all interested parties associated with Beekeeping and Bee Health.
The is an early notification note that the consultation started yesterday and will run until 29th August 2008. I appreciate that this will cascade down through BBKA (non BBKA associations will have been written to separately), but as you know I try to get information out to you Regionally as soon as I have it (sorry too keen I know), but the more time to study this one the better I think.
The link below takes you to the area of the Defra website where the consultation associated documentation is to be found. I think it is important that as many beekeepers see this as possible and are afforded the opportunity to comment upon it, either collectively or individually via the channels given on the site (Item 5 on the 'link' list - Response Form)
Regionally,The Seasonal Inspectors and myself will also carry copies of the Strategy.
The link shows various documents associated with the consultation - the main body of the document is the 3rd on the list.
Here is the link:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/bee-health/index.htm
Kindest Regards
Mr.Andy Wattam Phone: +44 (0)1509 881092
Central Science Laboratory,
Eastern Region R.B.I, Mobile: 07791 085207
12, Woodlands Close
Wymeswold Email: A.wattam@csl.gov.uk
Leicestershire
LE12 6TF
Web Site: http://beebase.csl.gov.uk