Editorial
Summer is well and truly over. Bee World has taken place and we have some great photos included in the newsletter. Many thanks to all that helped out this year. It is SE Herts turn to organise it next year.
Welcome to Christine Phillips who is stepping into John Hill's shoes to pen the N Herts contribution each month.
The long-awaited survey results are now available and should be distributed with this newsletter. The main conclusion is that unless HBKA gets an injection of new blood into the executive committee, it will cease to exist. With Tom Chapman's resignation as treasurer we only have our hard-working chairperson, Anne Wingate, holding the association together. So this is a plea to anyone out there that can help out and is prepared to shoulder some of the work.
Finally, for those reading this online, please browse around the website as there are always new pages being added. The Bee Tips section has a new article on feeding bees with bakers' fondant and also guidance on labelling honey.
North Herts news by Christine Phillips
A lot of bees but not much honey seems to be the story in N. Herts this autumn; but on a more positive note not as many varroa as in previous years.
Bee World
It was our turn to organise this annual event. Rosemary Fairey took on the task and did a grand job. Our thanks to her and to all the other divisions who took part. The weather was amazingly good; there was a gentle flow of people around the exhibits, honey was extracted and tasted, candles were rolled and the queen in the observation hive seemed unable to stop feeling the size of the cells and dropping in an egg. Fascinating!
Winter Meetings
Our first meeting will be October 21st, 7.30 pm at the Friends Meeting House, Letchworth. Brian Sawford, a well known local naturalist, will be giving a talk on Hertfordshire Landscape and Wildlife. We will also have tables set up for bring and buy items, so if you have any bee equipment surplus to requirements bring it along and make some space in your garage or shed. It might be just what someone else is looking for.
Our meetings will all now be in the large room at the Meeting House so with plenty of room, beekeepers from any other areas are welcome to join us.
Hitchin Apple Day
This will be on October 25th 10.00am - 2.00pm in the Old Market Square. N. Herts BKA will be having a stall here so if you would like to sell some of your honey and/or man the stall for a short while please let me know.
Finally, if you have been wondering why you don't get stung whilst others do, or vice versa:
"Listen to the words of an old writer:- "If thou wilt have the favor of thy bees, that they sting thee not, thou must avoid such things as offend them: thou must not be unchaste or uncleanly; for impurity and sluttiness (themselves being most chaste and neat) they utterly abhor; thou must not come among them smelling of sweat, or having a stinking breath, caused through eating of leeks, onions, garlick, and the like, or by any other means, the noisomeness whereof is corrected by a cup of beer; thou must not be given to surfeiting or drunkenness; thou must not come puffing or blowing unto them,..........." etc. from Dadant's revision of Langstroth's "Hive and Honey Bee" published 1909 quoting older sources.
Sorry - no puzzles. They are a John Hill speciality!
St Albans news by Anne Wingate
September has been a wonderful month to produce the young bees needed to take the colonies through the winter. By now all feeding and treatments should be finished and time to put on mouse guards and anti woodpecker netting around the hive.
'Organic farming in Hertfordshire' is the topic Howard Roberts will speak on at our meeting at 8 pm on Friday 24th October at United Reformed Church, Chiswell Green, St Albans, AL2 3HG.
I know honey is selling very well, but I hope you have saved one unlabelled jar of clear honey for our Honey Tasting evening on Friday 28th November, time and place as above. There will be a Social afterwards so please bring a plate of finger food to share, tea and coffee will be provided.
'Thank you' to Christine and Eric for organising the stand at Capel Manor.
Bishops Stortford news by John Dockerill
This month’s meeting was held at my house, a beekeeper in my first season following attendance on the excellent South East Herts course for beginners. The members were told of a very unusual first season. I had installed two nucleui, one from John Mumford (Hive 1 ) and one from Derek Driver ( Hive 2 ). Both flourished very well until Hive 1 swarmed and Hive 2 queen went missing for no apparent reason.
Hive 1 queen was found very easily in a clump of bees in the garden and re- installed in the hive – but a couple of weeks later found wandering in the garden again! We suspected a small cast which we hadn’t seen. This time she went in a nucleus box and a new queen developed in the existing hive. My mentor, Paul Cooper, took the old queen in her new home to his apiary to replace one lost last winter.
Back Hive 2. As we could see no evidence of a queen, we developed two new queen cells and formed another nucleus successfully, which Paul also took to his apiary, leaving the existing hive with what we thought was a new queen (we could see eggs). At the next inspection, all we found were drone cells (see picture) and decided we had a laying worker. As it was late in the season and no chance of rearing another queen, back came the good old original Hive 1 queen which Paul had taken to his apiary. She was successfully installed in Hive 2.
The remaining frames with drone cells and bees were removed to a nucleus box to show the members at the meeting. Our honoured quest was Derek Driver, who suggested we combine these remaining bees with one of the hives by sprinkling them with icing sugar and shaking them off in front of one of the other hives. This I did after the meeting, having great fun watching ‘snow’ covered bees walking into their new home.
I now have the two original hives, Hive 1 having the original queen even though she has had a sojourn at Paul’s apiary, and a new queen in Hive 2 (which Derek duly clipped and marked in glorious red at the meeting).
The lessons I have learned in my first season – bee keepers are like economists. Ask six of them a question, you will get seven different answers! My advice, expect the unexpected.
Welwyn news by Peter Mathews
Many thanks to all those coming along to support Bee World at Capel Manor. A little helping on the sales stall, a lot of discussion with members form other divisions and a pleasant stroll around the beautiful gardens all made for an excellent day. After much deliberation we decided to price our honey at £4 /lb. This seemed to be about right. Elsewhere in the farming marquee, I spotted honey for sale at £4 / half pound!!!!
West Herts news by Robin Brown
No news this month.
Barnet news
No news this month.
South East Herts news by John Mumford
It was pleasing to see so many of our New Beekeeping Members at the Association Apiary meeting on Sunday 7th September. All had tales to tell about their summer exploits with bees, and some had difficult decisions yet to make. This old American adage may help:- “take your winter losses in the fall”. ie Unite up small or weak colonies that are disease free, (weak diseased colonies are best put down), and colonies with old Queens that are past there prime.
The help given by the New Members in carrying heavy supers to my car was much appreciated. It’s a tough job for me now to carry them out on my own.
The Number One colony that gave me such a stinging round the ankles for the second time with very little provocation will be receiving a dose of 95 Octane Lead Free, after I have taken away any combs that are worth saving, (close the entrance with a strip of foam when all the bees have stopped flying for the day and pour half a cup down through a hole in the Crownboard and close up completely - next day clean up the mess). Combs can be recycled after such treatment but only after being given a good airing). Bees that behave in such fashion can’t, and should not be kept in a garden environment, particularly in someone else’s garden when that person is allergic to bee stings. If all beekeepers in an area were to destroy such colonies then in just two or three years the general quality of bees in the area would improve dramatically. Alas there are a few beekeepers who’s Drones pollute the general breeding stock, and these beekeepers delight in keeping such bees, bees that they can’t manage, and they scatter their swarms to four winds.
I saw very few SE Herts members at the HBKA Bee World Event at Capel Manor on Saturday 20th September, I trust that next year when it is SE Herts turn to head-up the event, I will see a great deal more interest from our members.
So, it’s time once more for the “Harvest Supper” 7.30 till 11.00pm on Saturday 11th October at the Hoddesdon Baptist Church Hall. This is a social occasion though some do chat about their bees. We provide a “K & F Buffet “, BYO if required. Members, Members partners, and Members Children get in free. Visitors make a small charge. Bring a Jar of your ‘LIQUID’ honey and compete for the Skillman Shield, again it’s free. Raffle Prizes would be appreciated.
Our next meeting will be on at the Hoddesdon Baptist Church Hall at 8.00pm on Thursday 13th November when I hope to have Martin Buckle to give us a talk about “Beeswax”. Martin regularly wins prizes at the National Honey Show with his Beeswax Models and the way he handles wax is wonderful.
BuzzWorks by Robin Dartington
The warm weather in the last half of September has transformed the bees. Hives were seriously short of food at the beginning of the month – now every brood frame is full of nectar from ivy and honeyboxes are back on. Pollen is coming in regularly. Ivy honey sets very hard and any surplus removed from the hives will have to melted out of the honey frames – the honey is strongly flavoured but goes well on porridge. Bees winter quite well on ivy honey and the chances of wintering all colonies safely are now very much improved.
I was feeding all colonies large loads with sugar syrup at the beginning of September, to stimulate the raising of young bees for winter, which involved tremendous labour in collecting sugar bags from supermarkets, taking out at home for making into syrup, reloading buckets into the car, bringing feeders back home for cleaning and several visits to the bees. I ended with tendonitis in my shoulder! If feeding for winter is needed, bakers’ fondant (icing sugar) is the better alternative. It can be ordered at local bakers in 12.5kg blocks – and can be cut in half to give each colony 6kg as a safeguard against a long cold spring. The dimensions of the blocks vary with the manufacturer but luckily one type is an exact tight fit in a Dartington honeybox. A pioneer with this method of feeding is Peter Edwards at Stratford – see www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/PENotes/Fondant.htm for feeding National hives. I have bought 20 blocks and after this ivy flow am now overstocked – so will sell 10 on to anyone who wants to try out this method. A 12.5kg block (containing 11% water) costs less than supermarket sugar – and the labour of syrup feeding is avoided.
September is the enjoyable month in the garden/allotment and we have taken good crops of beans and other veg from the Plant Nursery area at BuzzWorks. Now the site needs clearing for the winter construction work, and hives moved to safety before the huge poplars are trimmed back. Organizing the work into packages and getting three new tenders for the 15 contracts has inevitably taken many days of office work. Prices are generally higher than a year ago – and we have raised the spec for the toilet from chemical to composting - so the £25,000 budget has had to be re-balanced – meaning we will have to do more of the work ourselves!
We now must also now get down to planning the exhibition in the Discovery Centre which we hope will be funded by a local sponsor. A draft Memorandum of Understanding will go for board approval at the end of October, after which we can go public. We will have a small stand at the National Honey Show in order to take the opportunity to consult beekeepers national on what they think the exhibition should include. Of course, the invitation extends to Herts beekeepers in particular.
This first seasons’ work gained us the bronze in Britain’s Best Allotment Community Project competition, run by Kitchen Garden magazine. The core group (pictured) was presented with a certificate – plus a £20 voucher and a DVD on growing fruit. Must try harder next year!
HBKA Survey Results
The questionnaire was sent to all 189 members during the summer and 44% were returned. Many thanks to all that responded. The details are included in a separate document and a copy of the detailed comments will be sent to each branch secretary.
When it came to asking the question why you are a member, most of the reasons given were the beekeepers' insurance, the newsletter and sharing of information. Only a small number were interested in the beginners course but then this is probably something to do with the fact that the average length of time members had been keeping bees varied from 10 years (Bishops Stortford, St Albans and SE Herts) up to 20+ years (N Herts and W Herts).
Only a third of members have taken the basic BBKA exam. Of the two-thirds that haven't only minority want to take it. Just over half were interested in public information days but the numbers were slightly higher for lectures and cross-branch events.
One of the main reasons for conducting the survey was to identify members that had the skills and inclination to participate in the running of HBKA. Of the members that responded only 15 were willing to assist. Only a handful of people offered the skills that HBKA needs in order to function properly.
There was lots of positive feedback for the newsletter [Ed. Many thanks!] with hints & tips, local news and the diary as the main areas of interest.
Some of the most common additional comments emphasised the high value of small, local groups. Many people want information, practical advice, mentoring and well-run beginners courses. One thing members want from HBKA is to be able to benefit from bulk buying of equipment and beekeeping supplies.
Conclusions
In summary there was a lot of focus at the local branch level; less so at the Hertfordshire Association level.
For the size of our membership there are not enough people willing to help run the association. This is supported by the fact that HBKA struggles every year to find new members for the executive committee. HBKA failed to elect an association secretary at the AGM in March. Helen Irving has continued as our interim membership secretary and Anne Wingate is our acting secretary as well as chairperson. Furthermore our treasurer (Tom Chapman) resigned on 4th October. In effect we are down to just one executive officer (Anne) and I suspect that she would like to step down soon.
In the next few weeks Anne will be contacting a number of people that offered assistance in their questionnaire response. If you did not respond but wish to help HBKA then please contact Anne.
If the Herts Beekeeper Association folds our funds (county and branch) will be passed to similar charities in the area. We can't let that happen.
Antique Smoker
An interesting antique smoker recently appeared on the eBay auction site. Herts Bees was contacted to see whether any members of HBKA might be interested in bidding because it was manufactured by Thomas B Blow (one of our founders) of Welwyn.
Please contact the editor if you won the item or know anything more about the equipment that Thomas B Blow used to manufacture in Hitchin.
Honey Price Check
by Peter Mathews
From time to time it is worth checking the price of your honey. Wholesaler traders are warning of a severe shortage of English Honey in the New Year. Leading supermarkets are currently selling "Bee Keeper's Honey" at about £4.40 / lb - packaged in 12oz (350 gm) jars. You have worked hard to produce a good product. There is no need to give it away ! Just spend a little time establishing your outlets. Many small grocers, gift shops, garden centres are only to happy to sell your produce. And, the message from most of them is that they cannot get enough honey for their own customers.
by Derek Driver, South East Herts
Purely by chance while speaking to our county's editor I found that this government's track record of “burying bad news” was once again in evidence with Defra's survey posted the last week or so of August! And with its usually Machiavellian planning, only on the web!! The only logical conclusion which can be drawn from this was for this survey to reach as few BBKA members as possible due to the main holiday period and for those few who just happened to click on the website and who then filled in the questionnaire. It appears they then extended the survey by a week because of members' protests. The web survey was set up so that each page of questions was compulsory and therefore you could not read all the questions first to get an overview of the direction in which they were leading. The website claimed that it was possible for you to have the questionnaire posted to you but after several attempts, all of which were blocked by the website, I reluctantly gave up, which makes one ponder if this was the objective?
Was BBKA even informed of the possibility of this survey and when? Surely they would have some input as to the form of the questions, how to circulate it to ALL MEMBERS to get the highest feedback that is possible and of course when to contact BBKA members. One of the points was what we thought of our seasonal bee disease inspectors, so it appears once again they are seeking ways to reduce these vital members of our bee keeping world. Perhaps I might have missed something in the way the above was conducted but I don't think I'm alone. What do other members think?
Eva Crane
from the International Bee Research Association
On the first anniversary of her death, 6 September 2008, IBRA is proud to honour Dr Eva Crane with a new book.
Eva Crane - Bee Scientist, 1912 - 2007
In spite of her international stature, Eva Crane was a reserved and private person. This book respectfully sets out to give some personal glimpses of her work, her character and her life. There is a major contribution by Penny Walker who, for 34 years was a respected colleague, and much-loved friend. Penny gives some wonderful insights into the phenomenal intellectual and physical energy Eva put into her work. Her ability to take an overview, assess a situation, analyse the detail, plan a project and see it to fruition were quite astounding. The skills and mental stamina required for such output were developed in Eva's childhood and formative years and again Penny, with discretion and respect, reveals previously unknown detail of these formative years.
IBRA was Eva Crane's creation and Richard Jones, the present director, gives new glimpses into the development of this institution not forgetting to pay heartfelt tribute to Eva's husband Jim Crane whose generosity of spirit, encouragement and support were vital to Eva's work and important factors in IBRA's history. The world's "First Lady of Bees" may, at first, seem a trite remark but it is clearly true and can be seen time and time again in the book through personal contributions from international figures in apiculture
In a productive life that resulted in over 300 publications no tribute would be complete with out a contribution from the Grand Dame herself. It was a difficult task for the editors to select the most important or most memorable work to reprint but certainly the one chosen represents a major theme in all Eva's writings:
Beekeeping as a sustainable practice: past, present and future
There is also the treat of two original papers previously unpublished and the hint there may be further posthumous publication of material prepared by this remarkable woman. The book concludes with a complete list of all her publications to-date. This makes it an immensely useful reference book as well as giving a fine human touch to the life and times of a lady whose contribution to the world history of beekeeping was as enormous as it was unique. The book is well illustrated with photographs, many in colour, most of which have not been published before. Please inform your members about this book.
The book is now available from IBRA at GBP 9.50 plus GBP 1.50 postage and packing.
IBRA, 16 North Road, Cardiff, CF10 3DY, telephone: 02920 372409, fax: 05601 135640
For further information and a picture of the book go to our website: www.ibra.org.uk