Shropshire Beekeepers Newsletter

Transcription

1 Shropshire Beekeepers Newsletter April 2013 This Month: Monthly meeting report & the coming programme 2 A look around the new season s catalogues. 3 & 4 Announcements 5 Letters & s 6 Book review: Learning from Bees, by Phil Chandler 7 Weather forecast and committee contact details 8 Newsletter Editors contact details for contributions: Jill and Chris Thomas Myddleman@btinternet.com Texts and mobile: , Home phone: Page 1 of 8 A new feature on the back page: The weather forecast for the coming month

2 Monthly Meeting: Wed March 13 th The Zest Hive project Well, we expected some new ideas to think about, and that is excactly what we got. Build your own hive in 15 minutes or so, from a kit of parts including 4 x2 timber, building blocks made by Tarmac, Kingspan building insulation panels and a corrugated roof. Two custom components are offered, but are not vital a wooden surround to hang the frames from, and plastic frames with three panels for the busy ladies to build their comb into. This could all have seemed bizarre, but Bill Summers and Dave Durrant provided a clear explanation of the reasoning behind each design decision and plenty of pointers towards the bees being very happy in what looks like a very unconventional home. The premise is to design a hive that is cheap to build, whether here or in the Third World, and offers a superior home for the bees. The large thermal mass and very effective insulation, about fifteen times that of a traditional wood hive, supports great stability of the brood nest temperature and combined with top ventilation preserves the hive atmosphere very effectively. The point was made that Varroa are not a problem in Africa, where The coming SBKA programme April 10th 2013 Preparing for the Honey Show - the final Shirehall meeting until September 11th Outdoor meetings: 13th April 2013 Starting Sorry the season this is cancelled well/oilseed rape/queen due to marking the late season 11th May 2013 Methods of swarm control 8th June 2013 Frame changing methods 13th July 2013 Monitoring for disease & varroa/preventing robbing/harvesting 14th September 2013 Preparing for winter/uniting colonies/pest protection/winter stores optimium brood nest temperatures and relative humidity of over 70% severly inhibit varroa reproduction. This hive is very much a work in progress, but one to watch perhaps and could easily hit the commercial market as a viable system in the future. (Ed s note: having recieved a sample of the plastic frame for National hives, we had to give feedback that the current design is wrong, but changes are being made and we expect to try a revised sample soon. This may be a viable design in the near future, if you want your bees to build without foundation). Page 2 of 8

3 A quick tour of some new season s catalogues So, the new catalogues have hit the doormat, just as winter finally seems to be receding after thirteen consecutive months. Combing through, there are many claims of new products, so we have tried to pick out those that are more relevant to current interests it s not much good writing about brand new bulk extractors when just getting a decent harvest is a bit of a challenge given our unusual current weather patterns. Most of these products are instantly traced with a web search and are often available from a choice of suppliers, but if you have problems the editors and we will send you sources by return. So, firstly, how to get your colonies off to a flying start? Pollen shortages can inhibit build up just as surely as low nectar flows, but Candy Pollen Gold is a ready to use fondant paste containing sterilized bee pollen, sugar, milk & egg proteins. The manufacturers claim that studies show feeding bees with pollen in addition to stimulating the development of the brood helps prevent disease, but then brood developed with plenty of good protein food should be happy and healthy, shouldn t they? New to one major catalogue, Hive Alive is now available in half-litre bottles. This mix if natural products combines with sugar syrup at spring or autumn feeding times and has anti-fungal and anti-viral properties aimed at reducing Nosema, Chalkbrood, Varroa and viruses. Hive Alive claims to prevent syrup from fermenting, saving money and allowing for a longer feeding window. It also contains lemon grass which should help calm the bees and make the sugar syrup more attractive to them. One major catalogue has a natty new wooden feeder, which delivers the liquid through the hive entrance - useful both for light syrup and particularly water. Why make your bees trek off to the nearest puddle or water butt, or even risk them going thirsty, when you could just top up their feeder bottle without needing to open the hive? Page 3 of 8

4 Fancy running some courses? This could make your delivery really stand out. Training needs both the spoken word and visuals to be effective with the majority of learning styles, and what better way than this hive simulator? It is supplied as a kit of pre-printed coloured pieces which are then laid out to represent the chosen hive layout. The evolution of a typical colony through the season can be related to the changes in hive configuration, with the various types of bee each having their own labels to help beginners to understand their function. The pieces are magnetic, so using a magnetic white board, flip chart or the side of a convenient van are all possible ways of demonstrating what previously needed lots of equipment to get the point across. MAQS is a newly authorised veterinary medicine February 26 th 2013, to be precise. It is a formic acid based treatment, packaged to be inserted in bee space above or inside the brood nest. It can be used during the honey flow, and leaves no residues in wax or the honey. The bees remove the strips themselves, so no need to disturb the colony twice. If you read the VMD/Defra certificate, you will see it is important to allow the bees sufficient control over ventilation, otherwise too strong a vapour may lead to queen rejection, worker and brood mortality or the colony absconding. Fair warning! Page 4 of 8

5 You are invited to complete a survey The University of Reading are working on issues of pollinator declines and their consequences. They are presently conducting research into the actual costs incurred by beekeepers, of all levels of expertise, in providing pollination services to key UK crops. They hope that this research will allow them to make policy recommendations to reduce beekeeping costs and facilitate stronger links between farmers and beekeepers. The questionnaire contains 20 questions that should take between minutes to answer. Nucs for sale from the end of May. All Nucs with marked local queens & all to the full BBKA published standard Assistance if required to transfer into a full size hive and also with a follow up visit. Call Peter Bound, Overwintered Nucs for sale, 2012 queens, ready when weather permits transfer. 125 each. Small 2 piece bee suit, 15. Call Ron Wilson Gordon s Shropshire Bred Bees National 5 frame nuc June delivery 130, 11 frame colony ready for supers delivery April, 175 Top Bar 5 frame nuc delivery June, foot Top Bar hive complete with bees April 200 Mated queens delivery June 15 Phone , or gordonrugg@btinternet.com LOCAL BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT SUPPLIERS BERWICK BEEKEEPING SUPPLIES 8 LATCHFORD LANE, BERWICK GRANGE SHREWSBURY, SHROPSHIRE, SY1 4YG berwickbees@gmail.com. SBKA HELPLINE For help or advice gordonrugg@btinternet.com or Ring Gordon on Evenings. Page 5 of 8

6 Letters and s Hi I wonder if you could put a note in the next edition of the newsletter to the effect that: Acton Scott Historic Farm at Marshbrook, near Church Stretton, will be running two one day courses for beginner beekeepers this year, on Saturday April 20th and Saturday 11th May. The tutor will be Brian Goodwin. They also have a few colonies of bees and wonder if someone would be interested in helping to look after them. (Experience not a prerequisite!) Information about courses can be found on the Historic Farm website The phone number is Regards Malcolm McDonald Your say: Please feel free to have your say with s, letters and articles we will publish everything we can. If you have more to say (or ask!) then typically, a single page article has between 200 and 250 words, and we can often find suitable illustrations if you don t have one. Double page pieces are 500 to 550 words, so you can really get stuck in. Please let us know if you are getting an article ready, and we will save space for you. Page 6 of 8

7 Learning From Bees - Philip Chandler This is a collection of articles on bees, bee keeping and other bee related topics. The articles cover a range of subjects which include the importance of drones, advice to inventive bee keepers, and what is natural bee-keeping. His style is direct and yet questioning; a clear aim of the book is to stimulate further thought and debate on the topics covered. One article in the book called Inner Beekeeping considers the ways in which our interaction with bees impacts on us as individuals and how this may impact how we relate to others and the wider environment, all as a direct result of our contact with bees. Whilst the articles do reflect the current concerns in beekeeping such as use of pesticides they also look at the more philosophical topics such as has anthropomorphism distorted our relationship with bees? He challenges the commonly held view of the queen as controlling the colony and whether drones really are, as the term would imply, just loafers living off the labours of the other bees. Each article is short and the book is an easy thought provoking read. Whilst it is evident from the views the author expresses that he is not a conventional beekeeper he does question aspects of all types of beekeeping. Personally I think it achieves what the author set out to achieve i.e. an informative and thought provoking read. Jill Thomas Page 7 of 8

8 SHROPSHIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION (Reg. Charity No: ) Website: President Chair Mr. B. Goodwin, Windrush, Crewe Green, Shrewsbury. SY5 9AT Peter Hampson Vice Chair Peter Bound General Secretary: Membership Secretary Treasurer Newsletter Editors Public Liaison Officers Regional Bee Inspector Chris Currier, Churchleigh, Adderley, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 3TD Lesley Norfolk, Acorn Cottage, Woodside, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. TF8 7ED Richard Hudson Chris & Jill Thomas, Jasmine Cottage, 22 Myddlewood, Myddle, Shropshire SY4 3RY Paul & Sandy Herbert, Brooke Corner, Lower Wallop Westbury, Shrewsbury. SY5 9RT The weather forecast for April: Colder than average with overnight frosts until mid-april, sometimes dull and overcast but with below average rain. A transition to the more usual westerly winds around mid-april should see temperatures rise to much nearer seasonal averages, but still with a risk of overnight frost. The winds coming from the Atlantic bringing the rise in temperature are also likely to bring unsettled weather, making the rainfall for April as a whole around average. Based on the Met Office 30 day forecast issued at: 0400 on Mon 1 Apr 2013 Page 8 of 8