GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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Double
check your hives to make sure they have sufficient stores for the winter.
Don’t disturb the cluster if you can help it, heft the hive to feel how heavy
it is. It should feel as though it is nailed to the floor. Replace
entrance blocks with mouseguards, you need to have good ventilation during the
winter. Secure
your hives with straps or binder twine to make sure the roofs
don’t blow away in a gale. Don’t
forget to remove varroa strips. The
discussion about bees being able to unscrew their sting and fly away is
interesting & something I did not know, but it does raise some questions. Is
the thread left hand or right hand, should we encourage the bee to circle
clockwise or anti clockwise? Some of course would just dispatch the offender. As
an engineer one wonders whether there is something like the British Standard Bee
Thread specifying the pitch and form of the thread! Clearly this is a very
important question that should be taken up with the NBU. I
suppose we shall have to add another categorising name to our bees, we already
have "greeters" and "followers" perhaps there will be
“unscrewers" or would "twisters" be a better name. In the
same general theme I had not tried the battery power tool screwdrivers, thinking
there is nothing to beat a manual screwdriver. But an advert for one for £16
from R* * * * * * * * at Abergavenny persuaded me to invest(?) and have been
surprised how useful it has been. How can they be made and sold at that price?
if you look in the catalogues of the branded versions the spare batteries alone
can cost three times that amount. If it dies on me tomorrow, I will go out and
get another one. For
many years there has been a colony of bees in the garden, very amenable temper
with no trouble at all with the neighbours, maintained with I suspect a mixture
of swarming and supercedure. The brood box was in a bit of a mess and badly
wanted a good clean out, so in the spring I placed a new brood box on top with a
mixture of comb and foundation with the mistaken hope that the brood would move
up. No sign of the bees moving up as had ben hoped but all seemed well with the
colony. Towards
the end of August there was a significant change, we were getting buzzed in the
garden and clearly something had to be done. A quick look showed that the new
brood box was full of honey, and the bees were in a very aggressive mood, flying
out the moment the hive was touched. Clearly there was a new queen who had met
some drones with unfriendly genes. Not a lot could be done at that time of year
so the honey was taken off and that colony dispatched. There must have been
nearly 50 lb of honey in that box, and some of these brood frames were full to
capacity, and almost exhibition quality. The
house martins that usually come and visit and nest with us in the spring have
not made an appearance all summer and I have not seen any about in the district.
However Swallows have been seen on the patch of old tarmac in front of the
house, pecking at the stones. I wonder what they are looking for? The patch of
red round their neck is very distinctive, something one does not see when they
are flying. Dick Sadler 25/9/02 I
heard a story this spring that a marsh, located somewhere mid Europe, which was
used by migrating martins as a useful refuelling spot, had been drained.
Apparently this has led to a serious decline in the numbers. Certainly I have
noticed far fewer this year than normal. You
may be unaware of the fact that on September 20th the BBKA hosted a one day
workshop on “GM crops, Beekeeping and the Honey Industry”. Two beekeepers
from each association were invited to attend. Graham Loveridge and Meryl Whyte
were our delegates. The programme is on p8, Graham has written a report (page 6
& 7) and you can compare it with the official “Consensus Principles
agreed” that I have put on page 5. It
seems to me that there is too much fuss being made about GM pollen. It is
difficult to imagine that the small quantities that we shall ever ingest
can be of any danger to our health; however there is a very real threat to the livelihood of commercial beekeepers who
cannot sell their honey through the normal channels because bulk honey buyers
will only buy honey that is guaranteed GM free. This is because they feel the
‘natural product’ concept that
honey has is compromised by the presence of GM products. I am informed that
the team at Usk show had a very good day. There was a great deal of interest
shown and many pounds of honey sold. They had a very good site in the
horticulture tent next to two plant stands, which always attract a lot of people
- and they somehow acquired four tables so had plenty of room.Thanks to everyone
who came to help, it makes a lot of difference if there are enough helpers so
that everyone can enjoy the show. Gareth brought a selection of equipment old and new on the back of his pickup, so we started the meeting in the carpark having a look at strange and exotic hives, and his lifting gear for transporting hives in quantity. He no longer uses hive stands but keeps the hives on wooden pallets which he can lift with his fork lift on the pickup. This makes moving large numbers of colonies much easier, especially when they have several supers of honey. Inside the hall we were told about the problems and solutions that are inherent in beekeeping for pollination. Some crops give no excess honey but are useful to build up the colonies in the spring, but for some the farmers only want the hives in place for 2-3 days because of the fear that bees spread disease—they have to pay £35-£45 for each hive for that sort of service. It is hard work moving 50 or more colonies of bees and, in summer, at very unsocial hours! The list of crops that need pollination is, I think, heartening. I’m not sure I got them all but it went something like this: Dessert apples,Tunnel raspberries,Cider apples,Late desserts,late Ciders,Rape,Late rape and field beans,Borage Gareth has a great deal of old equipment that he has collected over the years. Did you know there are about a dozen different types of queen introduction box? He is hoping to clear out an old barn so that he can have everything displayed and some of the old hives with bees. There will be a lot of sorting so if anyone has time, especially if you have some knowledge of old pieces, he would like to hear from you. Bridget Consensus Principles agreed at the GM Conference 20th
September 2002 These principles will be discussed at the BBKA Forum on 6'" October
and at the Executive Meeting on October 19th 2002. A
BBKA GM policy statement will subsequently be issued. •
Beekeepers must recognise the importance of the pubic perception of
honey quality
and respond to it . •
The 6‑mile exclusion zone should be retained
for the time being. ·
There should be
peer‑reviewed, publicly available, accessible and comprehensible
scientific evidence on all GM matters relating to beekeeping. ·
Evidence for the impact of
GM crops on full colonies of bees has yet to be fully demonstrated. ·
There is consumer demand
for non‑GM honey in the UK. ·
GM issues have been poorly
handled by the government, which creates uncertainty and concern with the
public. Sweetness and Light
Swift originated the expression "Sweetness and Light" in "The battle of the books," which is part of "The tale of a tub", a book which I do not have. There are two versions: The spider feeds wholly on itself, producing nothing but fly-bane and a cobweb, whereas the bee in its wide flights visits all the flowers of the field and brings home honey and wax, thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.(Encyc. Brit) Instead of dirt and poison we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.(Oxford Dictionary of Quotations) Beekeeping and the Honey Industry Two representatives from each beekeeping association in the UK were invited to this event, and Meryl Whyte and I went to represent the Gwent One-Day Workshop/Conference on GM Crops Beekeepers Association. Even before the conference, concerns had been expressed that the whole meeting would be very biased in favour of GM crops. I shall only present a review of the meeting, what was discussed, and what outcomes resulted. It is up to you to make your own assessment of GM crops. Glyn Davies, Chairman of the BBKA, chaired the meeting which was divided into two distinct parts. Before lunch seven speakers gave short presentations on a variety of topics related to GM crops. Looking at the list of speakers you may feel that the meeting was in fact GM biased, but this workshop was designed to obtain more information about these crops from the government and the biotechnology industry and to address the concerns of beekeepers and honey producers. The objectives of the workshop were to formulate an acceptable definition of “GM free” and “non GM” honey, and to consider the merits of the 6 mile exclusion zone. This was an opportunity for the BBKA to express · What ‘line’ they have on the GM maters. · Is there any need to modify this? · Are GM decisions clear to beekeepers? · What is the opinion of beekeepers? The BBKA has no position on political decisions, as its responsibility is beekeeping. Prof. I Williams from IACR Rothamstead talked of the EU regulations with regard to GM crops. Oil seed rape had been produced that was resistant to certain weed killers, so that they could be used to kill the weeds without affecting the crop. One comment that she did make was “pollen cannot be contained”. The delegates expressed concerns that no crops could be absolutely isolated from GM pollen and that this would mean that nowhere was free of GM pollen. “The genie has been let out of the bottle” was one comment from the audience. Dr Paul Ryott of BASF presented studies comparing effects on bees of GM crops compared with non GM crops. The results demonstrated that the bees worked both crops equally and that the bees suffered no adverse affects whatsoever from the GM plants. Some beekeepers contested the results and concerns were expressed that no long term studies had been done. There were also worries that GM pollen fed to larvae could affect the brood adversely. A number of studies have been published. The Honey Association dealt with the importation of honey and talked of their work to promote honey, using the media. They reminded us that 10-16 February 2003 would be National Honey Week. The EU will be reducing the GM limit in food from 1% to 0.5%. Honey would always be below this limit. During the discussion grave concerns were expressed that honey containing GM material would be unacceptable to our customers and that may well affect the sales of honey products. Admittedly most beekeepers do not market their honey but that does not mean that those who give their honey to friends, or only use it themselves do not have concerns about GM contamination. This is in spite of the EU limit of 0.5% ever being reached. Honey is a ‘pure’ product in the eyes of the public. Although the spread of GM pollen falls off rapidly over a few hundred yards from a GM crop it never reached zero even at 60 miles! It was noted that this made the exclusion zone of 6 miles nothing more than an arbitrary figure. There was much concern that long term adverse effects could occur and that there would be no way to reverse them. Much was discussed regarding the terms “GM free” and “non GM” when applied to labelling honey. All agreed that it was impossible to state that the product was “GM free” as there was no way to be absolutely sure. Although no agreement was reached regarding what could be put on a honey label, if bee colonies were 6 miles or more from GM crops then GM material in the honey would be negligible. Mr Phil Chandler of Devon BKA gave a precise presentation against the use of GM crops. · 70% of people do not want GM products · Because GM pollen cannot be completely contained within an area this meant that there would be no choice between GM and GM free products · Phil asked the question “ Who wants GM crops”. Answer, the large seed suppliers. · He also stated that the Biotechnology industry should carry the full liability for their products. The polluter pays. He noted that the industry has strongly fought against this. · There is evidence that GM crops can harm bees and insufficient work has been done. · There should be peer reviewed, publicly available, accessible and comprehensive scientific evidence on all GM matters. The SBKA represented by Les Webster, a fierce opponent of GM crops and the companies promoting them, tried to get a vote of agreement from other members i.e. BBKA & WBKA to call for a moratorium on the planting and testing of all GM crops. The members of all the Scottish Associations had already voted yes to this motion before the meeting. A vote could not be done before the delegates had consulted the other members of their respective associations. The vote at the end of the day agreed to retain the 6mile limit for the present. There was no conclusive definition of “GM free” and “non GM” honey. A copy of two publications will be available from the library at the next meeting. 1. New choices new challenges new approaches ABC 2. GM Crops Understanding the issues ABC Papers available from Graham Loveridge · Environmental Risk Assessment of Transgenic Plants using Honey Bee Larvae Henrick F. et al. · GM Crops, Bee Foraging behaviour and Gene Flow. Prof. I Williams · How far do Honey Bees fly to fields of Brassica Napus (Oilseed Rape) Carreck N et al · Do GM Crops and their Products have Side Effects on Bees and Bumble Bees. Malone L et al. ABC Agricultural Biotechnology Council BASF Biotechnology Company BBKA British Beekeeping Association GM Genetically modified IACR Institute of Arable Crops Research SBKA Scottish Beekeeping Association WBKA Welsh Beekeeping Association Web sites of interest www.fiveyearfreeze.org www.iacr.bbsrc.ac.uk
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