GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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SALE
of donated
BEEKEEPING equipment at Trostrey Directions: Take
the Abergavenny road out of Usk. After
about 3/4 mile turn right at
signpost “Trostrey Common 1 mile”, just before Llancayo House. After
1 mile it is the large green building on the left. Make
certain that you have plenty of super space. Change
your floors if you haven’t already done so On
a good day do your spring inspection. Bees
were flying strongly again on the 6th March, just about the first time since the
26th of January. A lot of different bumble bees were in appearance too, January
seems too early for their time clocks. Surprisingly the winter heathers were
still of interest along with the crocuses, skimmia and the hellebores, though
white heathers seemed of no attraction to any of the bees. How anything can be
extracted from the tightly closed multi flowered skimmia I do not know, but
something must pollinate the flowers as they usually give a good show of
berries. Both
the 6th March and the 26th January were bright sunlit days with air temperatures
not dissimilar to adjoining days when the bees were not flying. Perhaps bees
have at least one similarity to humans in that they like the sunshine! Now
clearly strong sunshine must have an effect on surface temperatures and on the
dark coloured bee for that matter, but I do wonder if the "brightness"
of a day will encourage bees to fly. Has anybody tried floodlighting a field of
oil seed rape with a colony in it? Or for that matter an orchard, the lights
might help to keep it frost free? The
subject of allergies, mentioned in last month’s issue, is very interesting and
medically very complex. We all have an allergic reaction to bee stings, some
more than others, we come out in a small swelling around the point of the sting.
I always think that the first sting of the year brings out a bigger bump than
those later on in the year, but this may be just my imagination. But in
some people the reaction builds up on itself, exactly what happens is well
documented but not easy to understand, then a serious situation arises. It is
worth remembering that it is only a few people, in my contacts with beekeepers I
suppose I have met four or five who are very allergic and yet still keep bees.
But of course they do take precautions, good protective clothing and an antidote
always handy. We
should also remember that ones reaction to a bee sting can change over the
years, for many years I had penicillin or its derivatives and suffered no
adverse reaction, then suddenly after a short course of radiation, penicillin
within an hour brought me out in prickles and swellings. For hay fever suffers
my comment is that it seems to become easier as one gets older! Perhaps
the most common allergy is that to hard work. Quite a few of those around. Fairly
recently there has come on the market a new woodworking glue based on a single
formulation polyurethane system which sets by picking up moisture from the air
or the wood. One feature of it is that the excess outside the joint appears as a
very weak foam that can be easily removed with sandpaper or a scraper. It is not
recommended for outside use, but as a test I left the old brush used to spread
it in water and its strength does not seem to be impaired at least in the short
term. Dick Sadler, 27/3/03 BDI (and
all its problems) The AGM is on April 27th. If anyone would like to go please phone Jill on 01873 880625 John Smith is looking for WBCs,
mainly floors and roofs as he has plenty of lifts. If you can help please ring him on 01600 860 911 If anyone would like to put an entry in the show Janet has schedules. They are rather too long to put in the newsletter. Tel no 01291 690331 Comment This spell of warm
dry weather has been wonderful and the bees have enjoyed it too. Everyone I talk
to gives me glowing reports about the state of their colonies which considering
the long mild winter with bees flying and expending energy when they should have
been quiescent is very pleasing. However I have also heard murmurings of
’there are going to be a lot of early swarms this year’ . I have had a great
deal of help and encouragement with my bee garden. Dick suggested Hellebores, so
I tried some seedlings of ’foetidus’ which were not attacked by the rabbits,
so have ventured out into more exotic ones, some donated by Janet. Then Brian
Harris suggested aconitum as being poisonous enough to be rabbit proof, and
produced some lovely clumps. These do indeed appear to be rabbit-proof, as have
another variety provided again by Janet. The new problem which we are all facing
is lack of rain, I am having to water all my new plantings !!!! My sister
announced today that in 1976 it stopped raining in March and we didn’t have
any more until September—do you remember that? We really have a
great deal of equipment to get rid of at the sale on 9th May so if you need
anything do come along and have a look. Anything that is not sold will be taken
to the Hartpury auction which is, I think, May 17th. I haven’t advertised it
yet as I’m not certain and can’t get hold of Jeff Bee to find out –details
next month. Bridget At the March meeting in Goytre village hall Graham Loveridge gave us a splendid synopsis of marketing techniques, methods acquired during his 25 years as a medical rep. with a special focus on honey. He more or less said it is easy to sell honey because people want to buy it (unlike some products he was pushing in his other life?) but we must be careful to make sure that it is collected and prepared hygienically, that we follow all the current legislation that relates to the preparation and labelling of honey, and that we are careful not to allow it to be degraded by maltreatment eg overheating. Presentation is all important when trying to sell a product. The product must look good and so must you, and you mustn’t smell of garlic or beer. It is very important to be sure that you have enough honey to supply the needs of a new customer for the whole year. And decide on a price and stick to it, it is very bad form to keep changing it, and it is equally bad form to undercut another supplier. So have a look in the local outlets to find out what the current price is before making any decision. Some of you will have used, and all of you should be familiar with the varroa calculator designed by Steven Martin for MAFF when Varroa first appeared on the scene. It has now been replaced by a more user friendly method, also reliant on the natural mite drop (measured in screened floor debris) but unfortunately only available on the internet. Http://www.csl.gov.uk/prodserv/cons/bee/varroamodel/app.cfm If you have access to the web please offer help to those who haven’t. Last Month February 2003 marked the completion of the second years publication of the organisations “Web Site” http://www.gbka.org.uk and from a simple beginning it has grown, to become a frequently visited website. The range of countries from whence we are regularly visited is quite amazing. Most of our visitors are from North America (“+/-2000 to date) we have had about 1000 from the rest of the Americas and Canada, and many more from elsewhere including France, Germany, Spain, Australia, many of the Balkan countries, Russia, some of the African countries and New Zealand. Even Japan. There was a time when I had quite a dialogue going with some beekeepers in Australia, especially regarding systems of controlling Varroa. But I had to call a halt when an undesirable began to infiltrate the mail. The email to me from various areas has dried up recently but I believe that I was at fault. I hope that I have now taken care of the glitch. Those of you, who may have visited the site, perhaps out of curiosity, might have noticed that there have been some format changes. When Bridget first asked for a volunteer to help her in publishing a web site, which I believe was at Ken’s suggestion, I took the initiative and designed a simple web site and purchased the domain http://www.gbka.org.uk I did this at my own expense since I viewed the exercise as being one that would probably interest me. I had already designed one for myself http://www.geraldorbabs.co.uk Bridget and I sat together one evening, and made alterations to her satisfaction and so the web site was born. Since that time Bridget and I have kept the site jumping with all the latest news and info. And more recently we have been supported with contributions from Graham both literary and pictorial. When the Domain came up for renewal I contacted the web site’s “HOST”, and in renewing all our details I was a little surprised at the increase in the charges. I paid up without further ado since I now viewed the project as my contribution to the association, and putting us in line with the leaders in the Beekeeping fraternity. I awaited confirmation, which duly arrived. The news raised a smile to my face and I couldn’t help but phone Bridget right away. ”Guess what Bridget I now have http://www.gbka.co.uk with 20 meg of web space as well”. I had inadvertently purchased an extra Domain. To bring everyone up to date. We now have quite a comprehensive database of information within the newsletters which I have now published with “freedom to serve”(f2s) who have allowed me 20 megabytes of free web space. I chose to do this because we were rapidly using up our 20 meg of paid space with gbka.co.uk. gbka.org.uk is a domain (clearing house) only and has no web space. I have now introduced a search facility onto the site (try it it’s great) to allow any visitor to search our site for information. At the moment it is on trial and running beautifully. Perhaps with approval we can keep it.(it doesn't cost us anything) The site is getting “quite something” and especially the photo gallery and DIY section. These are popular with the visitors, and I think that these areas are worth developing. These two sections together with the newsletters are becoming a treasure trove of information, and I can foresee a lot more visitors using them, and the search facility. I am looking into introducing a readers forum or notice board for visitors questions, and answers from our "in house" experts. It is a difficult project but who knows, one of our readers might have the answer (I have now been successful in introducing a discussion page. All we need now is someone to start the ball rolling) I have tried to pare down some of the irrelevancies on the website but it is probable that in a year or two’s time we will have to buy more web space. That is of course, if I cannot find any more freebies. Then I might have to contact the treasurer. If any of you, readers of the NEWS LETTER, has any suggestion to improve the site, or has a contribution to make, I hope that my letter will prompt a reaction. CHEERS!!! Your friend and web Master G W Cole. |
Whilst the domains gbka.co.uk & gbka .org .uk are owned by G Cole. The web pages under these domains are published for the Gwent Beekeepers association and its members , in order to publicise our association's news, aims, activities, and the art of beekeeping.
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