GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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MSWCC We
are contemplating hiring a bus to take interested folk for the day on Saturday,
cost of travel will depend on how many want to go (could vary between £10 and
£20). The cost of entry for the day will be another £16. Three good lectures
and a host of side shows—please let Jan Jones know if you are interested: tel.01600
750295 One part of this convention is a honey show between the different counties. Graham thinks it would be nice if we entered and as he will be staying down there he has volunteered to coordinate it. We can’t expect him to contribute all the exhibits himself so if you could contribute something (eg a pot of honey or make a cake) he would be very grateful. He has copies of the schedule are if you are willing. Please phone 01495 762 827 1. 2. 3.
The Chairman of an association to the north of Gwent
was complaining that the fine weather was "wearing out the bees" due
to the number of forage opportunities that were available with the good
conditions earlier in the spring. From one point of view he clearly has a point,
but I think that the total effect on the colony would be rather different.
Provided the bees had plenty of room, these fine conditions with plenty of
forage, pollen and nectar coming in are just the sort of conditions that would
encourage the queen to go steaming ahead laying lots of eggs and so replace the
worn out bees. This view seems to be borne out by the reports of large and early
swarms, an indication that the queen is very active. Whilst there is bound to be a delay between the time
that the eggs are laid and bees emerge and become foragers, it is my belief that
the sharing of duties between foraging, guarding, cleaning, rearing and, if I
can call it that, general hive duties is very flexible, and if there is a
requirement in the hive for a particular skill then bees are drafted in to that
requirement. One has only to open a not very friendly colony to see this. But do
not ask me where the orders come from to draft bees to other duties, does the
queen give "orders", but she is busy laying, or is the whole colony
acting as a single "being" as some suggest. Indeed the success of bees
over many millions of years seems to me to indicate that the whole colony system
is flexible and can accommodate differing conditions. I see one of the BBC breakfast TV news presenters is
taking up beekeeping, but a sting on the ear caused him to miss a couple of
programmes. It just underlines the need for good protective gear in ones first
years, or throughout ones beekeeping years for that matter. His place was taken
by the sports presenter, which says something! Some discussion in the letters page of one of the
papers concerning problems with Varroa and the appearance of resistant strains,
followed by a letter recommending "Froe" mixture. I do hope no one
uses it, it is the most awful mixture which to me is dangerous to the beekeeper
and could kill almost any living insect in the hive if introduced in sufficient
quantity. Still it was alleged to be the cure for the "Isle of Wight'
disease, though I do have my doubts. Dick Sadler, 23/5/03 Reg Griffiths reports that Cuprinol “Low Odour Light and Dark Oak”
which has been recommended in the past is no longer easily obtainable. However
Ronseal say that their “Quick Drying
Woodstain” is OK for bees and Devon BKA recommend it. B&Q have it and
in lots of colours. Do not confuse with Ronseal’s other Stains for Garden Furniture,
Decking etc Creosote is no longer considered safe due to its carcinogenic properties
and from this month is being withdrawn. It will still be available to trade
people –presumably because they will wear breathing apparatus when applying
it. Apiary
News
The
apiary meetings continue to have good support and the beginners are finding them
interesting. We now have six strong colonies and if the queen rearing goes well
there could be some nucs available later on.
There is still a great deal of building and general tidying work to do on the site. There are work parties every Wednesday evening from 6.00 to 9.00 when there are jobs suitable for anyone to do — whether you are a skilled carpenter or just feel capable of picking up rubbish. Please try to make at least one Wednesday evening over the summer.Comment
My apiary site in the
rabbity garden is at last stocked with bees. When I showed them to my father I
happened to remark that I wasn’t sure what they were working. He replied that
it must be buttercup as there are so many around at the moment and every
schoolgirl knows that they have honey guides on the petals leading to the
nectaries. One doesn’t of course like to argue with one’s
father—especially one who is an eminent entomologist, but I said one never saw
bees on buttercups. At which point I looked down and guess what I saw. When I
related this dismal story to the bee inspector who came to do just that I was
told “they go to buttercup only if they are starving.” We then went through
the colonies and sure enough one of them was rather short of stores. If your bees are in swarm mode don’t worry so are everyone elses. Maybe you should be more concerned if they are the weird ones that are not swarming. Make sure they have plenty of room I think they need it more when they are huddled inside due to bad weather—remember those summer holidays when it rained every day.
Bridget Sunday 29th June—an afternoon event of countryside activities. The GBKA will be attending this day and setting up a stall with an observation hive and an empty hive for demonstrations. The organisers will be paying £25.00 to each stall, the money for our stall will go to the association. This is an excellent chance for us to promote beekeeping, the association and to sell our products. We need several volunteers to help on the day so that it is not too onerous. Please help if you can. The Garn Lakes are situated on the road between Blaenavon & Brynmawr. Stalls set up between 11.00am-12.30 pm -----------Finish time 5.15pm If you can help then please contact Graham Loveridge 01495 762827 Polite
Bees, Rude Bees, Logs, Frames and Bars Len Dixon who is from Hereford BKA came and told us about his African beekeeping experience in place of Pam who was unable to come. There is a link between Leominster and a small town in Tanzania called Tangeru. It sounds a really useful link to have, the churches support each other, the English schools help the African schools, the hospital sends unneeded equipment (eg beds) to the hospital and in Len’s case a Tanzanian beekeeper came over here and Len was asked to show him our beekeeping methods. One thing led to another and he was asked to go out there under a Bees Abroad umbrella to see how they did things and how he could help them. It is a very beautiful and fertile part of Tanzania with plenty of rain. Unfortunately the population explosion has led to destruction of the woodlands and erosion of the shallow soils on the hillsides so much of the land is now barren. There is quite a lot being done to try to improve things and Len saw all of it not just the beekeeping. He obviously thoroughly enjoyed himself and really appreciated the warmth with which he was greeted and the friendly way he was looked after. He had some photos and also a video ( which has won a prize and was not at all amateur) showing traditional log hives and also the new top bar hives that people like Nicola are always telling us about. There was an interesting sequence of a beekeeper extracting honey from a colony of stingless bees. They are tiny, so their honey stores are likewise very small and it was an intricate and time consuming process. The net result was about half a pint of honey. Len was given some to try and he said it was absolutely marvellous, the nicest honey he has ever tasted. This is interesting because I have heard from someone else that the honey from stingless bees is very medicinal and not at all nice and in fact is only used in medicines. There are of course very many sp of stingless bees spread between tropical and subtropical parts of the world and the honey they produce probably varies a great deal. We all enjoyed an interesting talk and a very enjoyable evening. Bridget I
have been given a book to look at called “Traditional Welsh Honey Recipes”.
It has been written by Jane Jones (wife of Richard Jones of IBRA), who I now
discover is the daughter of a beekeeper and was brought up in Wales. If that is
not enough on its own to sell you the book I shall tell you something about it. I
find most honey recipes very unsatisfactory as they consist of a perfectly
normal recipe with a teaspoon of honey thrown in. If one is looking in the honey
recipe book because one has a surfeit of honey to dispose of this is not
entirely helpful. Similarly if one wants to cook something that distinguishes
itself as being different because of the individual taste of
your honey this is likewise
unlikely to meet your requirements. So what one wants to be told is how to
substitute sugar with honey (which I have successfully done when making jam).
Jane makes a lovely broad sweeping statement of the kind I admire viz. “a
little honey can be added to most vegetables before or during cooking. This will
bring out their flavour and make them more appetizing.” And then she gives
some examples. The
best recipes are the cakes and desserts. Here is her honey carrot cake which is
particularly good: 4 oz Marg Preheat oven to 170C Gas mark 3.5 Use a non-stick baking tin to 10x6 inches, 1 inch
deep and line the base with silicone paper Beat the softened margarine and eggs together in a
bowl. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice. Fold all these
ingredients together then stir in the orange zest, carrots, sultanas and finally
the honey. Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for 35-40
minutes. When it is well risen and feels springy to the touch
leave the cake to cool in the tin before cutting it into about 12 squares. If desired a topping can be made using 9 oz of quark
(a soft cheese) mixed with a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Spread over the cake squares when cold. If you are interested in cooking with your honey or
would like a new cookery book this will be sure to give you some ideas. It is
available at £4.25 from Bee Books New and Old
ISBN 0905652 65 7 Removing
bee stings
Report in The Lancet 1966 Conventional advice on immediate treatment of honey bee stings has emphasized that the sting should be scraped off, never pinched. Such advice is likely to slow down removal of the sting. Muscular movements of the detached sting, coordinated by the attached nerve ganglion, move the stylets alternately. The barbs provide one way traction, so that the sting continues to work itself deeper into the flesh. A valve and piston on the proximal ends of the moving lancets (like an old-fashioned water pump) pumps venom from the venom sac between the stylet and the lancets, and through an opening near the tip into the wound. Bee stings are a common, painful, and rarely deadly injury. Most literature regarding the immediate treatment of bee stings states that the sting should be scraped off, perhaps with a knife blade, credit card, or fingernail, and never plucked out by pinching with forceps or one's fingers.
12.30 am –message on answer phone:
“The room has just gone dark. I
think it is the largest swarm I have ever seen and it is settling on the rose
bush just outside. If you’re not there I’ll just have to tackle it
myself”.
2.00 pm—another
message: “It’s
OK I’ve got them in the skep, well some of them. I’ve crucified the rose
bush—but it will recover. I’ve never seen so many bees. I’m going to look
for my spare brood box.”
5.00 pm —next one: “So
I’ve set it up. Brood box with frames on floor and everything and a large
sheet with a plank leading up to the entrance. I shall make them walk the plank
at 6.30 so if you are home by then come and watch.
8.00 pm— final message:
“ They’ve all gone in I can’t believe it. Can I leave them there or
should I put them on their permanent site now.”
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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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