GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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Prepare
for swarming especially as the weather has been so bad. Have
spare equipment ready, and a few nuc boxes into which you can put spare queen
cells. Make
sure you have enough frames. At the April meeting at Goytre PAM talked to us about the impressions she had gained from her trip to New Zealand. She had been invited there to talk to commercial beekeepers about the impact and control of varroa and EFB, which are exotic diseases to them. The conference was in Nelson (South Island) and I think most of her comments were about the south island. The beekeepers were suffering that panic and despondency that hit us all in 1993. There are only about 300 commercial beekeepers, but they do have an enormous number of colonies. They are quite happy to pay for things like disease control, hive registration, advertising and marketing. Their beekeeping is very mechanised, the climate is easier than ours and they don’t do difficult manipulations. Pam noticed that there were lots of small apiaries, about 10 colonies. They are fed for about 10 months of the year so they require a lot of sugar. They use Langstroth hives with double brood, and quite often they are left on pallets to make them easier to move to the honey flows. The kiwi fruit industry is so valuable that beekeepers are paid to bring their bees for pollination. The bees get no nectar only pollen so the farmers pay for the sugar as well. There are some very good indigenous honey plants in New Zealand. Pam had taken some photos of hillsides that had been harvested of timber and were regenerating. First they become covered with gorse (a new immigrant) but it is quickly replaced by manuka which is a first generation plant in the regeneration of indigenous forest. It in turn is replaced by kanuka which grows into a 16m tree. These are both Leptospermums (family Myrtaceae) and are extremely mellifluous—the honey has a very strong flavour, (more like heather than rape). Bridget Graham has some labels for sale that will make your honey labels legal. They are gold with black writing 1”x1.5” and say Produce of Wales Best before 2008 Cost £1 for 100 + p&p Graham Loveridge 01495
762827 About the above ad. I
shall be buying some of these labels to make me legal when I sell any honey, but
I think we should be careful. Apparently we don’t need to use lot numbers
now—if we are using a best before date. This is presumably with real
consumables in mind where a different batch is made every day, each with a
different best before date, so they are easily traced. But with such a long best
before we might be using the same batch of labels not only for two harvests (if
one harvests twice a year which those of us near rape have to do) but for
several years. Therefore for our own information we should have some sort of
mark so that we know to which batch each jar belongs. In fact I cannot say any
clear honey (unless it has been overheated or very finely strained) can be
guaranteed to LOOK pleasant after a few months on a shelf even though we
may know that the product itself is unimpaired. My creamed honey starts to
separate after about a year, although it tastes OK. So it is fine to make us
legal, but we must still make sure that the product we sell lives up to its
reputation and doesn’t do anything it shouldn’t within that time scale. May is the best month
for bees—I hope it remembers in time. Bridget The GBKA have been given a photocopier cum fax cum scanner by Carolyne
Ogden who was doing the beginners course this year and is now one of our
members. Thank you very much Carolyne. It can be used as a stand alone
photocopier (colour) or do more sophisticated things via a computer. (My
computer doesn’t have the right software, but Stuart’s laptop does). It will
be housed at a committee members house for the use of all GBKA members, I will
let you know whose. At the moment it is here at Stonewall Cottage until we
decide who would like to take care of it. DEVON
BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION SUMMER CONFERENCE This biennial summer conference will take place on 17th-18th July this year at the new and prestigious venue of Exeter University. The theme “Healthy Bees, Healthy People” includes speakers of international reputation: Dr Otto Boecking on the Status of breeding Varroa Resistant Bees Dr Anton Imdorf on Alternative treatments for Varroa destructor Dr Rose Cooper on Research and developments in honey as a healing agent Dr James Cresswell on the interaction of honeybees with the environment and bee behaviour in the face of modern-day crops Dr Michael Keith-Lucas on the use of pollen in forensic science Brenda Ball on the latest research on honeybee pathogens Clive de Bruyn on the way forwards—trends and developments Accommodation is available on site and all rooms have en-suite facilities. Have you ever been to a beekeeping conference? No? Then let me give you some idea of what it is like. Saturday: Arrival, registration and coffee, getting to know some of the other delegates. The first lecture of the day; asking questions; coffee; another lecture; lunch and more chat. More lectures followed by dinner with the opportunity for more discussion about the contents of the lectures (and of course beekeeping). A drink in the bar if desired, getting to know one another better and learning about bees in other parts of the country and indeed the world. A nights sleep and Sunday’s programme to look forward to! Of course, you don’t have to be a residential guest. For a very reasonable fee you can attend the lectures only, an excellent option for those living close enough or who can only spare a day. To sum up, this weekend is a wonderful opportunity for beekeepers new and old to exchange views and ideas. The more experienced will update their knowledge, nad the beginners in this fascinating craft will learn from the experiences and mistakes of those who have been enjoying beekeeping for some years. DO COME! For further information and application form contact: Mrs Jane Ducker, Oak Cottage, Chapel Lane, Manaton, Devon, TQ13 9UA Tel 01647 221225 I don’t know how many of you know that there are quite a large number of exams that can be taken in Beekeeping. The syllabi are set by the BBKA who have a special Examinations Board for everything to do with the assessments. Apart from a junior exam for under 18s, the first exam is called the Basic. The exam is conducted at any suitable apiary (eg the association apiary) and is partly practical (lighting a smoker, opening a hive and answering questions) and partly oral (answering questions about beekeeping but not with the hive open). It is as it is called just basic beekeeping which all of us do all the time. The syllabus has recently been altered. If anyone would like to look at it both Janet and John Holden have copies. Do think about taking this exam. When you have passed it you can then take a whole range of modules about all sorts of interesting things. If enough people show an interest we will organise a preparation day and an examiner. Think about it. More news when we get some idea of how much interest there is likely to be. Sunday 16th May We are invited to an Integrated Pest Management workshop day with discussions and demonstrations on alternative treatments for varroa, viz: Icing sugar dusting with varroa floors Drone brood removal Use of thymol Testing for pyrethroid resistance Queen trapping Artificial swarm method The day is being run in conjunction with their RBI Robin Hall and members of the seasonal bee inspector team. 10am —4pm on 16th May at Brockhampton village hall (off the B4224 3 or 4 miles north of Ross on Wye). Refreshments will be available. In their letter it says, “Enjoy a few hours with fellow beekeepers and participate in something highly relevant and useful. We would be very pleased to see you there.” So it seems everyone is welcome and they don’t need to know the numbers who intend to go. If you go please could you let me know how much you learned and/or write a bit for the newsletter? If you cannot get to this workshop
don’t despair Gwent beekeepers will be holding a similar day in Cwmbran in
April 2005 National
Bumblebee Nest Survey Www.rothamsted.ac.uk This
is a survey associated with National Insect Week and if you want to take part in
it you must go to the website or send a sae with two first class stamps A4 size
to ‘National Bumblebee Nest Survey, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts AL5
2JQ I went to the website and downloaded all the stuff. If you haven’t got a colour printer and a lot of time it would be better to do the sae thing. There are 4 parts, one is about identifying the insects. They only want them divided into 5 different colour ways—which is why it is good to have it in colour—so you don’t have to be an expert. The next is about the survey and how to do it. It sounds quite interesting, first you look around for any bees on flowers and then you sit still for 20 minutes watching a site for signs of a nest. They would like you to do two sites, one in your garden and one in the countryside. If you would like to do more then that is ok too. It must be a nice sunny day when bees are flying and it must be in June. The next part consists of the forms sorry, data record sheets, that you have to fill in. And then there is a letter that you can produce to waft in front of a landowner if you need to go on to someone’s land to find a suitable site. It all seems a fun way of spending a few hours and will make you more aware of the other bees about us! Following on from Chris Harries talk last month it is a must.
After
the last snowfall back in March I noticed that one of my beehives had been
wrecked by what turned out to be a badger; judging from the footprints in the
snow (See attached photographs). Fortunately it only ripped the super &
landing board off but nevertheless it did virtually destroy/ devour most of the
comb in that super. It also returned a couple of nights later but this time only
took the top off the hive & the landing strip off again. See pictures in our picture gallery. Mike Fleetwood
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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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