GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
|
GBKA Registered
|
AGM We
have a very prestigious speaker from the NBU. Come and hear what he has to say
about what they do. After
the talk we will have tea and cakes. If you can contribute anything please let
Kath know so that we don’t end up with all sandwiches and no cakes. Tel
no: 01633 421354 If
you prepared your bees properly for the winter then they should be all right but
go to your apiary occasionally to check that your hives haven’t been blown
over or attacked by woodpeckers. Sit
back and think about good books for Christmas, either educational or diverting.
Let me know your suggestions for next month.
Interesting Website The Herefordshire mycology club is hosting a festival of fungi next
October. It sounds very interesting and features things like cooking demos,
photo competitions as well as forays for amateurs and professionals. I will not let you forget about it next year More about small
hive beetle Small hive beetle has been found in Portugal in a package of illegal bees imported from the USA. It is known that there have been other consignments from the same place to other parts of Europe. Beekeepers are their own worst enemy.
The
proposed cuts in funding for the
NBU are going to affect us all, the BBKA Press release (which follows this)
explains about it. Ivor Davis has written to all association secretaries
suggesting that all members write to their MP seeking their support in
attempting to reverse the Government’s decision in respect of bee health.
Please would you write to your MP explaining the situation. The key points to be
raised are listed on a separate
sheet which is included with this newsletter. Three
of our committee members are standing down this year. We all thank them very
much for the hard work that they have put in over the years, they will be sorely
missed. I don’t know what we will do without Eric to take charge of the
apiary, and someone is going to have to learn how to represent us at all the
venues that Graham has been going to for years. It is amazing how many tasks
there are in running a little club like ours, but many hands make light work. If
anyone has a bit of spare time and would like it to be used usefully then please
do consider volunteering to be on the committee. Come to the AGM or phone any
committee member. Some tasks are more time consuming than others, but they are
probably the most satisfying ones with which to be involved. For
Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE Her Majesty’s Government is planning to
reduce support of the Honeybee Health Programme from £1.25 million to just £1
million. This saving of just £250K
or 20% of the budget, risks the decimation of the UK honeybee population and the
£100 million plus contribution that these insects make to agriculture through
their pollination activities. The Honeybee Health Programme, managed through the National Bee Unit of
DEFRA, has been operating successfully for many years, helping the 30,000
beekeepers in England, 95% of whom operate on a small scale, to control diseases
that can destroy honeybee colonies. The
diseases include American Foul Brood, European Foul Brood and Varroasis. Since the arrival of Varroa (a parasitic mite that kills honeybee
colonies) in this country in 1992, wild colonies of honeybees have died out and
it is only beekeepers that maintain stocks of honeybees. The Government’s own survey conducted
by ADAS, published in 2001 showed that honeybees contribute at least £120
million to the agricultural economy of the country.
This does not include the benefit to horticulture or to the environment
as a whole. The survey underlined
that the Honeybee Health Programme was very important in protecting our bee
stocks from the introduction of disease from outside this country. In fact the next threat to honeybees, the
Small Hive Beetle, has already been found in Portugal and other members states
of the EU. This pest has devastated bee colonies in USA after being introduced
from South Africa. It is only a matter of time before it arrives on our shores.
When it does, beekeepers will need all the help they can get to defend their
bees. The planned Government cuts
mean that there will not be adequate professional support in the battle against
the beetle. The British Beekeepers’ Association
(BBKA) fears that if these cuts are made, many small scale beekeepers will
give-up keeping bees because they will not have access to local professional
support should their bees become sick. Ivor Davis - Chairman of the BBKA said: “We
fear that withdrawal of this support from the Government will force many
beekeepers to give up the craft with a consequential large reduction of
honeybees in this country. We believe that this is economic folly in that trying
to save just £250,000 could result in a loss of many £ millions to the
agriculture of this country, especially to early flowering crops such as fruit
trees that rely on honeybees for pollination. Tim Lovett - Vice Chairman of BBKA
speaking on Radio 4's Today programme said: “In a nutshell, if we loose this service, we put at risk the whole bee population in the United Kingdom” After I had removed
the Bayvarol strips from my beehives I replaced the trays under the varroa
screens for an ‘after’ treatment mortality check. After 7 days I couldn’t
find a single mite on any of them. Let’s hope this means that they have all
succumbed to the drug. This year for the
first time I have put extra insulation on top of the brood boxes. It is what is
recommended but I have never actually got round to it, and my bees have always
survived. However we have had a run of very mild winters and maybe we are due
for one of those cold spells of below zero for a fortnight. It should mean that
they get going in the spring a bit quicker, (and I suppose want to swarm
earlier.) I have at last had a
response from the CSL concerning my bee poisoning incident. Cause Unknown. There
was no sign of disease (it doesn’t mention viruses, but I think to find them
you probably need living bees); the other things they looked for were carbamates,
organochlorines, organophosphates and synthetic pyrethroids. I haven’t any of
that ant stuff that they carry back to the nest so I haven’t been able to find
out what the active ingredient is and whether it is one of these. One day when
I’m active I’ll go and get some!! Bridget Thank you Graham for organising this at The Horseshoe Inn, Mamhilad. It was an extremely pleasant evening, almost riotous at times I might say, and we all enjoyed ourselves enormously. Craft Fair at
Usk This was again a great success. Many thanks to the beekeepers who helped on the day, and well done to Sue and Steve for all their hard work. Our organisation is currently run by a happy
little band of volunteers, the same little band, with a few welcome additions,
for the last few years. We meet
about 6 or so times a year and yes it is a small time commitment, but we also
get a lot of satisfaction from helping to keep our bees and helping others to
start beekeeping. To maintain the
future of this group we need “new blood”, new ideas and enthusiasm.
If you feel that you would like to give it a try, please do not be shy.
Give one of the current committee members a call.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Integrated
Pest Management Day – Sat April 9th 2005 : 10.00am
– 400pm With
“resistant” Varroa on our doorstep we are planning a day of advice and
workshops. We are having lots of support from the National Bee Unit and the Bee
Inspectorate. Our eminent speakers
will include Mike Brown – Head of the Bee Unit, James Morton –National Bee
Inspector, John Verran - Welsh RBI and Richard Ball SBI from Devon .
Our workshops will be led by John Verran, Pam Gregory, John Holden and
George Kinman. We hope that you will take up this opportunity to hear the latest
thoughts on how to cope with the problem and see the suggested techniques
demonstrated.
We have been very fortunate in that we have been
awarded funding from Monmouth County Council , Local Agenda 21 Environment &
Countryside Scheme, to help us stage this event - an indication of how serious
the problem is considered to be. Thus we will not be making an entry charge but
as space is limited, we will require you to register when you receive your
invite in the new year. We have chosen to use the Congress Theatre in Cwmbran as
it has the space we need and car parking is free in Cwmbran. As we all know,
because collapsing colonies abscond to neighbouring colonies, we will have a
better chance of succeeding if all folk who keep bees tackle the issue.
With this in mind, first of all you as members of the Association will
each receive with the January newsletter an invite to attend with programme.
We shall also, with the assistance of John Verran our Welsh Regional
Inspector, post an invitation to all beekeepers not members of the Association
in Monmouthshire and surrounding areas that are known to John.
John has kindly agreed to do this even though he will have to hand write
the labels. To avoid you as a member of this Association, getting 2 invites and
to save on postage, we will need to give John the names of our members so that
he can exclude you from his posting. If
you have ever received a visit from a bee inspector, he will have your name
anyway. However, if you do not wish
us to give your name to John, please let me know before Christmas.
Janet 01291 690331
|
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.
|
