GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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IPM
Day If
you want to attend these
demonstrations and have not yet given David Johns your name do
it NOW There
are not many spaces left. Conversely
if you have given him your name but now find yourself unable to attend PLEASE
let him know so that another can take your place. Keep
checking your colonies for the presence of sufficient stores by hefting the
hive. If
a very warm day comes along you can have a peep in but be careful not to chill
the brood. Get ready for next
season. Have you enough equipment? Is it clean and usable? Association News As you all know Eric is no longer our patient and hard working apiary manager. We are very sorry that he has given the apiary up but after the many years during which he has devoted much valuable time to it I think he is due a bit of a rest. It is now going to be in the charge of John Holden who will co-ordinate all its activities as he sees fit. It is essential that there is more interest taken and help given in the day to day running of the site. If the members of the association do not show an interest in it there appears to be little point in keeping it going at the expense of one person’s hard work. It is one of those cases when if you haven’t got a thing you would give anything for it (I know associations who are green with envy for our apiary) but when you have it you take it for granted and think someone else will do all the work. I think we should ALL have some input. Even just making up a few frames. All beekeepers love looking at bees, come and look at the apiary. Some of you have never been there. It is a lovely site with nice new equipment and the chance to try out new ideas. I know Sundays are impossible for many people, is there another day that would be more suitable? PLEASE let anyone on the committee know your requirements and we will try to accommodate as many requests as possible. And come to the apiary just to look -you will never be forced into doing something you don’t want to do. We have been advised
repeatedly over the last few years to change a third of the brood frames each
year so that there are never any old black combs to be seen. This is a
responsible disease prevention/control manoeuvre. Since I have been reading
about IPM (we will all know more after April 9th) it seems that a suggested way
to combat varroa is to do a total brood comb change each year as in a shook
swarm. I’ve been pondering about this as it means getting all those frames
ready NOW (so I shall be going to the WBKA convention). The worst thing to face
is the pile of ‘old’ frames. My solar wax extractor only takes one at a
time. And what if they have stores in them? What a waste, what a mess! Now the
Danes have always changed their brood foundation every year. I read about that
last year and was impressed. In January’s Bee Craft there is an article about
how the Danes do the change. They only have one size of box, ie no shallow
supers. They put a new brood box under the old with half the frames from the
current brood nest and filled up with foundation. The spaces in the original
brood are filled with foundation. After a month the old brood frames in the
lower box are replaced with the new ones from the top box. The top box is left
on as a super, the honey is extracted in August and then melted down. This
method solves my mess problem but does not resolve the disease control
requirement adequately. There is an Iberian honey bee, Apis mellifera iberiensis, which is thought to be a hybrid between A. m. mellifera (ours) and A.m. intermissa (from N Africa). It is ideally suited to the Spanish climate. It is being mucked about because beekeepers are forbidden to keep their bees within a 5k radius of citrus farms producing seedless fruits during pollination time. I suggest this new slogan “Bring Back Oranges with Pips”. Bridget Please pay your subscription now if you wish to rejoin the association. This will be the last mailing. If you have not paid by the end of March the insurance goes into the 40 days rule. Due to lack of support we have had to cancel the association sub for BKQ, cheques have been returned. Alan
Brown says you can get fondant from Nigel’s
Crusty Loaf 58
Bethear St Ebbw
Vale 01495 308958 12.5kg
for £12.50 Brian Harris reports: Viburnum Tinus is a very worthwhile shrub to have as my bees are crawling all over it just now and packing their little corbiculae with loads of off-white pollen which has a slightly oily sheen! Things
to make from hive products Sue Verran gave us an interesting and entertaining talk about things we could make at home with everyday stuff that we all have in our kitchens. She gave demonstrations of how to make ‘gardeners’ soap and how to make lip balm (it can’t be too difficult in the kitchen if Sue could do it in Goytre village hall) and then we had a competition between two factions of the audience making hand lotion. (I think theirs was a bit better than ours.) It involved a lot of shaking which needed a lot of arm power (hence the audience participation) but I think the main magic was the ingredients which had been weighed out previously so that we just added x and shook. We all went away very happy with a sheet of recipes. An interesting point—wax is the hardener in cosmetics, and you have to emulsify it with oils to make a lotion or cream. It is probably not a good idea to put it in face creams—too heavy, but it makes wonderful hand creams for working hands. You can add a bit of honey, but not too much or it goes sticky. And the wax to use is nice fresh brace comb, filtered and cleaned as much as possible. WELSH
BEEKEEPERS ANNUAL CONVENTION 19TH MARCH 2005 (9.00—17.00) Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Showground, Builth Wells. Admission: adults £6, advance booking £5, juniors under 17 free LECTURES 9.45 and 2.00 pm Dr Don Griffiths “From Siberia to South Devon”, a journey which took 50 years or “The real varroa story” 11.00 and 3.30 pm Albert Knight “Using the Welsh Native Bee” 12.30 Robert B Jones “Archwiliad o’r Wenynen Gynhenid Gymreig” Trade stands, Bargain Beekeeping Supplies, Raffle Draw, All-day Refreshments, Free Parking. British Beekeepers’ Association
Spring Lecture Convention and Exhibition 16th April 2005, 9.00—17.00 at Stoneleigh Park Exhibition & Conference Centre, Nr Coventry Admission £14 (advance booking £10), BBKA members £12 with 2005 members card. Under 17s free. For advance tickets apply to John Hayward, 19 Kings Road, Leiston, Suffolk IP16 4DA Tel:01728 832487 Lectures and
Demonstrations Michael Badger, Brenda Ball, Dr. Dewey Caron, David Charles, Philip Cunningham, Glyn Davies, Francis Farnsworth, David Friel, June Hughes, Margaret Johnson, David Lishman, Paul Metcalf, Gerald Moxon, Margaret Thomas. 60 Trade and Educational Exhibitors 15th April Members’ Day, free to BBKA members with advanced ticket and membership card “Make your own Skeps” with Francis Farnsworth (Advance booking essential, numbers limited) The Friday lectures from 13.00 All information from Mary Dartnall, 2 Harlyn Road, Millbrook, Southampton, SO16 4NF 023 8077 5445 |
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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