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Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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Prepare
for winter. If
you think your bees have enough stores for the winter watch the weather and make
certain they don’t gobble it all up too soon. Strap
your hives so they can’t fall apart even if knocked off the stand. Make sure
mice can’t get in and protect from woodpeckers if necessary. When
stacking supers protect them from wax moth. Reflect
about what you have been short of this season and make a list for Christmas. I
haven’t forgotten to send out the list but I have run out of time as we are
going on holiday and there are rather a lot of things to do. The
list will be included in the November edition. You
must all realise by now that I like to monitor what is going on in my bee hives
by as discreet a method as possible. Having monitored varroa mortality on all my
colonies I decided to treat with Bayvarol. After last year’s experience with
the immediacy of oxalic acid treatment, I had a quick look at the varroa floor
inserts 4 hours after putting in the strips. On 4 colonies there was a good
sprinkle of mites, more than could be counted casually. I decided to do a proper
count, wipe the inserts clean and replace them. So 48 hours after putting in the
strips I removed the inserts to count the drop. On two of them there were over a
thousand, but curiously on the other two which had had such a high
‘immediate’ drop there were no varroa to be seen. There were a number of
ants which appeared to be carrying off particles of wax. There were also some
wasps around. Had I not seen the original drop I would have decided that either
the varroa were totally resistant to Bayvarol, or the colony had such a low
infestation that I probably need not have bothered to treat. Well I wiped them
clean and reinserted them. 24 hours later there were up to a hundred on the two
heavily infested ones, on the other two there were a few dozen and some ants.
Even as I stood looking at them I saw an ant pick up a varroa mite and walk off
with it. Then I realised that several ants had mites in their jaws. I picked one
up and it dropped the mite, but when I put it down it immediately hunted around,
found the mite and picked it up again. We
have had a New Zealander staying with us. Varroa has just been found on the
south island so they have all moved into panic mode. I gave her the privilege
and pleasure of viewing real varroa for the first time.
Bridget A
very successful day was spent at Usk show, with dozens of enquiries about
beginners courses and great interest from the public generally. The icing was
when the stand was awarded 2nd prize for its display (and the prize was £30).
All the helpers worked hard to achieve this performance, thank you very much
everyone who contributed. The
August meeting was an extremely enjoyable afternoon. It was very well attended
with many visitors of all ages and a great deal of interest was shown by all. We
looked into every hive and assessed the amount of stores in the brood box so
that John could work out how much syrup to give to each colony. There
is some excess equipment for sale. We have two old galvanised 4-frame tangential
extractors, a settling tank and two hives, a WBC and a Villager. If you are
interested in any of these then get in touch with John and you can arrange a
time to go along to the apiary to see them. (John’s number is 01873 831273) Hartpury
College Short Courses Hartpury
are doing a number of short courses next year. I’ve put the list on the back
of the menu for the dinner so take it in before you send the menu with your
selection back to David. The
number to phone for further information or to book a place is: Katy Bamber 01452
702317, or email; Katherine.bamber@hartpury.ac.uk Midland
& South Western Counties Convention – September 2006 If
you enjoy the prospect of spending a whole weekend in pleasant surroundings,
talking about bees and beekeeping with people who are just as interested in the
subject as you are, then this annual event is not to be missed. The 78th
MSWCC conference, organised by Leicestershire and Rutland Beekeepers, took place
at Hothorpe Hall in Theddingworth – a village on the Leicestershire/Northamptonshire
border from September 1-3. The hall itself is a manor house dating from 1799
which has been used as a Christian Conference Centre for the past 22 years. The
accommodation was far from Spartan with bright, comfortable rooms, good food
served at regular intervals and staff who were friendly and helpful. The
organisation was excellent, though Derek Glover did admit to a brief panic when
one of the speakers had to be replaced at a week’s notice. The subject matter
of the talks was varied and the timing was sufficiently relaxed to facilitate
discussion and to eliminate dyspepsia brought on by gulping down food so as not
to miss the next session. The after-dinner slot on the Friday evening fell to
Graham Law who gave an entertaining presentation of his experiences with a
self-designed observation hive which is located in his dining room. The somewhat
macabre video clips of 3 virgin queens being destroyed by workers before they
had moved more than a few inches were countered by some delightful dance
routines. Wonderful as it is to be able to observe bees at such close quarters,
there remains the concern (expressed by several of the audience) that we cannot
assume that the behaviour we witness in the observation hive is a true
reflection of what happens normally in
a conventionally housed colony. Saturday
began with Celia Davis giving a well-received plug for the drones of the colony.
Drones may not be able to sting or to feed themselves, but they do provide a
vital role in passing on a colony’s genes and in so doing maintain a healthy
gene pool from which diligent beekeepers can select ideal characteristics. Alan
Friel described the successful elimination of wax moth infestations with Certan
– a commercial formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis.
The afternoon was taken up with a guided tour of Stanford Hall, a stately
home built in the 1690s for Sir Roger Cave and still home to his descendants.
The hall itself was fascinating, but it was the guide’s portrayal of the
family and its long association with the house that made the visit so
interesting. Back at Hothorpe, the entertainment continued with a short talk on
home winemaking by Phil Shepherd followed by the consumption of the samples he
had brought with him. Dinner was a jolly occasion and was followed by a musical
medley from the accomplished Rugby Theatre Singers. Sunday
breakfast was followed by a short non-denominational service led by Jean
Salkilld after which Graham Law did his second stint, this time highlighting
some of the scientific investigations that had led to our current understanding
of bee behaviour and communication. He drew attention to the fact that, while it
is easy to make observations on bees, arriving at the correct interpretation can
be rather more difficult. Celia Davis returned to centre stage to give a
colourful account of the relationship between bees and the flowering plants that
they pollinate. After a hearty lunch of roast beef, Graham Royle talked about
his interest in queen rearing under the imaginative title “Beekeeping Should
be Fun”. It certainly sounded as if he enjoyed it. After
yet another cup of tea and some more lively discussion, it was deemed time to
depart. By now, the relative newcomers to the convention had got to know
everyone and it was evident that the 30 or so resident delegates plus the 10-20
local members who attended each day had gained much from this event. The Honey
Show attracted relatively few entries though the quality seemed to be there.
Gloucestershire emerged as clear winners of the competition. This was not just a
weekend away, it was a social occasion that paid tribute to the art and science
of beekeeping – in short, it was a lot of fun. Next year it is the turn of
Worcestershire to host this event and in 2008, it will be our turn. Now
there’s something to look forward to! Rattus |
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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