GBKA Registered 
Charity Number : 1014600
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GBKA Registered
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Lift
your hive roofs and make sure they are waterproof. They might look perfectly all
right but if there is a leak you will find evidence of it on the cover board. Make
certain that your hives are strapped against wind. Mouse
guards should be in place now, before the cold weather starts. If
you have any foundation left over wrap it up well against wax moth. Plan
for next year. Now is when you have time to make all those bits that you will
want in a hurry but will not have time to fiddle with when the season has
started. Ivyn
James gave us this trophy in memory of his wife, June. Every
year at the AGM this beautiful glass trophy is presented to someone who, in the
opinion of the members, has done something significant for beekeeping in general
or the association in particular. Please
let Janet know who you would like to nominate. She and David will count the
numbers and make the final decision.
Telephone number 01291 690331 There are seven stocks going into the winter. John is
not very satisfied with them, they are rather light and not taking food down.
Several people have noticed the same with their own. Please look through your hive tools and see if you have
acquired an extra one. There are THREE J-tools missing from the apiary, one of
them stainless steel. We all know how easy it is to automatically put them in
your pocket so PLEASE look for them and return to John. The excess equipment that I mentioned in the last
newsletter is FREE . It will be thrown away if no-one wants it. There
are 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 Association Dinner at The Foresters Oaks Thank you to David Johns for organising, and to Mike Rossiter for
researching the venue. The service was good, the food and wine were enjoyed and
an excellent time was had by all. REMEMBER
TO REMOVE BAYVAROL AND APISTAN STRIPS Comment. We came back from New Zealand in time (I almost wrote
‘in order to …’) to remove the Bayvarol strips which were well gummed in.
There has obviously been a great deal of activity during October, the bees were
still making wax and building brace comb all over the place, not because the
brood boxes were full of stores and they didn’t have enough room, but because
they felt like going up not out. My experience seems to be the same as other
beekeepers so I think we are all going to be looking for candy after Christmas.
I have always read that ivy granulated quickly so was not the best honey for
overwintering and certainly I noticed that the honey in some of the brace comb
(only four weeks old at the most) had already granulated. Back to New Zealand. I mentioned last month that varroa
had just been found for the first time on the south island. Well, I had
anticipated meeting a few beekeepers while staying with my cousin in Nelson
(north end of south island.) But on the day we arrived we read in the paper a
sad account of the Nelson and District beekeepers waving farewell to all their
colonies. The beekeepers had decided to take matters into their own hands and
were sending all colonies from the varroa affected zone to the north island
where they will be sold. They were not going to keep any bees for a year, by
which time it was estimated there would be no varroa left. They were hunting for
feral colonies and I heard a radio broadcast on the equivalent to radio1 telling
people to report any bees they saw in their garden so that the colony could be
found and destroyed. Two weeks later back in my cousin’s garden I watched a
bee actively collecting pollen. I can’t imagine they have a chance of
eliminating it, but the spread to the rest of the south island will be delayed
for a while. The one beekeeper we spoke to, who was practically in mourning for
his bees, was totally confused about treatment but was realistic about the
chances of their action actually achieving much.
Bridget All the equipment that is available for hire will be at the AGM for you
to see. We also think some of it may have reached the end of its useful life and
needs to be replaced. If there is any other equipment that you would like the association to
acquire for hiring out then let us know so that we can consider it. The Gwent Beekeepers Association owns a large and
difficult to carry around library. Although we have a designated librarian (Meryl)
who will send or bring to meetings any books that have been requested, in fact
this doesn’t happen very often as people like to browse. So, we are very pleased that we have been given
permission to house our library in a cupboard in Goytre Village Hall where all
the books will be available to anyone at every meeting. In due course we hope to
make another list to circulate as some new books have been bought. Meanwhile if
you would like a book come and browse and if you have any books out of the
library the AGM is traditionally the day on which you return them, even if you
renew your borrowing and take them home again. Veterinar Over
the last couple of years there has been a great deal of discussion about a new
EC rule which requires all drugs used for treating food animals to be dispensed
by vets. This includes medicines for bee diseases. Most of Europe has been
objecting to the rule and asking for bee medicines to be made exempt. We have
just heard from Tim Lovett (chairman of BBKA) that agreement has been reached
and will become law in the UK in October 2007. “The
VMD has agreed to make exemptions for currently approved medicines,
namely, Apistan, Bayvarol, Apiguard, Fumidil B. and Certan.
Until the date of adoption and thereafter, these medicines will continue
to be available through existing channels.
Oxytetracycline, used to treat EFB, is not exempted and will continue to
be supplied via the NBU inspectorate. Other
medicines which may be approved in other EU states e.g. Apitol and Apivar are
not exempted and thus their use continues to be illegal in the UK. Secondly,
the VMD has stated on the authority of the Minister, that they have no intention
of pursuing those who supply, possess or use oxalic acid and similar substances
as hive cleansing agents or to help control varroa.
The BBKA is free to provide advice to its members on the safe and proper
use of these substances and a leaflet is in preparation to achieve this. Our preference is for ready made solutions of oxalic acid
syrup rather than extemporaneous preparations made by bee keepers from oxalic
acid crystals.” The
situation is all quite sensitive so we are glad that it has ended so
propitiously. For those who must
sometimes wonder, it is sorting out politically complicated but potentially
disastrous things like this that make the existence of a body like the BBKA so
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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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