GBKA  Registered Charity Number : 1014600

Dont Forget 2007 Subscriptions are due

Forthcoming Events

14th December          7.30  at  Goytre village hall David Charles will talk on                                                       “Changes in Beekeeping Associations and methods since 1875”.  There will be some mincepies.

2007

Are You Doing This?

Make certain you have checked all your hives for storm damage after the recent gales. If you strap them then even if they are blown over the damage is not too bad, if you strap them to the stand they won’t be blown over.

After Christmas dinner have a walk round your apiary and heft all the hives. If they are light get some fondant.

Members

Thank you very much all those who renewed their membership  promptly.

Included with this newsletter are:

 receipts for payment and your certificate of Bee Disease Insurance, keep this certificate safe you may need it. Also included are

minutes of this year’s AGM and the programme card for 2007.

June James Trophy

This year the trophy has been awarded to Les Chirnside. For many years he has given enormous support and advice to many individuals and to our association as a whole. He has represented the association at numerous national forums and has been a committee member and officer for as long as I can remember. As a singular devotee of beekeeping and all it  entails he is an example

Questions from Janet

Would anyone like any Langstroths?  Janet has been given some, if you use them and could do with some spare parts please phone her, 01291 690331

BBKA are presenting certificates to beekeepers of long standing:

“The new Certificates will be titled ‘50 Years of Beekeeping Certificate’  BBKA expect recipients to have broadly met the following criteria

1 They should have kept bees for fifty years.

2 They should be an existing member of the BBKA and been a member for some time. It would be acceptable if someone has recently given up membership due to age or ill health but previously met these criteria.”

If you or anyone you know meets these criteria please would you let Janet know so that she tell the BBKA by the end of the year.

Comment.

I think we can say that winter has come and we can have a bit of time out to read our books and plan what we will do next year. ENJOY it, and Christmas and everything but come to all the meetings to be sociable and keep in touch.

It is generally being said that the mild weather we have experienced lately is going to play havoc with the bees’ stores. So make sure you have some candy handy. (On the other hand I know beekeepers who never give anything but syrup and have never had any trouble) If anyone knows about a good source of candy then please let me know so that I can pass it on. I usually  make a simple candy from icing  sugar and water, but it does tend to get rock hard if the bees don’t take it down quickly.                                                            Bridget

Mr Bee and Celia Davis at the AGM

            Originally Celia Davis starting talking about drones because they were rather neglected by everyone else and she thought they needed some attention. Now she has become an expert on the subject and could give us a  complete story of their development, function, physical attributes and activities and their importance to the maintenance of an active happy hive.

            The figures demonstrate that it takes many more resources for the hive to rear a drone than a worker. They are bigger, heavier, take longer to grow to pupation and when mature need to be fed and fussed over. And yet all colonies, except those in the direst need, will expend this additional energy in order to make their own drones. I’m afraid the answer is back to the selfish gene and all that. The ‘hive mind’ knows that it needs to spread its genes far and wide so that they will survive, and in nature survival of the colony equates to survival of the genes. On the other hand each individual bee is aware of its own genetic makeup which is why diploid drones are not tolerated, the individual’s genes having been diluted too much. This talk was brilliant. Easy to listen to, informative and amusing.

Christmas Crossword

Clues Across

8, Sailor not at home with dizzy spell makes policy reversal (5,4)

9. Evade the Spanish mixed due (5)

10. Extended informer is a reason for getting out the mower (4,5)

11. Arthropod lacks a hundred to become embedded (5)

12. Yon Delia Hendon makes a great spring offering from 19 across (9,5)

15. Fish I’ve had in home for 19 across (4)

17. Joints - superlative if following 19 across (5)

19, 21. Set envelope from bed mixture for charity (4,3,11)

23. I lent rearranged cove (5)

24. Dad set one that left it defunct (5,4)

26. French town found among Wallis letters (5)

27. Lovers’ squabble between shilling and constriction can cause painful head movement (5,4)

Clues Down

1. Place overseas follows 19 across for charity (6)

2. Displaced firearm in small change gives aroma (8)

3. Bare view within in heavenly body search (4,4)

4. Eye flower (4)

5. Of French illumination is this Turkish product made (7)

6. Ace in sun cocktail is an irritation (8)

7. Mixing set my ring for affectation of aristocracy (9)

13. My turn to dispense cards—perfect (5)

14. Guard holds note very loud in Yorkshire (9)

16. Pair of ones with king and the king of rock can lead to reproductive maturity (8)

18. Pay if son can turn into soap (8)

19. Crosby incorporates thatch to develop technique for improving the quality of 19 across (8)

20. 19 across held rearranged let for coleopts (7)

22. Central loss of 50 produces comatose state (6)

25. Estates have modern gallery inside (4)

Please send your solution to the Editor. A prize will be awarded for the first correct solution to be drawn from  the hat on Boxing Day. Best of luck, Rattus.

The prize winning display at Usk Show last  September

Not beekeeping in the Mekong Delta but Brian Harris’s  apiary on a wet day

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.