West Norfolk & Kings Lynn Beekeepers Association. The Friendly Beekeepers of Norfolk. WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015.

Transcription

1 West Norfolk & Kings Lynn Beekeepers Association Bee Aware The Friendly Beekeepers of Norfolk WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 1

2 Show Secretary Barry Walker-Moore The 29 th of July dawned brightly and pleasantly. Barry Walker Moore had asked several of us to muster early for the Sandringham Flower Show, I thought 0800 a bit excessively early; however, I was soon to be proved wrong. As I climbed the hill from the car park at 0745, with the various accoutrements I was supposed to bring I was acting as the cashier for the day and struggling under the weight of several cash floats and 2 industrial size cash boxes the showground appeared already crowded. This was, as it turned out, relative; as the crowd had increased tenfold by10 O'clock and just moving around the show-ground was reminiscent of the last Saturday before Christmas in Oxford Street. This was my second experience of assisting at a WNKLBA public event and clearly the other volunteers had been grafting away the afternoon and evening before, to set-up. In addition to the roped off show area the now familiar stands with candle rolling; a demonstration hive, with stickers for spotting the Queen; the cut-away/cross sectional hive; and the various information boards, were already in place. The area that I was to manage, the Members' and Association Honey Sales, just needed setting up. It appeared that all I had to do was to put honey on a table and sell it; even I could manage that. The Chairman's daughter (Becky) volunteered to assist and immediately spotted a number of flaws in my oversimplified, or lack of, marketing strategy and having arranged the sale stock in a far more attractive manner, designed to 'draw the public in,' we were ready for business, which was indeed brisk for the rest of the day with sales still going on whilst I was cashing up at 6 O'clock. This was my first experience of a Honey Show and an opportunity to see the Judge in action and gauge his expectations, in the hope that I could submit an entry with confidence next year. My limited honey stocks this year, although delicious, were, I thought, far to cloudy and not up to show standard. Although, with hindsight, whilst I would not have won a prize, I would have gained some constructive comments on where I could improve and I now regret my decision not to enter. Web Master Kev Winks The weather, throughout the day, was perfect for the occasion and our tent was, for most of the day, full to capacity. The Demonstration Hive, set up at the entrance to the tent, drew the crowds in and it was a natural progression from there through Honey Sales to the Information Stands and Candle Rolling. Our raffle star prize was a wonderful crochet blanket, hand crafted and donated by Rachel Cooper The Honey Show gave a glorious backdrop, showing the full variety and range of hive products with honey colours ranging from near black to light straw; with the frames of comb drawing particular comment from the public. In terms of Members' and Association Honey Sales, it was a remarkably fruitful day, with only only 10 jars of honey unsold at the end of the day. All volunteers agreed that it had been a successful day, which they had enjoyed immensely and well worth the effort put into it. Thank you, on behalf of the Committee, to all who volunteered but worthy of special mention are two people; Rachel Cooper who donated a wonderful hand crafted crochet blanket for our raffle star prize and Becky Davies, who although not a WNKLBA member, worked tirelessly and with unwavering enthusiasm and cheer throughout the day. Kev Winks 149 entries this year results on next page. WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 2

3 Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Memorial Shield & B.B.K.A. Blue Ribbon Awarded for best exhibit in show B.WALKER-MOORE Arthur Bridges Memorial Cup - Light Liquid Honey M.BRANDISH Dorothy Bridges Memorial Cup Granulated/ Creamed Honey V.RIST Arthur Bridges Silver Jubilee Cup Variety Class P.DAVIES Fermoy Rose Bowl Cake of Wax 7-9oz J.TINSEY Fermoy Cup - Most points in Classes A-H J. TINSEY Association Salver Honey Cake P.ODENDAAL Park House Cup Novice Class Liquid Honey A.GRANT Ernie Dix Shield Novice Frame Sealed Honey A.GRANT Hickathrift Cup Light Liquid Honey Open Class P.DAVIES Sedgeford Cup Medium/Dark Liquid Honey Open Class B.WALKER-MOORE Birkbech Challenge Cup Most points in Classes K-P P.DAVIES Fred Richard s Cup Commercial Class P.DAVIES Coggles Cup Most points in Classes G1 G3 J.TINSEY Members Classes 1 ST 2 ND 3 RD Light Liquid Honey M.BRANDISH P.DAVIES R.BEVERIDGE Medium/Dark Liquid Honey J.TINSEY P.DAVIES B.WALKER-MOORE Granulated/Creamed Honey V.RIST J.HEAL MAYFIELDS FARM Three varieties P.DAVIES J.HEAL Cut Comb J.TINSEY Shallow Frame J.TINSEY Cake of Wax J.TINSEY V.RIST Honey Cake P.ODENDAAL V.RIST J.BRANDISH Novice Class - Liquid Honey A. GRANT Y.ALDRIDGE P.CANE Novice Frame Honey A.GRANT Open Classes 1 ST 2 ND 3 RD Light Liquid Honey P.DAVIES M. BRANDISH F.LUCAS Medium/Dark Liquid Honey B.WALKER-MOORE P.DAVIES J.TINSEY Granulated/Creamed Honey V.RIST J.HEAL P.DAVIES Composite Class P. DAVIES J.HEAL Cut Comb J TINSEY Cake of Wax B.WALKER-MOORE V.RIST Mead B.WALKER-MOORE J.FENTON Melomel B. WALKER-MOORE J.FENTON Beeswax Candles P.DAVIES Commercial Class P. DAVIES M.BRANDISH V.RIST Honey Cake any recipe J. BRANDISH V.RIST J.WALKER-MOORE 6 small honey cakes J.BRANDISH P.DAVIES oz Honey Sweets P.DAVIES V.RIST J.BRANDISH 6 Honey Biscuits V.RIST P.DAVIES J.BRANDISH Photograph V.RIST P.CANE M.BRANDISH Gift Classes 1 ST 2 ND 3 RD Cut Comb J.TINSEY Liquid Honey J.TINSEY P. DAVIES J.HEAL Granulated/Creamed J.TINSEY JUDY HEAL WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 3

4 So that s it then, summer 2015 is over as far as the bees are concerned. They are now busy doing all they can to ensure they survive the winter, busy grabbing the last nectar and pollen, raising young bees and sticking everything together. We of course are helping them by treating them for varroa, reducing entrances down, supplementing feed stores and generally checking and ensuring all is well. As our education team have told me several times, preparation for next year starts now by ensuring the bees are in tip top condition for whatever the winter throws at them. My thoughts are turning to 2016, number of hives, number of apiaries, queen breeding, equipment maintenance and requirements. Our association has had a busy summer with numerous training courses, demonstrations, shows and social events. The joint event we held in conjunction with Norfolk BA in February was an outstanding success and one we hope to repeat next year with several different speakers and topics. There are still a few events left in 2015 and it would be great to see you at one of them, check the events diary and come and say hello. I told you we shouldn t let him taste the mead! The education team and committee have started planning next year s schedule which will be another busy year with some quality educational sessions, friendly social events and enjoyable days out meeting the public at shows. Our associations ambitious plans for the Blackborough End apiary are moving at a frustratingly slow pace, we are currently awaiting further correspondence from our landlords on our lease proposal. Chairman Pete Davies? Doug Brown who is the current chairman of the Show Judge Assistant? BBKA will be attending our October committee Mime Artist? meeting and will be happy to answer any Or...Mad Profesor? questions we may have about the BBKA and to tell us what the BBKA of the future will look like and what it will offer its membership. If you have a question that you would like me to put to Doug on the evening please let me know. A summary of what Doug says on the evening will be available in the members area of the website along with the approved minutes afterwards. The bulk buying scheme offered by the association has had another busy year. Not surprising with prices such as for Ambrosia syrup, 20 for 5 hives treatment of Thymovar and for 72 honey jars and lids. I would really appreciate someone coming forward to take over the running of it, collating the orders, ordering the products, distributing them and collecting the monies in. We are very fortunate that one of our members Kevin Bristow who runs East Coast Storage unloads the bulk deliveries and stores it for us, my thanks to him as without the use of this facility we couldn t supply the feed and jars that we do. If you fancy running the scheme and maybe bringing a few more products on stream then please get in touch. With the quieter months approaching I will once again try and use the time to prepare for next season and not leave it all until the last minute. I also plan to study another module over the winter and hopefully have success in the exam next spring. Enjoy this issue of Bee Aware and I hope to see or chat to you soon Pete Davies WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 4

5 It always happens, just after you ve taken all the beekeeping paraphernalia out of the car and given the boot a bit of a clean, tidied up your spare gear and stacked it all neatly do you get the telephone call that throws all that into chaos. On this occasion it was the boys from the National Trust at Felbrigg with a bit of a dilemma. Apparently their day started well as they progressed with the plan to fell an old ash tree that was in a very dangerous condition. Richard the Head Forester was informed that there was a wasps nest higher up in the tree so the idea was to fell the tree and then deal with the wasps nest. However.. when the tree came down it was obvious that the wasps were in fact honeybees so plan B was invoked. This was to guestimate the extent of the brood nest and cut well above this. The section of tree with the brood nest was then to be stood back at the edge of the field for the bees to carry on their merry existence. Many thanks to Johnathan Reeves from the National Trust for the pictures After careful deliberation and the cut made it became apparent that there was a slight miscalculation; the brood nest had been very accurately cut in half. Over to plan C, that s where I came in. On arrival at the site it was quite strange to see two halves of brood nest about 3 metres apart, each half with plenty of bees, probably a bit bemused as to what was happening. I set to with Richard s help (man in white!) to remove as many bees as possible together with any comb that could be rescued. The bee vac was powered by a portable generator supplied by the Trust and without the vac it would have been impossible to rescue the colony. There were a lot of very placid bees but not too much brood comb. We managed to wire brood comb with brood in all stages into three frames. Fortunately for me there was very little stored honey so mess was kept to a minimum. The queen wasn t seen and I didn t hold much hope of catching her alive!! The bees were left on site in a hive until dusk when I sucked up the remainder and took the hive to one of my apiaries and fed well. Four days later it was really satisfying to see fresh eggs in the comb, we had sucked up the queen!!! Two weeks later she is laying across 4 frames and there is no doubt that the colony will be in a good condition to go into the winter. Martin Brandish WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 5

6 By the time these notes are being read by members our hives should have had any surplus honey removed and extracted, first treatment to control Varroa completed and second treatment now in place, with any necessary feeding well underway at least, that s what all should be aiming for If you re not quite at this stage just yet, for the sake of all our bees, it is very important that it is dealt with now, and with some urgency. Don Cooper Honey bees collect nectar, turn it into honey and seal it with wax cappings. To the bees this task is summer preparation for the forthcoming winter, and is vital for their survival over this period of dearth. Very few stocks will have adequate winter stores after the beekeepers have removed their take. Many, even where no honey has been removed at all, will not have enough to survive until the new Spring flowers provide for their colonies. Most stocks will consume at least 40lbs of stores between November and March. In a twelve month period a strong stock will require at least lbs. (The old British Black Bee, which was around prior to the 1930s would require approximately half of this amount.) Despite the chainsaw efforts of those with ivy-clad trees on their property, our honey bees and a multitude of other forms of wildlife manage to obtain nature s last supply of nectar and pollen without which few will survive. Ivy is a very important late source of nectar and pollen. I always place an empty super (with combs) above the crownboard, after Varroa treatment has been completed in case extra space is needed should there be a flow from the ivy, which does happen occasionally! If treatment to control the Varroa mites has been given, feeding done where required, entrance blocks put in place to prevent the ingress of wasps and vermin, and at the first frosts Woodpecker shields are put in place, and in windy spots, a couple of bricks placed on top of the hive roof, it is then up to Mother Nature. With periodic checks from the beekeepers to ensure that the roofs and entrance blocks are still in place, no further inspections are required except in special circumstances. The next main activity will be at the end of December when a treatment of Oxalic Acid type medication will be administered to reduce Varroa numbers still further and as proved last year, by a significant amount. Don Cooper Varroa Mite on Honeybee WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 6

7 Fred s picture of an established swarm in a shed roof wins the July competition for most unusual swarm picture; mainly because he s the only one who could be bothered to enter. Fred Lucas Well done Fred see the chairman for your prize (good luck with that one)!! Committee Member This month s completion is to see who can come up with the most inventive use for the empty containers that come with the Ambrosia Syrup!! Hello, Fred Lucas asked me to send you this photo for your magazine. It was taken at St. Andrew s West Dereham church event cre8 when we had the theme of minibeasts. The children loved learning about bees and trying on the kit! They were fascinated by the demonstration hive which Katy Laker brought along. We all love Fred s honey here in West Dereham. Best Wishes, Janet Tanton And finally his and hers 50 year old skeps that Fred has lovingly kept or at least he kept them until making new ones at the WNKLBA skep making event last year. Can t help thinking that a cardboard box would have had less holes in it!! WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 7

8 At present there are 16 budding beekeepers who have expressed a serious interest in attending the Introductory Course in Beekeeping in the Spring. We can accommodate a few more. The course runs best when numbers are around the 20 mark, so if you know of someone who would be interested, please get them to contact me for more details. Venetia Rist I am delighted to report that the following have passed their BBKA Basic Assessment. Ian Edgar Peter Jones (credit) Kevin Winks (credit) Liz Davies (credit) Judy Heal Blackborough End, Saturday, August 18th Approximately 50 members arrived at Blackborough End for the Preparing for winter and varroa treatment demo. Members were able to collect their pre-ordered supplies of Ambrosia syrup and fondant as well as their varroa medication. The pros and cons of all the available varroa treatments were discussed and demonstrated, and members were able to see the colonies being prepared for the treatment process, (removal of supers, feeding where necessary and the rearrangement of the brood chamber and the bees own super. ) After all this, cakes, teas and coffee were provided in the cabin while sales of ekes and the final transactions were made. A big thank you to everyone who helped to make this an excellent afternoon. Venetia Rist With the Winter Treatments Day being such a success, Stuart sold out of all winter treatments. He has however purchased a second batch of each. Apiguard comes in trays at 1.80 each and you need 2 per hive and the Thymovar is in packs which allow treatment of 5 hives. The Pack is 20 for the 5 hive strips. Collection / delivery arrangements to be individually negotiated with Stuart. Please contact by at stuartbgrant1@tiscali.co.uk Co WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 8

9 Having monitored the weather forecast every day for a week leading up to Wednesday 26th August it would appear that this was the one time in BBC weather forecasting history that the forecast just wasn t going to change. It was going to be bad and the forecast the day before went something like heavy rain / heavy rain / light rain / heavy rain / hail showers / high winds and more heavy rain!!!!!!!!!!! It was therefore an unexpected joy on the morning of the event that we were able to erect the gazebos and set up the stalls in dry but overcast weather. That wasn t to last as it soon started to rain and throughout the day we had everything that was forecast except the hail showers. At one time we were holding onto one of the gazebos for dear life as a serious gust of wind came through followed by a spell of torrential rain. We saved the gazebo at the expense of a bent leg (gazebo leg that is). An emergency gutter was erected between our two adjoining gazebos which functioned well all day, diverting the sheet of water deluging between the gazebos away from the helpers. We had a good selection of different honey for sale from various members and the hive associated goods made a fine display. Candle rolling and the observation hive were popular with everyone. The National Trust guys manning the car parks got soaking wet several times during the day but their spirits as always were high, I think the fact that it wasn t cold made all the difference. They tell me that they only had about half the cars that day compared with previous years when the weather had been good. This didn t seem to translate into that much reduction of interest at our stall as we had steady traffic all day with good sales. When packing up the rain kept coming and going which made it a bit tiresome and of course a big wet soggy gazebo is no fun to deal with but we got there. The above may make it sound like it was a miserable day, however that couldn t be further from the truth, a lot of fun was had and as usual some of the best experiences were when talking to and answering questions from the public. The wasp that thought it was a good idea to nip in and pinch some honey when Barry made up the observation hive provided hours of entertainment for the children as the workers pushed it round and round all day trying to find an exit to eject it from. We had more than enough helpers especially as not many breaks were taken; taking time off and strolling round the other stalls seems to lose it s interest when it s pouring with rain. Thanks to everyone who helped to make it a really good day. Finally, no pictures seemed to have been taken on the day so here are two from last year before we opened. Everything is much the same but you need to use your imagination to convert the blue skies to grey, get rid of the sun shadows, envisage the sides bending in with the wind, pouring with rain and three guys holding onto the far gazebo for dear life - oh what fun!!!!!!!!!!! Martin WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 9

10 Wanted Large and small quantities of beeswax, any amount and any condition considered. Pete Davies or Peter Phillips, Valletta, Northfield Road, North Walsham NR28 OAS x hive in garden. Full access Planted for bees peterbphillipps@aol.com Angus & Annabel Welch Leggates Farmhouse, Church Road, Thompson IP24 1QB Pond, wildflower meadow, separate access John Layton, Summer cottage, 77 Docking Road, Great Bircham Wildlife pond, vehicular access, good hedgerows Mrs Margaret M Cutcheon, 2 Hardy Close, Downham Market PE38 9RX Wild flowers front and back garden, vehicular access Jennie Roberts, New House Farm, Low Road East, North Tuddenham NR20 3DH Pond, 2 ½ acres, wild/conservation grassland, small orchard Suzanne Hogg, Sloe Cottage, Alby Hill NR11 7P /3 acre field backing on to farmland, small orchard and polytunnel WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 10

11 Ambrosia Syrup New lower price negotiated. Ideal for Spring build up and building up NUCs now only 14 per 12.5kg drum contact Pete Davies, 12.5kg Ambrosia Fondant (5 * 2.5kg) For winter feeding (long shelf life so ok for next year as well) Contact Pete Davies for availability, wnklba.chair@gmail.com Sweat Shirts 20 and Polo Shirts 16 Good quality by Fruit of the Loom Colours, Forest Green, Navy, Red and Black The WNKBLA logo is embroided on the left chest Sizes are Small, Medium, Large. X Large, XX Large. Fleeces 26 Good quality by Grizzly Colours navy or black The WNKBLA logo is embroided on the left chest Sizes are Small, Medium, Large. X Large, XX Large. Phone your order to Pat Duhig on Payment would appreciated at time of order by cheque, or bank details can be given for you to transfer payment into the WNKLBA account. Collection of your order is by arrangement or can be posted to you direct for 2.60 per. item. WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 11

12 West Norfolk and King s Lynn Beekeepers Association carries the following advertisements for Beekeeping and related products. The Association make no representation, expressed or implied as to the suitability of any such products and accepts no liability for any products supplied as a result of any such advertisement. Good Stock of Thorne's & Maisemore equipment. Hives, Frames, Smokers, Veils, Foundation, Extractors, Honey Jars, Varroa Mesh Floors Etc. Both Economy and Top Quality Items- It s nice to have a choice! Alby Craft Centre, Cromer Road, Erpingham, NR11 7QE helen@worldofbees.co.uk Open Wednesday to Sunday inclusive am to 5pm Contact Don for sales of full colonies, nucs, 30lb buckets of honey & advice on all things bees! Pipiriki, Chapel Road, Roughton NR11 8QP don@pipiriki.co.uk We would like you to contribute any articles, stories or funny observations related to beekeeping you may have to share with your fellow members. Please submit them to Martin wnklba.editor@gmail.com WNKLBA, Bee Aware September 2015 Page 12