Plymouth Branch Newsletter May 2017

Transcription

1 Plymouth Branch Newsletter May

2 PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS Apiary Programme 2017 MAY (Bank Holidays: Mon 1st + Mon 29th) Sunday 14th Sunday 21st Sunday 28th JUNE Sunday 4th Saturday 11th Sunday 18th Sunday 25th JULY Novice Meeting General Meeting No Meeting (Bank Holiday Weekend) Improvers Meeting Novice Meeting General Meeting Novice Meeting 10 am 10 am 10 am 10 am 10 am 10 am Sunday 2 nd Improvers Meeting 10 am Sunday 9 th Novice Meeting 10 am Sunday 16 th General Meeting 10 am Sunday 23 rd Novice Meeting 10 am Sunday 30 th Novice Meeting 10 am AUGUST (Bank Holiday: Mon 28 th ) Sunday 6th Improvers Meeting 10 am Sunday 13th Novice Meeting 10 am Sunday 20th General Meeting 10 am Sunday 27th SEPTEMBER No Meeting (Bank Holiday Weekend) Sunday 3rd Improvers Meeting 10 am Sunday 10th Novice Meeting 10 am Sunday 17th General Meeting inc. Apiary Maintenance all members 10 am OCTOBER Thursday 12 th Branch Honey Show Elburton Village Hall Judge: Jack Mummery 7 pm NOVEMBER Thursday 23 rd Branch AGM - Elburton Village Hall 7.30 pm 2

3 Meetings will be held at the Branch Apiary Site unless advised otherwise Directions to Branch Apiary at Lee Mill, Ivybridge: Turn left off the A38 at Lee Mill and follow the signs for Tesco Drive past the Tesco entrance, take next right for Central Avenue on the industrial estate Drive down the hill of Central Avenue, looking for East Way on your right Drive along East Way, looking for Cadleigh Close on your left Drive into Cadleigh Close; the apiary site is behind the big iron gates of the tyre factory Park inside the gates, walk up the concrete path & the portacabin is on your right Thinking of redecorating the PBKA portacabin? Essener Wallpaper produce this lovely wallpaper in different colours a roll + p&p on EBay 3

4 CHAIRMAN S BLOG Hello again Plymouth (and district) beekeepers. Now that May has arrived after an unpleasantly cold snap, I imagine that most of us will be busy trying to ensure that our bees don t swarm. This is, of course, the time of the year when the risk of swarming peaks, but as Patrick will tell you, he s had call outs for swarms as early as March and as late as October! If you are a novice or an inexperienced beekeeper, do give your bees enough space to thrive and please check carefully for signs of swarm preparation. What you may think is a play cell (AKA play cup) near the edge of the frame might well have a small grub at the bottom surrounded by white royal jelly. It s very easy to miss, so it s important to look carefully. If you see a grub in a queen cup, it is the beginning of a new queen cell and is a sign that your bees are preparing to swarm. You will need to take timely action to prevent this from happening. Don t wait until you see the long, monkey nut shaped capped queen cells because if you do, it will probably be too late; your bees may already have swarmed. As well as causing alarm to neighbours, swarms will seriously deplete your honey crop because at least half of your colony will disappear with a prime swarm. And if you have a number of casts (secondary swarms) afterwards then you are unlikely to get any honey at all because your colony will be so badly depleted. So even if you have lost a prime swarm, it s worth having a thorough check through the brood frames for further sealed queen cells (there may be several); choose one or two to preserve, and knock the rest down because every emergent queen can result in a cast. For more detailed reading on queen cells in your hive please follow this link.. Good advice from Wally Shaw Now those of you who still read my monthly blog will remember that last month, I promised to explain why I thought that an appropriate collective noun for beekeepers was a dichotomy. It s not a commonly used word and several definitions can be found on-line. However, the clearest is a division into two contrasting parts or categories. I first came across this word in my late teens, so yes; it was a long time ago! I was reading a book called the Industrial Archaeology of the Tamar Valley, written by Western Morning News journalist Frank Booker, and now long out of print. The first chapter is an introduction to the character of the valley and Mr Booker entitled it The Strange Dichotomy. My youthful vocabulary didn t extend to this word so I had to find a dictionary and look it up. When I started reading this chapter I soon understood what Mr Booker meant. He used dichotomy to illustrate that the Tamar Valley is: An area of outstanding natural beauty with breathtaking scenery where a variety of luscious fruit and colourful flowers are grown; but is also An area with a recent history of polluting heavy industrial activity including mining for copper, silver, lead and the highly toxic metal, arsenic 4

5 Well, if you re still reading you may by now be wondering what this has to do with beekeepers (apart from the fact that beekeeping also thrives in the Tamar Valley). The clue is in the contrast. Ever since Valerie and I were novices we have witnessed and experienced in other beekeepers, amazing generosity of spirit, willingness to give up time to teach or to help other beekeepers in difficulty and an ever-present readiness to solve technical problems when less experienced beekeepers ask for help. When I had to move my bees because of my next-door neighbour s anaphylactic reaction to a sting, I was inundated with offers of help to move them; many from Plymouth Branch members I had never even met. It seemed to us that beekeepers were often the most generous, kind-hearted, caring and sympathetic of people. However, to satisfy the definition of dichotomy and demonstrate a contrast, it is necessary to explore the alternative strand. This emerges when one of those same kind, caring, generous beekeepers has a difference of view with another equally kind, caring and generous beekeeper. Then, sadly, acrimony can sometimes emerge. Now I must emphasise that this does not apply to all beekeepers but it does apply to quite a few that I have met around the county. Many beekeepers tend to have deeply entrenched views about the correct way to carry out various elements of colony or association management, and if another beekeeper has a different view, the tension between the two can often boil over into a bitter dispute. At national level a year or so ago, matters became so toxic between a few BBKA trustees (all beekeepers of course) that the BBKA Executive Committee tried to remove one of them from office. The attempt was not successful but the BBKA spent thousands of pounds of (our) money in trying, including paying for a retired barrister to chair the Special Delegate Meeting to decide on deselection. So yes, beekeepers can find all manner of things to disagree about and sadly, sometimes the disagreements get personal. But I think it s a fair bet that any two beekeepers locked in an acrimonious dispute would still, as individuals, exhibit the same generous, sympathetic and caring nature towards others that I mentioned earlier. So, I contend that I have presented some fairly persuasive evidence that at least some beekeepers represent a dichotomy. But do I really think it would catch on as a collective noun? No, not really, but I do hope it s given you all something to think (and maybe smile) about. Until next month, All the best Terry 5

6 To: Homebase and other UK retailers Don't sell plants treated with bee-harming pesticides A 38 Degrees Campaign has been created by Beekeeper Martin Corbett who says, Harmful pesticides are killing our bees at an alarming rate. They're currently banned across fields in Europe, but many garden centres are still selling flowering plants that have been treated with the killer pesticides. I'm a beekeeper, and I was really pleased this week when B&Q announced that from Feb 2018 they are going to stop their suppliers from using these pesticides on any of the flowering plants they sell. There's no reason that other garden centres can't introduce the same rule to protect our bees. Use this link to sign the Petition 6

7 Steve and Jean Russell One of Steve and Jean s apiary sites in the summer time Please don t forget to send in your photos now the season has begun and you are in your apiaries more often 7

8 PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS LIBRARY A complete list of the books is available on the website, so please spare a few minutes to look at the available titles. The library also has a small quantity of DVDs. Books and DVDs can be borrowed for one calendar month, after which they should be returned or renewed. Renewal can be by telephone or by . Failure to return or renew results in a small fine. If you have a request on a particular topic and would like help to choose the right book please contact me and I ll be happy to help. If you read one of the books and can recommend it (or otherwise) then please let me have your feedback. Liz Wallis, Windlestraw, Penquit, Ivybridge PL21 0LU windlestraw@btinternet.com Link to PBKA Library PBKA member, Neil with Martin Hann, Seasonal Bee Inspector It s that time of year again; the Seasonal Bee Inspector is out and about. Martin first inspected Neil s home apiary (2 hives) which backs onto Ham Woods and these were given a clean bill of health. He then inspected Neil s out apiary - a sentinel apiary at May & Fry s Allotments. The debris on the inspection tray of the hive at the sentinel apiary was sent to the NBU laboratory for analysis. The results came back positive for Varroa surprise, surprise, but thankfully negative for Asian Hornet, Small Hive Beetle and Tropilaelaps. The bees were given a clean bill of health which was a relief as there are hives with European Foul Brood (EFB) within a 3 km radius. 8

9 DBKA County Honey Show - 18 th to 20 th May 2017 DEVON COUNTY SHOW HONEY SALES How about sending your hive products to join the wonderful display of members products to be sold at the County Show this year? We sell anything and everything from the hive: for example honey, candles, cosmetics, marmalade, chutney, bee decorated mugs and greetings cards, you name it the sales team will do their best to sell it! Devon beekeepers takes 20% commission on the selling price. For selling prices please see DBKA website. Anything to sell that is not in the list, you set the price. Please let me know as soon as possible what you can offer and don t forget the donation of a jar or two of honey to the taste of honey stall really helps to sell yours. Jack Mummery Jackmummery@mypostoffice.co.uk Tel:

10 The Buzz Honeybees & Beekeeping Can Mushrooms Save the Honey Bee? Scientists continue to search for causes of honey bee decline and some have turned their attention to developing new, more sustainable solutions. One of the more surprising and promising of these strategies is the use of compounds produced by a widely-distributed mushroom (Metarhizium anisopliae) that is known to parasitize a number of different insects. Researchers from Washington State University have found that spores and extracts from this mushroom are particularly toxic to varroa mites but in low doses leave bees unharmed. In fact, bees in hives treated with Metarhizium tend to be much healthier and live longer than those in untreated hives. Read more on the Biographic website: How the Varroa Mite Co-Opts Honey Bee Behaviours to Its Own Advantage While the Varroa destructor mite is not highly mobile on its own, it takes advantage of the behaviours of honey bees in managed beekeeping settings to spread. In particular, bee colonies in close proximity to each other and less swarming allow mite populations to grow, according to new research. Read more on the Entomology Today website: The flight of the honey bee is considerably messed up thanks to a common pesticide A key to the epidemic of honey bee colony collapse may be an agricultural pesticide that impairs bees ability to fly, according to a paper published on April 26 th in the journal Scientific Reports. Read more on the Quartz website:

11 Contact Details Plymouth Branch Chairman Terry McAuliffe Vice Chair Claude Pool Secretary Jean French Treasurer Bernie Talling Editor Dawn Clarke Branch Librarian Apiary Manager Liz Wallis Patrick Mansfield DBKA Website - Members Area Password: If you have forgotten the password, contact Terry McAuliffe or Jean French. 11

12 FOR SALE Double Hive Stand Made out of 4 x 2 wood 10 Contact: Bill Finnemore Tel: Roger Round. roger.round@hotmail.co.uk Telephone

13 HEMBURY BEE SUPPLIES Agents for the main manufacturers. We can supply all your Beekeeping needs. Foundation Hives Frames - Jars And many, many more We can be found at: John Harler Outer Finches Hembury Cock Hill, Buckfast TQ11 0HN Tel/Fax: Mobile: fire221@btinternet.com Please phone before you visit 13