ASIAN HORNET CAPTURE TRAP FEEDBACK

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USEFUL LINKS DEVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk BRITISH BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION www.bbka.org.uk MAY 2017 DEVON APICULTURAL RESEARCH GROUP www.

, Buckleigh and Bideford ASIAN HORNET CAPTURE TRAP FEEDBACK After the branch hornet trap workshop on 22nd February I put out four traps.

The other two were baited with the NBU recommended recipe of apple juice, sugar and Guiness. At first all traps caught lots of large flies.

So far I have caught (and released) 13 queens, a lot more flies but no Asian Hornets.

I have been refilling them with dark beer and strawberry jam weekly and the body count for the last 3 weeks has been minimal, with only a

1 USEFUL LINKS DEVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION BRITISH BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION MAY 2017 DEVON APICULTURAL RESEARCH GROUP Photos by Chris Utting of traps at Westward Ho!, Buckleigh and Bideford ASIAN HORNET CAPTURE TRAP FEEDBACK After the branch hornet trap workshop on 22nd February I put out four traps. Two had the french recipe of Cointreau, strawberry syrup and Guiness as bait. The other two were baited with the NBU recommended recipe of apple juice, sugar and Guiness. At first all traps caught lots of large flies. After a couple of weeks they started catching European Hornet queens. So far I have caught (and released) 13 queens, a lot more flies but no Asian Hornets. Chris Utting Collection Day by Graham Kingham It has been 4 weeks since I placed the 2 insect traps alongside my hives at about 1.8m high. I have been refilling them with dark beer and strawberry jam weekly and the body count for the last 3 weeks has been minimal, with only a mixture of flies found swimming in the cocktail. However, the last week which has been warm and sunny I have found added to the mix, a solitary earwig and 9 wasp queens but no hornets. I did have a wasp queen drown in my glass of beer as well, but this does not count! She is now in the freezer awaiting dissection. I have not seen any hornets yet this year although my work colleague had one inside his kitchen in Barnstaple.

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?

team will do their best to sell it! Devon beekeepers takes 20% commission on the selling price. For selling prices please see DBKA website.

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.

uk Tel: 01598 760209 THE MEADOW AT HORESTONE The yellow rattle we sowed last September has germinated well and should help reduce the vigour of the grasses.

2 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: THE MEADOW AT HORESTONE The yellow rattle we sowed last September has germinated well and should help reduce the vigour of the grasses. Unfortunately despite the huge number of docks and hogweed we grubbed out in the autumn there is still a lot of seed in the ground and that too has germinated. In the autumn we will be grubbing again but for now repeated cutting of leaves to weaken the plants is necessary and the photo shows Tai and Lynda nobly doing a stint of this rather boring but worthwhile job. Our bees will have a flowery sward to enjoy in due course. photos by Victoria Dykes from THE TIMES April 2017

Honey Bee Detritus by Graham Kingham One of the first things that I have done this year, before opening up the hive, is to monitor the outside activity on a warm afternoon; a few bees will be flying

I monitor it often to get an idea of what is normal; too few bees indicates trouble!

produces distorted wings. The hair is often patchy on top of the abdomen due to age; if it is bald and shiny this again can indicate a disease.

3 Honey Bee Detritus by Graham Kingham One of the first things that I have done this year, before opening up the hive, is to monitor the outside activity on a warm afternoon; a few bees will be flying back and forth, loaded with pollen. This gives me an indication as to whether the hive is OK by the number of active bees over a period of time. I monitor it often to get an idea of what is normal; too few bees indicates trouble! I also place a seed tray underneath the entrance to capture any dead or dying bees to examine their wings for damage at the tips being frayed due to age or whether they have a virus infection which produces distorted wings. The hair is often patchy on top of the abdomen due to age; if it is bald and shiny this again can indicate a disease. The next clues can be obtained by placing the Varroa floor in for a week; this is standard practise throughout the season, to count up the amount of Varroa present and then deciding whether to treat the bees. The amount of detritus collected from each frame will show where the bees are working and what is happening, plus you have an indication of how busy they are by the number of rows of detritus evident. My hive went into the winter with a full store and a young active queen, candy was fed but not taken by the bees in February and there are limited stores left in the first week of April when I first opened up my hive for inspection, the results are shown below. Capping residue made of wax and pollen Wax plates moulded together Propolis Pollen from 2 different plants Varroa mite Sugar residue from Winter feeding

MAY THUG OF THE MONTH - COTONEASTER SPECIES We have one native species, one of our rarest wild plants, Cotoneaster cambricus, the Great Orme Berry found only on the Great Orme in N. Wales.

4 MAY THUG OF THE MONTH - COTONEASTER SPECIES We have one native species, one of our rarest wild plants, Cotoneaster cambricus, the Great Orme Berry found only on the Great Orme in N. Wales. The rest of this enormous family in Rosaceae have been introduced from China and the Himalayas and are now naturalised in the wild due to birds spreading the seeds. They are now found everywhere, roadsides, railway banks, wall tops, canal sides, cliffs, cemeteries, rough grassland, and hedgerows. This all indicates that one of their great attractions to gardeners is their ability to grow anywhere thriving on neglect and poor soils. Schedule 9 of the Countryside & Wildlife Act now lists 9 species causing problems in the wild, (swamping native vegetation and luring pollinators away from other plants that need them) while Stace and Crawley in Alien Plants list 85 introduced species. There are now many more hybrid varieties available. Cotoneasters grow as shrubs or small trees, mainly small leaved and deciduous, a few are evergreen and are valued for their flowers in May to June, glorious autumn foliage and showy, shiny red berries (a few have yellow or black berries) loved by the birds. The whitish to pale pink flowers, often very small and inconspicuous are besieged by honey bees and many other pollinating insects for their pollen (a khaki colour) and their copious nectar supply. Of the many varieties probably the best known is C. horizontalis with its flattened branchlets often trained against a fence or wall and tiny pink flowers that drip nectar. Hooper and Taylor in their book The Bee Friendly Garden call it probably the plant more attractive to bees than any other in the garden. They recommend several varieties, C. conspicuous, C. dammeri, C x hybridus pendulus a 6 to 7 ft tree with arching branches and C. microphyllus a low growing one. I have a very pretty horizontalis type called Coral Fire with flowers like white miniature dog roses but it doesn t attract the insects as the others do and nor do the blackbirds eat the berries unless there is little else available to feed on. It is an offence of course to plant it in the wild but gardeners cannot prevent the birds excreting the seeds widely in the countryside. In many areas it creates a great deal of difficult and dangerous work to remove it, a never ending battle. I love seeing my cotoneasters covered by pollinators and try to salve my conscience by pulling out any seedlings I see when out walking, probably illegal and inadequate too but I do the same with Rhododendron ponticum in the hope of making some impression on the population. Chair Chat The Beginners course is coming to it s conclusion with all sixteen participants still present and engaged. Cathy, the Education Team and other Branch members have led the enthusiastic group since February. They have been fortunate this year as the weather on several Sundays was warm enough for colony inspections to take place. You may have noticed other groups, businesses etc. advertising Beekeeping days and courses. In spite of these alternatives, our Branch continues to attract more than enough people to fill our Beginners Course. I have mentioned before that the income from the Course is our main source of funds so thank you again to all those who make the Course a great success. At Horestone the new work-station is in use. The grass is being cut regularly and all is ready for the active beekeeping season to commence, but we have had cold Tuesdays so colony inspections, in some cases, are still on hold. There are fields of oilseed rape within flying distance of the apiary so the supers need to be checked regularly. Perhaps we will get some spring honey? Happy Beekeeping. Mave

5 Apologies for those not able to read sideways but I did not want to split this interesting article from THE TIMES last month.

6 from the North Devon Journal

Committee summary April 24 th 2017 We met at Horestone rather than at The Cedars so Spring must be arrived! The hut has had an electricity Smart - Meter fitted but the reception is lacking.

We have purchased a new computer system which will enhance educational events, improve recording, provide hand-outs etc. efficiently.

7 Committee summary April 24 th 2017 We met at Horestone rather than at The Cedars so Spring must be arrived! The hut has had an electricity Smart - Meter fitted but the reception is lacking. Brian reported that we have 101 paidup members now so his work should reduce until next year. Do remember to refer to the Membership Pack as it includes a lot of useful information. We have purchased a new computer system which will enhance educational events, improve recording, provide hand-outs etc. efficiently. As the hut is not very secure, the computer will not be left on site. Our Branch has sent monies towards funding the International Meeting of Young Beekeepers which is being held this summer. It has been suggested that the January, February and March talks might attract more people if they were held on a Sunday afternoon rather than on a dark weekday evening. Chris Utting is going to find out if the room at The Castle Centre has any free Sundays. What do you think about this? Is it worth trying? As always, Chris would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions about topics for future talks. Mave on behalf of the Committee. Zara visited Attingham Park in Shropshire last month and stumbled across this 'regency' beehouse! BRANCH EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 HORESTONE PLANT/BOOK/EQUIPMENT SALE & BARBEQUE MAY 2017 DEVON COUNTY SHOW & HONEY SHOW 25 JUNE 2017 TASTER DAY AT HORESTONE APIARY FRAME MANAGEMENT TIP If you find the usual brood development (on the left) - re-arrange the frames; this allows the brood to develop faster into a stronger colony using the heat of the bigger area of brood to support the smaller area. from Vlaamse Imkerbond April 2017

PLANT/BOOK/ EQUIPMENT SALE & BARBEQUE SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 HORESTONE APIARY Starting at 11.00 until 2.

8 PLANT/BOOK/ EQUIPMENT SALE & BARBEQUE SATURDAY 13 MAY 2017 HORESTONE APIARY Starting at until 2.00 Bring your plants, your bee books and equipment for sale to members with your price clearly marked To be booked in by Julie no commission will be charged There will be a small charge for your barbeque lunch served at ish Bring and share your cakes Have a look at the RHS Website home pages Page down to Wildlife Gardening. Page down to Go Wild for Bees in 2017 And see what you can do the help the bees in your garden this summer. Edited by Chris Utting chrisutting@btinternet.com The views expressed in the articles are the author s and not necessarily those of the North Devon Branch of the Devon Beekeepers Association. Member s contributions are extremely welcome: by 23rd of the month prior to publication please

MARCH Mave OR APPLE JUICE, SUGAR, CHEAP BEER ALCOHOL KEEPS HONEYBEES AWAY USEFUL LINKS MORRISON S GUINESS 1.65

MARCH Mave OR APPLE JUICE, SUGAR, CHEAP BEER ALCOHOL KEEPS HONEYBEES AWAY USEFUL LINKS MORRISON S GUINESS 1.65 USEFUL LINKS DEVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk BRITISH BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION www.bbka.org.uk MARCH 2017 DEVON APICULTURAL RESEARCH GROUP www.dargbees.org.uk Asian Hornet Queen Trap