Shropshire Beekeepers' Association

 

 

Newsletter : April 2004

 

1.      Editorial

On sunny days in the last month the bees have been very busy bringing pollen, a sure sign that the brood nest is beginning to expand. The problem is that for every sunny day there have been two that were cold, wet or windy. Consequently I am keeping an eye on the state of the stores so that I don't lose any colonies before the nectar flow begins. (See Brian Goodwin's advice about this in his article below). Another sign of spring has been the arrival of Thorne's new catalogue. I don't want to be accused of advertising in the editorial but I see they now include several pages devoted to their various labels. This is useful if for no other reason that it enables us to see what they judge to be the new requirements for labelling our honey. In the recent articles about that subject, I have not mentioned that we are allowed to continue using up any old labels until this August, so don't feel you have to rush out and buy new ones right away. I usually try to go to the BBKA Convention at Stoneleigh (on 24th April this year) to top up supplies and get a feel for what's new in beekeeping. Unfortunately I can't do that this year so last week I went, for the first time, to the Welsh Beekeepers Annual Convention at their National Showground in Builth. Thorne's were there, of course, and I noticed that they were advising anyone having bespoke labels printed that they must include a lot/batch number if they are selling their honey through shops and also that they were suggesting a "Best Before" date of 2008 for this season's crop.

Although the Welsh show is smaller in scale that Stoneleigh, I found it a pleasant and friendly place. I was able to buy everything I wanted, have some useful conversations with exhibitors, have a nice lunch and hear an excellent lecture by Norman Carreck about the history and current work of the research centre at Rothamstead. Of particular interest was his description of their research into methods of controlling varroa. Their particular focus is on cultivating fungi spores that can be used to "suffocate" the varroa mites while leaving the bees untouched. Apparently the work is producing promising results though commercial applications of these techniques are likely to be some way off. We will watch for news with eager anticipation!

2.      Next Meeting

This month is our last indoor meeting before the out-apiary programme begins. Please note that it is one week later than usual because Radbrook College will be closed in the week after Easter, which includes the second Wednesday. So, for this month only we will meet on the third Wednesday - 21st April - as usual in the Rosa Room at 7.30 p.m. Our speaker will be our President Brian Goodwin, whose experience and knowledge about beekeeping is such an invaluable asset to this Association. His subject is "Management for Honey Production -including Swarm Control". As it happens, Brian has also contributed the "Apiary" article this month (see item 6) and, as he explains there, we need to be prepared for swarms even in April. So, come along to this meeting and make sure you are well set-up for the season.

The first of our apiary meetings is on Saturday 8th May at 2.30 p.m. It will be at our own apiary at Radbrook and as well as giving a practical insight into the issues raised in Brian's talk will also incorporate a sale of surplus used equipment. Be ready to bring anything you no longer need or to buy that elusive item at a bargain price!

3.      March Meeting Report

Last month's meeting consisted of a talk by one of our own members, Paul Cawthorne, on the subject of GM crops. He began by giving us a general introduction to how genetic modification has come to be so significant at the beginning of this century, starting with the post-war need to boost food production. At that time, large chemical companies, having been freed from wartime concerns, were looking for fresh projects on which to focus their productive capacity, while newly developed technologies enabled them to design a whole new generation of agricultural fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides. When some of these began to exhibit damaging side effects, a new search began for other outlets for their work. One result has been a focus on designing plants to meet particular needs through modifying their genetic make-up so as to make them resistant to a new generation of herbicides, e.g. glyphosate and glufosinate.

Paul explained that his concern was not with the concept of genetic modification as such, but rather with the lack of (or even suppression of?) information about the tests and trials that these crops have undergone, the failure to test for certain effects, e.g. on animals and birds, and what the findings are about the wider environmental impacts of the herbicides associated with them. He suggested that we should be attentive to any debates on these issues and take into account the backgrounds and connections of those who announce findings from time to time.

For beekeepers in this country the most significant GM crop that has been tested is oil-seed rape, though pollen from GM maize is also collected by bees under certain conditions. However, concerns about the effects of GM-linked herbicide has led to oil-seed rape trials being suspended (*and since this talk was given Bayer have decided not to proceed with work on GM maize in this country - Ed.) It is unlikely, however, that GM crops will disappear and there are still some unanswered questions for us. For example, how much GM pollen would be permitted in honey for it still to be classified as GM free? Perhaps more worrying, since pollen is the food of bees, what might be the effects on the insects themselves of eating a larger proportion of GM pollen, especially if it has been exposed to powerful chemicals.

No answers to these yet, but readers might be interested in these two reports from Friends of the Earth:
"Health and Environmental Impacts of Glufosinate Ammonium" (also readable on the web at:http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/impacts_glufosinate_ammon.pdf) and "Science as a smokescreen?" (also readable on the web at http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/science_smokescreen.pdf)

4.      DRONE BROOD REMOVAL - JUST DO IT

As promised last month, here is another article about dealing with varroa as part of an "Integrated Pest Management" approach. This one is about removing drone brood. In his talk in February Robin Hall advised us that the simplest way to organise this is to place two shallow combs in the brood chamber on either side of the brood nest where active laying is going on (i.e. not right at the front or the back of the box). The bees will draw drone comb below the bottom bars of these frames and, when the cells are sealed, it is a relatively easy job to pull them out and cut off the drone comb. The frames can then be returned to the nest and the operation repeated -though not more than three times in the laying season otherwise the bees spend too much time and energy on this activity when they ought to be out foraging.

Maurice Field reflects (Surrey Beekeepers Association Dec 2003). In the IBRA magazine Bee World [Vol.84 No. 3 2003] there is an original article about recent research into the removal of capped drone brood as an effective means of reducing the infestation of honey bee colonies with varroa, conducted at the Swiss Bee Research Centre near Berne. The results were conclusive in stating that: -

• The removal of drone brood is an efficient means of slowing the development of varroa populations
• It is not possible to calculate the size of the varroa population in a hive by examining the infestation rate of drone brood
• Varroa mites do not adapt themselves to this biotechnical control. The research reminds us that even during the summer there will always be more varroa in worker cells simply because there is usually 10-times more worker brood in a normal colony than the area of drone brood
• This method allows the deferral of acaricide treatments until the end of the summer
• Removal of drone brood had no negative effect on the development of the colonies and honey production

5.      Smells trigger memory for hungry bees

Smells remind bees of where they once had a great meal, according to Australian research. Dr Judith Reinhard and team at the Australian National University in Canberra found that when honey bees were reminded of a smell, they could find their way back to the food using visual clues to guide them. According to Reinhard, this was the first time researchers had shown honey bees (Apis mellifera) in the field use smell to recall visual memories. "It's just like what happens with humans and smell," said Reinhard. "When they smell freshly baked cake, they can immediately remember what the cake looks like, tastes like, even though they don't see the cake."

The study had two phases. In the first phase, the researchers placed feeders in particular locations 50 metres from the bee hives. The feeders contained sugar water scented with lemon, rose or almond. The honey bees learned which scent was where. In the second phase, the researchers exposed the bees in the hive to a scent of lemon, rose or almond, and watched how they behaved. The researchers then placed empty feeders with no scent in the original positions. More than 80% of bees flew to where they remembered the scent was. Most bees also circled and landed on the empty feeder, which Reinhard said indicated they were convinced food must be there.

Bees navigate by using landmarks along their path. They also use a special waggle dance to tell other bees how far away food is. "Most researchers think the waggle dance is important but scent is important too" said Reinhard. "Bees are a great model for studying learning and memory in humans and there are many parallels between the way humans and bees store and recall memories. Studying bee learning and memory is also much easier than studying humans." With the publication of a draft copy of the honey gene genome earlier this year, researchers can start looking for molecules and genes associated with bee memory. "It makes it much easier to then try and find [these genes] in humans," said Reinhard.

(Source: Lucy Andrew : ABC Science Online Thursday, 29 January 2004)

6.      In My Apiary

Brian Goodwin : Seasonal Notes
Colonies will have had a difficult time over the last few weeks. Early mild weather will have encouraged brood rearing and increased colony activity but the recent cold spell will have slowed things down. Mild weather means increased food consumption and early April is the crunch time. Remember, it is the strong thriving colonies that die first because their food requirements are greater. The smaller colonies will survive longer, until good weather allows forage to be obtained from the early spring flowers. (The same rule applies during the June gap or any period of nectar shortage.)

Heft each hive on each side to make an assessment of its weight. If you have uniform standard equipment you can compare the weight with other hives. If in doubt, gently lift the crown boards (without smoke) to observe if there are sufficient stores but do not move or remove brood combs until mid April.

Remember though that colonies can have too much food! If you feed too much in the spring the only place where they can store it is in the empty brood cells - just where the queen is desperate to lay eggs at this tine of year. This causes frustration and stress in the colony and leads to preparation for swarming!

So, mild winters can mean early swarms. During the last two years I have heard of a lot of colonies swarming unexpectedly in mid April, well before the books tell us to expect them. This swarming instinct is triggered at least two weeks before the swarm occurs. What colonies really need at this time of year is SPACE and WATER. We rarely place supers on our colonies early enough.

Put THREE supers on each colony in late March or early April. This allows the bees to uncap stores in the brood chamber and move them up to the space provided in the supers. This leaves plenty of empty cells in the brood chamber allowing the Queen unrestricted space to lay. This reduces colony stress and the bees will not swarm. However, the bees need a plentiful supply of water in order to dilute the concentrated stores in the brood cells before they can move it. If they have to make the hazardous journey out of the hive to gather cold water from the grass or pond many of them will die from chilling on the journey. It is much better to place a feeder full of water on the crown board, with a little added sugar to make it a little more attractive to them.

Oil seed rape is a major source of early nectar and the bees will have a great time gathering it. But the first thing they do is to swarm, often without our being aware of it, and then we wonder why we don't get a bumper crop from it. Carry out thorough colony inspections for queen cells within the first four days of colonies working the rape and have a strategy for dealing with them in order to prevent swarms.

7.      Miscellaneous

Flower Show
Tony Davis, the Secretary of the Shrewsbury Show Committee, has written asking for our support in providing bees for this August's Show. He writes:
"We would appreciate if your members could consider entering an observation hive in the 2004 show. This need not be a competitive entry, educational exhibits are always welcome. Also we need somebody to loan a hive of bees for the 'bee cage' display. This hive would need to be weakened in adult bees, for safety reasons when opening up 3 or 4 times each day of the show - a weak colony or nucleus would be ideal. Help and advice can of course be provided! The Shrewsbury Flower Show is a fantastic shop window to encourage interest in beekeeping both regionally and in your local area. We are lucky to have this event so near - please encourage your members to support us."

Resistant Varroa Testing.
Peter Woodcock has obtained a CSU kit for testing bees for resistance to Apistan/Bayverol, as demonstrated by Robin Hall earlier this season. He is happy to loan this out to members.

BBKA National Convention 24th April
I imagine that quite a few members will be going to this. We have received an advertising leaflet from Agri-Nova Technology Limited about their new anti-varroa treatment. It is thymol based but can be applied via the hive entrance without needing to open up and disturb the bees. The company will be exhibiting at Stoneleigh. If anyone wants to report on this or any other aspect of what is on show there, please let me have the information by the end of the month.

Bees for Development
This association has supported the work of this Trust (Patron: David Bellamy) in the past. It is a UK-based charity providing information to developing countries worldwide and giving assistance to people in those countries to help themselves through supporting beekeeping activities. I have a copy of their most recent report: 'Bees and Rural Livelihoods', which I will put in our library so that you can read their latest news. Individual subscribers are welcomed and will receive regular copies of the society's Journal. Further information from Bees for Development, PO Box 105, Monmouth. NP25 9AA

Stop Press
Removing Honey Jar labels: Kleeneze Label Remover (aerosol spray) t
Tops Tiles Centres also stock a label remover.