Shropshire Beekeepers' Association
Newsletter : December 2004
1. Editorial
I had hoped that this Newsletter could be a ‘Christmas Fun’ edition dedicated to relaxation and frivolity. Unfortunately the news, first reported last month, about the threatened reduction in the service from the Bee Inspectorate, rumbles on and needs to be addressed. As noted in the Committee report below, we have received a letter from BBKA asking all members to contribute to this debate. The national association has recently held a meeting with the Minister
for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy (Lord Whitty) and has stressed beekeepers’ concerns, particularly about a reduction in the number of Inspectors. This will be ‘managed’ by listing EFB and pyrethroid resistant varroa as non-notifiable and leaving it to beekeepers to identify and treat for these problems themselves. The consequence is likely to be a spread of EFB and the more serious AFB, which will not be picked up, as it is at the moment, from Inspectors’ routine visits. These discussions will no doubt be reported more fully in the BBKA’s own Newsletter soon. A press release is also available on the BBKA website. In the meantime all beekeepers are being urged to raise this matter with their MPs so as to put pressure on the Government to rethink these proposals. Key Points for a letter to your MP asking for support in reversing the Government’s proposed cut to NBU Funding 1. The proposed cut is part of the Haskins Report
2. They
are proposing a £250,000 cut from £1.25 million pa (a 20% cut)
3. The cuts will only affect ENGLAND; Scotland and Wales are dealt with by their Assemblies
4. This will come into effect in 2007/8
5. Varroa is to be deregulated in 2005 and there are plans to deregulated EFB in 2007/8
6. It is probable that the cuts will mean a considerable reduction of about 50% in the number of seasonal
7. NBU and DEFRA believe that EFB should be manageable using the shook swarm technique without
However!
8. We rely on the RBI/SBI network to help beekeepers recognise disease and search out local spread once
9. They have a statutory right to inspect whereas a voluntary body like a local beekeeping group could not
10. Most beekeepers find it difficult to recognise EFB until it is too late therefore the success of the shook
11. We fear that without the support of the RBI/SBIs many beekeepers will give up beekeeping once they
12. If the cuts take place NBU will not have enough resources to combat the inevitable arrival of the Small
13. Since Varroa arrived in this country there are very few feral colonies and it is only beekeepers that
14. ADAS (2001) stated that honeybees contribute £120 million to the agricultural economy of England
15. Rothamsted estimated this figure to be about £l50 million
16. Very few beekeepers benefit from their beekeeping in this country as it is mainly a local craft and not
17. The private benefit to beekeepers of keeping bees is estimated at only £11.3 million
18. We consume about 25,000 tonnes of honey in this country but only produce about 6,000 tonnes of honey. The story is that the cut of £250,000 will have significant impact on
beekeeping. We believe that some bee diseases will spread and make beekeeping very difficult. Many beekeepers will give up. This will impact on the environment and economy of the country and we believe the impact will be much greater than the savings the government hopes to make. 2. Next Meeting
The meeting on December 8th will focus on the seasonal activity of candle making as well as offering an opportunity for enjoying some food and wine with our beekeeping friends.
7.30 p.m. at Radbrook.
3. Committee Meeting Report
(Compiled by the Editor from notes provided by John Perkins - Vice-Chair)
SBKA Bank Accounts The Treasurer, Roger Evans, advised that the
association’s deposit account only attracts an interest of 0.9% p.a. while the
current account attracts no interest. These accounts are currently held with
Barclays Bank. He proposed moving our accounts to the Alliance and Leicester Bank, which would offer 4.4% p.a. on both. The proposal was approved by the committee. SBKA AGM The committee received some helpful feedback (via Steve Watkins) from a member raising a number of points of order in respect of the recent AGM.
Following discussion, it was acknowledged that some procedures had been
infringed, largely because of a concern to allow time for a presentation by
Clive Hewitt of Exomite Apis Ltd. A detailed response will be sent to the originator of the feedback.
Constitution It was also agreed to carry out a review of the Constitution in time for consideration at the next AGM. Copies of the current constitution (dated 20 Oct 1989) and any proposals for change will be circulated to all members.
Correspondence The association has received a letter from the BBKA Chairman, Dr. Ivor Davies, encouraging members to write to their MPs pointing out the potential harm to both the agricultural economy and the environment that is likely to result from proposed
Government cuts to the Bee Health programme. (See the Editorial above for further
information).
Web Site Our Newsletter editor reported that he hopes to have a
working web-site, based on work already done by one of our members, on-line in
the new year. In addition, the Association intends to start a discussion forum
on the web that will allow participating members to share topics of interest.
Steve Watkins will be co-ordinating the forum and members wishing to participate should email him. Belonging to the Association gives everyone the opportunity to access a wealth of
knowledge and expertise about our fascinating pastime.
Members are encouraged to participate fully, as everybody has something
to offer and something to gain. If you have any suggestions for future events or
have issues you would like discussed, please contact our association Secretary. 4. Foul Brood Record for the Western Region - October 2004
#The only outbreak of AFB in this Region was also recorded in this square
5. A welcome sight……… a common interest
My wife, Beryl, and I have just returned from two weeks in the eastern part of Ukraine. We were visiting local churches supporting feeding programmes, rehabilitation work, orphanages, hospitals and a boy’s prison. On a previous visit in April of this year, we met with a pastor of a local church in Kramatorsk. He lived on the outskirts of this very industrialised area in a ‘bungalow’ type property typical of the area. He had a small front garden with a couple of trees and a larger kitchen garden at the rear of the house. Last week we found that he had turned into quite a flourishing beekeeper. In April he purchased six colonies and had built these up to 12 and harvested approximately 120kg of honey. His aim is to gradually build up to 100 colonies for both himself and members of his congregation who are unemployed or who need
an additional source of income. Intrigued as to how he had achieved so much in a
short time, we asked him his method, only to find that his mother and grandmother had kept bees and he had learnt from them as well as the dozen or so textbooks on his shelf! They had
advised him to use bees from the Carpathian Mountains as ‘these had a longer proboscis and were therefore better at collecting more nectar’ (Is this fact or fiction?). They were quite gentle.
The colonies were started in spring with 6 frames and two hives are placed side by side (touching). More frames are placed in each as the brood nest expands. A second brood box is placed on top ofthe first followed by a queen excluder and a super. This super, 20 frames,
covers both of the top brood boxes and allows the workers to mix as nectar is placed in the cells. We noticed that each colony entered by a very smallentrance, typical of that to be found with a wild colony. During the 50 – 60 day main honey flow, the workers do not fight but the super has to be removed after the main flow or there is trouble! The honey flow is such that with a good quantity of workers, the super (20 frames) could be filled three times. The selling price of first harvest honey was approx. 70 gryvnas (£7.65) for 3 litres. Subsequent harvests the price dropped to 50 gryvnas (£5.46) for 3 litres. The honey was light in colour, had a good viscosity and a very floral flavour. A colony complete with hive costs approx. 215 gryvnas (£25) quite a sum by local standards. It will be interesting to see his progress at our next visit in March /
April 2005. 6. Wasps
I feel that a comment is needed on Steve Watkins’ article
concerning wasps. I hope that those
of us who have been keeping bees for some years would be aware of the situation
and dealt with it but I wonder what beginners made of it. I presume that the incident was recent, there are still wasps flying. There is the new crop of queens, fattening themselves up before hibernating and, if all goes well, each one will head a new colony next year. I don’t think they left his colonies alone as a ‘thank you’, more likely they preferred to forage in safety.
So, I would say to beginners: let your own bees clean the cappings, then they will have the honey back and you will have some good quality wax. Place the cappings on the
crownboard under the roof so that the wasps cannot get in. To Steve I would say first, consider the prospect of the insects feeding from the bucket being carriers of disease harmful to his bees. Next, prepare a good supply of wasp traps for next year as you may have a glut of wasps. If you do want to try Steve’s method do so, but kill the wasps. (It’s supposed to be humane to give a being a hearty meal before you kill it!
Peter Woodcock
7. Christmas Crackers
(Courtesy Nottinghamshire BKA)
Q. What do bees do if they want to use public transport?
Q: What is the bees favourite film?
Q: What do bees chew?
Q: What do bees eat at parties?
Q. What’s the difference between a sick elephant and a dead bee? A Very Merry Christmas to All Members
bee inspectors
antibiotics even though, as yet, there is insufficient published evidence available
EFB is found
do this
swarm technique does not affect the spread of EFB
have lost their bees.
Hive Beetle (this has just been found in a number of member
states in the EU including Portugal) and this
latest pest will have a devastating effect on beekeeping in the UK
maintain the current stocks of honeybees
(especially for top fruit)
commercially viable.
OS 10 km Sq.
Area Name
EFB apiaries
EFB colonies
Avon ST36
Weston-s-Mare#
2
9 ST46
Yatton
1
4 Cheshire SJ68
Lymm
2
7 SJ76
Sandbach
1
1 Hereford and Worcester SO66
Hanley Child
2
1 SO75
Broadwas
1
2 SO87
Kidderminster
1
2 SO97
Bromsgrove
1
10 Shropshire SJ70
ShifnaI
1
3 Staffordshire SJ70
ShifnaI
1
1 SJ81
Wheaton Aston
1
4 SJ91
Penkridge
2
12 SK00
Brownhills
1
23 SK01
Rugeley
2
26 SK20
Tamworth
1
5 SK21
NetherseaI
1
4 SO88
Kinver
1
1 Warwickshire SP29
Kingsbury
1
1 West Midlands SO97
Bromsgrove
3
8 
A: A hum dinger!
A: Wait at a buzz stop!
A: The Sting!
A: Bumble gum!
A: Royal jelly!
A: One is a seedy beast and the other a bee deceased!
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