Shropshire Beekeepers' Association





Newsletter : December 2006

1.      Editor's Notes

When I went out into the garden on the 1st December, the sound of bees foraging pollen on the Mahonia was as loud as on the May blossom in spring. This will encourage brood rearing so is an early warning to check for adequate stores soon and, if necessary, be ready to feed candy so as to see the colony right through the early months of the new year.

Congratulations to all those members who found their way to the November indoor meeting at Shrewsbury School, despite the fact that I forgot the confirm the date in the last Newsletter. Just in case I do the same again sometime, all you need to remember is that indoor meetings are always held on the second Wednesday of the month and start at 7.30 p.m. The venue may be more of a moveable feast until we can find a permanent home, so watch out for that information (which will also be posted on the website).

Since the last Newsletter I have experienced a ‘fatal’ computer crash. Not only that, but my stand-alone backup hard-disk drive failed as well! One of the consequences is that I lost my email address book so cannot contact those members who have signed up for email notification of this Newsletter. Could I therefore please ask those members, and indeed anyone else who would like to collect their Newsletters this way in future, just to email me with the words ‘SBKA Newsletter’ in the message heading so that I can build a new database. (N.B. You can just try this as an experiment – if you then decide you want to revert to a posted version, simply let me know).

Please note that in order to continue receiving the Newsletter you must have paid the SBKA subscription by the end of this month at the latest. Contact the treasurer if you have any queries.

2.      Next Meeting

The December meeting will have an important agenda item, which is the election of the Committee to serve through to next October. You will remember that this item was deferred from the AGM because no nominations had then been received. Contact the secretary immediatelyif you wish to nominate someone (with his/her permission) or to offer your own service to the association for nomination at this meeting. You do not need any specialised committee experience nor skill as a beekeeper!! We just need colleagues with ideas for developing the Association and the willingness to undertake some of the straightforward tasks involved. Remember, the SBKA cannot continue without a functioning committee. The commitment is not heavy in terms of the time involved so come along to vote and offer your practical support.

As always in December, we will also have some more general socialising with seasonal food and drink. Contributions to provisions will be very welcome.

Date: 13th December. Time 7.30 p.m. The venue will be one of the meeting rooms at Shirehall. At the time of writing we do not know which one but it will be posted in the entrance foyer.

3.      November Meeting Report

The November meeting was a presentation by Dave Sutton (to whom congratulations are due for his appointment as Regional Bee Inspector) on the recognition of damage to brood caused by pests and diseases. We first took a light-hearted ‘test’ which involved trying to identify from photographs the damage caused by the foul broods, varroa, wax moth, chalk brood and other common pestilences. Then we had a ‘hands-on’ look at a set of diseased brood frames, most showing the effects of European Foul Brood but also one displaying American Foul Brood.

Dave talked us through the routines that he and the seasonal inspectors carry out. It was clear from his description that it is difficult for such a small group to keep on top of the inspections required to deal with the notifiable diseases. Nevertheless he was keen to confirm that he would always respond to requests from members who had concerns about a colony. Far better to spend time, he emphasised, in exonerating a suspect hive than to miss a potentially serious outbreak of foul-brood disease.

We also saw demonstrated the field kits that inspectors now use to confirm brood disease on-site and finished with a preview of the new website being developed by the NBU on which all beekeepers will be able to review the national picture and add their own colony records.

4.      Brain Teaser From Celia And Cyril Davis

Alternative Definitions

The following are alternative dictionary definitions (to be found in Chambers Dictionary) for terms that are used in beekeeping. Can you identify the beekeeping term?