February 2003

Shropshire Beekeepers' Association

Newsletter : February 2003

In his article about the Winter cluster Gordon Hartshorn reminds us of the need to check that the bees have sufficient food to see them through to Spring. You can buy bakers' fondant or a proprietary bee food from the usual suppliers, or you can make your own candy very easily. The recipe I use is derived from one that appeared in this Newsletter almost ten years ago:

The next indoor meeting is on Wednesday 12th March. The doors open at 7.00 p.m. which gives members an opportunity to exchange news and browse our library before the talk starts at 7.30 p.m. The speaker will be C. Wynne Jones from Ruthin and his subject is 'The Beekeeping Year'.

Members of the Oswestry BKA are asked to note that planned trip to Lake Vyrnwy on 13th April has had to be cancelled due to the work schedule there.

February's talk was given by Gordon Hartshorn and was called "Sort out Your Bees". Gordon is well known as an advocate of the native British bee Apis Mellifera Mellifera and he explained the reasons why we should aim to have our hives stocked with this bee rather than any other breed.

First he drew our attention to the aggressiveness of many modern bees, particularly the second-generation hybrids that are often the result of buying in foreign queens. He illustrated his point by showing pictures of groups of beekeepers of 40 or so years ago, who were happy to carry out inspections and manipulations with the minimum of protective clothing whereas now most of us would not take that risk.

He traced the importation of queens to Britain following the ravages of Isle-of-Wight disease early last century but suggested that the vigour that they may initially bring soon fails because they are not well suited to a northern European climate.[See also further comments in previous article - Ed] As well as these concerns about the hardiness and temperament of hybrid bee stock, Gordon also drew attention to the added risk of importing disease and mite infection along with the foreign bees. Finally he showed how the brood development of Apis M.M. matches the seasonal availability of food sources here much better than such breeds as the Carnolian.

Other countries, e.g. Germany & Italy, have recognised that they should protect their own native species for the kind of reasons given above and their beekeeping has benefited as a result. Gordon suggested that we should do the same and, in the second part of his talk, showed how we might begin. The first task is to identify the bees we have and we were introduced to a simple way of doing this by measuring the 'Discoidal Shift' and the 'Cubital Index' as revealed in the wing veins. It sounds difficult but Gordon made it easy and the practical session that followed stimulated a lot of interesting discussion. The next step would be to breed queens from colonies that contained the highest proportion of Apis M.M. Eventually we could have apiaries containing mostly native British bees and, Gordon suggested, we would experience better yields and more enjoyable beekeeping than many of us do now.

Let us know what you think about Gordon Hartshorn's ideas. Have you tried something similar? Would you argue for a more varied breeding-bee population? Do you think bees are more aggressive now than in the past? What's your explanation? Join the discussion by writing/emailing the Editor at the address given above.

When travelling abroad I always enjoy making contact with a local beekeeper and did so during a visit last year to New Zealand. John Stevenson and his partner Nicky Cobb live a few miles out of Te Anau on the borders of the Fjordland country on the west coast of South Island. John runs around 900 hives and the sale of honey is his only source of income. He explained to me how dependent New Zealand beekeepers are on the vagaries of the world honey market, which is dominated by Germany. When the USA stopped buying honey from Argentina, Canada became the main supplier to the USA, leaving an opportunity for New Zealand producers to increase their coverage of the European market. A general honey shortage and a rise in prices following the withdrawal of Chinese honey have likewise helped New Zealand's beekeepers. New Zealand normally produces around 12,000 tons of honey a year, but a wet summer can bring output down to barely half that amount.

Langstroth hives are in general use, and it appears usual to use brood box size supers, each of which weighs around 60 pounds when full. Three-quarter size brood boxes are sometimes used. Honey from the Manuka plant is highly prized for its medicinal qualities, while honeydew honey from the Southern Beech is popular in Germany. A curious hangover from the use of British standard equipment is the packaging of comb honey. It is sold in plastic boxes 41/4 inches square, corresponding to the size of traditional sections. They contain 12 ounces of comb honey, sold metrically as 340 grams. Presentation in these sturdy boxes is superior to our own flimsy 8oz containers, but they are a lot more expensive.

With so many hives to look after, swarm control has to be simple. John puts a new brood box under the old, with a frame or two of brood and stores, moving the old brood box above the supers and a queen excluder. The top box runs as a separate unit into the summer with a new queen and its own entrance hole. It is then united with the rest of the hive just at the start of the main clover flow.

Varroa has not yet reached South Island, although present in the North. It is thought to be only a matter of time before it crosses over, despite strict government controls on bee movements. (While we were there, a lorry driver was facing possible prosecution because bees were found in his load of timber when it arrived in Wellington)

I was impressed by the sheer scale of John Stevenson's honey farming, his two warehouses containing extracting and bottling plant, as well as by the warmth of his welcome. Keeping bees on that scale is a very different proposition from our hobby activity; it demands hard labour and the rewards are uncertain.

This meeting will be fully reported in due course by the BBKA in its own Newsletter. However you may like to know the fate of the propositions that were listed in our January Newsletter. One was to do with the BBKA Executive's intention to raise the annual capitation for members by £2.50 and a Yorkshire amendment to limit it to £1 per annum (which our Committee supported). The Executive argued that the budget depends on additional income (e.g. from BBKA Enterprises or special grants) to achieve balance. BBKA membership has declined while running costs (e.g. for new accommodation, insurances, expanding the services etc) have increased. The decline in membership is related to external events such as the onset of varroa rather than past increases in the subscription. The subsequent discussion was very supportive of the Executive and the Yorkshire amendment was heavily defeated.
A second proposition was that the BBKA request the government to subsidise farmers to plant set-aside areas with suitable bee-forage crops, as is apparently done on the continent. This produced contradictory comments on what was and what was not allowed under Common Market regulations, particularly in relation to 'subsidising' alternative crops. A suggestion that the wording should be "to encourage" rather than "to subsidise" received majority support, even though the Executive was against it.
A request from Avon that the BBKA issue guidelines and advice about the collection of swarms (to help beekeepers avoid being subject to claims arising from any damage to third party property) was also supported by the meeting, though it was pointed out that this was a legally complex issue. Surrey BKA has apparently drafted a 'disclaimer' form that their beekeepers can ask people to sign before going onto private premises. Other delegates suggested that associations should try to achieve a co-ordinated approach with their local authorities about dealing with infestations. The Executive is to investigate further and report back.

How well our bees survive the winter will have a big influence on the following summer's honey crop. Assuming that the colony has been well fed in the autumn and has a young queen, then the colony should survive provided it has been kept dry i.e. no leaking roof.

The colony enters the winter with about 25K - 45K of bees, and this will dwindle to9K - 14K by the beginning of March. Brood rearing will begin slowly in January as the days start to lengthen. The cluster will not increase in size until about late March or early April.

The winter cluster operates as a cold-blooded system, but like most matters concerning the honeybee it never ceases to amaze the beekeeper. For the brood itself is warm blooded whilst the adult bees are cold blooded. Bees will not fly when the temperature drops below 1OºC so during the winter the cluster develops a cold blooded approach. With falling temperatures the cluster becomes tighter and more compact in order to preserve heat. Because the larvae are not cold blooded the brood temperature must be constant at 30 - 35ºC

The fact that the cluster can hold its internal temperature is due to the individual bees moving from the outside to the inside of the cluster and vice-versa. During this period the bees can re-fuel with stores from the central area of the cluster. Most food is consumed at temperatures lower than 5ºC. The bees generate heat by eating stores and using food as energy to raise the temperature of their bodies. This they achieve by contracting the flight muscles in their thorax without moving their wings. The cluster itself varies in density. When brood is being raised the outer surface is often more dense than the central area around the brood.

The winter bee lives longer than the summer bee, and survives because it is not active like the bees born in the summer. The type of bee that survives the winter best is one suited to its environment i.e. the indigenous bee, namely the Apis Mellifera Mellifera. This bee has larger fat bodies in its abdomen than the Italian type bee and consequently can survive either prolonged spells of wet or cold weather when it is confined to the hive. The Apis M.M. also has an increased amount of an enzyme called catalase. This enables the bee's rectum to hold greater quantities of faeces during the winter. These bees when confined for a long period during winter bad weather are less likely to develop dysentery. Bees from southern regions do not develop an increase in catalase if brought to a cold climate.

Winter bees are best left alone provided they have been well prepared for winter as mentioned earlier. They should be checked for stores in late January or early February. Some beekeepers can judge the amount of stores left by hefting the hive. I find this difficult as my hives are made out of different types of timber and have different types of floors. I check my stores on a cold day when no bees are flying. I lift the crown board gently and see if there are sealed stores in the outer frames - if stores are present leave well alone for another month before checking again. If the colony needs stores, use candy and place it above the brood.

Sometimes on winter inspections the colony will be very low in the brood box and can't be seen. This is particularly so when using a double brood box or a brood and a half. To check that the colony is alive, remove the roof and place your nose against the porter bee escape hole in the crownboard and sniff! If there is a pleasant smell similar to freshly made bread, then the colony is alive and there is no need for further disturbance. If there is a sour smell the colony is probably dead and further examination is needed. Remember only do this on a cold day when the bees are not flying!!

Steve Watkins writes

(i) On the subject of Open Mesh Floors :
"I have used OMFs for two seasons on half of my hives. I have had bees die on solid and OM floors, so for me the jury is out. What I do like is that the walls of the hive are never damp and if you want to know the strength of a colony in or coming out of the winter, you can look up underneath with a torch and see how many frames of bees you have without disturbing them at all. Be careful not to breathe underneath though - hot air rises and they really don't like our breath much.

(ii) A tip for the smoker:
Get a baked bean tin that will fit snugly inside your smoker and drill some 10mm holes in the bottom. This will serve to protect the smoker from direct heat and make it safer. Better still, it can be lit then dropped into the smoker - if it goes out, rather than having to empty it all out and start again, you simply lift the liner out, put your lighter beneath the holes, relight it and drop it back in. It is simple to relight at your next inspection without having ash and charcoal everywhere and in the summer it greatly reduces risk of fire.