Newsletter March 2010

Shropshire Beekeepers' Association

Newsletter : March 2010

1. Editor's Notes

At long last a little relief from the wintry weather. Although the nights are still cold, as I write there is some spring sunshine and a lift in the daytime temperature. Snowdrops are growing in the garden and bees are visiting them and should soon discover the pussy willow that grows a few hundred yards away. Following the recent talk on pollen by Dr. Kirk, I’ll be looking out for the tell-tale evidence. These are the hopeful signs. Of less cheer is the sight of broken-down foundation and some dead bees on the alighting board of one of my WBCs. I gave all my colonies some extra stores last month and at that time this colony seemed to be alright. It will need investigation and, if the worst has happened, the hive will need clearing and closing so that other bees don’t go to investigate.

I have also noted another new hazard the bees will face this year. Last November we adopted three kittens and they have become very interested in the bees. When I was surveying the hives the other day, one kitten stationed himself just by the entrance and was batting his paw at every bee that came within reach. This does not bode well for either the bees or the cats.

2. Association Meetings

We had two meetings in February: the scheduled one from Dave Cushman on the 10th on the subject of Queen Mating Quality, and the re-arranged one from January when Dr. William Kirk spoke to us about Pollen & Bees. Both meetings were very well attended and there was plenty to learn for newcomers and old hands alike.

Dave Cushman began by telling us something of his background and his decision to concentrate his energies on queen breeding. At his busiest he was running 80 national colonies, 110 nucleus colonies and 320 mating nucs! He talked us through the now well-documented problems of underperforming queens and suggested that the regular importation of ‘foreign’ queens, bred for a different climate, was a significant contributing factor. He contrasted these queens with the British ‘black’ bee, with its ability to fly more willingly in poor light and lower temperatures. He told us about ‘bubble assemblies’ which, unlike the high hot weather drone assemblies, may occur anywhere where a sudden temperature rise appears. Black bee virgin queens, flying in cooler weather, are better able to take advantage of these sudden opportunities, so mating can occur quite late in the season and lead more often to supercedure rather than swarming. Dave went on to amplify his arguments with reference to vigour, longevity, gentleness and frugality of stores consumption, and urged us to move towards selective breeding of bees with all the best characteristics.

William Kirk is Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Entomology at Keele University, current Chairman of the International Bee Research Association, a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and President of the North Staffordshire Beekeepers' Association (phew!) He began his presentation with a brief explanation of how and why plants produce pollen and of its value to bees as a source of protein for rearing their offspring. Some striking slides showed us how pollen varies in size, structure, colour and texture and then he moved on to describe bees’ behaviour both in targeting a particular pollen source and especially in their unique means of pollen collection and transport. He then spoke about some of the main pollen sources through the seasons, before explaining the complexities of producing an identification guide that would be both practical to use and authoritative in nature.

Even though modern printing techniques have overcome many of the problems faced by Dorothy Hodges in her classic (and long out of print) account of this subject, Dr. Kirk clearly still had quite a battle to ensure the necessary quality of his own new guide. For reference, its title is: “A Colour Guide to the Pollen Loads of the Honeybee” and it is published by the International Bee Research Association. It is difficult to get hold of at the moment but if you can hunt around online you should be able to track down a copy.

This month’s meeting takes place on the Wednesday 10th March at Shirehall, beginning at 7.30 p.m. when Celia Davis will be helping us to “Keep on top of Varroa”. No beekeeper needs reminding that varroa is our number one enemy, implicated in most of the ills that befall our bees, omnipresent and impossible to eliminate. What we can do is to manage it so that we limit its most destructive effects. This requires constant vigilance, an armoury of weapons and a Plan!

Come to the meeting and prepare yourself for battle (with raffle and tea & biscuits).

3. BBKA Annual Delegates Meeting

This took place on Saturday January 16th at Stoneleigh. The main points are listed below:

Reports were presented which, amongst other things, told us about:

an increase in membership (from 12000 to 16000) leading to increased revenue but also increased demands on services;

further developments planned for BBKA News;

plans to re-launch the website to a more professional standard;

financial support given for research at the Univ. of Sussex into ‘hygienic bees’ (£12k studentship for 3 years);

raising awareness of honeybee problems in parliament (Lords & Commons) leading to the establishment of an all party Parliamentary Group with BBKA providing the secretariat;

re-organisations of the accountancy system to present items more clearly;

the setting up of a national beekeeping library at Stoneleigh (almost ready);

conservation work on BBKA’s archive;

the updating and re-presentation of all advice leaflets;

a steady increase in take-up and success in exam work. (One important change with regard to the Basic Examination is that in future candidates will have to have kept bees for 12 months before they can enter);

exploring opportunities for the integration of BBKA’s syllabi & exams into wider accreditation frameworks;

various items currently for sale or in development from BBKA Enterprises such as the ‘Healthy Hive Guide’ (a laminated booklet of photographs that beekeepers can take into the apiary so as to be able to evaluate what they see in front of them. (See: here).

ongoing development of BBKA’s apiary;

the promotion of bees on allotments;

BBKA presentations at Chelsea Flower Show & Hampton Court

Elections: Martin Smith was elected as President (the youngest ever) and elections were also held for the Executive Committee and the Examinations Board.

Presentations:

Honorary Fellowship to Dr Ian Gibson (ex MP for Norwich North and parliamentary activist for honeybees);
Honorary Memberships to Martin Tovey & Paul Metcalf
Certificates for Services to BBKA to Robin Chapman, Ron Hoskins & Mike Lambert

New Member Organisations: applications approved for Rutland BKA; Lancaster Beekeepers Ltd. & Bees for Development.

Propositions from Associations

The first two propositions presented were to do with changing the way that BBKA subscriptions are collected. Neither was accepted.
A proposition to urge the BBKA to make greater use of retiring Executive members was not agreed because it was felt that this was already being done successfully.
Proposals to ask BBKA develop new training material towards the Certificate of General Husbandry, to make display material available for sale to local Associations and to develop a more professional website were all approved
A proposal that BBKA should publish mark schemes for examination modules ran into a point of order and was timed out.
As noted in our January issue, a proposal that ‘The BBKA shall cease to endorse pesticides and insecticides as soon as contractually possible.’ was put forward again. The debate was again serious and courteous and everyone who had something to say was able to say it. The card vote at the end was: For: 25; Against: 30; Abstaining: 3. A membership vote was called.for. The result of this was: F: 4585; Ag: 9829; Ab: 1025. [Even stronger support for BBKA’s policy than last year]
The other potentially contentious proposition came from Dorset County BKA, who wanted the membership to instruct the Executive to rejoin the FERA Healthy Bees Project Board. There was a strong vein of support for the Executive’s stance, plus a recognition that to pass such a proposal would undermine their position at any future negotiating table. The motion was therefore lost.

NB A fuller report is on the Members’ Pages of our website.
Peter Hampson - SBKA Rep.

4. Book Review The Buzz About Bees: Biology of a Superorganism by Jürgen Tautz
Pub. Springer (2008) RRP £23.99

I was introduced to this book by a friend of mine who hadn’t yet read it and expressed little interest in social insects, preferring instead to study solitary bees and wasps. If only he had read the book before he gave it to me he would be as hooked as I was. The book provides a fascinating insight into the biology, organization and adaptations of the honeybee from a new perspective and is liberally illustrated with superb photographs of bees. There is even a photograph of a worker asleep on a flower with characteristically drooping antenna and relaxed posture.

Being new to honeybees and beekeeping I had been searching for a book that explained more about the life of the bees than about how to manage them to collect their honey. This is the first that I have come across that answers such questions as how do they organise themselves? How does a colony of tens of thousands of insects make collective decisions when there is no single decision maker? This is the book that answers those questions as far as anyone is able to at present.

Jürgen Tautz’ book is based on the latest data, much of it from his own research at the BEEgroup of the University of Würzburg. The group used the latest techniques to reveal wonderful intricacies in honeybee sociobiology and physiology. For example by attaching a tiny microchip to the thorax of bees emerging in a colony it is possible to record their behaviour throughout their life. This has revealed different traits amongst bees in a colony. Far from being homogenous, some are more industrious than others taking many more foraging flights, some more aggressive, some warmth seeking, others cold preferring. This variation coupled with plasticity in behaviour, fantastic communication and ability to control their own environment in the nest, has contributed to the honeybees success as a reactive and adaptive superorganism. Tautz also explains how the honeycomb structure contributes to the communication in the hive, it will make you think twice before shuffling those frames. He delves into how living as a colony provides the bees with many adaptive advantages, he discusses the benefits, or otherwise, of a species having so few breeding individuals and the genetic implications of their reproductive strategy.

If genetics is not for you, don't be put off as the book also describes how hours of painstaking experiment and observation has been able to tell us more about the honeybees’ senses, especially vision. For example rapidly flying bees, such as bees returning to the hive are colour blind. Colour information is less important to bees in this situation so is not processed, but when approaching flowers they show an excellent ability to distinguish between colours.

Bees are highly sensitized to movement and are attracted to small flowers bobbing in the breeze. For the same reason they will often sting people around the mouth because of the movement of their lips as they are talking. In addition to their visual perception, the bees’ antennae are packed with all manner of sensory receptors sensitive to touch, temperature, humidity and odour. The ability to learn and discriminate between these stimuli is so advanced in honeybees it has been likened as equivalent to some lower vertebrates.

In addition to revelations about the bees’ senses, research has revealed some remarkable behaviours. Spare a thought for the heater bees whose task it is to warm the brood. They only have enough energy in their bodies to raise their temperature up to a near fatal 43 degrees for bursts of 5 mins, for a maximum of half an hour before they are completely exhausted. They need an emergency feed of honey delivered to them direct from another worker. These "Filling station" bees are continually occupied with collecting honey from the stores and finding and feeding the spent heater bees to spare them the long journey to the stores.

This book is wonderful reference material, providing a tantalizing glimpse into the life of the honeybee and is beautifully illustrated. True to the history of beekeeping, as many questions are raised as are answered but that is one of the reasons why we find keeping bees so addictive.
Mags Cousins

5. Notices

BBKA Annual Convention
Friday 17th April to Sunday 19th April (Sales day on Saturday) Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ. Advance tickets for BBKA Members £13 (valid every day), non members £18 (Saturday only); on the day Members £15, non-members £20. Further details here.

Montgomery BKA:
Thursday March 18th 7.00 pm Will Messenger: “Pre-Victorian BeeKeeping in the Stewarton Hive” Plas Dolerw , Milford Road Newtown. Food Hygiene
The Committee has recently discussed arranging a Basic Food Hygiene Course for members, leading to the award of a Certificate that will cover you for selling your honey through local markets or shops. Before going ahead we need to know how many might attend. Contact Robert Swallow (details on Committee page) to register an interest.

Two appeals

Bees Abroad is asking for empty computer ink cartridges to help raise funds for the charity. Maxie Sinclair has volunteered to organise the collection for SBKA members. Please give them to her at one of our monthly meetings and she will do the rest.

Maxie has finally decided that the time has come to lay down her tea-urn. We therefore need a volunteer to take on refreshment dutuies at the Indoor Meetings. To make enquiries or (better) to offer your services, call her on 01743 718467

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