Newsletter : November 2010
Newsletter : November 2010
1. Editor's Notes
The other day, in a warm spell, the sound of bees busy on the local ivy was very noticeable. By now there are very few forage sources available unless we beekeepers do something about it. However, my eye was caught by a couple of articles by Celia Davis (a regular speaker at SBKA meetings) that have appeared recently in the Warwickshire Beekeepers Newsletter, which might give you some ideas. There is not space to reprint all the details, but the plants she suggests are worth consideration include members of the viburnam and erica families, some varieties of which flower through the winter.
In the former group Celia mentions Viburnum tinus and V. x bodnantense. The flowers are carried in clusters and open from pink buds into white, pink-tinted flowers. Those of V. x bodnantense are also scented. Celia warns that these plants do spread, so would not be suitable for a small garden, but they are hardy and not fussy about soil conditions.
The ericas that Celia names are E. carnea sometimes called the Winter Heath or Alpine Heath, and a hybrid, E. x darleyensis. Within both of these species are many varieties. They flower from late in the year until the spring, so are very valuable for those bees that venture out on warm days in winter. Being heath land plants they flourish in lighter, sandy soils with good drainage.
Finally, Celia draws attention to Clematis rhederiana, which is very attractive to bees and flowers through into October until the frosts come.
2. Last Meeting
The October meeting was our AGM. Reports on the activities of the Association, the state of the Apiary and the health of the bank balance were given. The Officers and other Committee members were elected (as last year with the exception of Maxie Sinclair who is standing down) as were the SBKA representatives on the Flower Show Committee. The Treasurer, in his report, proposed an increase in the ‘Partner Member’ annual subscription since the existing level does not cover the cost of the BBKA fee for partners. This was approved by members and will be incorporated in the new subscription form.
The Chairman, Robert Swallow, particularly thanked our secretary, Anne Tuckley for her work. Anne now wishes to step down from office, though is willing to continue for a short time so as to manage a smooth handover of responsibilities.
We now need a new secretary. Please consider volunteering for this vital post. Contact Robert if you would like to know more.
This year saw the inauguration of a new prize at the Flower Show. This was the Bill Buchanan award open to members who have attended any of the Association’s theory and practical classes in the past two years. The winner is decided on the basis of most points scored in the beekeeping classes. The award is a silver cup, held for the year, plus a cash prize. The winner was Geoff Handley and the cup was presented by Bill’s widow, who has generously donated it in Bill’s memory.
Following the formal part of the meeting we repeated last year’s successful format of a ‘Brains Trust’ to address members’ questions. The issues discussed included dealing with laying workers, clipping the wings of queens to thwart swarming, cold weather varroa control using formic acid or icing sugar and moving colonies over distances of less than 3 miles. The debate showed, as always, that there are as many ways of dealing with problems as there are beekeepers - not helpful to newcomers perhaps but indicating that beekeeping is a craft as much as a science.
3. November Meetings
This month’s indoor meeting will be on the 10th November at the Shirehall, when John Goodwin will tell us “How I Keep My Bees”. The meeting begins at 7.30 p.m., with an opportunity to buy raffle tickets beforehand and discuss issues of concern with other members afterwards.
There will also be an extra outdoor meeting at the Radbrook apiary on Saturday, November 27th at 2.00 p.m. to demonstrate the application of oxalic acid as a winter varroa control. All members are welcome at this meeting.
4. Overwintering Your Bees: A Warning
From the Preface of the ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture (1947 Edition)
"In the late (18)60’s and early (18)70's, Root* believed that bees needed warm housing during winter. Accordingly, he built a special winter repository building large enough to hold fifty colonies of bees, and yet leave a space for 24 inches of packing between the walls of the building and overhead. In this building he put fifty colonies of bees in the sincere and sure belief that the bees warmly housed would winter successfully. Did they? He had one of the heaviest winter losses ever known in the history of his beekeeping. The floor of the building was covered with dead bees. The colony heat developed a temperature in the room that caused the bees to fly out in the darkness and drop down on the floor to die.
The next winter he decided to give his bees plenty of cool, fresh air from outdoors, so he constructed an underground tile line, running from the outside of the building to the centre of the floor inside the building. He also put in a chimney to let the foul air escape. Again he suffered a heavy loss.
Next, he decided to put in a stove in order to create an artificial draft, and on the coldest days he built a fire. While the circulation of air was improved, the temperature rose so high where the bees were, that again the bees flew out and died on the floor.
Undaunted, he tried again, and this time he left the colonies out doors after they had built up into good condition in the fall, on their summer stands. If he had left them uncovered it would have been well. But no, he still believed in artificial heat, and covered the hives with stable manure. The chemical heat generated was too much of a good thing and again he lost very heavily. He could not give up the idea of indoor wintering, so he built a greenhouse, large enough to take in about ten or fifteen colonies of bees. He believed that the bees needed mid-winter flights and that they needed sunshine and brood to replace the loss of old bees. The bees did fly out, but often did not get back to their hives. The bright sun lured them out but they bumped up against the glass. They dropped dead on the floor of the greenhouse, and the loss was as great as ever.
Although the exploitation of new and untried ideas cost him money, he still cherished the hope that bees needed a warm room during the winter. He next built another double-walled building or a house apiary. In this he placed his colonies around the walls with the entrance leading to out-doors so bees could fly on warm days. To keep up the temperature in the building he put in an oil stove. Now he believed he would solve the problem. Well, the warm air inside forced the bees outdoors when the air was too cold. They chilled and died in the snow and the colonies dwindled. He finally found that artificial heat for bees in a building or outdoors was a mistake.
*A.I. Root was the founder of the worlds longest established beekeeping supply company
5. Varroa Treatment with Thymol Peter Edwards
I first found varroa in the autumn of 1997. I decided that I did not wish to introduce pesticides into my hives and so, since then, I have treated only with thymol crystals and, for the first two years, oxalic acid. I no longer use oxalic acid as I am concerned about the damage to bees (especially queens) and because I find that the control achieved with thymol is satisfactory. The strategy appears to be successful so far and the thymol also appears to have reduced chalkbrood levels - although some of this is now probably due to selection. The cost is extremely low and treatment is very quick to apply. The method of application is based on research by Mariano Higes and Jesús Llorente of the Regional Apiculture Centre, Agrarian Investigation Service Joint Communities of Castilla - La Mancha, which was reported in Bee Biz, July 1997. Effectiveness is quoted at up to 97.6%.
Method: Thymol crystals are placed in an old honey jar lid placed on the queen excluder directly over the brood; an eke is used to provide the necessary air circulation (the ekes are also used for feeding fondant). The dose used is 8g (approximately 2 heaped teaspoonfuls) per week for four weeks and is applied in March - April, before the flow starts and during August immediately after the main crop is removed. Cost is approximately 35p per four week treatment. Thymol is a relatively safe substance to handle with gloves but is very pungent and therefore best kept out of the house.
I monitor in the spring by uncapping drone brood when inspecting colonies for swarm control; mite levels are variable, but appear to remain below the economic damage threshold. I consider that some exposure to mites is highly desirable as this will lead eventually to resistant bees. Over the past five years I have changed all floors to permanently and fully open mesh; this does not appear to have affected the efficiency of the thymol.
One potential problem is the treatment of colonies going to the heather; it would be good to treat them before they go, but a full four-week treatment is obviously not possible. There is then a danger, perhaps lessened now by global warming, that the weather will turn too cold after their return in September for the thymol to work effectively. In practice this does not seem to happen, probably because colonies return from the heather with large amounts of brood and the temperature immediately above the queen excluder will therefore be maintained.
Although bees do move away from the thymol, I have not experienced any exodus of bees from the hive, as some have reported, despite applying it this year when temperatures exceeded 30°C; nor have I seen any adverse effects on brood, adult bees or queens. Since the arrival of varroa my average crop (based on the number of colonies the previous autumn) has actually improved and there has been no noticeable taint of the honey.
(From the Stratford-upon Avon Beekeepers Association website: Courtesy eBEES)
6. The further misadventure of a novice beekeeper. Steve Woolley
Or, Carry On Fred Carno's
You may recall that my last article ended with our bee colonies going like trains and should be well established by next year. Well that still holds true, they are going really well. I suppose we mustn't get too complacent, there is the winter to come yet, and things can get pretty dicey when you're over a thousand feet up a Welsh hillside.
My wife Margaret, yes she's still here, and I have been searching the foundation for eggs but we still can't see them but there are a lot of grubs, remember them? So queenie is still going strong. The colony is expanding to such a point that we have had to start supering the hives (see, getting really technical now).
Have you ever been in your garden or out in the field on a mellow summer evening just about dusk when the world is at peace and nothing can go wrong? For us up our Welsh hillside the weather can be really harsh or really mellow, this particular night was one of the mellow ones. I could wax lyrical about the magnificent sunset and the glorious colours but I ain't got room for all that rural. Margaret and I were just admiring the hives, the bees had gone in and there was no visible activity. 1 said 'I'll just take the roof off and have a look inside.' She stood back, " No" she said "leave them alone, don't be silly." I said 'Oh go on, it won't hurt'. "No!" was the emphatic reply, but she knew what was about to happen.
When I approached the hive, I could see no activity, all was quiet. I started to lift the roof and then it started. Disconcertingly I heard quite a loud hum which seemed to get louder the more I lifted. I hadn't expected this. I rather nervously looked round to Margaret for a bit of support but she had retreated even further. She was standing looking at me with her arms folded with that 'I told you so, don't expect any help from me' look that so many wives seem to display when dealing with brave and adventurous husbands.
I persevered and took the roof right off, a few bees started to leave the hive and fly round, they didn't seem to be much threat, of course I should have put the roof back there and then. I shouldn't have taken it off in the first place, I was asking for trouble. The bees were much busier than I had expected them to be.
I then saw this particular bee leave the hive and like a bullet from a gun it made a bee-line (gerrit?) for my hand and stung me on the finger. I was still holding the roof and as there were a number of bees sticking to the inside of it, I knew that if I dropped it they would explode in a frenzy of anger so I had to hang on to it.
Have you ever tried to replace the lid on a tin or box when you are in a bit off a rush and found that the box or tin has expanded or the lid seems to have shrunk and it no longer fits? I hung on to the hive roof and with my finger stinging like blazes I tried to replace it, of course it wouldn't fit and more and more bees were leaving the hive and flying round my head. The instructors at the Shropshire Beekeepers had always said, "When you're dealing with bees be smooth and gentle but be positive, and always wear a veil". Why do I do these things.
In the gathering darkness of the evening I finally managed to get the roof back on and walk away from the hive. Luckily the bees decided to let sleeping idiots lie and left me alone, they had well and truly seen me off so there was no point in pressing the issue.
Surprisingly in the cold light of the kitchen the sting wasn't too bad, I think it seemed worse when I was surrounded by the bees but I think that may have been just a slight apprehension, Margaret may have called it blind panic but what does she know. After I had dabbed it with a bit of TCP the sting soon wore off and there was no allergic reaction, I think the sting from a stinging nettle hurts more.
So, yet another lesson learned i.e. don't expect your wife to come to your aid when you're acting like a pillock! (I'll make that Woolley's law!). Any way once again good luck and good bee keeping.
7. Dadant Hives for Sale
One of our former members is retiring to another part of the country. There are a number of Dadant hives still stored in an outbuilding (no bees) to be sold a.s.a.p. Having seen the hives myself I estimate that there are 8 Dadants (at 2 supers per hive - + another 8 spare supers). Condition varies from fair to good but all are useable with a little TLC. Priced to sell! For further information, please contact the ..
8. Invitation to site a hive
“My garden is in Condover, on the housing estate, is organic, and has been planted with wildlife in mind. 10 years ago, when I was ill, it had a make-over by Shrophsire Wildlife Trust. It is about 80' by 40'. There are lots of other gardens around, and farmland and woodland nearby. 9. 2010-11 Subscriptions
About half the members have now renewed their subscriptions. If you have still to do so, please be aware that orders for the concessionary deals on BeeCraft and the Beekeepers Quarterly have to be sent of to BBKA before the end of this month. To take advantage of these offers, and to ensure that there is no interruption to your insurance cover, please complete and return your renewal form now. Contact the Treasurer (details on the Committee page) if you have any queries.
If anyone would like to site a beehive in it, that would be great. The bees can pollinate my flowers and veggies, and maybe I would even have a jar of honey! To discuss, please contact me via the editor.”
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