OCTOBER 2016 USEFUL LINKS DEVON BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk BRITISH BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION www.bbka.org.uk The first Winter meeting will be on Thursday 13th October at The Castle Centre, Castle Street, Barnstaple when Clare Densley, Manager of the Bee Department at Buckfast Abbey will give a talk on ‘The Romance of Beekeeping’. Clare was a Seasonal Bee Inspector working for the National Bee Unit. In November last year she was invited to attend the York County BKA, Pennsylvania, USA to give this talk to their Tri -County Conference. They considered it to be the best talk of the conference. There will be charge of £2.00 and light refreshments provided photo from ’Bee-keeping at Buckfast Abbey’ ASIAN HORNET NEST IN TETBURY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE FOUND AND DETROYED The NBU put twelve teams each of two Seasonal Bee Inspectors armed with a compass to search for the Asian Hornet nest. They searched mainly around the patches of flowering ivy where the hornet was hunting for bees and wasps. Each team had a specified location to cover. When they saw a hornet they noted the direction that it took off and soon located the site by cross referencing the compass readings. The nest was about the size of a football and 55 feet above the ground in a fir tree. The nest was destroyed and taken away to the NBU headquarters near York for dissection to see if it had produced any queens. The NBU is hopeful that this may be the only nest, but will be staying in the area fro the next week to check if there are any further sightings. Well done our bee inspectors. The nest at the top of a fir tree photos from NBU website BEEBASE
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ASIAN HORNET NEST IN TETBURY, … newsletters/oct16.pdfrefreshments provided photo from ’Bee-keeping at Buckfast Abbey’ The NBU put twelve teams each of two Seasonal Bee Inspectors
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OCTOBER 2016
USEFUL LINKS DEVON BEEKEEPERS’
ASSOCIATION
www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk
BRITISH BEEKEEPERS’
ASSOCIATION
www.bbka.org.uk
The first Winter meeting will be on Thursday 13th
October at The Castle Centre, Castle Street,
Barnstaple when Clare Densley, Manager of the
Bee Department at Buckfast Abbey will give a
talk on ‘The Romance of Beekeeping’. Clare was
a Seasonal Bee Inspector working for the
National Bee Unit. In November last year she was
invited to attend the York County BKA,
Pennsylvania, USA to give this talk to their Tri
-County Conference. They considered it to be the
best talk of the conference.
There will be charge of £2.00 and light
refreshments provided photo from ’Bee-keeping at Buckfast Abbey’
ASIAN HORNET NEST IN TETBURY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE FOUND AND DETROYED
The NBU put twelve teams each of two Seasonal Bee Inspectors armed with a compass to search for the Asian Hornet nest.
They searched mainly around the patches of flowering ivy where the hornet was hunting for bees and wasps. Each team had
a specified location to cover. When they saw a hornet they noted the direction that it took off and soon located the site by
cross referencing the compass readings. The nest was about the size of a football and 55 feet above the ground in a fir tree.
The nest was destroyed and taken away to the NBU headquarters near York for dissection to see if it had produced any
queens. The NBU is hopeful that this may be the only nest, but will be staying in the area fro the next week to check if there
are any further sightings. Well done our bee inspectors.
The nest at the top of a fir tree photos from NBU website BEEBASE
BRANCH HONEY SHOW - a newbie's eye view
I have to confess that when asked to help out at the September honey show, being a newbie, I had no idea what to expect but I was keen to get involved. As box after box of bee-related kit was unloaded I realised this was a serious business. The club had its usual tempting array of wares for sale: wax candles and kits of all shapes and colours, furniture polish, bee pins and charms, delicious honey fudge and of course a range of honey, glowing all shades of amber, artfully arranged on the club’s display stand. Runny honey, set honey, chunk honey, comb honey, light honey, dark honey… there was a honey to suit everyone. Not only was the club able to show off the creativity of its talented members but, equally important, the event was a chance to share information with the public about our buzzy friends. Alan Barrow provided a rolling digital display of detailed images of bees taken through a microscope. There were leaflets to grab and beekeepers on hand to quiz. One bee had made the ultimate sacrifice and lay in state under a microscope for examination and of course the star attraction was the observation hive with its elusive Queen and busy bees. The North Devon public kept us busy with their questions. Many had a genuine concern for the future of bees, some wanted simply to learn more about honeybees and of course there were all sorts of miscellaneous questions about stings, bumblebees, hornets, wasps, swarms, Great Aunt Nelly’s chimney bees, etc. It was fun to share the little knowledge I have and be able to pass the question on to one of “the Wise Ones” when it all got a bit tricky.
However this was merely a small part of the show. The air was tight with tension as entrants in the judging classes laid out their carefully prepared entries for scrutiny. This was where the going got tough and the tough got baking and making! Flapjacks and scones, cakes and biscuits, fudge and mead - all were laid out with precision in a mouthwatering array. Bars of wax, cakes of wax, candles, big skeps, little skeps, wonky skeps and finally … the all important honey. The two judges arrived and a respectful hush descended. The baking judge began to examine the exhibits on offer, scribbling ‘helpful’ remarks as to flavour and presentation. There was a certain amount of grimacing from the contestants as first a plate of biscuits was disqualified as it was one short, then some
flapjack entries were given a red card as they were square and not bars in accordance with the entry criteria. Nothing escaped the careful eye of the judge and so, when the final verdict was given, those with winning entries could rightly puff out their chests and proclaim their entries would stand up against any Bake Off finalist. If the judging of the baking was strict, the honey judge was pitiless. An expert in the field, she applied all the rigour of a General inspecting the troops to her assessment. The labels were less than straight, the comb was displayed the wrong way, the honey too light or dark for the class. More seriously there were questions about the water content, granulation and so on. More than one entrant was disappointed to find their precious honey was not up to snuff. I could not help wondering if all the fun had been lost along the way in the pursuit of perfection. Maybe next year there could be a ‘People’s Choice’ Award where visitors can leave a coin or token next to the entries they think should win. But, on reflection, the persnicketiness of the formal judging plays a vital part in driving up standards and there has to be some official yardstick by which to assess the good, the bad and the downright ugly. My sympathy for those who lost out was quickly replaced by tremendous admiration for the efforts of those who achieved the coveted first place. The show was a credit to all who organised and contributed to it. I had a great time helping out and managed to sneak in a few questions of my own. I went away with lots of advice and guidance, a pot of delicious honey and a new determination to enter a class or two next time - I might just scrape a ‘People’s Choice’ award! photos by chris utting Zara Svensson
Committee Summary 26th September 2016
The spray liaison service started this month. The BeeConnected leaflets are available at Horestone and there will be some at the AGM. For more details and to sign on to the scheme view www.beeconnected.org.uk
One of our members was asked by a member of the public to check if a hornets’ nest in their barn was native or Asian. Asian hornets are to be avoided so please contact our bee inspectors for advice. There is a website www.non-nativespecies.org.uk which gives advice as does the BBKA website.
The committee would like beekeeping related photos for the Honey Show which could then be made into a calendar. Do get your cameras out and try to catch some winning shots.
You will have noticed articles in Beekeeping sent in by branch members. If you have a topic to add to the magazine, please contact the editor.
All the present committee members are willing to serve for another year but new people would be very welcome. Do think about joining us.
There will be the annual Skittles Evening on 26th November so please look out for Barbara’s poster.
Brian Sharp, our membership secretary, has put together a comprehensive Welcome Pack which will be emailed to all members when they renew in the New Year.
Mave on behalf of the Committee
Honey Show Trophies Awarded in 2016
Bernard Pritchard Trophy - for one 1lb jar of honey (novices only) not awarded
Chris Utting Trophy – for one piece of beeswax (novices only) not awarded
Weaver Trophy – for the best blocks of beeswax Jack Mummery
Hustwayte Plate – for the most points in the cookery classes Cathy Backway
NDBKA Branch Trophy – for the most points in the honey classes Derek Hunter
Pam Yeo Jenne Trophy – for the overall winner of the mead classes Barbara Carlyle
Croyde Cup – 2 1 lb jars of light honey Jack Mummery
Pam Yeo Jenne Plaque – one item made from beeswax Julie Elkin
Beryl Smailes Trophy — for most overall points Alan Barrow
Blue Ribbon – for best in show (minimum 100 entries) not awarded
Certificate of Merit - Best in Show Alan Barrow
DBKA Green Ribbon Alan Barrow
WINTER PROGRAMME 2016/17 OF MEETINGS FOR YOUR DIARY
THURSDAY OCTOBER 13 7.30pm CLARE DENSLEY TALK ‘ THE ROMANCE OF BEEKEEPING’
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 6 at 2.00pm
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 ANNUAL SKITTLES EVENING AT THE PLOUGH, BICKINGTON
BY 31 DECEMBER 31 SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE DUE
WEDNESDAY 25 JANUARY 7.30pm TALK JULIE ELKINS ‘THE ROSE HIVE’
WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 7.30pm TALK PHIL CHANDLER ‘THE TOP BAR HIVE’
WEDNESDAY 22 MARCH 7.30pm TALK DAVID PACKAHAM ‘LIVING WITH VARROA’
AGMs are generally not exciting meetings but the Constitution requires us to hold one. This meeting gives us an opportunity to catch up with other branch members, to review the past year and plan for the coming one. The AGM will be held on Sunday, 6th November at 2.00 in the Castle Centre, Barnstaple. There will be official business such as reports from the committee plus re-elections and/or the election of new committee members. The Branch is run for the benefit of our members whether they are experienced beekeepers or new to the subject. Please read the Committee Summary included in this edition of NLs.
Although we are told that this is the start of the beekeeping year it feels like an ending to me. The colonies at Horestone have been treated for Varroa, fed where needed and settled for the winter. The grass has stopped growing, the apples are falling and the apiary has a stillness now. There are maintenance jobs to cover during the winter but more about these another time.
A second busy Taster day was held on Sunday, 4th September and the Honey Show on 10th. Both required a lot of planning and energy so thank you to Cathy, Barbara and all their helpers.
Our next event will be the talk on Thursday, 13th October at 7.30 at the Castle Centre, Barnstaple. Clare Densley, who is the apiarist at Buckfast Abbey, will be speaking about ‘ The Romance of Beekeeping’. Clare runs courses at the Abbey as well as caring for the colonies. She has her own views on the management of bees so her talk will be interesting and fun.
I look forward to seeing you at the October talk and at the AGM.
Best wishes,
Mave
Flower of the Month by Julie Elkin
Beautiful Biennials
This foraging season is coming to a close, just the ivy left now but there
is still time to plant for next spring’s bees. Every year I intend to make
more effort with biennials and remember to sow the seeds in May or
June ready to plant out in late summer or early autumn but I tend to
forget until it is time for planting out so it is fortunate market growers and
the garden centres sell so many plug plants now. The Sweet Williams,