NORTHERN LIGHTS THE NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH DEVON BRANCH OF THE DEVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION September 2007 www.northdevonbees.org Editorial Those of you who still possess a sharp eye and a keen in- tellect (I believe that there are still one or two of you out there) will have noticed that the August Edition of the Northern Lights did not pop through your letterbox as usual. Apologies for this, but continuing printing diffi- culties, lack of copy and change of Editor meant that it was decided to miss out this month. However, we are back with a bang in September. Yours truly is also back (not with a bang, but more like a whimper) as Barry has decided to step down from the role – our thanks for his efforts over the past few months. I am only act- ing in a “caretaker” role however, until some more deserving and more competent individual is bribed, blackmailed or threatened into tak- ing my place. Finally, may I thank all the contribu- tors to this month’s newsletter - a great effort and it has made my job a lot easier. Annus Horribilis ? Well, probably not that bad, but the unseasonably dry weather earlier in the spring, followed by the wettest summer in living memory has played havoc with the bees - well my bees anyway. Of my 5 colonies, one is queen- less, one has a drone laying queen and 2 others have re- queened (could have been my fault in not spotting swarm preparations). I do not think that I am alone though, as I have heard sto- ries from throughout the West Country of missing queens, frequent swarms and poor or non-existent har- vests. What is interesting though is that my fifth colony has sailed through the season virtually unaffected. It has not tried to swarm or replace last year's queen, and actually has some honey to harvest. Unlike my other colonies however, it is in a commercial hive, not a national. It has always been a strong colony, but then so have two or three of the others. Obviously no real conclusions can be drawn from one hive, but it prompts me to consider starting up a second commercial hive next year, just to see what transpires. Maybe bigger really is better ...... Kevin Tricker Chairman’s Chat Hello Everyone The Honey Show at St John's is on 27th and 28th October so now is the time to think about what to enter. If you haven't entered before, it's simple, fun and first timers of- ten surprise themselves by winning. There's a very wide range of classes to suit every North Devon beekeeper, novice or veteran, so please have a good look at the Schedule. Let's support the many members behind the scenes beavering away to make this year's Honey Show an enormous suc- cess. Whatever you decide to enter, be assured you will be welcomed with open arms. This year's AGM will be held at Horestone Apiary at 12noon on Sun- day 11th November, where the warm welcome will be partly due to the ex- cellent pot bellied stove installed in the Meeting Room. I hope lots of you will turn up to support the Branch and that some of you will consider putting your names forward for election onto the Branch Committee. New people with fresh perspectives are needed if we are to develop and improve - you could be one of those people. Please consider this carefully and phone me if you would like more information. Chris Tozer 01237 471928 Basic Bee Assessment Congratulations to all the follow- ing members who successfully passed their Basic Bee Assess- ment Examination : Glenis Beardsley, Martin Fowler, Harry Hall, Alison Homa, Sue Madgwick, Ruth Neal and Liz Wilson. Quick Diary Sunday 23rd September Family day at Horestone Apiary, 2.00pm Sunday 7th October Eggesford Countryside & Wildlife Show Saturday & Sunday 20th and 21st October Eggesford Cider and Apple Show Branch stalls will be there. Saturday 27th October BuckFast Bee Day at Buckfast Abbey Saturday & Sunday 27th and 28th October North Devon Honey Show, St John’s Garden Centre, Barnstaple. Sunday 11th November, 12 noon NDBKA AGM at Horestone, followed by refreshments. Sunday 2nd December Xmas lunch.at The Royal and Fortescue Hotel, Barnstaple. (see separate advert on page 5.)
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NORTHERN LIGHTSTHE NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH DEVON BRANCH
OF THE DEVON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
September 2007 www.northdevonbees.org
Editorial
Those of you who still possess a sharp eye and a keen in-
tellect (I believe that there are still one or two of you out
there) will have noticed that the August Edition of the
Northern Lights did not pop through your letterbox as
usual. Apologies for this, but continuing printing diffi-
culties, lack of copy and change of Editor meant that it
was decided to miss out this month.
However, we are back with a bang in September. Yours
truly is also back (not with a bang,
but more like a whimper) as Barry
has decided to step down from the
role – our thanks for his efforts over
the past few months. I am only act-
ing in a “caretaker” role however,
until some more deserving and more
competent individual is bribed,
blackmailed or threatened into tak-
ing my place.
Finally, may I thank all the contribu-
tors to this month’s newsletter - a
great effort and it has made my job a
lot easier.
Annus Horribilis ?
Well, probably not that bad, but the unseasonably dry
weather earlier in the spring, followed by the wettest
summer in living memory has played havoc with the bees
- well my bees anyway. Of my 5 colonies, one is queen-
less, one has a drone laying queen and 2 others have re-
queened (could have been my fault in not spotting swarm
preparations).
I do not think that I am alone though, as I have heard sto-
ries from throughout the West Country of missing
queens, frequent swarms and poor or non-existent har-
vests.
What is interesting though is that my fifth colony has
sailed through the season virtually unaffected. It has not
tried to swarm or replace last year's queen, and actually
has some honey to harvest.
Unlike my other colonies however, it is in a commercial
hive, not a national. It has always been a strong colony,
but then so have two or three of the others.
Obviously no real conclusions can be drawn from one
hive, but it prompts me to consider starting up a second
commercial hive next year, just to see what transpires.
Maybe bigger really is better ......Kevin Tricker
Chairman’s Chat
Hello Everyone
The Honey Show at St John's is on 27th and 28th October
so now is the time to think about what to enter. If you
haven't entered before, it's simple, fun and first timers of-
ten surprise themselves by winning. There's a very wide
range of classes to suit every North Devon beekeeper,
novice or veteran, so please have a good look at the
Schedule. Let's support the many members behind the
scenes beavering away to make this
year's Honey Show an enormous suc-
cess. Whatever you decide to enter,
be assured you will be welcomed
with open arms.
This year's AGM will be held at
Horestone Apiary at 12noon on Sun-
day 11th November, where the warm
welcome will be partly due to the ex-
cellent pot bellied stove installed in
the Meeting Room. I hope lots of
you will turn up to support the
Branch and that some of you will
consider putting your names forward for election onto the
Branch Committee. New people with fresh perspectives
are needed if we are to develop and improve - you could
be one of those people. Please consider this carefully
and phone me if you would like more information.
Chris Tozer 01237 471928
Basic Bee Assessment
Congratulations to all the follow-ing members who successfullypassed their Basic Bee Assess-ment Examination :Glenis Beardsley, Martin Fowler,Harry Hall, Alison Homa, SueMadgwick, Ruth Neal and LizWilson.
Full details of the syllabus will be found on the BBKA
website.
We already have two candidates and will welcome a few
more. There is no charge apart from occasional ex-
penses. The plan is to meet in suitable houses (or even
hire a room), every couple of weeks starting at the begin-
ning of October.
If you would like to join us or would like to the discuss
the idea, please phone Chris on 01237 474 500 or Beryl
on 01271 329 643.
The Garden at Horestone.
A group of the ladies are attempting to re-vamp the gar-
den and increase the range of bee friendly shrubs,
perennials and annuals with the emphasis on extending
the foraging season at both ends.
If any members would like to help us in the garden,
we'd be delighted. We also would be pleased to re-
ceive any useful bee plants that you may have in excess
when dividing up plants in your own borders.
The re-vamp also includes plans for some seats for that
most important activity of sitting in the garden and
watching the bees forage.
Bee PlantsMost of us don't have large areas of land to plant up
with forage crops for our bees but one of the great plea-
sures of beekeeping is watching them foraging in our
gardens Even a modest garden can help extend the for-
aging season with well chosen plants.
One of my favourites is Phacelia tanacetifolia, member
of a karge family of mainly annuals including P cam-
panularia ( Californian bluebell ) introduced to Europe
from N. America at the end of the 19th century.
Seed is most readily available for use as a green manure
crop when it is allowed to grow to 40-50cms and dug in
before flowering. What a
waste! The beauty of the
abundantly produced
bluish mauve flowers and
the lavishness of nectar
production should earn it a
place in any garden bor-
der. It looks good too as
an edging around the veg-
etable patch where it will
entice all the pollinating
insects to visit.
In recent years, it has been a wonderful sight to see,
field corners and edge strips brightly coloured by
phacelia and sunflowers grown for the benefit of
wildlife. We are unlikely to get a pure honey crop from
Phacelia here but in California it is described as light
green and of fine flavour. Pollen is pale blue looking
rather darker in the bee's pollen baskets.
Phacelia is an amiable plant growing in most soils in a
sunny postion that can be planted in spring and autumn
with a flowering season from each sowing lasting 4-6
weeks. ( May/June sowing will flower in August and
Sept/Oct sowing in April )
We hope to have a lot of it this coming spring at Hore-
stone.
Another Swarming Saga
Edited by Kevin Tricker, Old Barn, Forton, Somerset TA20 2NA.Phone: (01460) 66988 Email: [email protected] contributions welcome, copy by 23rd of month for publication in following month’s newsletter.Articles in this newsletter remain the property of the author and may not be reproduced in part or in fullwithout express permission.
Phacelia Tanacetifolia
Julie
The “Snatch”The swarm is just visible in the top
right hand corner of the picture
Avid readers will
remember the refer-
ence in the last is-
sue of Northern
Lights to the use of
a JCB to collect a
swarm from a tall
tree in Barton Town
Farm, Challacombe
Well, here are
the pictures to
prove it. Star-
ring Dave James
on high and Jim
Woollacott at
the controls.
No self-respectingswarm-catcher shouldbe without one.
Introduction to Beekeeping Course
Chris Tozer and Sue Tait are offering a one day course
"An Introduction to Beekeeping" at the Cookworthy For-
est Centre near Holsworthy on Tuesday 13th November.
If you know of anyone who would be interested, please
ask them to contact Kathy Lewington on 01409 240009