PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS ’ ApiaryProgramme 2019btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site2056/Bee... · It is mid-July. A worker honey bee is coming to the end of her life, having foraged

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www.plymouthbeekeepers.btik.com

JUNE

Sunday 2nd Improvers Meeting 10am

Sunday 9th Beginners Meeting (7) 10am

Sunday 16th No Meeting (Reserved for rescheduled Beginners Meeting)

10am

Sunday 23rd Beginners Meeting (8) 10am

Sunday 30th Apiary Maintenance Morning – all members welcome 10am

JULY

Sunday 7th Improvers Meeting 10am


Sunday 21st Apiary Maintenance Morning – all members welcome 10am


AUGUST (Bank Holiday: Mon 26th)

Sunday 4th Improvers Meeting 10am



Sunday 25th Bank Holiday Weekend No Meeting

SEPTEMBER

Sunday 1st Improvers Meeting 10am


OCTOBER

Tuesday 8th Branch Honey Show: Blindmans Wood Scout Centre Judge: Jack Mummery

6.30pm for 7pm start

NOVEMBER

Tuesday 19th AGM: Blindmans Wood Scout Centre 7pm for 7.30 start

DECEMBER

Sunday 8th Branch Christmas Lunch – TO BE CONFIRMED

Saturday 14th DBKA AGM & Beekeepers Day – North Devon Venue TBC

PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS’ Apiary Programme 2019

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Dates for your Diary 2020 (All confirmed at the Blindmans Wood Scout Centre)

Tuesday 14th January – Quiz Night Tuesday 11th February – Talk Tuesday 13th October – Honey Show Tuesday 17th November – AGM

Turn left off the A38 at Lee Mill and follow the signs for Tesco

Drive past the Tesco entrance, take next right for Central Avenue on the industrial estate

Drive down the hill of Central Avenue, looking for East Way on your right

Drive along East Way, looking for Cadleigh Close on your left

Drive into Cadleigh Close; the apiary site is behind the big iron gates of the Bandvulc tyre factory

Park inside the gates, walk up the concrete path & the portacabin is on your right

The Blindmans Wood Scout Centre is on

Outland Road, Plymouth PL3 5TB

Meetings will be held at the Branch Apiary Site, Lee Mill, Ivybridge Unless advised otherwise

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CHAIRMAN’S BLOG

Hello Again,

Hello again. The three charming people above are there to remind us to

It’s June; need I say more?

Check your colonies for stores and if in doubt – FEED THEM!!

I thought I would depart from the usual format for the Blog this time and set you a puzzle. Here it is:

(You may have seen this puzzle before in a different format. If so, you will know the answer. If not, do have fun trying to work it out. It is NOT a trick question) It is mid-July. A worker honey bee is coming to the end of her life, having foraged continually for twenty days. It is a beautiful warm day and she has just filled her honey crop with bramble nectar. It will be her last payload. Her wings are frayed and she is exhausted, the combination of which results in her being no longer able to fly. Undaunted and determined to deliver her precious cargo to her colony, she decides to crawl back to her hive.

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She progresses slowly along the path in the general direction of her apiary until she encounters a fork in the path. The left-hand fork leads to the pasture where her hive nestles among other hives in the small apiary, but the right hand path leads to a foetid area containing AFB, EFB, both types of Nosema, sac brood, DFW, billions of varroa mites and several Asian hornet nests, not to mention numerous growing colonies of small hive beetle! The problem is that because she is so exhausted she has lost her sense of direction and she doesn’t know which path leads where, as both areas are just out of her line of sight. However, all is not lost. There are two drones stood at the fork in the path and they do know where each path leads. But; while one of these drones always tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; the other one is a pathological liar. The second problem for our fast-failing worker bee is that she doesn’t know which of the two drones tells the truth. They look (and smell) identical and they each know about the other one’s characteristic. Our worker has just enough strength to crawl to her hive, but she can’t afford to take the wrong path; she must go by the shortest route or she will run out of energy and die on the way. Therefore, it’s absolutely vital that she knows the correct path to take before she carries on.

But, she is allowed to speak to only one of the drones and she is allowed to ask him only one question. Remember, she does not know which drone is the compulsive liar. There is one question she can ask, the answer to which will see her safely on her way back to the hive. What is that question? If you can’t work it out, I’ll publish the answer in the next edition of Bee Brief. Until August,

All the best,

Terry

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Photos by PBKA Member

Olga Wojciechowska

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Beginners’ Course 2019 Members gaining practical experience

at Lee Mill. Photos by PBKA Member

Olga Wojciechowska

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PBKA Member Liam Ferguson I've recently set up an Apiary on Bodmin Moor near to St Neot. Currently consisting of 2 colonies in poly hives. The swarms were from Patrick. I chose Poly hives as the winters are very harsh down there so the extra insulation would be much welcome for the bees. A total coincidence that I bumped into the farmer. He was at a county show in Wales and was fascinated by the beekeeping tent and decided he wanted to have bees on his farm. A week later we were introduced for me to do a bit of work on his farm. I mentioned I like to do a bit of beekeeping, his face lit up and the rest is history haha.

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24 May 2019

A WARNING TO ALL BRANCH MEMBERS – BADLY DESIGNED QUEEN CATCHERS

A few weeks ago, Valerie and I had a ‘near miss’

when, during a colony inspection, we caught our queen in a standard clear plastic queen catcher

and put her down on top of the stack of supers.

While going through the brood box, we turned around and noticed that our queen had

managed to get out. Why? Because the spring had gone and we hadn’t noticed; so lesson one

was “check the spring.” Fortunately, I had put the QX on top of the stack

of supers, so she was easily recovered and returned to her brood. However, as a result of this experience, we decided to go for something a

little more durable and we bought a stainless steel queen catcher as shown in the picture above. We used it last week without a problem, but while

going through a colony in our second apiary this morning everything went pear-shaped. I caught the queen in the new catcher and rested her on the

super stack as normal and carried on with the inspection. On finishing, I

picked up the queen catcher to reintroduce her only to find her head and thorax poking out through one of the holes; her abdomen was too big to

follow so she was trapped. Despite all our efforts, we could not get her “into reverse.” The more we tried to persuade her to go back the more she

struggled. Trying to pull her back would have meant handling her by the

abdomen with considerable pressure so that was out of the question. After several minutes of trying we had run out of option so I killed her as quickly

as I could. So; thanks to an appalling piece of design (and our lack of foresight) we now have a brand new queenless colony. We can only hope

that they can successfully replace her.

You might ask why we bothered to catch the queen at all. The answer is that we recently attended a presentation from a master beekeeper who

advised that this was good practice as it reduced the risk of harming the queen during colony manipulation; especially with double brood, which was

the case with our colony this morning. The advice might have been well-

intentioned, but we will be reverting to our old method of leaving the queen on the frame in future and just being extra careful!

My question is, who is the genius who designed these queen catchers with ventilation holes of sufficient diameter to allow a queen to get her head and

thorax through? I would have some choice words to say to them if I could

find out. It would have been so easy to reduce the diameter of the holes and increase the number, so why, why, why didn’t they do it? These

catchers are widely available. My advice is to avoid them like the plague.

Terry

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2019 BRANCH HONEY SHOW (Tuesday 8th October – Blindmans Wood Scout Centre)

Following a review by your Committee to up-date the honey show recipes, please find below the new versions of the Honey Sponge Cake and Honey Fudge. We thought advance warning may be prudent to give our membership the opportunity to try them out before the Honey Show. Happy baking! Jean French – Branch Secretary Class 12 - HONEY SPONGE CAKE

Ingredients: Cake: 225g butter 1/2 tsp bicarb soda 125g caster sugar 4 large eggs 100g honey 2 tbsp milk 300g self-raising flour Filling: 115g sieved icing sugar 60g butter 15g honey Equipment: 2 x 8 inch sandwich cake tins, greased and lined Electric hand beater / cake mixer Instructions: 1. Preheat Oven 350f / 180c / gas 4 2. Using an electric hand blender/cake mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy 3. Add the baking honey and then the eggs one at a time 4. Making sure you beat it all in before adding the next egg 5. Sieve half of the flour along with the bicarb soda and milk and beat together 6. Add the remaining flour and beat together 7. (You can do all this by hand in a large bowl if you don’t have any electric beaters) 8. Spoon half of the mixture into each sandwich tin and pop into your preheated oven 9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and firm to the touch 10. Leave to cool on a wire rack 11. Blend the filling ingredients together until smooth. 12. Once cooled completely, spread the filling onto one of the cakes and place the other cake on top. Class 13 – HONEY FUDGE

Ingredients: 1 lb. Granulated Sugar ¼ Pint Evaporated Milk ¼ Teaspoon Salt 2 oz. Butter 2 Tablespoons Honey Instructions: 1. Put all the ingredients into a pan over a low heat, stirring all the time, until the mixture starts bubbling. 2. Cook for several minutes until a little of the mixture dropped into cold water forms into a ball. 3. Cool the pan quickly by standing in cold water. 4. Beat the mixture with a wooden spoon until it begins to thicken. 5. Pour into a well-greased tin and allow to set before cutting into squares. NOTE: only 3 pieces of fudge are required for the Honey Fudge entry.

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REMINDER: BUCKFAST ABBEY - Beekeeping Workshops for 2019 Are your bees not doing as well as you would like? They could be stressed! The balance of your colony is essential for its well health, wellbeing and success. Learn how to read your colony and to recognize when they are out of kilter. You could steer them back onto the right track by using simple management techniques. Sometimes these could make the difference to your colony surviving and flourishing or dwindling and dying out! Saturday 8th June 2pm till 4.30pm. Cost £5

Healthy bees’ day A detailed look at honey bee disease: diagnosis, treatment and avoidance. The day will teach you how to recognize healthy brood and how to detect when things are not as they should be. Plenty of hands on experience coupled with expert advice and tuition. Saturday 20th of July from 11am till 4.00pm. Cost £10.

Bring your own lunch or dine at the Grange restaurant on site.

What the books don’t tell you and why bees change their minds! Bee behaviour can be confusing and we often resort to the anthropomorphic and rather desperate statement “Oh well the bees don’t read the books!” Actually there is an awful lot in the books which is misleading or only partially correct (depending on what books you read of course). This workshop aims to debunk some of the common myths and misconceptions about bees which are often quoted in literature and by word of mouth. Saturday July the 13th from 2pm till 4.30 pm. Cost £5

PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS LIBRARY

Library books and DVDs are permanently kept at the

apiary site. Books are separated into three categories

(Novices; General; Specialised) and numbered with a

colour-coded system to help you choose the right

book. The numbers are on the website

If you have a request on a particular topic and would like

help to choose the right book please contact me and I’ll be

happy to help. If you read one of the books and can recommend it (or otherwise)

then please let me have your feedback.

Liz Wallis, Windlestraw, Penquit, Ivybridge PL21 0LU

Tel: 01752 698384 Email: [email protected]

Link to PBKA Library www.plymouthbeekeepers.btik.com/LibraryBooks

http://www.plymouthbeekeepers.btik.com/LibraryBooks

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Contact Details – Plymouth Branch

Chairman

Terry McAuliffe

219573

[email protected]

Vice Chair Neil Downing-Waite

309483 [email protected]

Secretary Jean French 338279 [email protected]

Treasurer Bernie Talling 709470 [email protected]

Editor Dawn Clarke 309483 [email protected]

Branch Librarian

Liz Wallis 698384 [email protected]

Apiary Manager

Patrick Mansfield

07887 997764

[email protected]

Social Secretaries

Jean & Steve Russell

215827 [email protected]

Microscopist Vacant

Spray Liaison Officer

Jo Jones [email protected]

DBKA Website - Members Area Password:

If you have forgotten the password, contact Terry McAuliffe or Jean French.

Member Advert

PBKA member Claude Pool sent this message in April

Hi, not sure if any good for Bee Brief or not; got a call today to say bees were swarming, I boxed up what looked like a cast swarm and checked hive to find one full of cells. Just a point to note as second swarm I have heard of so far this year things may be early. I thought I’d add this dramatic report from the Herald about the swarm at the Range at the weekend!

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/live-

swarm-bees-range-plymouth-2931449

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/live-swarm-bees-range-plymouth-2931449

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/live-swarm-bees-range-plymouth-2931449

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Bee Craft webinar dates for 2019 No need to sign in or register. Click on this link or go to the website (www.bee-craft.com) and click on the Bee Craft Live link on the home page where you can email questions, watch live or watch a recording of their previous webinars going back to 2014!

Dates are: - all start at 8pm.

June 19th August 14th September 18th October 30th November 20th December 19th

Westward Housing is set to encourage biodiversity in the South West by including bee bricks in Devon and Cornwall developments. The eco-friendly bricks are designed to provide a nesting place for solitary bees and can be easily installed in any external walls. Bee bricks are based on a typical brick size and home solitary bees such as sole bees or red mason bees which do not live in hives or have a queen. Assistant director of development, Neil Edwards said: “There really wasn’t a question in using bee bricks, why wouldn’t you? They’re easy to install, will help to improve bee habitats across Devon and Cornwall and will ultimately make a positive contribution to our wildlife in the south west.” Westward’s first development to see bee bricks installed is Point Reach at Carnon Downs, near Truro. This will be a mixed development of eight affordable and six open market houses and will be completed in summer 2019.

Thanks to Claude Pool PBKA member for this news item

https://bee-craft.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e5d75f82e5fb22f2f36ef838&id=ffd8f8e752&e=ef2d6471c3

https://bee-craft.us15.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e5d75f82e5fb22f2f36ef838&id=ffd8f8e752&e=ef2d6471c3

http://www.bee-craft.com/

http://www.bee-craft.com/

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The Buzz – Honeybees & Beekeeping

Tens of thousands of bees removed from house

About 20,000 bees have been removed from a house in Coventry and rehomed with a beekeeper in Lichfield. It took six hours for David Bird from Delta Pest Control to remove the colony, which had grown to 1.2 cubic metres in size. It is thought the bees were able to thrive in a cavity due to the mild winter. After a period of quarantine the bees will be put to work in an apiary. Thank you to PBKA member Mark Grieves for this news item.

See the video on the BBC website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-47813760/tens-of-thousands-of-bees-removed-from-house

An outbreak of European Foulbrood (EFB) has been found in a colony of honey bees in an apiary in West Lothian

The disease spreads between hives, mainly by beekeepers, their tools and contaminated equipment. The spores that cause the bacterial disease are very resistant to extremes of hot and cold and to many disinfectants so the spread can only be prevented by good hygiene and beekeeping.

Once infected, a colony can die out completely - it is however treatable.

The disease was confirmed laboratory diagnosis by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA).

Read more on the Edinburgh Live website:

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/devastating-bee-disease-outbreak-been-16359468





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A combination of agrochemicals shortens the life of bees, study shows A nonlethal dose of insecticide Clothianidin can reduce honeybees' life span by half; once combined with the fungicide Pyraclostrobin, it alters the behaviour of worker bees to the point of endangering the whole colony. FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO Read more on the EurekAlert website:

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/fda-aco053019.php

World Bee Day Observing World Bee Day on 20 May each year will draw attention to the essential role bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy. It provides an opportunity for governments, organizations, civil society and concerned citizens everywhere to promote actions that will protect and enhance pollinators and their habitats, improve their abundance and diversity, and support the sustainable development of beekeeping. The date for this observance was chosen as it was the day Anton Janša, a pioneer of modern apiculture, was born. Janša came from a family of beekeepers in Slovenia, where beekeeping is an important agricultural activity with a long-standing tradition.

http://www.fao.org/pollination/world-bee-day/en/

MEMBER ADVERT FOR SALE Manual plastic 4 frame honey spinner £20 Medium straw skep £15 X2 smokers £5 each Nylon bee brush £2 The spinner is in good used condition

Contact Ian Staples on 07564877736

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-05/fda-aco053019.php

http://www.fao.org/pollination/world-bee-day/en/

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HEMBURY BEE SUPPLIES

Agents for the main manufacturers We can supply all your

Beekeeping needs Foundation – Hives – Frames - Jars

And many, many more

We can be found at:

John Harler Outer Finches

Hembury Cock Hill, Buckfast, Devon,

TQ11 0HN Tel/Fax: 01364 642517 Mobile: 07769 878476 Email: [email protected] Please Phone before you make a visit

PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS ’ ApiaryProgramme 2019btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site2056/Bee... · It is mid-July. A worker honey bee is coming to the end of her life, having foraged

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