Vol 65 Summer 2010 Forager - harrowbeekeepers.co.uk€¦ · - GRIMSDYKE OPEN DAY. Candle rolling and honey both sold out! - GRAND DESIGNS LIVE at the ExCel Centre, 1st – 9th May.

The Magazine for the Bee-Keeping Association of Harrowwww.harrowbeekeepers.co.uk

Vol 65 Summer 2010

Forager

Published by the Harrow Bee-Keeper’s Association by whom this magazine was founded in the year 1946

Editors

J Moore & M P Davey (Consultant)

All correspondence and literary contributions intended for Forager, which goes topress on the 2nd Saturday of each month, should be sent to:

The Forager Editor, 4 Endymion Road, Hatfield, Herts AL10 8ASe-mail: [email protected] - Tel: 07801 691 265

Association SecretariesHARROWMrs Aline Bowers, 12 Larkfield Ave, Kenton Harrow, Middlesex HA3 8NFTel: 020 8907 9832PINNER & RUISLIPMrs Sue Ryan, 31 Hazeldene Gardens, Hillingdon UB10 9DJ.Tel: 01895 464108EALINGAndy Pedley, 36 Ferrymead Gardens, Greenford, Middlesex UB6 9NF.Tel: 020 8578 7997NORTH LONDONElizabeth Jack, 2 Rookfield Close, London N10 3TR.Tel: 020 8883 2835LONDON BKAJulian Lush, 97 Larkhall Rise, London SW4 6HR.Tel: 020 7622 9407ENFIELD BKAMrs Mary Hunter, 18 Slades Gardens, Enfield EN2 7DR.Tel: 020 8367 8452

Middlesex Federation SecretaryMrs J Telfer, Midwood House, Elm Park Road, Pinner HA5 3LH.Tel: 020 8868 3494

Whilst care is taken to verify the material published, the Editors do not accept responsibility for theaccuracy of all statements made by the contributors, nor do they necessarily share the views expressed.

Forager

Diary Dates Vol 65 Autumn 2010

July 24th Cheese & Wine at the Apiary from 4pm Tickets £6.50 eachnow available from Judy & Moira

July31st Harrow in Leaf BBQ 6.00pm West Harrow Allotments

Aug 1st Extracting honey (Demonstration and help please forAssociation bees)

Aug 7th Work party plus treating with Apiguard note change round ofwork party date

Aug 29,30th Harrow in Leaf Horticultural Show incorporating HarrowBeekeepers Honey Show Harrow Heritage Centre HeadstoneManor 12 noon to 6 pm

Sept 12th Looking at anatomy (Stereo microscopes plus hand lensesneeded )

Oct10th Prep.for winter-

Oct 28th,30th National Honey Show, Weybridge,Surrey.

Nov 6th AGM and dinner T.B.Confirmed

Dec 12th Mead+mincepie Q & A Bring your questions to a panel of old-timers!

1

Forager

What a blazing hot summer it has been, almost certain that records have beenbroken somewhere. Hopefully the bees have managed to keep cool and maintainflow. At the beginning of June a swarm parked itself for a day about 20 feet upan apple tree, neatly clustered around three intersecting branches, by the time Ihad worked out a way of getting it down they had buzzed off.

In this quarters edition of Forager there is some excellent advice on preparingfor the yearly onslaught of Vespa, in Beelines. Also another beautiful poem fromthe associations poet laureate, Anna Gruber, in Harrow Notes. Plus some veryinteresting updates in ‘from the federation’.

All very good reading on the beach.

Jeremy MooreEditor

Editorial

2

IN THIS ISSUE

Page 3 Harrow NotesPage 5 From the FederationPage 7 Bees in the SarahPage 9 Natural NewsPage 10 Beelines

Please note that allcontributions intended

for inclusion in theWinter issue of Forager

must be with theeditorial office by the15th of September,

at the latest.

3

Articles and Notes

FORAGER NOTESAUGUST 2010

EVENTS SO FAR THIS YEAR

- MAY DAY AT THE HARROWMUSEUM. This went well, despitepoor weather.

- BENTLEY PRIORY 1940’S OPENDAY. The day was busy, the crowdstylish.

- GRIMSDYKE OPEN DAY. Candlerolling and honey both sold out!

- GRAND DESIGNS LIVE at theExCel Centre, 1st – 9th May. One ofthe exhibits was a Bee Garden, with astand manned jointly by BBKA andSaga. HBKA provided most of thestewards for this, and a good time washad by all who went.

EXAM SUCCESS

7 HBKA members passed the BasicBeekeeping Exam, including MichaelTylden-Pattenson, aged 15.Congratulations to everybody,especially Michael.

HONEY PRICES

The price of a 1lb jar of honey is£4.80, and a half-pound jar is £2.90.

H.B.K.A. COMMITTEE

This committee – your committee –meets every two months to discussHarrow business. Committeemembers are faithful, and turn up tomeetings no matter what – cold, heat,mud, Midsomer Murders ontelevision – so why not come along tothe ABC and see us in action? (That’s

not a typo for inaction.) Admittedly,it’s not as good as watching the WorldCup, but, given our dismalperformance this year, that’s all to thegood.

INSECTS

On 26th June, Wyevale’s (sorry,Gardening Club), hosted an InsectDay. I regret that I wasn’t there. Thelure of David Suchet and ZoeWannamaker playing in ‘All my sons’at the Apollo was simply too much.We had a box, and were sitting closeto the actors. Not only is D.S. aconsummate actor, but he cries REALTEARS.

All of which is nothing to do with theOpen Day. I hope that GardeningClub imported a few insects, zoo-style, to entertain their customers.Why? Because there are very fewinsects around.

Gardening, or simply sitting aroundunder the pear tree, the thing that hasstruck me this year is how sparse theinsect population is. Where are thehover-flies, lacewings, aphids?Wasps, honey-bees, bumble-bees?There is one bumble-bee working theclover. Quite a lot of clover. One bee.

Admittedly, there are ants. And twocolonies of blackflies, one on theangelica, the other on the cardoon.(I’ve left them both, out of pity.)There are whiteflies covering thefuchsias. And that’s it. Even flies arein short supply.

I feel quite lonely.

Should get out more.

4

SOCKS

Beekeeper Brian Gardiner, fromNeilborough, Victoria, Australia, wascalled out to collect a swarm of bees.

The swarm, roughly 20,000 strong,had settled between socks hanging ona washing-line. The homeownerdiscovered them when she went tocollect her washing.

On the photograph of this event, thesocks look distinctly woolly. One sockis light mauve, but the other is muchdarker, perhaps plum, or navy blue. Ithought bees didn’t care for either thetexture of wool or dark colours.

They must do things differently inAustralia.

NEW BEEKEEPER

Ian Douglas works for the DailyTelegraph, and somewhere in NorthLondon, he keeps bees! Hisbeekeeping diary, and other bee-related news, can be read attelegraph.co.uk/gardening/beekeeping

THE BAD BEEKEEPERS’ CLUB

Definitely not H.B.K.A.!

‘The bad beekeepers’ club’ is the titleof a book by Bill Turnbull, the manfrom the Beeb who keeps bees. Hisinterest is in the bees themselves,rather than in the honey harvests. Thebook is about his beekeepingexperiences.

Published by Sphere, May 2010, itcosts £12.99, or £11.69 (inc. postageand packing) from Sunday TimesBookshop on 0845 271 2135.

BUGS BRITANNICA

This is a large, splendid, rather heavybook. Its illustrations are handsome.And what does it celebrate? The livesand folklore of ‘bugs’.

This word is defined very loosely, soapart from insects, slugs, snails and anassortment of marine molluscs havefound their way into its pages.

The book is not a definitive guide toany one species – the bee information,for example, is far less detailed than inthe bee books available to us.

Rather, this book gives an overview ofinsects etc, detailing country namesfor creatures, and describing customsassociated with them, beliefs aboutthem and popular misconceptionsalongside facts and statistics.

Beautifully produced, with a largeclear typeface, this book is a joy touse.

It is the third in a series, costs £35, iswritten by Peter Marren and RichardMabey, and is published by Chatto andWindus.

GARDEN-INSPIRED POEM

This poem, which has recentlyappeared in an anthology, was writtenby Anna Gruber.

MY NOCTURNAL GARDEN

Earth satellite

Waxes, wanes, swells and shrinks

Shedding its mysterious light

Against sombre background of the night

Illuminating, creating shadows

5

oubliettes

Reflecting attenuated echoes of the sun

Lucid moonbeams

Bloom in my nocturnal garden

Evening primrose, deadly nightshadeopen wide

Pale fragrant lilies bejewelled withsilver dew

White angel trumpets swaying

Playing nocturnes, moonlight sonata

Geniuses imagination

On earth, moons inspiration.

ANNA GRUBER

Susan Kelly

From the Federation July 2010-06-23

The season seemed a long timecoming with a long cold spring andgreat variations in weather patternsthrough early summer. Suddenly hotweather arrives at the end of Junewhen blackberries are already inblossom and lime trees about to burstinto flower, is a good omen. It is goodto see the bees enjoying theopportunity of long warm days with

barmy evenings ideal for ripening thenectar brought in during the day.

I have been very pleased to see therehave been many candidates from theMiddlesex associations taking theBasic exam this year. This is apractical exam which all beekeeperswho have kept bees for at least a year(or preferably 2) would be able totake. It improves your confidence andmakes you sit down and learn about afew details like bee diseases.

As the autumn approaches, I hopesome of you will begin to think aboutyour plans for next year’s beekeepingcourses. There are a series of 8module exams which are alwaystaken in the month of March and inorder to take these one must first havepassed the basic exam. Usuallypeople start with just one or twomodules each year. The Federationhas been holding meetings during thelast year to discuss and analyse partsof the general husbandry course andthis would certainly help anyonethinking of taking modules. If anyoneis interested in joining this studygroup please get in touch with me.The meetings are going to resume inSeptember on the first Saturday ineach following month from 10 to12pm. The venue was the Harrow beecentre but could possibly be atdifferent centres each month.

There has been a lot of publicityabout the loss of bees from the habitatthis last few months. Surprisinglythough, here in Harrow, there havebeen many reports to some of ourmembers from the general publicabout bumble bees taking upresidence in their properties.. These

6

seem to be making their nests in upperstories in insulation material in lofts,attics or flat roof extensions. Ingeneral bumble bees prefer groundlevel or underground but not so thisyear. Is this because we had a verylong cold winter and hibernation inthe ground may have proved to be lesssuccessful?

The new species of bumblebee,Bombus hipnorum has certainlyspread since its arrival 8 years ago inSouthampton, where it was firstidentified. ( it has a ginger thorax andblack abdomen) It is a comparativelyaggressive bumble bee and certainlyseems to prefer to be in a loftier place.It is however pleasing after all thereports about decline of our furryfriends.

Scientists at a Dundee University areto investigate the mystery of what iskilling off honey and bumble bees.They are going to look into whetherpesticides are harming the brains ofbees. They say that the bee populationhas fallen by 15% over the 2 years toApril 2009 and the population ofbutterflies and other insects is alsodown. They are expecting to radio tagbees as part of a 3 year study and thisis to be done in conjunction withRoyal Holloway Hospital, andUniversity College London. Dr ChrisConnolly has put forward a hypothesisthat though pesticides might not bekilling bees it is affecting their lifespan and cognitive abilities. ‘Manyinsecticides work by interfering withinformation flow in the brains ofinsects- either increasing ordecreasing their brain activity. Theywill be looking at whether chronicexposure to chemicals used to control

mites combined with levels ofagricultural pesticides that are not inthemselves lethal, may act together tomagnify their effects on bee brainfunction.

Any one who visited Rothamstedresearch at Harpenden this June,would have had marvelled at all theamazing studies that are taking placethere as have been for 250 years. Thiswas their first Open day for 5 yearsand many new buildings had been setup during this period. There is greatdeal of studying into biofuels and withover 300 of willow species toinvestigate there was plenty ofcomparisons to observe. It was ofcourse most interesting to see theentomological section especially thebee research station run by Dr JulietOsborne who is radio tagging bumblebees for her own ‘bee foraging’experiments.

If you want to find out more do cometo next year’s Federation Day whenwe are privileged to hear Dr Osbornewill be speaking.

The date is set for Saturday 26thFebruary 2011. Trinity Church Hall,Medway Drive Perivale UB6 8LN.Please put this into you diaries now .

I do hope you all get a few jars ofhoney from your bees this autumn andif you do not eat it all please save a jarfor the National Honey Show. Thistakes place on 28th to 30th October2010. I will place some showschedules in the apiary nearer thetime. Any entries to our Harrow showcould be kept safely until October.May I remind all people new toHarrow Beekeepers this year, youwill gain free entry to the NHS and all

7

that you need to do is present yourname to Rev Capener at the door. Thevenue is St George’s CollegeWeybridge.

Do not forget to feed your bees onceyou have robbed them!!

Don’t forget to treat them againstvarroasis.

You should feed them in the eveningto cut down the chances of robbingand narrow the entrances down toprevent wasps attacking/ especially innuc boxes

Jo Telfer

Honeybees survive for millennia in

Sahara desert oasisBy Matt Walker

Editor, Earth New, BBC

Deep in the Sahara desert arehoneybees that have remained isolatedfrom all other bees for at least 5,000years.

The bees arrived at Kufra in Libyawhen the Sahara was still a greensavannah, and have survived eversince around an oasis in the desert,over 1,000km from their nearestneighbouring bees.

So concludes a new study which hasanalysed the bees' genetics.

The Kufra honeybees are so isolatedthey remain free of a parasitic mitethat threatens bees around the world.

Details of the discovery are publishedin the journal Conservation Genetics.

Around 10,000 years ago, the Saharawas a green savannah, a habitat wellsuited to honeybees (Apis mellifera).

Today, the Sahara is inhospitable tohoneybees, which can't survive in thelarge sand deserts that lack anyvegetation.

However, honeybees do survive inmany oases that litter the desert.

Most are maintained by localbeekeepers that keep the insects forhoney production and to pollinateoasis plants.

The Royal Society of Medicine isholding a one day event under theabove heading on Thursday 30thSeptember. The day is designed for"professionals working in publichealth, veterinarians, specialists infood/ nutrition, beekeepers andentomologists".

There are some very good speakersincluding Norman Carreck andRobert Pickard. Full details ofwhat sounds a very interestingprogramme are on:

http://www.rsm.ac.uk

The cost of the day for nonprofessional beekeepers is £50 (including lunch ) - based onbooking before the 15th September- but the RSM member who sentme the details said these sort ofevents get booked up very quicklyas professionals can use them aspart of their ongoing educationalrequirements.

Judy

8

But some wild populations of beessurvive.

One such group lives at the desertoasis at Kufra in southeast Libya,while another lives at an oasis at Brakto the west of the country.

Unique traits

Dr Taher Shaibi of the Al-FatahUniversity in Tripoli, Libya andProfessor Robin Moritz of MartinLuther University at Halle-Wittenberg, Germany analysed DNAfrom 16 colonies of bees at Kufra,Brak and from three sites alongLibya's northern coast.

They examined 15 genetic markerswhich indicate the mating frequency,colony density and gene diversity ofthe bees in each colony and the extentto which their populations havechanged over time.

As expected, the results showed thatthe coastal bees have high levels ofgenetic diversity, due to the intensiveapiculture industry there, whichallows large numbers of bees tointermingle.

The colony at Brak was alsorelatively diverse.

That is because Brak has a honeyseason, which encourages coastal beekeepers to visit, bringing their ownbees to the oasis.

Though honeybees living at Kufrahave colonies of a similar density tobees elsewhere, certain genetic traits

appeared in the Kufra bees at muchhigh frequencies, with some beingunique.

That shows that the Kufra bees haveremained isolated from all others forat least 5,000 years and perhaps up to10,000 years, since the moment theywere cut off by the creation of theSahara desert.

Bees living at Kufra are also freefrom the Varroa destructor parasiticmite, which is decimating coloniesaround the world and has beenimplicated in a global decline ofhoneybee populations.

"The oasis can only be free of theVarroa mite if perfect isolation isensured, even in times of moderntransport," the researchers write.

Genetic source

Perhaps surprisingly, the researchers'analysis also showed that the Kufrabees are not suffering any ill effects,caused by inbreeding, from theirisolation.

That indicates that the oasis supportsa healthy population size.

The Kufra bees could also be a sourceof new genetic traits that could beuseful to beekeepers elsewhere, theresearchers suggest.

But to maintain these valuable traits,it is crucial that the Kufra bees arepreserved, with foreign bees beingkept away from the oasis.

9

NaturalNews.comLong before what we refer to ascivilization was born, honey was afood prized above all others in manytraditional cultures. Ancient peoplesin Spain, India, Egypt and all over theworld knew that honey supplied aunique richness of nutrients. But farfrom squeezing honey out of cutelittle plastic containers shaped likebears, these people were eating theirhoney freshly harvested from localbee hives - untouched and untaintedby civilized man. They worshipedpure, raw honey - and for goodreason.

In times before commercialprocessing overtook our food supply,the remarkable medical benefits ofraw honey were understood byprimitive man. Today, when we pauseto take a closer look at thecomposition of raw honey, we canclearly see why it is so invaluable:

- Raw honey contains bee pollen,which many leading nutritionalexperts refer to as a potent superfood.Among bee pollen's many benefits areallergy relief, detoxification, anti-cancer properties, increased energy,amino acids, vitamins and thousandsof beneficial enzymes.

- Raw honey is one of the richestnatural sources of amylase, anenzyme which facilitates the properdigestion of carbohydrates. Thismakes raw honey an excellent

companion for toast or oatmeal. Thisessential enzyme is lost the momenthoney is heated, since amylaseconverts to starch when exposed toheat.

- Propolis, a material bees use forconstructing their hives, is anotherbeneficial part of raw honey. Propolisis believed to have antioxidant,antimicrobial and even anti-cancerproperties. It is said to boost theimmune system and improve thehealth of the liver as well.

- Raw honey is an excellent source offlavonoids (particularly flavanones,flavones and flavonols). These havepowerful antioxidant properties thatprotect us from illness and disease.

Tips for Enjoying Raw Honey:

- Remember, processed honey hasbeen extensively heated and filteredto make sure it's the same clear,golden liquid we've all come toexpect. This is essentially honeystripped of all its goodness, andcontains none of the beneficialnutrients listed above. Raw honeywill be opaque and creamy with aslightly crystallized texture. It's idealfor spreading on bread with peanutbutter or scooping up with a spoon.

- Pay close attention to labeling tomake sure you are getting a qualityraw honey. It should be completelyunprocessed and unheated. Thevaluable enzymes in honey are

continued on page 12

10

The Bees and Beekeepers haveendured many hot days through thesummer. The rain fall has been poor.

April - .65”

May - 1.5”

June - 1.65”

The average rain fall for the first fivemonths is 16.7” for UK whereas thisyear it was 12.56”. The blossomshave been full this year, if short liveddue to the high temperatures in lateMay/June. This spell caused a burstof swarming in some areas. Fourloads of hay and two silver spoonsarrived in my decoy hives or hivestacks. Like bird boxes, it is best toput out decoy hives at the beginningof May. It is said that scout bees aresearching 2-3 weeks before theswarm.

A Beekeepers Blessing:

May your colonies be healthy andplentiful

May your supers be overflowing

And may your swarms always besomeone else’s

BILL TURNBILL

One of my captures was from a localbeekeeper, the queen marked withtipex, this queen was four timesintroduced to a decoy hive (I shouldof caged her) but kept flying off toher swarm covering stacked broodboxes. It showed that she was not theboss of the outing. A shrill noise washeard outside the stack, the workers

were balling my queen, a finger soonbroke up the melee and the queenstuffed into the hive.

The blessing came from BillTurnbill’s new book ‘The BadBeekeepers Club’ priced £12.56. Ourlocal bookshop arranged for Bill tocome along and give a talk and booksigning in Chorleywood. About 50turned up with 5 beekeepers present,he acknoledged the great help thatChris Beal of Pinner had given to hisbeekeeping. At this time he has tenhives. He reveals some of theproblems with the craft and how toovercome them, majoring on the stingwith great humour. Many of thepublic are unable to accept our bees,as illustrated by all the call-outs. Oneconcerned that bees were entering herbeehive, which turned out to be hercompost heap, housed in a pretendbeehive. The anguished required avisit, yes they were honey bees, allthree of them! Another, a windowcleaner, slammed his ladder against aroof to produce an out pouring ofbees - bumbles. The homeowneragreed to increase the biodiversity inChorleywood. There have been somany phone calls regarding bumblesthat it would help, at Honey Shows,along side the Observation Hive, theinformation about bumbles is shownand explained. Bumbles will not oftentake to moving, except those in a birdbox.

In the last year the Herts BeeInspector has called, nothing sinister,its just that I am their database.

Beelines

11

England has been divided into 5000squares for examination for alldiseases. So an overall picture willemerge, common disease load in thecountry. It is the first time such alarge survey has been carried out. Itwas early in the year so I wondered ifI could afford to let him have 60worker from my very depleted stocksfrom the winter. His sharp eyesightspotted D.W.V. which I read is in 97%of hives.

The Daily Mail reports anotherresearch project by Dr. Connolly ofDundee University. The aim is tocheck wether all the chemicals usedin farms, gardens and hives, block thebee’s nervous system. The RoyalHolloway University have developedmarker tags that are so small as not toimpede the bees behaviour.6 hiveswill be used, 3 being exposed topesticides. A scanner at the hiveentrance will weigh the workers inand out, checking pollen and nectaryields. In the next four years,different chemicals will be tested, forit is thought that a wide spectrum ofchemicals are the cause of bee losses.Also decline of hoverflies, moths,butterflies and other pollinatinginsects.

In a recent visit to South Wales, wewere informed that there were about50 visiting Honey Buzzards to theUK. They can be distinguished fromthe Common Buzzard, by their wingsheld flat with tips drooped, whensoaring in the thermals. The Commonraises the wings upwards. The HoneyBuzzard eats frogs etc early in thesummer, it later searches the forestsfor bee and wasp nests to eat theirgrubs and wax. The bird will spend

days in productive excavation ofthese nests. Our guide showed us twoHoney Buzzards about half a mileaway, way up in the sky.

The new Hornet, described in theBeecraft, is a wake up call for thereaders of the Forager in August.Every year there seems to be morewasps attacking our hives. Even theNational Bee Unit in Yorkshire hadsome hives destroyed by Vespa. Someof the answer lies in an early start tothe defence. Reduce the entrances atthe beginning of August, aged hivescan have many holes which should beblocked. The bees soon give up to thepersistant attacker. Bottle wasp trapslaced with beer will help. Even if itonly tells that you have hornets downthe road. £16.95 at thewaspinator.co.uk.

Bees wax did not help our boys in theBoer war, South Africa. The soldierwas given a pint water bottle, whichwas made like a beer barrel i.e.stripsof wood. Liquid hot wax was swirledin to seal the bottle. There were noproblems in the European wars, butmarching in the hot sun of Africa wasanother matter. The was melted toproduce a very thirsty soldier.

Radio 4 had a programme ‘so youwants to be a scientist’. They askedfor projects which they wouldsupport. One wrote in to invent ahuman song that would encouragebees to thrive and produce morehoney. He was not chosen.

M.P.D.

12

preserved only if the honey is neverheated above 105 degrees, althoughpurists claim that for honey to be trulyraw, it should never be heated at all.

- On the same note, raw honey shouldonly be added to foods after they havebeen cooked and never before, sinceany exposure to heat risks destroyingthe beneficial nutrients in the honey.

- Raw honey stored in sealed, airtightjars will not spoil. It is a very stablefood that becomes finer with age, justlike a quality wine. Open jars will stayfresh for at least several months. Eventhen, raw honey will simply ferment,not spoil. Fermentation enhances thebenefits of raw honey, although somedo not prefer the taste.

- While all sugar is not created equal -

and in fact many would say raw honeyis superior to all other forms of sugar- in the end, raw honey is still, well,sugar. Eaten in excess, it can still havea negative impact on blood sugarlevels and can cause related healthproblems. However, in moderationraw honey is a wonderful health foodthat is as nutritious as it is utterlyintoxicating.

For More Information:

Bowden, Jonny. (2007) The 150Healthiest Foods on Earth: TheSurprising, Unbiased Truth AboutWhat You Should Eat and Why.Published by Fair Winds Press.

Howell, Edward. (1995) EnzymeNutrition. Published by Avery Trade.