May 2014 Newsletter - British Beekeepers Association

Editor’s Note
Good morning Beekeepers!
We trust all is well in your world. We
wish the people attending the beginner
course well and don’t forget to have
fun!
Please, please try to attend the car
boot sale. You just might pick up a
bargain!
Association Apiary
Open on Saturdays at 2PM, Shenmore.
Everyone is welcome! Please contact
Cliff Rose on 01981 251 844 to confirm
the time as it might change due to it
clashing with the beginners course.
WVBKA Charity Reg Number:
517008
Swarms
If you are looking for a swarm
or you are willing to help
members of the public by
removing one in your area,
please contact June on 01981
550 320.
Anne – Marie Dossett is
looking to expand her colonies.
If anyone has surplus bees or
knows of any swarms available,
please contact her on 01432
276 401.
New Members
Diary Dates
May 10th/11th
and 17th/18th – WVBKA beginners
course 2PM – 4PM
May 21st – Committee meeting at
Moccas Village Hall
May 31st - WVBKA Car boot sale for
beekeepers and gardeners
June 7th and 14th – Practical course
revision test
June 21st – Lynn Sykes Microscopy
presentation at Moccas Village Hall
2pm
July 9th – Committee meeting
July 12th/13th – Visit to Wye Valley
Apiary, Monmouth
July 19th/20th – Revision BBKA Practical
assessment
July 26th – BBKA Practical assessment
We would like to welcome
back some familiar faces:
Mr Karl Showler
Mr Harry Ray
Mrs Sandra Hearn
Mr James Robinson
Master Matthew Williams
Mr Simon Mathai
Mr David Romilly
Mr Tracy Knights
Mrs Thelma Savage
Ms Heather Kalkwart
Mr Bryn Brooks
Mr Bryan Cooke
Mr Rob Doran
Mr Martin Price
Queen Colour
Of
The Year 2014
GREEN
Ginger Honey Cakes – by Rosie Bashford
Ingredients
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300g honey
75g unsalted butter, melted
50ml sunflower oil
3 medium eggs
400g stem ginger, chopped
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon or coriander
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
Extra honey for finishing
Method
1. Line the base and sides of a small loaf tin with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to
170C/150C fan/335F/gas mark 3. Put the honey in a bowl, add melted butter, oil and
eggs, then beat until smooth.
2. Stir in the chopped ginger, grated ginger and spices, add the flour and baking powder,
stir well until everything is evenly mixed, then spoon into the tin.
3. Bake for about 70-80 minutes undisturbed, as the cake is slightly fragile and prone to
collapsing until the mixture sets. Use a skewer to check that the centre is baked. It will
burn on top slightly, or at least go very dark. This is due to all that honey and is part of
the cake's charm.
4. Leave to cool in the tin. While the cake is warm, brush the top with extra honey to
soften the crust.
5. Once cold, wrap the cake well and it should keep for several days. It's great as an
afternoon treat, or warmed and served with crème fraiche as a simple dessert.
‘APOTHECARY BEES, USING HONEYBEES AS A TOOL FOR DRUG DISCOVERY’
BY JENNY HAWKINS, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Jenny's presentation on Saturday 11th April on the research work she is carrying out for her
Ph.D at the University and the National Botanic Garden of Wales (NBGW) was both extremely
informative and interesting. She is investigating the use of honey as a potential source of new
antimicrobial compounds to treat infections such as the common, hospital-acquired human
infection Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and American Foulbrood in bees.
Her study uses, among others, honey samples from Tywyn in Wales and Bournemouth and
includes studies of pollen grains.
Pollen within honey gives an accurate idea of the number of different plants visited. One plant
that surprised the audience as being a good bee flower was bluebell.
It is the high acidity, high osmotic pressure and hydrogen peroxide in honey that could be the
key to killing MRSA. Bees also make the Defensin 1 protein, which boosts their own immune
system.
Jenny's research includes the identification of plant DNA in conjunction with the NBGW, who
have now compiled a list of the DNA of all native plants and flowers in Wales.
She touched upon the high level of publicity given to Manuka honey. The enzymic factor
methylglyoxal (MGO) is unique to the manuka flower but the mechanism of this is not yet
known. However, a sample of manuka honey that Jenny studied showed that although it had
genuinely come from New Zealand or Australia (the only two countries where the manuka
plant grows) her particular sample had no manuka in it and only 3 other plants were present.
She stressed that this was only the result of one sample but it does beg the question that as
more manuka honey is sold in the UK than is actually produced in NZ and Australia, how much
actual manuka is in the honey being sold as such?
Studies show that 90% of shop-bought honeys, like those sold by the major supermarkets,
show no activity in Jenny's experiments to find honeys best for combating infection. It could
well be that these honeys are over-processed. Locally produced honeys have a higher activity
even than manuka honey. There is no doubt that mixed forage plants are of great importance
to bee health and to the quality of the honey they produce. Studies on bees having access to
monocultures show that, in general, they tend to shun areas of monoculture and seek out
mixed forage plants.
An interesting number crunch is that 1152 bees are needed; travelling 12,000 miles and
visiting 4-5 million flowers, to produce a 16 oz jar of honey.
This was a really fascinating talk attended by a very embarrassingly small number of members.
There were 9 of us and Jenny had travelled from Cardiff to give this exceptionally wellpresented talk. It may be that Saturday is not the best day for such events, especially for
members with children, who have Saturday activities to which they have to be taken and
collected.
The committee would greatly welcome members’ views on Saturday events. Please do get
in touch with us and tell us when you would prefer events like this to be held.
Rosie Bashford
CAR BOOT SALE - Saturday 31st May
Ewyas Harold Memorial Hall Car Park
Selling to start at 10 am.
Last year we tried out a Car Boot sale as an alternative to the auction of beekeeping
equipment which had run for many years. Although the number of sellers was small everyone
attending, either sellers or buyers felt it was a good event and most went home happy with
their bargains.
This year we will be holding the sale on the 31st May so as you start your beekeeping year
now is the time to identify those bits of surplus equipment which you don’t need and can
bring along. We are also widening the sale to try and encourage more gardeners to bring
along surplus plants and gardening equipment, so again if you have a few extra plants you
don’t need or some old tools in the back of the shed get them ready to bring along.
June and the catering team will be providing lots of goodies to tempt you once you have
loaded up with bargains.
If you need any advice on what sort of prices to set on the equipment you want to sell please
contact anyone on the committee for help, you should remember this is a car boot sale so
everyone is looking for a bargain and will want to haggle over the prices – that’s part of the
fun. For new beekeepers this offers an opportunity to acquire some equipment so you are
ready when that swarm arrives later in the year. Come along and join in, it's a good place to
meet other beekeepers and talk about those plans for your beekeeping.
Thanks, Peter
NATIONAL BEE UNIT WARNING ABOUT THE ASIAN HORNET
As many of you know, the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, is a predator of honey bees and other
beneficial insects. It has recently extended its geographical range from Asia to mainland
Europe following an accidental introduction to France, and is now also present in Spain,
Belgium, Portugal and Italy. Adult hornets are highly mobile; the rate of spread across France
is approximately 100 km/year. There is concern that this exotic insect could reach the UK,
either by hitching a ride on imported goods or simply by flying across the Channel.[Please note
that this predator has not been reported as being present in the UK as yet. C&DBKA Editor]
The message to Beekeepers from the NBU is as follows:
• Now is the ideal time of year to look out for emerging queens, who can build new nests;
• Make sure you know how to recognise Asian hornets – a very helpful ID sheet can be
downloaded from the NNSS website at
http://www.nonnativespecies.org/alerts/index.cfm?id=4
• Know where to report sightings: alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk
• Our best defence against the Asian hornet is to quickly detect any arrivals and prevent them
from establishing;
• Trapping is expected to aid this;
• Please visit the Asian hornet pages on BeeBase to read updated guidance for beekeepers,
including information on early monitoring and trap design. You can also access the full
Response Plan through these pages.
Kind regards,
National Bee Unit.
GOLDEN VALLEY APIARIES
Long Lane Peterchurch
Agents and stockists of Thornes Beekeeping
Equipment.
Honey Jars, Verroa Treatments, Sheriff Bee Suits
etc.
ALL AT COMPETITIVE PRICES
Dave and June Williams:
01981 550320
Remember to phone first!
WVBKA Website
For anyone who wishes to download this
newsletter or catch up on any information
connected to our association, please use the
link below to visit our website.
www.bbka.org.uk/local/wyevalley
Amendment to Calendar of Events 2014-2015
The committee members should read as follows:
David Banister
Geoff Dutson
Paul Oakley
Andy Strangeway
David Williams
June Williams
Library Books
Anyone interested in borrowing books from our library,
please contact Peter or Margret Woodward on
01981 240280
Or at peter_woodward@tesco.net
A concise list of the library books can be found on the
website.
Contributions
Please send any contributions of bee related
articles, recipes, photographs etc. for the
newsletter to:
Janet Edwards
Woodlea Cottage, Allensmore Hereford HR2
9TP
Or email to Janet Edwards:
beez4life63@gmail.com
Association Apiary Notes
CAR BOOT SALE
As a footnote:
Advertising notice: It was voted at the last
SATURDAY MAY 31st
EWYAS HAROLD MEMORIAL HALL CAR PARK
We are inviting local beekeeping and gardening
associations to take pitches at our car boot sale.
So If you have surplus beekeeping kitor too
many seedlings and plants bring them along to
the sale and get a bit of cash back.
Or come and grab a bargain.
From March onwards, the Association Apiary at
Shenmore, Herefordshire will be open every Saturday at
2.00pm.
Cliff, the Association Apiary Manager, would greatly
appreciate some help with the bees. It’s a great way of
meeting like-minded bee keepers and to support the
WVBKA.
committee meeting that advertising in the newsletter
was to be limited to the association members only.
Future Events
August – Honey Extraction Day
September – Kington Show,
Wax Preparation and Candle Making, Midland and
South Western Convention
October – Honey Show and Harvest Lunch
Coffee Time Fun – Bee Related Songs
1. This song was sung by Bobby Goldsboro and written by Abrahim. What is
the song called?
2. For those of you who remember Junior’s Choice with Ed (Stewpot)
Stewart, what did Arthur Askey sing about?
3. The Bee Gee’s had us in a fever on a Saturday night with this firm
favourite…
4. The Beach Boys sang about a type of boat. What was the name given to
the boat?
5. Nikolai-Rimsky Korsakov composed this piece of music for the opera The
Tale of Tsar Sultan…
6. The Beetles wouldn’t leave this one alone…
7. What were The Beach Boys wild about?
8. Single Ladies was a hit for which artist?
Answers are at the end...
I'm writing these notes in advance so to some extent I will be guessing about the future and what may be
taking place in May. If the season develops as usual there will be some colonies which will be on the point of
swarming, this is quite a normal situation. We have on more than one occasion discussed various ways of
controlling, splitting, dividing or whatever many times before. We have also suggested what you as a
beekeeper can do to be ready for this, spare equipment is essential for any manipulation of this kind. Spare
brood bodies, floors, roofs, crownboards etc should be made available to facilitate any splitting which you
may want to do. Hopefully by the time this is necessary you will have carried out a proper spring inspection
for any adult brood disease; this is very important to maintain healthy colonies. Please do this early in the
season, mid-April would be a good time when brood is advancing with plenty of eggs before any additional
equipment is added. If you are unlucky to have contacted brood disease you will be confining it to the brood
chamber only. If you have as I have suggested many times marked your supers with chalk you will be able to
establish which colonies they have come from. Normally hobbyist beekeepers only have at most four or five
hives which in terms of numbers is a very simple task to mark the supers where they came from in the
autumn. A piece of chalk in your pocket when re-moving them makes the job simple and in the case of an
outbreak immensely useful to prevent contamination of other supers etc. These are very simple things to
accomplish, make them a part of your routine beekeeping, a stitch in time saves nine. You will not be
thinking to yourself I can’t remember where those supers came from. We have practised this for many years
and have found it very useful This is not widely practised but I would urge all beekeepers to keep supers and
equipment to the same individual hives as far as it is possible.
Now that's enough of that what else can we discuss in order to help bees along and possibly maximise on
any crop potential? Keeping bees together in a unit without swarming is helpful to maximise on the ability to
gather a decent crop. Some bees undoubtedly will go through without swarming possibly superseding in the
autumn usually. These are the bees which will perform best with little interference from the keeper. Of
course throughout the season you will be keeping an eye on the varroa population, if in any doubt at all
treat, do not wait till they have reached the point of no return.
Essentially beekeeping is a practical job and the ability of the beekeeper to recognise various signs as the
season progresses. Keeping any quantity of bees is hard, sweaty and sometimes very unrewarding, however
the fascination of keeping bees has for many years now given me a great deal of pleasure; seeing the various
developments within colonies is still a marvel in itself. I have been writing these notes now for many years. I
do hope that some of you will be gaining experience from these notes picking the odd thing out to use in
your beekeeping. I will leave you with one further thought. In the last 10 years or so there has been a
plethora of people taking the various modules in beekeeping to gain knowledge. Science in beekeeping is
one thing and qualifications quite another, but experience is and always has been the most important. When
it comes to practical beekeeping there is no substitute for hands on experience. Over the years I have
attended many eminent lecturers in one subject or another and yes they have a place but remember one
thing. Few of these people are actually getting their living from keeping bees, that in itself says everything. I
will leave you with those thoughts.
Dave
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Honey
Honey Bee
Stayin’ Alive
Sloop John B
Flight of the Bumblebee
Let it Be
Wild Honey
Beyoncé