ECBKA NEWSLETTER - December 2014
www.ec-bka.com
At last my bees have gone into proper winter mode after a couple of sharp frosts. I
have not had to feed any of my hives this year, partly due to the 60 – 80 lbs of honey
that my bees reclaimed from a stack of supers ready for extraction. I will of course be
hefting my hives, especially towards the end of the winter. New beekeepers often say
to me that they don't heft their hive(s) because they don't know how much it should
weigh and my answer is always – if you don't start doing it then you will never know.
Even without experience the difference between 'gosh that's heavy' and blimey that's
light' is pretty obvious and if your first impression is the latter you can always give the
hive some fondant to be on the safe side. It's always going to be better if your bees
have fondant that they don't need than if they need fondant that they don't have.
After a couple of winters you will get much more confident about gauging the level of
stores in your hives – it all takes time.
Congratulations to our victorious quiz team that beat Carmarthen BKA in our annual
quiz – more about that later and more too about our upcoming December meeting
where we will be rounding off the year with a honey show & photographic competition.
Our AGM will be held on 15th January 2015, a week later than our usual second
Thursday of the month to allow for some breathing space after the New Year. We will,
of course, be electing officers and committee members for the coming year so please
consider standing for election. It helps enormously if the load is spread around a bit
and it is good for the Association to have some new committee members each year.
You certainly don't need to be a long time member or experienced beekeeper to be
able to have an input.
Margaret
DATES
Thursday 11th December 8.00pm – Honey & photographic competition & general
rounding off the year social.
Thursday 25th December – rings a bell, it'll come to me in a minute
Monday 12th January 7.30pm – Committee meeting
Thursday 15th January 8.00pm - AGM
….... for
so work the honey bees,
Creatures that by a rule in nature teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom
William Shakespeare – Henry V
QUIZ NIGHT
Our annual quiz against
Carmarthen BKA was held at The
Cottage Inn this year. As it was
our turn to host the event Frank
agreed to be the question master
and set the questions. He used a
novel approach with each question
having multiple answers. The team
beginners had the chance to pick
off the easier answers with the
team experts being left searching
for the more obscure ones that
were left at the end.
Carmarthen leapt into an early lead but a couple of rounds in were overtaken by our
team who held onto pole position until the final round when it was neck and neck. It
eventually all came down to Nikki's final answer which gave us the winning point.
A big thank you and congratulations
to our team members, Jen (beginner)
Llinos, John Dray and Nikki (expert)
who all contributed their knowledge
and helped to make an enjoyable
evening.
Thank you too to Frank for setting
and asking the questions and of
course to Geoff for arranging the
venue and buffet and ensuring that it
all ran smoothly.
DECEMBER MEETING
As you know, our December meeting will be a 'home grown' honey show. If you feel
intimidated by the thought of entering your honey for a show don't worry, this is for
fun and National Honey Show rules don't apply. The judges will be your fellow
members, present on the day, and there won't be a refractometer or white coat in
sight.
There will be 2 classes, one for runny honey and one for set honey (either naturally
set or creamed). You may enter no more than one jar in each class. Your jar does
not need to be any special size or shape but make it a minimum of 8oz, clear glass
and no labels. The jar will not be judged. Your honey will be judged on its
appearance (colour & clarity) and its eating quality (aroma, texture and taste).
We will also have a class for bee or beekeeping related photographs. You may enter
up to four photos, that you have taken yourself, but if entering more than one, each
should come from a different season i.e. representing bees or beekeeping, to you, in
spring, summer, autumn, or winter. The size of your picture does not matter and it
does not need to be mounted. If you prefer to submit your photos in a digital format
please send to secretary@ec-bka.com before the event and we will arrange a screen
“slide show” for your entries to be viewed on the evening.
I hope that many of you will be able to be there even if you don't have any honey that
you can enter. It should be a nice evening to round off a busy beekeeping year.
WBKA COUNCIL MEETING
On Saturday 22nd November, for the first time, I attended a WBKA Council meeting as
delegate for our Association. These meetings are held twice a year, plus an AGM, and
for the last few years Fred has been our delegate – each association can send two. I
am not a lover of meetings, having suffered through many dire ones in the course of
my Welsh Government employment but there were actually some interesting topics on
the agenda. Jenny Shaw is an excellent chairperson and kept the meeting moving
along swiftly.
The minutes will be made available for anyone to read but I will mention a couple of
things from the meeting.
Firstly, we had a short presentation from the (Menter a Busnes) Cywain Bee Project
who, in conjunction with the NFU & FUW, have produced a leaflet for farmers, written
by IBRA, which will be launched at the Winter Fair. The leaflet details how farmers
can help provide suitable habitat and protect from harm all bee species and other
pollinators. The project is also currently producing a film about beekeeping aimed at
Primary Key Stage 1 and is able to secure European funding to help beekeeping
associations with projects to promote beekeeping.
Wally Shaw issued a brief warning about the risk of honey becoming contaminated
with lead if antiquated extractors and ripeners with soldered joints are used. The
inspectorate test random honey samples every year for residues including lead, PDBs
and antibiotics. So, think carefully if you are tempted by that E Bay bargain.
There are going to be some changes next year with regard to the exam modules. As
there are insufficient entries across Wales to justify the WBKA organising its own
exam modules the modules that Welsh entrants will sit in future will be organised by
the BBKA. The only difference that examinees will see is the cost which will be £25
per module. Additionally, Welsh candidates will need to be a member of the BBKA but
for this purpose the BBKA have introduced an annual exam membership for £9. It
was proposed and agreed by the meeting that for 2015 the £9 BBKA exam
membership would be paid for exam candidates by the WBKA and that this would be
reviewed for future years.
BOOK REVIEW – from Kathleen Raymond Barker
2 books by the eloquent entomologist Dave Goulson. The first one "A Sting in the
Tale" (2013) relates how he was obsessed with wildlife from his childhood, describing
the fun of keeping an array of pets in his own bedroom, progressing from traditional
ones to more exotic lizards, frogs, terrapins, etc. Further on it is about his ground
breaking research into the mysterious ways of the bumblebee and his mission to
protect our rarest bees and their crucial importance, ending with his research into the
effects of intense farming on our bee population and on the potential dangers if we
continue down this path.
His most recent book "A Buzz in the Meadow" (2014), which I also found very
interesting, may be a bit drier as it is very scientific with some bits above my head! It
takes you to an unimproved farm in rural France where over a decade he created a
place for a myriad of insects to thrive. His descriptions and knowledge urge you to
get down on your hands and knees and look and discover and to share his passion
and again to cherish and protect natural ecosystems.
RECIPE – but not for eating
Kathleen has also sent the following recipe for a skin cream. It is from Permaculture
Magazine and was submitted by a reader who found it effective on hand dermatitis
and eczema. It uses tincture of propolis and a with a quick Google you can easily
find out how to make this in a suitable form for skin products. It doesn't contain any
preservative and in my experience with home made creams would be best stored in
the fridge.
1. Place 55g (2oz) beeswax in a small mason jar and set in a pan of boiling water.
Stir occasionally until melted and clear.
2. Add 110g (4oz) olive oil, 55g (2oz) coconut oil and 8 drops of tincture of
propolis and stir.
3. Remove from the heat and pour straight into clean containers.
4. Once cool, lightly cover and leave overnight to set.
VEIL REPAIR
This may be of use to you if you are unfortunate enough to find bees entering your
veil uninvited.
I have had one of the apiary suits at home for some time after Nikki found himself
with a faceful of unwanted guests. On inspection we found that the mesh of the veil
had pulled away from the hoop in one place and also had a couple of other slits in the
mesh big enough for bees to enter. I took the hood apart with the intention of
replacing the mesh but that's where I got stuck as I was unable to source anything
suitable. I thought I had come up trumps on e bay when I found a listing for
'beekeepers veil mesh' but the seller was only dispensing 2” squares!
I then came across Simon the Beekeeper's website where I was able to buy 2
replacement hoods for £15.99. They come complete with both sides of the zip. The
zip was not compatible with the existing one on the suit but it was a simple job to
replace the half on the suit (having first marked the line) with the new half from the
hood.
Hey Presto. The suit has a new lease of life for £8 and there's another hood ready &
waiting if it happens to another suit. I have kept the good mesh from the old hood so
if anyone needs a small piece give me a shout.
Margaret
CHRISTMAS STOCKING
If you have been keeping bees for a few years you will have gathered all sorts of
useful stuff in your box of bits. If you are new to the world of bees I can assure you
that your tool box will not be big enough next season. Here are a few small items you
could request for your Xmas stocking that don't come from a beekeeping supplier.











A tool box
A small LED torch – useful for egg spotting
A magnifying glass - useful for egg spotting if you are over the age of about 35
A baseball cap – added protection for the top of your head when wearing a
fencer hood and keeps the veil off your face
Small, sharp scissors – for when you feel sufficiently confident to clip a queen's
wings
A notebook – if you haven't been keeping notes, get keeping
A small hammer for all those frames you will find yourself making when your
bees get into swarm mode
A bottle of lemongrass oil – supposed to be a good swarm lure in a bait hive
A set of Uni Posca pens for queen marking from Tiger Pens. They are only
£2.35 each (£4.50 in Maismore & Thorne) & you can get a selection of nice
bright colours. If you get a set of 5 there's no postage
Some alternative gloves to the leather ones you probably got free with your
suit. Try ordinary Marigolds or the white ones from Lakeland (usually 3 for 2)
A small spray bottle – some hives behave better with a light misting of water
than smoke especially when you're trying to get the boxes back together.
FRANK'S DECEMBER NOTES 2014
First off don’t forget to regularly heft your hives, if any feel light, which they shouldn’t
do yet, feed fondant directly over the cluster. It’s best wrapped in a plastic bag and an
oval hole cut out to place over the feed hole in the crown board.
Be ready to administer an authorised Varroacide (Oxalic acid) treatment in late
December or early January, when there’s little chance of brood present (legally you
are obliged to record supplier, date purchased, name of product, quantity, strength,
batch number, date used, quantity used per colony, identity of treated colony/ies and
expiry date of product). Treat on a bright winters day when the temperature is above
0 degrees.
The dose is 5ml per seam full of bees, moderate according to size of cluster. Draw the
quantity required into the syringe supplied and dribble it gently across the seams.
Close the colony and avoid disturbance for several days after treatment. Clean the
insert under the OMF when treating and count the mite drop a week later for your
records.
Observe the outside of the hive for woodpecker damage, they normally only attack in
cold, snowy weather. Have a look at the entrance for possible mouse damage and
ensure that it is not blocked by dead bees. Check that the roofs are secure and no rain
is getting in, the safest thing to do if your hives are in an exposed position, is to tie
the roofs on with a strap or some baler twine.
Now is the time to repair any damaged hive components that are being stored and to
do a stock take for replacing or buying equipment. I’ve just bought my approved
varroa treatment, a honey creamer and a one handed queen catcher from Thornes. It
comes recommended on the bee forums for marking and clipping queens, as my eyes
aren’t getting any younger, I thought I’d give it a go.
All old wax should be melted down and recycled, the frames cleaned and disinfected
before wax foundation is put back in. I use a steamer, again from Thornes, but a good
hot air gun will clean frames. Brood comb less than 3 years old can be reused, but this
should first be fumigated with acetic acid (see BeeBase factsheets for method).
On a good day you can tidy up the apiary, replace rotting hive stands, level up hives
and cut back all that summer growth. This probably applies to those with out apiaries
more than those with hives in the garden, which are no doubt kept clean and tidy all
year round.
Beware of isolation starvation- the critical risk time is in late January once brood
rearing starts. In a real starvation emergency you may need to pour syrup into empty
combs immediately next to the cluster, but this needs to be done super- fast or they
will chill.
Season’s Greetings – Frank
Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda I chi
gyd
Merry christmas and a happy new year to
you all
2014 Committee
Margaret Watson - chair
Geoff Saunders - secretary
Huw Jones - treasurer
Frank Gellatly
Jen Dancey
Paul Smith
Stephen Smith
Contact: committee@ec-bka.com