We have taken the Bee Inspectors’ advice and decided as an Apiary that the number of hives must not exceed 22. Accordingly we have moved a few hives to give a more even spread and they will be re-numbered from 1 -22 which also means that all sites can once again be listed on the blackboard in the metal shed.
Last year was a bad year for varroa. The Apiguard application was probably not terribly successful because for once we had a cold September and the temperature was not ideal for the gel to work. Weather conditions over the winter have not been great for applying the lactic acid either but we finally did it in January. If temperatures and weather conditions are favorable in February then another application will be given.
With regard to the EFB situation we are pinning all our hopes on the shook swarm to eradicate this. Please attend the training evening on 18th March so you are fully prepared for the great day on 4th April. For this to be successful every piece of equipment has to be cleaned, fumigated, or burned. Looking to the future, we will also have a policy that colonies must be put on clean comb every spring. Comb that is black, or you cannot see through it must be burnt. If it is clean it can be fumigated with acetic acid but bear in mind that not even this acid guarantees full protection against EFB. When returning colonies in the Autumn to one brood box please treat brood comb in the same way.
Colonies are struggling through the winter and there have already been losses in the Apiary. The mild days mean the bees are active and consuming stores then are hit by a blast of cold temperatures. Ivy honey has also been a problem. It crystallizes in the comb, the bees cannot access it and although hives feel heavy and full, bees are starving to death. In the January edition of Beecraft there are instructions for making candy. The colonies need to be looked after or the shook swarm in April will be disastrous, particularly if the weather is against us again.
The number of surviving Danish queens is very low and if the Euro stays at its present exchange rate then they really are exorbitantly expensive. We are desperate for a source of good queens. We need to research out and try more UK sources.
With regard to the coming season, all the publicity has generated high levels of interest in keeping bees and we can expect high numbers of beginners. We need members to attend Saturday afternoons to help train people or just show an observer how to open a hive. We also have this dream of actually rearing enough of our own queens to be able to supply members.
The really excellent team spirit which exists amongst members has enabled us to achieve and improve on so many different aspects over the last twelve months. Please make sure you are a part of this camaraderie, sharing the excitement and trials and tribulations of beekeeping. It all makes for a good atmosphere, efficient upkeep and constant improvement of the Apiary.
European Foul Brood Training Day
18 March, 7.30pm, The Lime Tree, Thames Ditton
Alan Byham and David Rudland, the Regional bee inspectors will be meeting with us to discuss with us the way forward with measures to eradicate EFB from the Hampton Court Apiary. In particular the Shook Swarm procedure we are caring out on 4 April.
If you have a hive at the Hampton Court Apiary it is essential that you attend this seminar so that you will best be able to understand the Shook Swarm procedure and also the other measures that are necessary to make sure we rid the apiary of EFB. The evening will also be useful for other members who could encounter Foul Brood in their hives.
SBKA Epsom Division Shop
The shop opens on Saturday 28th March 2009 and the shop will be open every Saturday, 3pm and 5pm.
The shop is situated at: The Apiary, Upper Mill, Kingston Road, Ewell KT17 2AF (at the end of the drive opposite Mill Lane behind the Upper Mill building).
Stock as last year with a few additions including National, Commercial hives, all sizes of wax and frames, jars and containers, medicaments and most common beekeeping sundries.
Second quality prices on most National hive parts while stocks last.
Phone me on 01737 813066 (home) or 07747 867455 (mobile) to check if I have in stock and avoid a wasted journey.
Steve Secker, Shop Manager
Epsom Second
The popular Cedar wood National Hive the ‘Epsom second’ has now been updated to include metal runners, a framed open mesh floor and a framed wire queen excluder. The hive includes everything you need and is offered at a special price whilst stocks last.
- 1 x framed mesh floor with slide
- 1 x National brood chamber
- 2 x National supers
- 1 x cover board
- 1 x framed wire queen excluder
- 1 x 4 inch roof
- 33 x National frames
- 33 x sheets wired foundation
- 6 x metal runners
- 2 x Porter escapes
- 66 x narrow plastic ends
- Frame nails
PRICE £150
Alternatives can be substituted as required.
National Honey Show Smallholders Shield
Surrey Beekeepers Association won the Smallholders Shield at the 2008 National Honey Show. This award is presented to the county whose members gain the most points in the open classes of the show. We beat Kent by one point!
To give you a little background, the shield was presented to the NHS in 1948 by The Smallholder magazine. Surrey has now won four times, 1980, 2002, 2005 and 2008. That places us sixth in the ‘winners’ league’. Warwickshire are way out in front with nineteen wins, Dorset, Kent, Sussex and Yorkshire have six wins and Northamptonshire has five.
The shield will be a part of our presentation at the 2009 Surrey County Show on 25 May. (It will be the 180th Surrey Show?) Why not use it for special events in your division? It is valuable so you would need to make provision for security but it would be nice to see it working for the benefit of Surrey members. Perhaps it will encourage more members to enter some classes at ‘the National’. Then, next year we can beat Kent by more than one point!
Contact Bob Maurer (tel: 07740 707500)
£4.3 million bee health funding increase announced
An extra £4.3 million to safeguard and undertake more research into the health of bees was announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today.
Mr Benn said that nearly £2.3 million over the next two years would support the work of the National Bee Unit in its efforts to help England’s beekeepers deal with the problems facing their bee colonies.
Read the full press release from DEFRA here
BBKA Statement, 21 January 2009
The British Beekeepers Association is pleased to see that its sustained campaign to increase funding for bee health research has been recognised by the Government and that an extra £400,000 a year for the next five years will be found for much needed research.
The overwhelming support of the public for bees was clearly demonstrated during 2008 when over 140,000 people signed a BBKA petition to increase this research funding from Government.
BBKA chairman Martin Smith, said:
Honey bees are a vital part of the eco system and beekeepers are the nation’s, nearly all unpaid, custodians of these important insects.
The BBKA will continue to work with Government to ensure that funding is allocated to the most important issues facing bees and beekeeping so that we can maintain healthy stocks.
The BBKA survey of members showed that bee numbers declined by 30% during winter 2007/8 and beekeepers are anxiously waiting to see how their bees fare this winter.
Properly funded research into the causes of the decline in numbers is vital. The BBKA welcomes the Government's announcement as the start to finding the £8 million required over the next five years for bee health research.
Co-op bids to tackle bee decline MSN Environment News,Thurs. 29 January 2009
The Co-operative has announced it was banning the use of eight pesticides from its farms in a bid to tackle the decline of British bees.
The retailer also said it was donating £150,000 for research into why honeybee numbers are falling, and would be trialling a wildflower mix to be planted alongside crops on its farms to support bees.
Read the full news article here
BBC Today programme on the Co-op Campaign
Sandra Rickwood, Secretary of SBKA reported on the following BBC broadcast aired on 29 January.
The BBC Today programme ran a very good piece by reporter Tom Feilden about the decline in UK honeybees.
The Co-op – Britain's largest single farming organisation and food retailer launched a ten-point plan today – to help the UKs honeybees in the face of threats from varroa, bad weather, monocultural industrial farming and the suspected impact of neo-nicotinoid pesticides.
Norman Carrick was interviewed about Varroa and Paul Peacock – editor of 'Home Farmer' who gave a very reasoned account of honeybee collapse – and pointed out that there was probably more than one cause. They also played part of the current BBC Radio 4 'Archers' radio-soap story-line which involves the collapse of Jill's bees over the winter.
There was an excellent interview with Paul Monaghan, a senior executive from the Co-op who said that they had decided to ban all 8 Neonicotinoid pesticides from all the farms which the Co-op owns – and they are going to give £150,000 for emergency research – including pesticides; they are also proposing a 10 point plan to assist honeybees in the UK, which they are planning to implement throughout the Co-op's farming operations and stores. This includes:
- Establishing colonies of bees on all the Co-op's farms
- Banning 8 Neonicotinoid pesticides from all Co-op farms
- Giving £150,000 as pump priming for research in the effects of pesticides on honeybees
Paul Monaghan said that although there was no conclusive proof that neo-nicotinoids were the primary cause of honeybee collapse – what was glaringly self evident was that no serious research was going on in the UK into pesticides and honeybees. Paul Monaghan said that although they had offered the £150,000 to all the major universities and research institutions – "nobody wanted the money" – i.e. no research body was willing to even look at any possible relationship between neo-nicotinoid pesticides and honeybees in the UK.
Documentary on the disappearance of bees and pollinators
The following was forwarded by the secretary of Surrey Beekeepers Association.
This documentary is the result of months of continuing research worldwide into the disappearance of the bees and all pollinators. Indiana has a less than 5% use of neonicotinoids and has no colony collapse disorder yet California who has had massive spraying of neonicotinoid, like the grapes in Sonoma County, California, have 50% loss of all pollinators including hummingbirds and bats and that is stated on the State of California's Department of Agriculture's web page.
Please send this link to other interested parties, including beekeepers, growers, nurseries and anyone you know who might use pesticides on their flowers or in their home garden.
Blessings to all bee lovers – Sharilyn Wood Stalling
2009 Season
The season will start with the Shook Swarm Procedure on the 4 April.
We are inviting those interested in starting our Beginners Course to come along on either Saturday 25 April. 2 or 9 May. The Beginners’ Course will then start on 16 May.
If you have a hive at the Apiary please be prepared for the 4 April.
South-East Honey Survey 2008
I would like to thank all the beekeepers that have taken the trouble to respond to my request for honey crop and price statistics. This year I have had the most responses ever (125) and that makes some of the averages more realistic. As usual, a number of the replies do not give sale prices for the honey, so these are correspondingly less representative. Obviously the results only give averages from those beekeepers who were good enough to respond, as with the fishermen who boast about the size of the catch, we are happy to disclose when we have a good crop, not so keen when the crop is small or non-existent! However, on balance, it seems to have been a better year than 2007 for honey.
In the discussion below, I have made comparison with the final results from the previous survey asking the same questions about the 2007 season, so that you can compare this directly to last year’s survey.
Results for 2008
- Average Honey Yield: 125 replies ranging from 0.0lbs to 206.7lbs per colony
- 2008 average = 45lbs
(2007 = 39lb)
- Direct Sales Price (Flower): 69 replies ranging from £2.00/lb to £6.00/lb
- 2008 average = £3.57/lb
(2007 = £3.34/lb)
- Wholesale Honey Price (Flower): 18 replies ranging from £2.00/lb to £3.20/lb
- 2008 average = £2.67/lb
(2007 = £3.13/lb)
- Bulk Honey Price (Flower): 2 replies ranging from £1.60/lb to £3.00/lb
- 2008 average = £2.30/lb
(2007 = £4.42/lb)
- Cut comb: 11 replies were received ranging from £4.50/lb to £8.00/lb
- 2008 average = £6.95/lb
(2007 = £6.36/lb)
The above are the main findings of Alan Byham’s annual Honey Survey. Please ask if you wish to see the rest of his report in which he analyses his findings.
Notes On The Value Of Our Hives
The value of UK agricultural pollination provided by honey bees was estimated at £165m by DEFRA in 2006. This is a conservative figure.
- The BBKA Beekeeping Research Campaign calls for Defra funding of £8m over 5 years. This is less than 1% of the £825 million value of pollination provided to British agriculture by honey bees over the same period.
- Honey bees also provide significant benefit to the environment, pollinating a wide variety of plants. It is likely that honey bees provide over 50% of pollination of naturally occurring plants on which wild birds and mammals depend.
- It has been estimated that there are 44,000 beekeepers in the UK, with a total of 274,000 hives. Of these some 300 are commercial beekeepers (members of the BFA) with 50,000 hives. The remainder are keen amateurs.
- 100 years ago there were around 1 million bee hives; this had reduced to 400,000 in the 1950s and further reduced to the 274,000 today.
- The feral honey bee population has been largely wiped out by disease in the last 15 years.
Beekeeping Course – West Sussex Beekeepers (Wisborough Green Division)
Suitable for Beginners, Improvers, and Non-beekeepers
Location: Village Hall, Lower Street, Pulborough, West Sussex RH20 2BF
Saturday 21st March 2009. Assemble from 9.00 a.m. for 9.30-5.00 p.m.
The course will be suitable for those who would like to discover what is involved in keeping bees, but will also be suitable for those who have kept bees for some time. It will largely follow the syllabus of the BBKA Basic Exam, but with variations.
Read more about the course
Can human society learn from insect societies?
The Sussex Lectures series Professorial Lecture
Tuesday 17th March 2009, 6.30 pm. The Chowen Lecture Theatre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 9QG.
Dr. Francis L. W. Ratnieks Professor of Apiculture, Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects (LASI), Department of Biological & Environmental Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG
Abstract:
Humans have been living in large societies for less than 10,000 years. Insects for over 50 million years. Can humans, as relative newcomers to social life, learn anything from bees, wasps, ants and termites? Insect and human societies are very different and we certainly cannot copy insect societies directly. Indeed, by human standards an insect society would be unbearably totalitarian and unequal. However, both human and insect societies face common challenges posed by social life. It is here that we may be able to learn from insects, by gaining insights into living and working in groups and in the organization of the technological networks on which we depend. What insights might we obtain? Social insects live in dense colonies without succumbing to epidemic diseases. Public health, therefore, is one area. Insect societies are by and large harmonious even though the individuals do not have identical interests. Conflict resolution is the second area. Finally, insect societies have evolved simple yet effective mechanisms for coordinating the many individuals in a colony. Organization, therefore, is a third area in which we may gain insights.
Admission is free of charge, but please RSVP:
Ms. Amy Stevens, Corporate Events Co-Ordinator (Development and Alumni Relations Office), Bramber House, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG. Tel: (01273) 877488
Website for the lecture
Shook Swarm – 4 April 2009
Dear All,
We need to eliminate EFB from the Hampton Court Apiary and hope that carrying out a ‘whole Apiary shook swarm’ will do the trick. It is vital that all members carry out the shook swarm on the same day. Alan Byham would like everyone to be at the Apiary in the morning, we suggest from 10am, as flaming will take a considerable time. Alan Byham and David Rudland will be on hand to help us. Failure to comply will put the hives of your fellow beekeepers at risk.
All members with a hive at the Apiary MUST follow these instructions – this is NOT optional. If anyone has a good reason for not attending, such as illness and can provide the necessary equipment someone else will carry out the shook swarm for them. However, the Apiary Managers must be notified.
Each hive will need:
- Brood box (now might be the time to change to deep brood boxes if you were going to).
- Floor
- Crown board
- Roof
- Queen excluder (frame if possible)
- Full set of 11 frames fitted with new foundation
- Entrance block
- Suitable rapid feeder with eke or super
- Sugar syrup to fill feeder
- Flame gun or blowtorch if possible
The hive must have a mated, laying queen and an adequate number of bees (at least 5 frames well covered with bees).
Method
Any supers should be cleared down into the brood box at the latest the day before the shook swarm is to be done.
The old hive is moved to the side and the clean brood box is placed on the site of the old hive and arranged in the following order.
- Floor, with entrance block if required
- Queen excluder. (The excluder is placed here to prevent the colony absconding)
- Brood box, complete with frames of new foundation
Remove 4 or 5 frames from the middle of the new brood box and place to one side. Lightly smoke the old hive and remove roof, crown board and any supers.
The brood frames from the old hive should be taken out one at a time, carefully inspected for the queen and then shaken into the space made in the new brood box. If the queen is found, then she should either be carefully shaken into the new brood box or placed in a queen cage and released into the new box when all other bees have been shaken in.
When all the bees have been shaken in, the crown board and feeder are placed on the new brood box and the syrup poured into the feeder. Any other holes in the crown board must be covered to stop bees accessing the space in the eke. The roof should now be fitted.
Care should be taken not to let bees from other colonies rob the old brood frames prior to burning by placing them in a brood box and covering with a lid or sealing in plastic bags.
A pit will be dug and the frames removed from the old brood box will be burned on a bonfire in the pit together with frames from any secondary brood box. The pit will be covered in when the fire has burned out in order to avoid bees robbing from anything that may not have been entirely consumed.
Flame all the old equipment thoroughly – base, floor, brood box(es), queen excluder, cover board, roof – EVERYTHING.
Further Management
- The foundation in the new brood nest will generally be drawn out quickly as long ascontinual feeding is carried out & a super
- should be added when nearly all of the brood comb is drawn.
- Any supers placed on the hive must be new foundation or have been treated with Acetic acid & aired.
- The queen excluder placed under the brood box should be removed as soon as brood is present, as bees will not usually abscond from a colony with brood.
- Any supers placed on the hive must be new foundation or have been treated with Acetic acid & aired.
- The queen excluder placed under the brood box should be removed as soon as brood is present, as bees will not usually abscond from a colony with brood.
The Bee Inspectors will be present on the day to help us.
GOOD LUCK!
The Apiary Management Team
