Newsletter

The end of the swarm season, possibly.

This year has been a particularly active year for swarms with calls from the public every few days. Fortunately they have come to an end in the past ten days, although I could be counting my chickens before they are hatched, (I won’t go on to make any of the obvious jokes).

Many of the calls turned out to be bumble bees and we encouraged people wherever possible to just leave them alone and let them get on with their lives. There were the few where people insisted something was done about the nest, mainly because they were too close to their children.

You also meet an interesting variety of people. This year I’ve meet a couple who are members of an organisation called the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, who look after the huts and shelters of the early Antarctic explorers. And a Bushy Park Ranger who complained of bees in the cavity wall of his cottage that were getting into his house. When we asked how long they had been there we were shocked to hear that they had been in residence for about ten years, the family have had a thriving wild hive in their home for ten years! As they did not want to do anything that would harm the bees we had to say we could do nothing other than knock the wall down, the cottage is a listed building in a Royal Park!

There was also the swarm that settled on a grass verge despite the street being lined with mature trees. I didn’t see the deliveryman who had stopped his van by the kerb and stepped out onto a swarm of bees. I didn’t meet him but the neighbours were all talking this man who, accompanied by a small cloud of bees, must have broken the record for the 100-meter dash.

So now the phone doesn’t ring so often and the requests have all but dried up, I miss the sight of an upturned box with the bees crawling towards it as they join their queen in her temporary home. It’s an amazing sight and it illustrates the fact that a hive is a living organism that exists as one complete being.

The inspector calls – once more!

The weather forecast for Monday 12 May was not very encouraging – wind and rain, and not particularly warm, and the Regional Bee Inspector was visiting the apiary. The first of his visits was on a rainy day and we all ended up being cold, wet and depressed, partly because of the weather but mainly because he had previously found EFB in our hives. But this time, yet again, the forecast was wrong.

The Management Team had doubts about one of the hives and had detected some deformed lavae on a comb, so the inspection started with this one. The inspector quickly dispelled our fears by diagnosing the deformed larvae were suffering from sac brood. As the number of hives at the apiary is now down to 14 the inspectors quickly finished the other hive and gave us a clean bill of health.

So now we are free to move equipment off the apiary and can be less guarded about handling other hives, but we must not relax too much. EFB has not necessarily left the apiary – it could still be present in our hives at a very low level and the bees are coping with it using their normal hygiene procedures. The buckets and containers of washing soda solutions will still be at the apiary for washing hive tools and dipping your boots. There is a document from Twickenham Apiary on hygienic procedures for apiaries (see below). Please read it and comply with its directions, we must not give up on our inspection hygiene practices.

Winter Update from the Apiary Management Team

We had a very successful Saturday morning tidy up in the Apiary in November before Christmas celebrations overtook us all. An amazing number of people came to help, and in a couple of hours all the shrubbery was back under control. These once a year blitzes certainly keep it looking tidy with the minimum amount of fuss. The cherry trees require pruning in the spring to avoid disease and we must not forget them again this year as they are casting too much shade.

There is also a suggestion from Michael Groves for the Apiary to be more wildlife friendly and have a pond and bee friendly plants. The help bees need is early sources of pollen and nectar and perhaps we could introduce some early flowering shrubs. Our perimeter fence is also vulnerable at the corner with the footpath and we could do with planting shrubs such as pyracantha there.

EFB, etc.

European Foul Brood, as its name suggests, only affects the brood in our hives and as the colder, winter weather approaches its presence in our hive will diminish. The queen will have stopped laying and the absence of any larvae means that the bacteria have no host to feed on and so lie dormant in the hive until the next season. All this means that we can not relax at all. Our Standstill Order is still in place and our stringent hygiene rule should still be observed. If anything our hygiene rules have to be strengthened if we are to start the next season with a disease-free apiary.

EFB Again!

The inspectors visited once again on Wednesday 30 July, and the news is not good. Once again they found European Foul Brood in two hives. Although the news is not what we would have wished for our fellow beekeepers, it is not as bad as it could have been. One hive is so infected and the brood so weak that it will unfortunately have to be destroyed, however the other hive is strong so the bees can be save by using shook swarm method.

It is disappointing that we cannot seem to shake off this infection and one thing that came to light as the hives were inspected was that some hives were not being managed well enough. It is important that we all keep an eye on our hives and keep to the guidelines published again in this newsletter. Hives should, at the moment, be inspected weekly, if you are unable to do this please get in touch with the Apiary Management team who will make sure that someone opens your hive and checks it’s health. If you have any doubts about the state of your hive please inform one of the apiary management team who will look at it with you. They, unfortunately, have now had enough experience of looking at EFB to be able to make a fairly good diagnosis.

The apiary is still on a Standstill Order and we have to abide by the strict rule that the order imposes. However we must not become discouraged, as beekeepers we are providing a vital service to our environment and our community. And although they may not stand up and cheer us as we drive into Sainsburys or Tescos car park for our weekly shop our neighbours will miss us if we give up. On the subject of Shook Swarm, there are copies if the Defra leaflets on this method in the tin shed. Please take and read.

EFB Continues!

I have just returned from the apiary inspection by the Regional Bee Inspectors and the news is not good. We still have European Foul Brood at the Hampton Court Apiary.

This time it was found in two hive and it has to be said that it was in hives that we least expected to find it in. Our sympathies are with our members who now have to deal with the aftermath. It also means that the Standstill Order is still in place for the Apiary and as a committee we would ask that all our members who visit the Hampton Court Apiary abide by the rules of the order. Particularly those of you who do not come down to the apiary on Saturday afternoons to maintain your hive. Please follow the procedure opposite whilst at the apiary.