Please click on the document to apply
The final newsletter of the year. Please keep sending in your stories and bee related articles for possible inclusion next year. To read or download the newsletter, please click here
Please click on the document to apply
Please click on the document to apply
The final newsletter of the year. Please keep sending in your stories and bee related articles. To read or download the newsletter, please click here
Click on the page to apply or express your interest.
Wisborough Green Division - West Sussex BKA
Kingston Beekeepers Association will once again be offering a series of Winter lectures from January 2012 through to March/April. These lectures are intended as an introduction for those interested in taking up beekeeping.
Those attending the series of lectures may then wish to continue with our practical beekeeping course starting in April and running through to September. There is no obligation to do so, but those attending the theory course will be given first refusal in attending our practical course. We are often oversubscribed so please contact us with your interest as soon as possible.
We believe that this is the best route to becoming a competent and responsible beekeeper. To express your interest, please click here
An excellent programme - well worth listening to. Click here.
A large amount of this season's honey has been stolen from the apiary at Hampton Court Allotments. It seems likely that it was stolen on Sunday 28th August in the evening. The thieves cut a hole in the mesh fencing and then used bolt cutters to cut through the padlock on the main shed. The theft has been reported to the police.
The honey was all in 454g (1lb) jars and labelled as HAMPTON COURT HONEY (green and cream coloured labels) The tamper labels had handwritten details/lot numbers on them. We, as beekeepers, are very upset that all the bee's hard efforts as well as our own over the last season, has been, to a great extent, wiped out by these callous thieves. Unfortunately, the theft of bees and beekeeping equipment has been on the increase. But now it seems that even honey has become a target for these criminals.
If you are offered honey for sale from an unknown source and are even slightly suspicious, please do contact the police. You can even contact us here if you'd prefer. Thank you.
So you've done the BBKA Basic Exam....so what's next?!
Put this date in your diary - Saturday 22nd October 2011. Open to all Surrey BBKA members. Starts at 11:30am until about 2:30pm in Claygate Church Hall. There will be a number of speakers, with years of experience in beekeeping, discussing the options for further beekeeping training.
Remember, this is a FREE event, open to all Surrey BBKA members. More details to follow. Watch this space.
This season's honey will be available to purchase from our apiary starting on Saturday 13th August 2011. I don't have the exact figures of how much we have managed to extract this year, but if it's anything like previous years, then we are likely to run out of stocks within a few short months.
Our apiary is open on Saturday afternoon's from 2:00pm to approximately 4:30pm, April through to end of September.
To be held at The Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London.
This free public event will be held in the Clore ballroom at the Royal festival Hall, 1pm to 5pm as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations for the Festival of Britain. This is a free event for both beekeepers and the public. There will be a stalls so that the public can meet their local beekeeper and buy a jar or two of honey. The public will also be invited to taste a wide selection of the capital’s honey and vote for your favourite local honey, with prizes for the winning beekeeper. More details can be found here.
Our 2011 Fast Track Course - two days of intensive beekeeping, was very successful so we have decided to offer this again in 2012. It will take place in May over two consecutive Sundays. It will be held at our apiary and will be very much' hands on' beekeeping.
Please use the 'contact us' form to express your interest.
Kingston Beekeepers Association will be offering a series of Winter lectures from January 2012 through to March/April. These are intended as an introduction to honeybees for those interested in beekeeping.
Those attending the series of lectures may then wish to continue with our practical beekeeping course starting in April and running through to September. There is no obligation to do so, but those attending the theory course will be given first refusal on attending our practical course. We are often oversubscribed so please contact us with your interest as soon as possible.
The following review represents the opinion of an individual member and is not intended to reflect the views of Kingston Beekeepers Association or its members. If any other member would also like to read/review Bill Turnbull's book, then please contact Andy Watters.
The review can be read here.
Please click here to open the June 2011 KBKA Newsletter.
To be held over 2 consecutive Sundays - the 15th and the 22nd of May 2011, between 10:00am – 3:00pm; this intensive course is aimed at those who already have bees or those complete beginners who would like to condense their learning. It will cover the basics of lighting and using a smoker, recognising all stages of brood and the opportunity to open and handle the bees. Hygiene will also be covered and the principles and practical methods of marking a queen. The cost of this course is £50 and will be held at our Hampton Court Allotments Apiary. Bee Suits/veils/gloves and all beekeeping equipment required as part of the course will be supplied. Further details on application.
Please click here to apply. Numbers are limited and will be allocated on a 'first come, first served' basis.
The latest newsletter is now available to download and read at your leisure. Another edition packed full of fantastic beekeeping related articles. It can be downloaded here.
Please do keep sending in your beekeeping related stories and photographs. The next couple of months can be a very busy time for beekeepers as our hives hopefully expand and I'm sure there will be a few instances of swarming or a few lucky members who manage to collect a swarm in the coming months. Maybe you could take a few pictures to record the event(s) and write a brief description of how easy or difficult the procedure was?! - they don't always alight at a convenient height from the ground and this can create its own particular problems.
With all those swarms in the local area (and I'm sure there will be quite a few, with so many beekeepers per sq mile!) I for one will be taking full advantage in placing a lure hive in a suitable location, offering a nice new home to a few thousand bees!
The Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida), is a potential threat to UK beekeeping. This beetle, indigenous to Africa, has recently spread to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica and Australia with all the indications being that it will be a very serious pest of the European honey bee should it ever reach the UK. There is a serious risk of its accidental introduction into the UK and all beekeepers need to be aware of the fundamental details of the beetle’s lifecycle and how it can be recognised and controlled.
Please follow this link to The National Bee Unit's Contingency Plan
To be presented by Alan Byham, Regional Bee Inspector. This one day event will be held on Friday June 3rd 2011 in Claygate. Limited places available. Please click here for more information.
There is the potential for major pest and disease threats to the European honey bee to reach Europe and the UK through imports of live bees or commodities. The purpose of this plan is to set out the response to an outbreak of an exotic pest or disease of honey bees in England or Wales. Although the plan is primarily a generic one, it focuses in particular on current threats in the form of the notifiable pests - the small hive beetle (SHB) and Tropilaelaps mites. Read more here.
The first KBKA newsletter of 2011 is now ready for reading or downloading to your PC for reading later. Congratulations to Mike and Julie for an excellent first newsletter. I'm already looking forward to the next one.
Please keep sending your bee related news, stories and photographs to Mike or Julie for possible inclusion in future newsletters.
View the February newsletter here.
Please find below, a link to the recently updated Managing Varroa Leaflet as well as the new Small Hive Beetle Leaflet which contains a few small amendments. Click here to download.
For those of you interested in statistics and those of you interested to know what you should be charging for a pound (454g) of 'premium' honey! Someone managed to get 211 lbs from just one hive last year! See the facts here
Click here to read an overview of the activities of the SE region team of Bee Inspectors in 2010. Lots of interesting data regarding varroa, average honey yields and foulbrood incidence within the SE region. Recommended reading!
6th Surrey Bee Day on the 26th February 2011
Kingston Beekeepers Association will be running a Beekeeping Theory course over the winter months at the beginning of 2011. The course will be held in the private room of the Foley Arms Pub at Claygate, Esher, on Mondays from 7pm to 9pm, starting on 24th January 2011 and running for 8 consecutive weeks.
The course is intended for those who would like to take up beekeeping and have little or no practical experience. The course will cover the life cycle of the honey bee colony, beekeeping equipment requirements, setting up an apiary, and management of honey bees throughout the beekeeping season etc. The cost for this course is £50.
The November newsletter can now be downloaded here. This is the last newsletter of 2010. Keep sending your bee news and articles for possible inclusion in our subsequent newsletters.
Click here, to download the Quarterly Newsletter on progress with implementing the Healthy Bees Plan.