JUNE 2017

USEFUL LINKS

DEVON BEEKEEPERS’

ASSOCIATION

www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk

BRITISH BEEKEEPERS’

ASSOCIATION

www.bbka.org.uk

DEVON APICULTURAL

RESEARCH GROUP

www.dargbees.org.uk

On Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th June we will be holding our popular ‘ Bees and Flower’ day by invitation of St Johns Garden Centre in Barnstaple. Our display, showing the process from plant to honey jar, attracts lots of questions and gives us a chance to encourage people to think of and help the bees in their own garden. We need volunteers between 9.30 to 5.30 (Saturday) and 10.30 to 4 .30 (Sunday). If you can help set up the display and/or stay and chat to customers about bees and beekeeping please contact Barbara Carlyle by email at baranlyle@hotmail.co.uk or by text on 07816900506 Any help of any sort is always very welcome indeed. It is a great day so contact Barbara and be part of it! Zara

Beginners Beekeeping Course 2017 On Feb 28th sixteen of us started the NDBKA,s Beginners Beekeeping course. Engaging adults in learning must be a daunting prospect, however the way the course has been delivered by such lovely, enthusiastic and knowledgeable tutors has made the whole experience a wonderful one. (It should be said that the cakes are also a great aid for learning). From anatomy to pest and disease control it has been all Bee, Bee, Bee…. with the course mantra of “Think Bee”. Following the BBKA Basic Syllabus has provided the perfect grounding, giving us all the correct amount of confidence needed to keep bees in a healthy and happy manner. This is backed up with a "second to none” membership, that if thought of as a really friendly library, can be leaned upon for help, support and advice when needed. As a group we would really like to thank Cathy and her team for giving us their time and knowledge, its been a great experience. The class of 2017 www.devon-blacksmiths-forge.co.uk

SWARM COLLECTORS FOR 2017

C Backway L Baddick D Beard

N Cawthorne S Cooke V Dykes

G Gordon P Groves A Homa

D Hunter R Hutton S Johns

G Kingham P Messenger J Mummery

B Peacock B Simmons J Whewell

A White Swarm in an Horestone Bramley tree, too high to reach!

photo b y Tai Dykes

Sue Madgwick teaching the artificial swarm procedure to the

final Beginners’ Class at Horestone apiary.

photo by Chris Utting

DEVON COUNTY SHOW

The Show has just gone by with three branch members showing their honey, wax and cooking. The standard of the exhibits were very high, the branch just missed out on the group cup coming second; but we did not miss out on all the silverware as Mave won the Stratton Rose Bowl for most points in the cooking classes . Alan Barrow won the Basil Salter Cup for the best extracted honey. Stewarding in the honey tent is always fun and you do get to meet many different types of beekeepers. One man from France thought that catching about 50 Asian Hornets near his hives was good hornet control. You will also get the odd impossible question. While stewarding the chamber (glass observation hive), a young family came up and looked at the bees having explained how a bee hive works the daughter aged about 5 asked, “ If a queen bee can have thousands of babies why did my mum only have three?” (no reply please). Alan Barrow

HORESTONE NEWS IN PHOTOS BY TAI DYKES

Kay's memorial tree an apple named 'Summer Red'

is flourishing

The Yellow Rattle is in full flower

in our meadow

Embryonic hornet's nest (there was a large European queen flying around) under the crown board on an empty

hive. It had 2 eggs in it and was emoved and taken to show to the children at a local primary school.

photos by Chris Utting

Birds and the Bees

I believe that my wife and the local nurseryman are in cohorts with each other, she feed the birds at various point throughout the garden, and he employs the pigeons and slugs to eat my flower and vegetable tops!

On a recent visit to Lidls, my wife noticed a bee windmill for scaring off birds, a bargain at under £5.00, just think of the saving on replacement plants.

I hope that the bee friendly plants I have put out, well away from the bird feeders, will not be pecked; I have also put a ring of bare copper wire, pegged down, around them to discourage the slimy ones.

Next step, try to train the bees to guard their young plants as per the windmill example, also tried talking to them, but to no avail.

An inspector calls… As a new beekeeper I’d never had a visit from a Bee Inspector and so when an email from Eric James of the Animal & Plant Health Agency (NBU) plopped into my InBox I confess I was a little worried. Should I get out the best china? Should I “lawyer-up”? With some trepidation I arranged an appointment. On the morning of ‘The Day’ I had a word with my bees. I explained that it was probably nothing to worry about but that a nice man was going to put them through their paces and they might want to do a bit of spring cleaning in preparation, push the Hoover round, get those drones to put a tie on, wash behind the babies’ ears… I need not have worried. Eric was wonderfully helpful and, far from finding fault and ticking me off for all my rooky mistakes, he gave me lots of tips and helpful hints. It was great to have such an experienced pair of eyes checking over my ‘girls’. We went through each hive very carefully and I came away with a new confidence. By and large he made approving comments. However one of my hives had a lot of Deformed Wing Virus and, had I spotted it on my own I would probably have panicked, but Eric guided me through the options to deal with it. I am sure that, covering such a huge geographical area, Eric is a very busy man but he gave me all the time I needed to ask questions and before I knew it, the whole afternoon had flown by. The Man from the Ministry is welcome back in my apiary anytime!

Zara

from THE TIMES May 2017

BASIC ASSESSMENTS — CLOSING DATE

Applications to Cathy Backway

by 30 June

THE NEXT GENERATION OF BEEKEEPERS

MASTER AND APPRENTICE

Chris Utting with grand-daughter Maya

JUNE THUG of the MONTH. Rosa rugosa ( Japanese rose)

This month’s thug listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act is a native of the Northern Pacific Seaboard first recorded in the wild in the UK in 1917. It is a beautiful and deliciously scented rose with open pinky/purple or white flowers and golden pollen laden anthers freely produced from June to August. Like all the single or semi double roses it provides pollen but not nectar for a range of insects. It also produces massive bright red hips loved by the birds especially the blackbirds. I try to leave the hips on my small thicket until ripe enough to make Rose hip syrup and then hope to gather my share before the birds strip them.

It has frequently been planted by councils alongside roads and in town shrub borders as it likes well drained soils and rapidly forms thickets eliminating weeds. Spreading by rhizomes and bird distributed seed it has colonised sand dunes all around the British Isles where its dense cover excludes all other vegetation. Hooper and Taylor in “The Bee Friendly Garden” suggest two “rugosa type” roses which are less thuggish than the original.

‘Frau Dagmar Hartopp’ with single shell pink flowers from July to October followed by the characteristic hips which grows to 1.5m. and ‘Max Graf’ which is a low growing ground cover variety with single pink white centred flowers from July to August.

Researching these thuggish aliens has made me realise how many I have in my own garden and though I contain their growth and don’t discard waste into the surrounding countryside I cannot prevent the birds spreading the seeds. Should I get rid of them? It is a dilemma!

...just to say thank you to all who turned out to tutor and support the Beginners' course this year. It all went very smoothly and all the students have said how much they enjoyed the course and meeting different beekeepers throughout the weeks. I have already talked one student through transferring bees from a decrepit, abandoned hive to a new one so it looks like it's all go for them. It looks like we might be receiving a deposit/prebooking for next year's course already, so congrats for a job well done! Cathy

SHERRIFF VEIL REPAIRS

Jenny Gammon of 500 Cheddon Road, TauntonTA2 7QX

01823 270 465 email sidnjen@vodafoneemail.co.uk

Face only £15 All head £28 Bindings extra

all plus return postage

We need a new Show Secretary – now. Our first show is 3rd June; who will step up and make sure it’s not the last?

‘’No gosh - I’ve only been keeping my bees for less than a year – I couldn’t do that’’ I hear this so often and it’s a great misconception.

My main aim is to enlist help for this year and pass the job on next year; but all these points relate to any position on the committee.

Getting shows up and running and keeping the club going has very little to do with beekeeping, but masses about organisation and getting things done, helping the club to work well.

The shows have evolved over the last ten years and the basic form is tried and tested. We just add and subtract as new information and projects come along. The main paper work is all set out; the forms and posters are all on file, most in the computer ready to print off as needed.

We stay local with two shows at St johns Garden Centre -June and September, and the North Devon Show in August.

Getting things running is form filling, checking we have everything we need in the right place at the right time and in good condition and getting a members team together to help through the day. This is an allocation job, not ‘I must do all this work myself kind of job’. Our members are very helpful and gifted people who when asked are only too willing to get things done for us.

How much time does all this take? The last show is in September, so from then to the first week in June, it’s checking, printing and sorting the paper work; which is a few hours over the winter months. June to September needs more time; gathering together bees, equipment and people ready for the shows.

So if it’s all so easy why don’t I just keep on doing it?

First my health is a problem, the bad days come unexpected and the show secretary just has to be in the right place at the right time. I will be there helping the team and ‘doing my bit to help’ from the side-line, the shows are fun and I will continue to help.

What we need is a new broom, not just to sweep away the cobwebs but to add new ideas and bring new life into our solid frame work. We have TV and You Tube getting a whole new generation of people interested in our hobby and we need someone with new bright ideas to keep us up to date.

So we are not looking for a great beekeeper but someone full of energy, good ideas and lots of Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Barbara

Chair Chat

from VLAAMSE IMKERSBOND May 2017

So far, so good…..no sightings of Asian hornets this season, and I believe there have been no reports of notifiable

honey bee diseases either. Do sign up, free of charge, with BeeBase so that you are made aware of any problems

in our area.

Horestone apiary is green and lovely but the grass and weeds are winning. We have had several wet Tuesdays so

gardening has been delayed. If you could spare some time on a Tuesday from 11.00 until lunch time to help with

the gardening it would be most appreciated.

We recruit new beekeepers, who may sign on to the next Beginners Course, at the shows. The next show is at St

John’s Garden Centre on Saturday and Sunday, June 3rd and 4th, followed by the North Devon Show on

Wednesday, August 2nd. There are also two Taster Days held at Horestone. The first is on Sunday 25th June and

the second on Sunday 3rd September, If you are able to help, please contact our secretary, Zara.

The apiary colonies are doing well….but we are on ‘Swarm Watch’. There are three bait hives just in case we

miss a queen cell. We are hoping to have the Top-bar and Rose hive in use soon.

Tescos has donated damaged packets of sugar for the Horestone bees. Representatives from Tescos are to visit

the apiary next week to take some photos to use to demonstrate their Community involvement. They have

declined a close look at the colonies!

Best wishes for continuing sunny beekeeping weather.

Mave

The Dutch love their decorated hives

BRANCH EVENTS FOR YOUR DIARY

3 & 4 JUNE ‘BEES & FLOWER DAY’

ST JOHN’S GARDEN CENTRE

25 JUNE 2017 TASTER DAY AT HORESTONE APIARY

1 JULY BEE HEALTH DAY BOW

2 AUGUST NORTH DEVON SHOW

3 SEPTEMBER TASTER DAY HORESTONE APIARY

Committee Summary 24th

May 2017

1 Bulk orders from Thornes.

When we order £100.00 worth of equipment from Thornes we do not pay for the carriage.

If you wish to add items to an order, please contact Zara.

2 Extraction tutorial.

New members have asked for an extraction tutorial, as this a barely covered during the Beginners Course, so we will arrange this and let you know via email.

3 Equipment for hire.

The Members Pack is to be updated as more details are needed about the equipment for hire from Horestone and the system for notification, payment, collection etc..

4 Winter talks donations.

The cost of the speakers and the hire of the hall exceed the income from donations which at present are £3.00 per evening. We are suggesting that the donation should be increased to £5.00. Do you wish to comment on this proposal?

Mave on behalf of the Committee.

from THE TIMES May 2017

fron NORTH DEVON JOURNAL Maay 2017

It’s May already and we are getting ready to swarm. !! – I know the beekeepers like this time really.

Everything in the apiary looks very good; a lot of hard work has gone into tidying it all up.

Last weekend there was a wonderful smell, with lots of people eating BBQ food, but we think we will stick to flowers, pollen and nectar.

All the beekeepers looked very happy and all had a very good time.

There has been a lot of work by Alan, he’s making a new work station. It’s coming on very well and will be very good place for all the beekeepers to clean all the hive parts we make so dirty. Sorry about that but with six feet each, things get a bit messy.

June is the time the shows start; the beekeepers tell other people all about us. I wonder if I will be chosen to go to the show, its good fun, come with us and have a good day out.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A typical wild flower bed

in Sidmouth early August 2016 photo by Graham Kingham

Edited by Chris Utting e-mail chrisutting@btinternet.com The views expressed in the articles are the author’s and not necessarily those of the

North Devon Branch of the Devon Beekeepers’ Association.

Member’s contributions are extremely welcome: by 23rd of the month prior to publication please