Cornwall Beekeepers Association (Cowethas Gwythysy Gwenyn Kernow)

An Area Association Member of the BBKA

Gwenyn Kernow

February 2016 Edition: 02/2016

www.cbka.co.uk

Charity No: 298470 ISSN: 2057-2409

Founded 1881

Re-established 1919

Spring time!!!

CBKA President Colin Rees

Highland, Portloe, Truro. TR2 5RB Tel: 01872 501313 Email: Colinbeeman@aol.com

Officers of the Association:

Chairman Carole Allen

Hope Farm Cottage, Higher Pennance, Lanner, Redruth. TR16 5TQ

Tel: 01209 820939 Email: mail@ninemaidensmead.com

Honorary Secretary Anne Ramsden

Wellington Place, Old Carnon Hill, Carnon Downs, Truro, Cornwall. TR3 6LF

Tel: 01872 864049 Email: anne@sabre146.co.uk

Honorary Treasurer Graeme Bullock

1 Smeaton Farm Cottages, Pillaton, Saltash, PL12 6RZ Tel: 01579 351252 Email: glbull@btinternet.com

Editor Steve Farnes

2 Castle View, St Stephens, Saltash, Cornwall. PL12 4RD

Tel: 01752 845783 Email: gwenynkernow@gmail.com

CBKA Group Contacts

Bodmin Hazel Henry Menacuddle House, Menacuddle Hill, St Austell. PL25 5QP Tel: 01726 74995 Email: hazel.henry1@btinternet.com

Kit Hill Graeme Bullock Smeaton Cottages, Pillaton, Cornwall. PL Tel: 01579 351252 Email: glbull@btinternet.com

Carrick/Kerrier Angela Hills Trenance, Newbridge, Truro TR3 6BN Tel: 01872 274379 Email: angela.amh@btinternet.com

Launceston http://launcestonbeekeepers.btck.co.uk Rosemarie Lane Tel: Email: launcestonbeekeepers@gmail.com

Liskeard Jacqui Orange 14 Lodge Hill, Liskeard. PL14 4JP Tel: 01579 349178 Email: jorange73@googlemail.com

Roseland http://www.roselandbeekeeping.org Marcus Pilling Email: marcusandmandy@hotmail.co.uk

Wadebridge Gillian Searle 6 Harleigh Road, Bodmin, PL31 1AQ Tel: 01208 74878 Email: keith.gillsearle@tiscali.co.uk

Shows & Conventions

CBKA AGM Honey Show

Saturday 5th March 2016

Honey Show Schedule

Judge: Tom Salter

Class 1 One 454g(1lb) jar liquid honey (Light, Medium or Dark). Class 2 One 454g(1lb) jar set honey (Naturally Crystallised or soft set). Class 3 One standard 8 oz container of cut-comb minimum gross weight 200g. Class 4 One shallow comb of honey suitable for extracting. Presented in a frame show case glazed on both sides. Class 5 One beeswax block minimum weight 227g(8oz) and at least 10mm thick”. Presented on a plain white paper plate in a clear polythene bag.

Class 6 Three 28g(1oz)approx. beeswax blocks, all uniform shape. Presented on a flat card in either a show case or clear plastic bag.

Class 7 One honey cake made to the recipe attached.

The cake is to be displayed on a plain white paper plate in a clear polythene bag. Class 8 Six honey shortbread biscuits to the recipe attached. The biscuits are to be displayed on a plain white paper plate in a clear polythene bag. Class 9 Ten pieces of honey fudge made to the recipe attached. The pieces of fudge are to be displayed on a plain white paper plate in a clear polythene

bag. Class 10 One Photograph/Image, on a subject connected with beekeeping. Prints, no less than

100mm x 150mm (4in x 6in), must be mounted on card of any colour, maximum size of mount 200mm x 250mm (8in x 10in). A title/explanation is to be positioned centrally below the print.

Please take careful note of the following Show Rules: a. Exhibitors are limited to one entry in each class.

b. Honey and wax must be from the exhibitor’s apiary except the honey cake, biscuit and fudge class. c. Jars must be BS standard 454g pattern with gold lacquered lids and show labels affixed 2cm from base. d. The show secretary will advise on where exhibit labels are to be affixed on classes other than jars. e. BBKA Show Rules (1994) apply f. Judging will take place in front of members and feedback given.. g. The decision of the judge shall be final. h. During the judging exhibitors are asked not to identify their exhibits to the judge. i. Identification of exhibits, in any way, to the judge will lead to disqualification.

Shows & Conventions

CBKA AGM Honey Show

Recipes Honey Cake 200g/7oz self raising flour, 175g/6oz liquid honey, 110g/4oz soft brown sugar, 140g/5oz butter, 2 medium sized eggs, 1 tablespoon of water. Place butter, sugar, honey and water in a saucepan and gently heat, stirring all the time. When the butter has melted, remove pan from the heat and allow contents to cool to blood temperature. Gradually beat in the eggs, add sieved flour and mix until smooth (do not over mix).Turn into a greased and lined 6.5 to 7.5 inch diameter cake tin. Preheat the oven to180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Bake for 1 hour, or until risen and firm to the touch. Cov-er the top, if necessary, to prevent browning too much. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack until cool. Cooking time and temperature may vary to suit the type of oven used so have a trial run before making your competition cake. Honey Shortbread Biscuits 225g/8oz butter, 400g/14oz plain flour, 50g/2oz honey, 50g/2oz light soft brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugar together, add the honey and gradually add the sifted flour. Mix well together to form soft dough. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into rounds using a scone cutter, prick the surface with a fork and put on a large greased baking tray. Bake in a preheated oven at 160

oC/Gas 2 for approx 25 minutes

or until the biscuits are golden brown. When cooked, lift the biscuits off the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack. Schedule requires 6 biscuits. Honey Fudge 454g/1lb granulated sugar, 55g/2oz honey, 55g/2oz butter, 150ml/ ¼ pint milk. Put all the ingredients into a heavy based pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring all the time. Cover and boil rapidly for 2 minutes, Uncover and boil gently for approx.15 minutes until soft ball stage is reached, stirring all the time. (A little dropped into cold water will form a soft ball 126

oC/240

oF). Take off the heat, stand pan on a cold surface for 5 minutes. Beat until creamy and mix

starts to thicken. Pour quickly into a greased/oiled tin approx. 7 inches square. When nearly set, mark into squares. Cut when cold. Schedule requires 10 pieces.

Cornwall Beekeepers Association

Pre Season meeting and AGM Programme Saturday 5th March 2016 at the Lanhydrock Memorial Hall

10.00 Arrive, register and coffee Please make sure you have your show entries at the hall by 10.45.

11.00 Open judging and talk – Tom Salter

12.30 LUNCH Pasties/cake will be available. Bring a packed lunch if you prefer

13.15 Early afternoon session TBA 13.45 Annual General Meeting Presentation of awards 14.45 Break

15.00 Education – Tom Salter

15.45 Finish

Final timings and agenda to be sent out at a later date Please note: Any items of business to be brought to the meeting should be notified to Secretary no later than 21 days before the meeting. (13th February 2016) Nominations for any of the council posts are to be with the secretary no later than 14 days before the AGM (20th February 2016) President – Colin Rees – willing to stand Chairman - Carole Allen - willing to stand Vice Chair - vacancy Secretary – Anne Ramsden – willing to stand Treasurer – Graeme Bullock – willing to stand Education – Sue Malcolm – willing to stand Editor – Steve Farnes – willing to stand Publicity – vacancy ADM representative – Mark Hoult – willing to stand Events to be reassigned as Royal Cornwall Show Coordinator – Julia Cooper - willing to stand Group representatives to be elected at group AGM’s and CBKA sec informed. Northern bee books will have a stand of beekeeping books for you to buy, and there will be plenty of time to visit their stand as well as have a chat to your fellow beekeepers. Pasties and cakes, as well as hot drinks will be available to purchase at modest cost, but otherwise the day is entirely free of charge. Bring a packed lunch if you prefer. To assist the caterers we would be very grateful if you could inform your group secretary if you are planning to attend the day so as to give us some idea of numbers, there will be some provision for extra people to attend. Please try to attend to support your council, this is an excellent opportunity to re-sharpen your skills just before the start of the new sea-son. Anne Ramsden CBKA Secretary

Secretary’s report

This year, my first in the post has been a steep learning curve so apologies if I have not done what seems important and necessary to others. The major thing that has happened this year is that the Royal Cornwall Show Bee Tent has come under the wing of the CBKA. Mike Somers and Julia Cooper very competently ran with this at fairly short notice and put together the tent, again I think a steep learning curve. There are new ideas this year and Tom Salter is talking to us at the AGM to try to demystify showing your wares in the hope that we can encourage as many people to show off to the public what good honey we produce here in Cornwall, amongst other things. Graeme Bullock has taken on membership along with being treasurer and brought in to line all the vagaries of insurance, membership of BBKA, capitation returns and gift aid re-claimed for several years. We are also encouraging the groups to use some of the funds to enhance their learning and beekeeping locally. Groups have supported outside events e.g. The Bee Fair at Enys, organised by Sherriffs and a Pollination Day at Perranwell, which also produced a substantial donation to the CBKA. These are two events that I know about, undoubtedly there are others all around the county raising awareness of beekeeping. Mike White organised the Bee and Disease Day at Tremough which was very successful and informative. There has been ongoing discussions re research at Tremough and the Natural History Museum. Colin has been trying to find a way that we can give a donation to a charity to show our ap-preciation for Louis Riley’s work with the organisation. The donation cannot be given out of our own funds due to charity commissions rules so it was decided that collections would be taken at county events for this purpose. We discovered that the BDI will not be giving their training grant of £100 this year so the Bee Disease and Husbandry Day this year will have to be fully funded by the CBKA. We lobbied for the appointment of seasonal Bee Inspectors to be hurries along but it is diffi-cult to move a Government organisation, however they were in place by the end of the sea-son and we look forward to meeting up with them again when they start work in April.

Anne Ramsden CBKA Secretary March 2016

Please see attached documents:

2015 Financial Report

2015 AGM Minutes

2016 Membership

Disease Liaison Officer Report CBKA AGM 2016

Bee Disease and Husbandry Day 2015 After the success of the event in June 2014, it was agreed by council that we should arrange a similar event this year. In 2015 the event was held at the Environment and Sustainability Institute on the Tremough Campus at Penryn by kind invitation of Dr Pete Kennedy. Some 55 beekeepers from CBKA and WCBKA attended on the day which was entirely free of charge apart from lunchtime pasties! The workshops included apiary disease inspection (the ESI apiary being within walking distance of the building), recognition of disease using diseased combs, apiary hygiene, varroa/IPM and small hive beetle/ Asian hornet.

Simon Jones, our regional bee inspector, was accompanied by six other bee in-spectors to conduct the various workshops. In addition Professor Juliet Osborne was there with her research colleagues to talk about their bee research work during the breaks.

Despite a dispiriting weather forecast the day before, the day was beautiful sun-shine and the threatened cloud and rain was delayed till about 3.00pm when all the apiary inspections had finished. The general opinion was that the day was a great success and the pictures of the day were used by Simon Jones in the APHA house magazine.

A slightly longer version of this report is on the CBKA website together with pictures. Bee Disease and Husbandry Day 2016 It was felt that we should try to develop the theme of moving the location of the event around the county. To this end the 2016 event will be held on 16

th July at

Wadebridge Town Hall and at the kind invitation of the Wadebridge group we shall be using for the practical instruction their group apiary just outside of the town at Ball. There are a number of practical issues mainly related to parking to be worked on, but we have plenty of time to do it. I will produce a flyer for the event in due course. Mike White 13/02/2016

Shows & Conventions

The Royal Cornwall Show A Call to Cornwall’s Beekeepers

by Michael Somers

This time last year the Bees and Honey Tent at the Royal Cornwall was under severe threat. The old committee, working within the RCS management, had pretty well disintegrated and no new blood was forthcoming. It was generally agreed that the tent looked ‘tired’ and a new approach was needed. CBKA (with WCBKA) agreed to take on the task, working outside, but closely with, the RCS management and, at the January CBKA Council meeting I, for want of any other volunteers, agreed to head up the Working Party in close cooperation with Julia Cooper who was stand-ing down as CBKA Secretary, and with a lot of help from Kate Bowyer of WCBKA. Our strategy was first to make sure that in 2015 the Tent was a vibrant and attractive feature of the show for the public and in subsequent years to address the standing of the show. We knew that the competitive show entries would drop, as indeed they did. It was widely acknowledged that the first part of our strategy was a success and this was backed up by analysis of a questionnaire that we asked visitors to fill in. So, for 2016 we know where we are going with the ‘public interaction’ part of the tent. As in 2015 the Groups (taken in the rest of this article to include WCBKA) will each have responsi-bility for a section of the tent, working to a central theme of “How Bees Live and Work”. In order to bolster this we have widened the Working Party formally to include one representa-tive from each Group. We have had one meeting in December at which the work plan was agreed and we will have another in April to finalise arrangements. I must acknowledge that in 2015 the RCS management were extraordinarily generous to us with a better tent in a new and better position and very prompt and positive in response to all our requests. This year we have to make good on our intention to restore the competitive show to its prop-er place which means a lot more entries. In 2015 we failed for the first time in many years to qualify for a Blue Ribbon (a BBKA award to honey shows that have a total of more than 100 entries). Analysis of earlier years’ entries had revealed that the show had come to depend on a few people putting in a lot of entries. And furthermore the list of names of those exhibit-ing corresponded quite closely with the Committee. We must be more outward looking. To this end we have assembled a small cadre of experienced exhibitors who are willing to talk and demonstrate at Group meetings, and, even more, we have got Tom Salter to agree to attend the CBKA AGM to talk. Tom is a senior BBKA judge who regularly judges at the National Honey Show. His theme will be “What the judge is looking for, and tips on how to achieve it.” The BBKA position is that showing is closely related to selling; if you sell your honey to the public then as well as the legal requirements it must, for the good of the craft, be of a high standard. If your product is not good enough to go on the show bench then it should not be going to the public. The standard of exhibit the judges will be looking for is really just what a buyer would want, though there are, of course, degrees of excellence. Which brings me from the ‘stick’ to the ‘carrot’; there is a lot of enjoyment in a friendly comparison of your product with that of your fellow beekeepers. In common with earlier years we have decided that if you want to sell at the RCS you must, unless you have a very compelling reason, have one or more entries on the show bench. This will not apply to the produce of Group apiaries, which can be sold subject an inspection to assure quality.

Group Reports

Bodmin Group At our February meeting, Hazel Henry took us through the beekeeping year, giving be-ginners an idea what to expect and more seasoned beekeepers a reminder of what they need to be doing.

Several members attended the annual BIPCo meeting at Dobwalls. Willie Robson from the Chain Bridge Honey Farm told us of his beekeeping methods, and we had updates on Apis mellifera mellifera and much more. Delicious refreshments were on sale and the team are to be congratulated on an excellent day.

The Holsworthy Convention drew seven of our members to Devon. Another great day, with something for everyone. After Ron Hoskins’s talk on hygienic bees, I shall be checking varroa for damage!

The season will soon be upon us. These “winter” events help to enthuse and prepare us.

Mary Trace

Launceston Group

The Launceston Beekeepers AGM was held on Friday 12th February at Launceston Col-lege. In her report Elizabeth Molyneux-Dickinson (Chair) thanked the committee mem-bers for their work, the members who had hosted our apiary days last year and all the oth-er members of the group who help to keep us informed and supported throughout the year. The secretary and Treasurer then gave their reports. Our apiary meetings were well at-tended throughout the season and we have had a range of speakers during the winter months. We had a successful and enjoyable time at the Bee marquee at the Royal Corn-wall Show and the Launceston Agricultural Show thanks to all the members who helped set up and steward these events. Thanks to the CBKA allocation we are in a sound financial position and in the last year purchased a group Refractometer which proved invaluable for testing our honey for showing and selling. The group currently have two national hives, unfortunately due to the poor season last year we do not have any bees at the moment (but as we know that sit-uation can easily change this year). We also enjoyed a superb Christmas meal at Trethorne Golf Club in January, as always a good social time and chance to relax. The existing Committee stood down this year and the following members were voted on:

Chair – Mark Hoult Treasurer – Peter Hicks Secretary – Rosemarie Lane

Jim Walker continues as Vice Chairman and Mark Hoult continues as our CBKA repre-sentative. It was proposed that we had another CBKA representative and Kathy McDon-nell has been voted to this post. Members were reminded their BBKA membership fees are now due and that the CBKA AGM takes place on 5th March. The business of the evening was followed by our usual excellent tea and homemade cakes plus an enjoyable honey and mead tasting session with a surprising taste of Saudi Arabian Black Seed honey – this had varied responses as to its taste, the overarching fla-vour being date-like. The mead also went down very well!!

Rosemarie Lane

Carrick/Kerrier Group The Carrick and Kerrier Beekeeping Group Annual General Meeting was held on the 16th Feb-ruary chaired by vice chairman Steve Griffths Attending were Carol Mansell-Buckland, Fred Webb, Elizebeth Falkner, Ross Williams, Cathe-rine Cullen, Joe McDonald, Mags Hopwood, David Keanie, Jo Singiesen, Anne Ramsden, Pia Arquati, Judy Sargent, Bruce Henderson Smith, John Roberts, Richard Buckland, Robert Doug-las, Frances Douglas, Jennifer Braga, Angela Hills. Apologies were received from Martin Falk-ner, John Benwell and Nina Ducker Members with group roles gave brief reports on activities during the past 12 months and plans for 2016. Richard Buckland the group Swarm Co-ordinator reported that in 2015 there were 80 swarm calls ( 53 in 2014). Half were for swarms of bees, others for bumble bees and wasps. Many swarms were in compost bins, the last was in November. By the end of the summer there were only 2 people left on the swarm collectors list as many people had used all their equip-ment. Bruce Henderson Smith explained the buddy system and Anne Ramsden spoke about the role of CBKA representative. Members were asked for suggestions for topics and names of speak-ers for the 2016/17 programme of events.Ideas included what to do with wax and frames, harvesting honey, making equipment, informal apiary meetings in May, June and July, a visit to somewhere of interest to beekeepers and frame making. The principle of the bee safaris was explained to new members. Liz Falkner and Pia Arquati volunteered to organize the bee safaris and the social events. The Royal Cornwall Show is on June 9th, 10th 11th.This year Carrick /Kerrier together with the Launceston group will manage the stand which will have full size bee hives that can be dis-mantled and also bee friendly flowers and plants. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome. More entries than in 2015 are needed in all of the bee and honey competitions, the schedule will be sent out asap, It is also on the Royal Cornwall Show website. Volunteers will be needed to take entries to the show and also to man the stall, which will be co-ordinated by Liz Falk-ner. Judy Sargent explained the group has purchased some text books for the BBKA modular courses which members may borrow. Suggestions for new books for the library are welcome. Nina Ducker will continue as education co-ordinator. The group voted in favour of the election of the following officers ; Chairman – Martin Falkner, Vice-Chairman – Steve Griffiths ,Treasurer – John Roberts, Secretary – Angela Hills Group Representatives to the CBKA committee are Judy Sargent and Liz Falkner / a new mem-ber In the regular ‘What to do now’ slot Bruce spoke of the importance of feeding candy to the bees. Observe the hive entrance, as with the variable temperatures in recent weeks, bees have been seen taking pollen into hives indicating that the queen is laying . At this time of year the bees’ own food supplies could be low, to avoid starvation supplement feeding must be done.

Angela Hills

2016 Beekeeping Courses

As usual, I wall be running my two beekeeping courses again in the New Year at Probus Junior and Infants School. The courses are as follows: “An Introduction to Beekeeping” Learn how to embark upon the craft of beekeeping, choose and acquire your bees and hives, understand the life-cycle of the bees, follow their seasonal activity and learn how to utilise your hive prod-ucts. By the end of the course you will know all you need to set yourself up as a beekeeper and be able to manage your colonies during your first season. The course runs on either 10 Monday evenings, 7pm-9pm, starting on Monday, 18 January 2016 or 4 non-consecutive Saturdays, 10-3.30, on 23 January, 6 and 27 February and 12 March 2016. The cost of the course is £92. “So you think you'd like to keep bees!” This is a brief overview of beekeeping and its ecological importance for those who desire a non-technical introduction to the subject or for those who would just like to know a little more about honeybees. Also, it could be a taster for the follow-up course 'An Introduction to Beekeeping'. This is a 1 day event on Saturday 16 January 2016, 10-3.30, and costs £46. Contact Truro College on 01872 265800 to enrol or Colin Rees on 01872 501313 for further information.

Beekeeping Courses Beekeeping Experience Day Half day of theory other half in the apiary. An ideal

day for those thinking of keeping bees or those who wish to have a better understanding of apiculture and bees. At Duchy College, Stoke Climsland, Nr Callington. Sunday 22nd May 2016

Introduction to Beekeeping Three day course (half day of theory the other half

learning and handling bees in the apiary) A course for the beginner wishing to start beekeeping and giving them the confidence to inspect and keep a colony. At Duchy College, Stoke Climsland, Nr Callington. 7th-14th-21st May 2016

Beekeeping for Beginners Ten week winter theory course (ten two hour consecu-

tive weeks) This course offers in depth theory on equipment and hives, strains of bees, setting up an apiary, apiary husbandry, health and disease etc.) A days practical is offered during the season. At Duchy College, Stoke Climsland, Nr Callington.

From 11th January to 14th March 2016

Beekeeping Next Step For those with a little experience who wish to expand their knowledge and gain more confidence with artificial swarming, making up nucs including mini nucs, marking and clipping queens etc. At Duchy College, Stoke Climsland, Nr Callington. Sunday 19th June—Saturday 2nd July 2016

Corporation/Companies Employers wishing to show conformance to the ISO

14001 standard, any of the above courses are available or can be tailored to your requirements, advice on location, equipment and setting up also given.

The benefits of conforming to ISO 14001: 1 Demonstrates your commitment to improving the environment 2 Shows you are a responsible future focused organisation 3 Can increase employee engagement in the knowledge that they are working in an environmentally friendly organisation

For more information: Email: allbtbees@gmail.com

phone: 07791 777022 or 07916 309680

Local Companies

The Beekeepers Quarterly The 56 page quality quarterly magazine is £30 per year

from Northern Bee Books, Scout Bottom Farm, Mytholmroyd, Hebdon Bridge. HX7 5JS

Phone: 01422 882751 Fax: 01422 886157

www.northernbeebooks.co.uk www.beedata.com for Apis-UK the free beekeeping newsletter direct to your computer

Advertising Rates

Full Page = £5.00 Half Page = £3.50 Quarter Page = £2.00 Classified Adverts = 10p a word

Non-members = prices on application to the Editor Please Note: Payment is required before magazine insertion

For sale:

5 x 1gal. feeders 2 x 40kg plastic storage tanks with valves An unused polystyrene? nucleus hive A creaming tool An ancient tangential extractor, showing its age but working OK Contact: Charles Hall Lower Cadwin Lanivet Bodmin PL30 5JN 01208 832301 charles@cadwin.co.uk

Useful Telephone Numbers

Bee Disease Officer (Simon Jones) 07775 119459 Disease Liaison Officer (Mike White) 01726 74775 Education Co-Ordinator (Sue Malcolm) 01752 845496 Membership Secretary (Lynda Evans ) 01208 831825 Microscopist (Sue Hoult) 01566 774618 Spray Liaison Officer (post not held)

Disease Liaison Officer

The role of the DLC was developed back in the 90’s when Varroa first struck our county. The aim was to give guidance to members as to how to deal with the problem and to act as a link between members and other advisory bodies in order to obtain and give the best advice. At that time the role was entitled Varroa Liaison Officer. As varroa became more and more widespread and mem-bers became much more accustomed to dealing with it, it became apparent that the role could be widened to include all diseases. Disease it an issue that we all need to keep on top of. Varroa, of course, still remains and so still comes within the scope of the now DLC. Resistance to pyrethroids developed and new treatments became available. Beekeepers began using all kinds of concoctions and importing illegal substances to treat their bees. There is a continued need for guidance on the appropriate treatments available. In addition, foul brood diseases continue and the ever-ongoing risk of other exotic pests remains. It is necessary therefore for us all to stay alert to keep our eyes peeled for these thing. The role of the DLC therefore is to keep abreast of what is happening within the County and on the national scene and to offer advice where necessary. At times it might appear that nothing is happening and the DLC is not doing much. But if something does turn up, his/her role may be vital to the members.

Press Cuttings

From time to time news about beekeeping appears in the local and national press. Sue Malcolm is keeping a scrapbook of these cuttings which she takes to meetings and shows. Obviously she can only file those cuttings she sees or which are sent to her so if you read anything in your paper about beekeeping, please consider sending it or a photocopy to Sue Malcolm at: 33 New Road, Saltash, Cornwall. PL12 6HL

Bee Disease Check If you suspect that there is something wrong with your bees, please send a sample for checking to the CBKA Microscopist. To take a sample, close the hive entrance and put a matchbox tray over the cluster of bees that forms and close the cover. Put the box in the freezer overnight. Send the box in a small jiffy bag with a S.A.E. to Sue Hoult at: 1 Hollies Close, St Stephens, Launceston, Cornwall. PL15 8XB

Links

Cornwall Beekeepers Association http://www.cbka.co.uk

British Beekeepers

http://www.britishbee.org.uk

Bee Base http://www.defra.gov.uk/fera

National Honey show

http://www.honeyshow.co.uk

British Beekeepers Association http://www.bbka.org.uk

Beekeeping Forum

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk

Beecraft http://www.bee-craft.com/see-inside-our-

magazine/