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JANUARY

Thursday 12th

Branch Meeting ~ Elburton Village Hall. Speaker: Ken Basterfield “Tools & Techniques to make Beekeeping easier”

7.30pm

Tuesday 17th Committee Meeting ~ Scout Centre, Blindman’s Wood 7pm

Wednesday 25th Winter Study Group~ Kathy Lovegrove, Colebrook Community Centre

7pm

FEBRUARY

Thursday 9th

Branch Meeting ~ Elburton Village Hall. Speaker: David Packham “Living with Varroa or Integrated Pest Management”

7.30pm

Wednesday 22nd Winter Study Group~ Kathy Lovegrove, Colebrook Community Centre 7pm

MARCH

Sunday 5th

Improvers Meeting

10am

Thursday 9th Branch Meeting ~ Elburton Village Hall. Speaker: Chris Boughton talking about his inventions when confronted with various bee keeping challenges

7.30pm

Saturday 11th DBKA AGM at Isca Centre, Exeter

Sunday 12th Novice Meeting 10am

Sunday 19th General Meeting 10am

Sunday 26th Novice Meeting 10am

PLYMOUTH BEEKEEPERS’ Apiary Programme 2017

Plymouth Branch Newsletter – January 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR

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Directions to Branch Apiary at Lee Mill, Ivybridge:

Turn left off the A38 at Lee Mill and follow the signs for Tesco

Drive past the Tesco entrance, take next right for Central Avenue on the industrial estate

Drive down the hill of Central Avenue, looking for East Way on your right

Drive along East Way, looking for Cadleigh Close on your left

Drive into Cadleigh Close; the apiary site is behind the big iron gates of the tyre factory

Park inside the gates, walk up the concrete path & the portacabin is on your right

Contact Details – Plymouth Branch

Meetings will be held at the Branch Apiary Site unless advised otherwise.

Chairman

Terry McAuliffe

219573

tjm1952@hotmail.com

Vice Chair Claude Pool 787212 dodi77uk@me.com

Secretary Jean French 338279 jeanfrench1957@yahoo.co.uk

Treasurer Bernie Talling 709470 bernie868@hotmail.com

Editor Dawn Clarke 309483 oakwoman@gmail.com

Branch Librarian

Liz Wallis 698384 windlestraw@btinternet.com

Apiary Manager

Patrick Mansfield

07887 997764

patrick11@btinternet.com

DBKA Website - Members Area Password:

If you have forgotten the password, contact Terry McAuliffe or Jean French.

Member Advert

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CHAIRMAN’S BLOG

Hello again beekeepers of Plymouth and district, and a Happy New Year to you all. Let’s hope 2017 will be a good year for beekeepers and that it will not see the proliferation of last year’s unwelcome visitor, the Asian hornet. We’re certainly all going to have to be extra vigilant when visiting our apiaries and keep a good lookout for this menace. Most members will only have seen photographs or videos of this hornet, so if anyone would like to see samples of the real thing to help with identification, then please get in touch with me and I’ll be happy to show you the three (mercifully dead) Asian hornets that Valerie obtained from a beekeeper in France.

This is the quietest time of the year in the apiary and should be an opportunity to sort out and clean our equipment. As I wrote those words I had a twinge of conscience about the tall stack of super boxes in the garden that all need an introduction to the blowlamp! It’s also the time of year when confinement indoors due to inclement weather gives some of us more time to think than usual. In the course of such thinking, I have been considering the role of the branch chairman and what it means. Taking our own branch as an example, it was Bill Finnemore who was chairman when Valerie and I were novices. Bill was always ready with wise words of advice based on many years of beekeeping experience. It was Bill who taught us how to extract honey, a most useful lesson that we never forgot; and we still use Bill’s method of uncapping using a heat gun instead of an uncapping knife; thank you Bill! When David Milford succeeded Bill, we quickly discovered that the branch had another chairman who was equally generous with good advice. David led the Improvers group at the apiary for a number of years and his Sunday morning sessions were always well attended. His advice was also based on years of experience and it was backed up by sound research. So when I took over the chair last November I was under no illusion about the hard acts I had to follow and I’ve done a lot of thinking about what a chairman should be. First and foremost s/he should not be autocratic and assume that chairmanship gives him / her authority to issue edicts and orders from on high. That’s really not the chairman’s job. Executive power is vested in the branch committee, and while the chairman does direct meetings of that committee, it is the committee that makes the branch rules and takes major decisions on governance and running of the branch. Occasionally a problem might arise where an urgent decision is required. On such occasions the chairman might make that decision to allow branch business to continue, but s/he should report the matter to the committee at the following meeting and seek approval.

So to sum up, I see the chairman as the branch’s servant, not its master and that’s how I intend to pursue my chairmanship as long as the branch gives me permission to remain in that role.

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This month I’m going to link with the previous paragraph to move onto my regular theme of ‘things beekeepers disagree about’. The subject is personal protection when manipulating colonies. A former Plymouth branch chairman and a highly knowledgeable beekeeper, now deceased, made it a requirement that all novices were to carry out their branch training apiary colony manipulations with bare hands. He simply would not permit any of them to wear gloves. Now it’s quite obvious that bare hands and fingers allow much better tactile sensation. Combine that with the knowledge that if you upset the bees by clumsy handling you’re more likely to get stung, then you can see the logic behind this former chairman’s position. You’ll notice I’ve not named him but I’m sure the long-standing members will know who I mean. I’ve watched our apiary team handle bees on many occasions and I’ve never seen either Patrick or Allen wear gloves to handle the bees. I should also mention Kathy, who I have never seen wearing gloves to manipulate the bees. All three are classic examples of how it should be done. But now for the other side of the coin. If you handle the bees without wearing gloves there is a reasonably good chance that you will be stung on the fingers. If you are really stoic, you might be able to ignore one or two such stings, but if you sustain a few more than that, then improved tactile sensation will soon be lost as you try to manipulate frames using swollen fingers that have taken on the appearance of hog’s puddings! I well remember one Sunday morning meeting when we were visited at the apiary by one of our longest-serving and well-respected beekeepers, Tony Curnow. He listened in to an informal debate on this very subject and at the end he simply said, “do wear gloves; it’s not nice being stung.”

In order to test both sides of the argument, last year I tried colony manipulation in our own apiary both with and without gloves. My experience has led me to the view that both sides are right; up to a point. I certainly didn’t like being stung! I would say that bare-handed manipulation is OK (if you’re not too nervous) from April until about mid-July, but thereafter, for the remainder of the season do wear gloves, as it is during the second half of the season that the bees become more defensive. When all is said and done I could not imagine for one minute issuing a chairman’s instruction that novices were to go without gloves in the apiary. Such an instruction would, rightly, be disregarded. Maybe people were more deferential all those years ago when that instruction was in force, but thankfully, those days are gone.

Until next month, All the best

Terry

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More than 1,000 places were given protected status across England in 2016. Historic England has released details of 21 of the most surprising and lesser known sites which are now on the heritage list and include these 18th century artificial bee hives in St Teath, Bodmin, Cornwall, featuring 'bee bole walls' which would have housed skeps.

Honey as Medicine ~ Arkansas, U.S.A. circa. 1962 ~ Child's Prescription from a Paediatrician.

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What happens at Winter Study Group Meetings?

Each year a number of new members ask me what happens at the WSG meetings and how useful it would be for them to come along. This article outlines the idea behind them and how they are different from the general winter meetings.

Firstly, the WSG is not a specific group of people that you have to belong to – the meetings are open to all branch members. It was just a name chosen to indicate that it was more of an educational rather than social evening.

The events are probably more suited to those who already have some experience of keeping bees, no matter how limited, because it will help if you know some of the 'lingo'. However, if you are a keen beginner who wants to soak up as much as you can about beekeeping, I am sure that it will not be totally above your head. There are also informal discussion times and opportunities to mix with other members who will be more than happy to answer your questions.

The idea for a Winter Study Group came about one year when the branch had lots of improvers who were regular attenders at the branch apiary but wanted more support in the 'off season'. As the meetings are not part of any structured training programme it was a chance to choose subjects which encouraged 'joined-up thinking' – to see our role as beekeepers within the wider picture of the colony's cycle of life.

There are usually one or two themes for the evening with sub-topics that last 15-30 minutes each. The people leading the topics are mostly drawn from within the branch either because they have developed a particular expertise or interest which they are willing to share with other members. The sessions are not really formal talks but tend to involve some practical aspect or interaction with the audience.

Examples of previous questions tackled are: Which hive design is best? Why do some colonies struggle in the spring and others thrive? Queens, workers, drones – how are they the same but different? Oil Seed Rape – a curse or a blessing? Is it worth testing my colonies for nosema?

The January 2017 theme is:

From egg to imago

We will look at how genes, diet and TLC affect the development of young honey bees and consider what part the beekeeper can play in supporting the colony.

Please note: the different day –Wednesday

the different times–7pm to 9pm different venue-Colebrook Community

Centre

Directions: there is no precise postcode for the centre.

The nearest is PL7 4JN but the centre entrance is a gateway just before you turn into Wallpark Close

Winter Study Group Meeting

Wednesday 25th January 2017

Colebrook Community Centre

Peacock Meadow

(off Newnham Road) Plympton

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YOUR HELP IS NEEDED – PORTACABIN CLEAN UP

To All Members,

With our new portacabin now in situ (thanks to the hard work of Patrick and Allen), it's just in need of some TLC to have it looking pristine for the forthcoming beekeeping season.

I'm reliably informed all that's involved is;

A good sweep of the floor

A bit of a wash down

Plus the furniture/equipment re-positioned to our needs An electric supply has been connected so not only do we have heating (hurray!!), the kettle is working too so a cup of tea/coffee will be readily available plus a biscuit or two........

Sunday, 22nd January @ 10.00 am has been earmarked for this activity so if you are able to come along, your help would be much appreciated.

Just hope the weatherman obliges!!

Thanking you,

Jean French on behalf of your Committee

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We have listened to the feedback on our hangouts and for 2017 we are varying the days of the week when these take place. Hopefully this will help to avoid association meetings in at least some of the months. I will send full dates in the New Year but in the meantime please put Thursday, 12th January in your diaries. Some people asked me to let them know when the videos of the NHS lectures are put onto YouTube. The first one can be viewed by clicking here. Unfortunately our research lectures are not recorded. Are you aware of our news page on The Buzz? It's worth checking our news page occasionally for information of particular relevance in the UK - take a look to see what's there. The Buzz is also where you can find or add details of events and courses, so definitely the place to look.

Kind regards Wendy and the Bee Craft team

Useful website with Beekeeping videos, guide to pollen colours and more http://www.the-beeman.co.uk

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The Buzz – Honeybees & Beekeeping

The modern honey hunters of Kenya

In the heart of Kenya's "Silicon Savannah", tech-savvy entrepreneurs are beginning to tap into a market that, until recently, was the preserve of smallholder farmers known locally as honey hunters.

Read more on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37703489

December 13, 2016

Leeds bee expert Michael Badger MBE tells Neil Hudson why manuka honey isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

Michael is the author of Heather Honey: A Comprehensive Guide Read more on the Yorkshire Evening Post website:

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/why-yorkshire-s-heather-honey-is-the-bees-knees-1-8286660

December 24, 2016

Bee Gym inventor guest speaker at Okehampton meeting

Read more on the Crediton Courier website:

http://www.creditoncouriernewspaper.co.uk/article.cfm?id=120246&headline=The%20Bee%20Gym%20inventor%20was%20guest%20speaker%20at%20Okehampton%20Association%20meeting&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2016

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FOR SALE

Double Hive Stand

Made out of

4” x 2” wood

£10

Contact:

Bill Finnemore

Tel: 01752 404184

2 x Beekeeping suits with fencing veils, beige, will fit medium to large: £40 each

Galvanised spinner: £40

3 x Smith hives: £50 each

5 X National super boxes: £10 each

Call Val Wright on: 07540-091220

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HEMBURY BEE SUPPLIES

Agents for the main

manufacturers.

We can supply all your Beekeeping needs.

Foundation – Hives – Frames -

Jars And many, many more

We can be found at:

John Harler

Outer Finches Hembury Cock Hill,

Buckfast TQ11 0HN

Tel/Fax: 01364 642517 Mobile: 07769878476 Email: fire221@btinternet.com

Please phone before you visit