Newsletter : May 2010
Newsletter : May 2010
1. Editor's Notes
After a spell of warm sunny weather a week or so ago, the bees suddenly burst into action and colonies have begun to expand rapidly. In fact I heard last week of the report of two early swarms! Consequently I have been revisiting the swarm collection list that is maintained on the ‘Swarms’ page of our website. For the last three or four years I have tried to compile a county-wide list as a service to the public, and have therefore included the names of members of our neighbouring associations as well. However, they all now have their own websites on which they are listing their members so I am now confining our list to SBKA members only.
If you have previously offered to help with swarm removal you should find your name on the list already (please check). If you would like to be added, please email me your name and ’phone number together with an indication of which area(s) in the county you are prepared to cover. (N.B. We do not advise inexperienced beekeepers to take on this task, but if you make contact with a listed collector he or she may be able to ‘show you the ropes’ so that you can subsequently work on your own.)
2. Next Meeting
The Programme Card lists May’s visit as being at Tony Little’s apiary. Please note that this has been postponed to June, to enable Robert Swallow to talk us through how to manage bees on oil-seed rape. The May meeting will now take place at an out apiary at Hopton, Nesscliffe. For those using satnav, the postcode is SY4 1DJ. For map-readers, head out of Shrewsbury on the A5 in the Oswestry direction. After about 4 miles, look for a turning on the right signposted to Great Ness. Continue along this road to Hopton and look for signs for the meeting place at Startlewood Farm. 8th May at 2.30 p.m.
3. Flower Show: August 13th/14th 2010
Arrangements for this year’s Flower Show are well advanced. An entry form can be dowloaded here. If you would like a copy of the full schedule please contact Brian Goodwin on 01742 884524. Please have a look at all the classes and have a go with an entry or two. New beekeepers often shine in this competition so don’t be backward in coming forward.
N.B. The entry form also has a section where you can volunteer to help with erecting and/or dismantling the staging before and after the show, or to be a steward on one of the show days. This is a vital part of the Association’s activity in this prestigious event and includes providing security for the exhibits and talking to members of the public about bees and beekeeping.
Free entry to the Show and a ‘meal ticket’ are additional enticements!
4. Report of the April Meeting
About fifty members attended this last indoor meeting of the spring. Before presenting his talk titled ”Cut It Out” Geoff briefly promoted taking the Basic Assessment and its benefit in encouraging new beekeepers to improve their knowledge of beekeeping.
Geoff titled his talk “Cut It Out” because many beekeepers, on finding a queen cell, react by cutting the cell down in an effort to avoid swarming of the colony without considering the reason for the existence of cells or looking for other clues that are present which might guide the beekeeper as to what is actually happening and being guided by the clues as to the best course of action. Queen cells are built for one of three reasons:
The position of the cells within the area of the frame gives the first clue. If they are on the periphery of the brood area and there are many of them then the bees are preparing to swarm. Cells in the middle of the main brood area, one or two maximum, are likely to be supercedure cells. Emergency cells are constructed slightly differently as the bees adopt an egg that has been laid in a normal worker cell prior to the demise of the queen and draw out a queen cell from the cell in the comb. Whether eggs are found to be present in the combs helps to differentiate between types of queen cells. If the bees are planning to swarm the queen will have been discouraged from laying to reduce her weight in anticipation of her having to fly again as she leaves the hive with the swarm which will not be the case in supercedure as the queen will continue to lay despite the preparation of the supercedure cells. In the emergency situation, no further eggs will be laid following the demise of the queen.
On finding unsealed queen cells with larvae present:
The queen cells should be reduced to two that are at the top of the frame and an artificial swarm carried out.
On finding sealed queen cells, check for the presence of the queen, try to estimate when the swarm took place and cut out all the cells except an unsealed one.
On finding sealed queen cells, check for the presence of the queen, try to estimate when the swarm took place and cut out all the cells except an unsealed one.
On finding queen cells with emerging queens try to decide what type of cells they are, how many there are and whether the old queen is present. If there are young queens present cut out any remaining cells or “pull” them for use elsewhere as any remaining cells could produce a cast each (a miniature swarm containing a virgin queen) further depleting the number of bees in the hive.
On finding supercedure cells it does not matter if they are open or sealed, take no action at all and leave the bees to continue the process without disturbance for two or three weeks.
In closing, Geoff reminded us that we should only open hive to examine the bees as part of our strategy to ensure that the bees are healthy and developing satisfactorily, and that we should not look through for our own amusement. He then went on to answer questions from the members, which brought out more points of interest.
5. One Varroa-Free Hive?
[Celia Davis spoke about this technique for managing varroa during the honey-gathering season in our March meeting. She contributed the article below to the Warwickshire BKA Newsletter last year (reprinted courtesy eBEES).
Two and a half years ago I bought a brood frame trap from Thorne’s. This year (2009) I used it. I started the procedure on 29th June when I reckoned that all the bees possible would be available for honey gathering in the main flow. I trapped the queen in the cage on a frame of clean, empty comb and left her there for 9 days. I then trapped her on a second comb as before, leaving the original comb in the hive, marked with a drawing pin. Another 9 days and the queen was again trapped on a third empty comb. At the same time the first comb was removed and its contents destroyed. After 9 days the queen was released, the second comb removed and its brood destroyed and the third comb marked and left in the hive. At this stage I furnished the queen with 3 frames of clean, drawn comb to give her plenty of room to lay. The final comb was removed, and its brood destroyed, 9 days later. The result of this manoeuvre should be a completely varroa-free hive, as the mites are restricted to entering the combs on which the queen has been trapped and have no other suitable brood in the hive.
Practicalities:
It was not as much fiddle as I had anticipated. It is, of course, necessary to be able to find the queen. It is also essential to get the timing right and this will vary from season to season and colony to colony. A start date must be selected when the hive population is strong and the maximum number of bees is present for honey gathering. On the other hand, if it is left too late, the vital winter bees will be destroyed leading to a weak colony which may die out during the winter or be weak in the spring.
I expected the bees to produce queen cells but they did not. Even if they do, the queen is trapped and cannot leave with a swarm, so there is plenty of time to sort them out. When I finally released the queen, the colony temper was not brilliant, but then the weather was not good either. On 15th August there were 5 frames of sealed brood in the hive. These will start to build the over-wintering population and, since they should be completely varroa-free, this should lay a strong foundation for next season.
Problems:
None really, except the psychological one of destroying large amounts of sealed brood. The queen laid up the trapped combs completely and, on uncapping them, I found very few mites, but then I have few in the apiary anyway. Of course problems may show up later in the winter or spring and, if they do, I will tell you. The traps are quite expensive, [Currently about £17 – Ed) but they should last for some years.
Advantages:
Theoretically, complete eradication of varroa from a hive without the use of any chemicals. The colony is kept intact with the queen present throughout.
6. The Pulled Queen.
[From Harrogate & Ripon Newsletter May 09 (Courtesy eBEES)]
Sometimes, especially if you have been unable to inspect your hive regularly in the swarming season, you may be faced with a collection of sealed queen cells. If the weather is fine and there is no sign of the queen or unsealed brood, the colony has swarmed. There might, though, be a hatched queen cell as well, (not an unsealed one) indicating that a virgin has emerged. She will be difficult to find in a big colony, but unless found you will not know exactly what is going on. It is very tempting to destroy all the remaining queen cells to prevent casts, but if the hatched virgin has already left with a cast the colony will then be queenless. They will not be able to rear another queen as there are no young larvae present
There are two solutions. The first is simply to destroy all but one of the queen cells, hoping fervently that it is not a dud. If there is a virgin loose in the hive there may still be a cast. The other solution is to select two or three ripe queen cells, which can be identified by the darkening and thinning of their caps. Using a sharp, pointed tool, like a large pin, very carefully lever off the cap (it is quite tough). This releases the virgins into the hive. Then go ahead and destroy all remaining queen cells. Hold the cell close to the top bars, virgins are very active! The colony should not swarm unless you have missed a queen cell, and only one of the loose virgins should survive to head the colony, having eliminated her rivals.
This procedure is known as pulling the queen, and is very seldom found in textbooks. It can only be carried out on ripe queen cells, but if one has hatched the others will not be far behind in maturity.
7. What Can I Treat My Hives With?
[This item was developed from a report in the current ‘Cheshire Beekeeper’, courtesy eBEES]
Cuprinol has long been the traditional treatment for cedar bee-hives. Recently there has been news that this was no longer safe, as the firm had changed the make-up of its products. However, last year, Cuprinol commissioned a study at the National Bee Unit of the Central Science Laboratory to evaluate the new formulation. Below are the results of that study.
Cuprinol Garden Wood Preserver (DP) Red Cedar and Cuprinol Trade Decorative Wood Preserver (T) Red Cedar were applied by brush application and Cuprinol Trade Low Odour Wood Preserver Clear was applied by dip coating.
In all cases treated hive parts showed no toxicity (up to 6 weeks from treatment) to bees or brood after exposure to these hive parts.
Additionally no adverse behavioural effects (e.g. excessive fanning at the entrance, aggressive behaviour) were seen in any of the treated colonies.
No other colours were tested, though Cuprinol say that can see no reason for any difference in behaviour of different colours.
In case of any query, contact Omar Amjad at Akzo Nobel, Wexham Road, Slough, Berkshire, SL2 5DS. Tel. 0870 242 1100.
Further advice is on the Cuprinol website.
In addition there is a leaflet on this subject available from the BBKA
8. Do you believe in fairies?
No, neither do I, which is why I am not expecting one of them to take over from Maxie Sinclair as provider of the refreshments at our monthly indoor meetings. Maxie has also performed the same task at the annual Flower Show for many years. However, she can no longer do this and we urgently need someone to take over the baton/urn with more or less immediate effect. This is the third time this appeal has been made in the Newsletter and it is worrying that no-one out of our 200 members has yet been in touch even to enquire about what is involved.
The Flower Show vacancy is URGENT. The monthly meeting handover needs to be in place by September. Please give this issue serious consideration and support the work of the Association in this practical way if you can.
9. Bees for new beekeepers?
There has been an explosion in interest in honey-bees in the last two or three years and SBKA, in common with most other Associations, has seen a huge growth in membership. While that is a very welcome development, it does carry an obligation to help our new colleagues to acquire bees of their own wherever possible. Of course they can be purchased from a commercial bee breeder, though at well over a £100 for a 5 frame nucleus that is a big commitment. If, during the course of the season, you collect a swarm or have a surplus nucleus in your own apiary, please consider offering it, at a realistic price, to someone looking for his/her first colony. After all, the more well-supported practising beekeepers there are, the better for all our bees.
10. Food Hygiene Certificate
In the March Newsletter there was a request that anyone interested in taking a one-day Basic Food Hygiene Course should contact Robert Swallow to register an interest. There are now sufficient takers for the course to go ahead but there is still time to add your name. The more who attend, the cheaper for everyone. The resulting Certificate is required by some shops and markets for anyone wanting to sell honey through their outlets. (Robert’s contact details on the Committee page.)
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