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WISBOROUGH GREEN
BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION
A DIVISION OF WEST SUSSEX BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION
MARCH 2015
Officers and Contact Information:
President: Mr Roger Patterson
Chairman: Mr Tom Moore
Hon. Treasurer: Mr Murray West
Hon. Secretary: Mrs Sue Elliott
Membership: Mr Gordon Allan
Newsletter: Miss Caroline Drewett
01403 790637 roger-patterson@btconnect.com
01798 343470 stone.house@btinternet.com
01798 867048 murray@mt-w.co.uk
01403 752493 sj.elliott@ukgateway.net
01798 343470 petworthgordon@btopenworld.com
01798 343883 caroline.drewett@btinternet.com
DIARY OF EVENTS
APIARY MEETINGS
First Scheduled meeting of the year: Saturday 11th April.
Gather from 1.30 p.m. Notices at 1.50 p.m. Meeting ‘proper’ starts at 2.00 p.m.
EVENTS
Saturday 7th March - Wisborough Green Division’s ‘Beginners’ and Improvers’
Day’. Pulborough Village Hall.
See details on the Wisborough Green and County websites.
Tuesday 24th March - Wisborough Green Division of West Sussex Beekeepers’ Association Annual General Meeting is to be held at North Hall, Loxwood, commencing
7.30pm. Followed with a talk by David Sandwell, entitled ’Showing Honey’.
See the Notice and Minutes on page 5 & 6. Our Chairman’s Report is on page 7.
Monday 13th April - ‘Biological Clues For Good Bee Management’. Lecture by Prof.
Keith Delaplane from the University of Georgia, USA at Leconfield Hall, Petworth
7:30pm. Free to WSBKA members.
Saturday 25th April - WSBKA Annual Bee Market & Auction at Brinsbury.
Details available on the County Website.
To help reduce the carbon footprint, parking and traffic on the roads we ask members
to share vehicles if possible when attending meetings.
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In the January newsletter Nell mentioned comb honey and I am hoping
to produce several supers of it at the apiary this year. I think this is one
area that could be expanded greatly, as it isn't often taught and there
isn't much in books or magazines either. It is very easy to produce and
little trouble, but something that even beekeepers don't seem to know
much about.
Nell and friend
For this reason I have written quite a lot on Dave Cushman's website
http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/combhoney.html about all forms of
comb honey. There is little waste and any small bits can be used at home or for chunk honey. Go
on - give it a go this year. You only need a couple of frames in a super to get started. I hope to
give some instruction this summer, but if you intend to try it don't forget that Tom would like to
know how much foundation to order, so please let him know.
There has been some discussion over the years about freezing honey, with some saying it damages
it, others saying there are no problems. My only experience has been putting comb honey in the
freezer for a week or so to kill wax moth in all stages. My friend Jacky helped to take a wild colony out of a building a couple of years ago and had some wild honey in the comb. She put it in the
freezer and forgot about it. She recently found it and it tasted as good as the day it went in there.
I have been presenting "Bee Improvement For All" days quite a bit lately and we had one in a miners welfare centre in Cotgrave, near Nottingham. In the building there was an automatic sliding
outside door, with another inside it. The toilets were at the side of the foyer. I went through them
several times during the day and Nell seemed interested in how they opened. Right at the end after
packing up I was chatting to someone in the car park, then decided it might be a good idea to use
the toilet before the 200 mile journey home. I told Nell to stay in the foyer, but when I
came out she was walking up to the door to open it and stepping back to close it. Without
any help she had worked out how to operate it. I will try her on a smoker and see if she
can work that.
We are getting to probably the most difficult time of the year for beekeepers. It is very rare to get
two consecutive springs the same, so for you beginners, don't think that what happened last year
will be repeated this year. The timing can vary by anything up to about 4 weeks and this is often
related to the weather. A few warm days will bring on the flowers and the bees very quickly, so
beekeepers need to be a few steps ahead.
It is much better to do things such as putting supers on a week early than a week late.
You may read in books of the reasons for swarming, but they never mention the main cause which
is beekeepers not doing things in time. Those of you who have known me a while are aware that I
am sometimes critical of the written or spoken word, but how often do you read or hear that you
shouldn't put on supers until there are certain signs, such as bees building brace comb, a certain
number of frames of brood or some plant is in bloom? Forget the lot, get your head stuck in a colony and use your own eyes.
If you are late putting supers on, the bees will put pollen round the brood, then nectar outside that.
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There is an abundance of both in the spring and during a warm day or two the bees will bring in an
amazing amount. This becomes a barrier to the queen and even if you put supers on at this stage
the bees are reluctant to move pollen or honey, so they may swarm early.
Those of you who came to my talk on "Honey Bees in the Wild - What Can we Learn from
Them?" will know that a hive is very different from a natural nest, so bees are often unable to do
what they would do naturally.
As ever, there will be a lot of things happening at Dounhurst this year, some at short notice. There
will be emails for ad-hoc meetings, some of which may be of a specialist nature, so make sure you
check the screen daily.
Before we start the season I would like to remind members of some of the recommended resources. On a regular basis we are asked questions or emailed about things that are readily available and publicised but haven't been read. The starting point should be to know what I call the
"basics". These are the simple things that all beekeepers should know, such as the life cycles of
queens, drones and workers; what happens in a colony when it swarms; disease recognition, etc,
etc. The recommended resources are the WG, NBU and Dave Cushman's websites. There are
some good booklets and leaflets from NBU and BBKA, both with downloadable facilities. Once
you have learnt the "basics" it becomes much easier to understand what the bees are doing and
how to get over a problem. If you don't know them you flounder and just do as you are told without understanding what you have done or why.
It is claimed by the NBU that bee inspectors find 80% of foul brood, which quite frankly I think is
an appalling situation considering the amount of information and teaching available. I was therefore pleased that last year all the outbreaks of foul brood in members apiaries that I knew about
were detected by members. There were a couple of false alarms that I was involved with, but that
doesn't matter. In the circumstances I didn't mind being asked to have a look as I could see the
reasons for concern. The signs looked like foul brood, one being chalk brood that looked like
EFB, the other sac brood that looked like AFB, as they sometimes do. It's much better to call
someone out than to assume it might be something else, get it wrong and spread disease.
Every year I suggest that members look at going to Gormanston, where there is a good week's beekeeping in the company of others with the same interest. Details can be found here http://
www.irishbeekeeping.ie/index.php/gormanston. The programme isn't finalised, but I can guarantee a great week. I have been every year for the last 10 years or so. There are at least 3 things going on at any one time to suit different abilities. You can have full board or a day ticket and it is
incredibly good value.
The feedback from the Jim Ryan wax workshops was brilliant. I know Jim enjoyed it because I
spoke to another Irish beekeeper and he knew about the days because Jim had told him. We have
been asked questions by several attendees, so I know they are making things that Jim demonstrated. As I said earlier, Jim is the best demonstrator of making wax products that I have ever
seen and I was quite happy to suggest that beekeepers spent a day watching and listening.
Throughout the 4 days there was a fairly high level of banter that is always a good sign. Several
members made contributions to the events, but I would like to mention Maggie Turner who did a
huge amount in setting things up, taking bookings, making tea/coffee and accommodating Jim for
6 days. She even had time to poke fun out of me! Thanks very much Maggie.
In my view planning is a very important part of beekeeping. There is little point opening a hive
for the sake of it. From what you saw at the last inspection, the weather since and a bit of guesswork, you ought to be able to have some sort of plan before going to a hive. The bees often
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change it, but then the thinking has to be done on the hoof. With a little experience you can workout what is needed.
On the theme of planning, can I make a plea on behalf of Tom in case he is too polite to do it? He
runs the shop, partly from stock at the apiary and because of a shortage of space some at home.
An up to date list and prices will be in the April newsletter. It takes time to put up orders, but on
too many occasions last year members ordered things late, meaning he had to rush around when
with a bit more planning he could have done it more leisurely. Tom is also a demonstrator and
before meetings I need to brief him on what I want his group to achieve. This is difficult if he is
counting out frame parts for someone who knew they wanted them a week ago. I know most
members order on time, but if you do order late perhaps you can give Tom a biscuit - so he can
give it to Nell!
Even after over 50 years of beekeeping I still look forward to the coming season.
Roger.
As I was left with a gap that required filling, here is a reminder of the apiary meeting dates that
have so far been scheduled for 2015.
Please continue to check email regularly for any amendments and ad-hoc meetings. Ed.
Saturdays
11 April
2 May
23 May
13 June
4 July
25 July
15 August
Wednesdays
13 May
3 June
24 June
15 July
5 August
Timings for Saturday meetings:
Gather from 1.30 p.m.
Notices at 1.50 p.m. – you need to have arrived by this time!
Meeting ‘proper’ starts at 2.00 p.m.
Timings for Wednesday meetings to be confirmed.
Details in future editions of the newsletter.
Tea will be served at Saturday meetings only if we have enough volunteers. Have you replied to the emails and offered to do apiary teas??????
And of course, there must be the odd biscuit or two for Nell!
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WISBOROUGH GREEN DIVISION
Life President: Mr Roger Patterson
Chairman: Mr Tom Moore
Honorary Secretary: Mrs Sue Elliott
Honorary Treasurer: Mr Murray West
NOTICE is given to all members of the Wisborough Green Division of West Sussex Beekeepers’ As-
sociation that the Annual General Meeting is to be held at North Hall, Loxwood on Tuesday 24 th March
2015, commencing at 7.30pm.
It is hoped that as many Members as possible will attend to support the Association.
AGENDA
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Apologies for Absence
Minutes of the AGM, held at Loxwood on 11th March 2014
Treasurer’s Report
Chairman’s Report
Election of Officers
Present Holders:
Life President Chairman Vice Chairman Treasurer Secretary -
Roger Patterson
Tom Moore
Daisy Day
Murray West
Sue Elliott
Committee Members:
Graham Elliott
Martin Hill
Mike Bunyan
Jeremy Windwood
Caroline Drewett
Tessa Bridger
Gordon Allan
Maggie Turner
The present officers and committee members with the exception of Daisy Day, Mike Bunyan and Tessa
Bridger are prepared to stand for re-election. Therefore there are 3 vacancies. Nominations for officers or
committee members should be made to the secretary sj.elliott@ukgateway.net by 17th March at the latest.
6.
7.
To appoint the Accounts Scrutineer for 2015
Any Other Business (as advised to the secretary by 17th March)
The AGM will be followed by a talk entitled ‘Showing Honey’, by David Sandwell. David is a
BBKA honey judge, and has many years experience showing his own honey.
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Minutes of the 67th Annual General Meeting of Wisborough Green Beekeepers Association, held on 11th March
2014 at the North Hall, Loxwood, at 7.30pm.
Members Present – Roger Patterson, Tom Moore, Murray West, Sue Elliott, Gordon Allan, Daisy Day, Mike Bunyan, Maggie
Turner, Graham Elliott, Martin Hill, Caroline Drewett and 15 other members.
1.
Apologies for Absence from John Murray and Sue Cooper
2.
Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting had been previously circulated and they were passed and signed by
the President.
3.
Treasurer’s Report – Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2013 had been previously circulated and a Finan
cial Statement was read to the meeting by the Treasurer. These form an attachment to the minutes. Tom Weston
proposed and Daisy Day seconded the adoption of the report and all were in favour.
4.
Chairman’s Report - had been previously circulated and forms an attachment to the Minutes.
Caroline Drewett proposed and Martin Hill seconded the adoption of the report and all were in favour.
5.
Election of Officers
The present holders were prepared to stand for re-election:
President:
Chairman:
Vice Chairman:
Treasurer:
Secretary:
Nominee
Roger Patterson
Tom Moore
Daisy Day
Murray West
Sue Elliott
Proposer
Maggie Turner
Caroline Drewett
Gordon Allan
Caroline Drewett
John Glover
Seconder
Caroline Drewett
Tom Weston
Tessa Bridger
Martin Hill
Mike Bunyan
Committee
Roger Patterson advised that Chris Peach had decided to stand down. Richard Flenley had resigned earlier in the
year as he had moved out of the area.
Jerry Windwood and Tessa Bridger had been nominated as replacement committee members.
All other members were prepared to stand for re-election as follows:
Nominee
Mike Bunyan
Martin Hill
Gordon Allan
Graham Elliott
Maggie Turner
Caroline Drewett
Jerry Windwood
Tessa Bridger
Proposer
Maggie Turner
Daisy Day
Caroline Drewett
Caroline Drewett
Daisy Day
Richard Ramsden
Martin Hill
Maggie Turner
Seconder
Gordon Allan
Maggie Turner
Jerry Windwood
Judy Knight
Mike Bunyan
Daisy Day
Daisy Day
Mike Bunyan
All were in favour
6.
Proposal for Life Membership – Ray Noakes
Roger gave a brief résumé of Rays’ commitment to the WGBKA over many years, 12 of these as Chairman. This
was proposed by Judy Knight and seconded by John Glover. All were in favour.
7.
Proposal for Life President – Roger Patterson
To show our appreciation, Daisy spoke about Rogers’ commitment to the WGBKA, having celebrated 50 years in
beekeeping during 2013. This was proposed by Daisy Day and seconded by Steve Boyce. All were in favour.
8.
Appointment of Accounts Scrutineer – Stephen Boyce had agreed to continue to act and was proposed by Caro
line Drewett and seconded by Daisy Day. All were in favour.
9.
Any Other Business – Nothing had been advised to the Secretary.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 7.55pm
President
Mr Roger Patterson
Date
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CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2014-15
For two years I have had to report on difficult weather conditions for both bees and beekeepers, and very
mixed seasons. At last, in 2014, we had what must have been close to a perfect year for the bees, and we
were kept busy both individually and at our Divisional apiary, with record honey crops all round. As I
write this we have also had a kind winter so far, with even small colonies surviving, though I have had reports of worryingly high drops of Varroa in a number of places.
Throughout the past year it has been very much “business as usual” for WGBKA, with our regular apiary
training sessions for established members and Preliminary sessions for newcomers. Roger has run a queenrearing group, we started several members with Beginners’ Packs, and a number of members have done
more than their share of swarm collecting across the county.
We continue to encourage established members and those new to beekeeping to increase their skills and
knowledge, with various training opportunities including our well-established Beginners Day and various
other training and lecture sessions. We also continue to encourage those at the appropriate stage to take the
BBKA Basic Assessment and then to consider sitting some of the BBKA Module Exams. The recent wax
workshops with Jim Ryan coming from Ireland to lead them are an example of the sort of thing we can do
where there is clear demand from our members.
Our more public activities have included attending events at Brinsbury, at Parham House, and our regular
major event, Cranleigh Show. Individual members have also attended shows and events to raise the profile
of beekeeping and promote WGBKA. Our Honey Show in August was extremely successful despite it being one of the wettest days of the year.
There is also an important social side to our activities, with the annual Supper again a success, but also a lot
of good interaction between members at our regular meetings and with informal contact at other times. The
support that members can give to each other in their day-to-day beekeeping is a very important aspect of
our Association.
Our main channel of communication continues to be our Newsletter, which Caroline has produced faithfully every month. For efficiency, this and any other communications (including the valuable West Sussex
News that reinforces our links with the other Divisions in WSBKA) are distributed almost entirely by
email. I would urge all members to actually read the emails, and act on what they read!
In mentioning West Sussex BKA I should also note that our members play an important part in the running
of the County Association and the organisation of the annual Auction and Convention that are so useful to
us.
Once again we have relied on a significant number of members (both Committee and ‘regular’ members)
giving time and effort to ensure the smooth and successful running of WGBKA. I have not mentioned
many names this year, as we all know who the ‘contributors’ are, but I have to make one special mention.
Mike Bunyan has given more than most, over several years. He has been a Demonstrator (and lighter of
smokers), has overseen honey extraction, set up and organised Cranleigh Show and other show stands,
fixed equipment and sorted out the store, and done more than a hundred and one other things, all in a very
quiet and unassuming way. We will miss Mike hugely, for his genial company as much as for his practical
skills. We wish him and June every happiness in their move to Minchinhampton to be nearer their granddaughter. Thank you Mike, for all you have given us. We will miss you. Your example should inspire us
all.
Tom Moore
24th February 2015
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"Making Beeswax Products" days with Jim Ryan, February 2015.
Many members enjoyed the opportunity to spend a day learning how to process beeswax and the
various items that can be made using this valuable hive product. This month we have two reviews
for you to read, one by Judy Knight and one by Maggie Turner (our thanks to Maggie who
worked hard arranging the bookings for the four days). Those of us who were unable to be there
will get an idea of what we missed, and those fortunate to attend can relive the experience! Ed.
Jim Ryan – a ’genetic beekeeper on both sides’ of around 50 hives, but a woodturner by trade, had
travelled from Tipperary at Rogers invitation – specifically to share his considerable knowledge of
potion-making with around 120 folk over his 4-day visit. He had a long table loaded with pans,
bottles, wax, books and moulds, and Jim used ALL of them all through the day (ably assisted by
Roger) with instruction interspersed with tales from ‘across the water’ (including the artful sale of
‘rare black beeswax’!!) and all told in his soft Irish accent.
First step - get your wax, and take care not to
waste! Bees create the wax, tiny scale by tiny
scale in times of full nectar flow – and that fact
alone encourages thrift and diligence in its collection and use. Brace comb is gleaned and cappings
stored in a snap-lid bee-proof box until all Jims
honey crop is dealt with. A solar extractor makes a
short and effortless harvest from old frames.
Top Tip 1: the right equipment for potion-making
is crucial….a stainless steel jug and pans are indispensable: aluminium will become pitted, and Pyrex
is ‘next to useless’ being a poor conductor of heat.
Weights are best judged using a digital balance and
a flame-free heat source is absolutely essential for
heating flammable ingredients without danger to
life, limb and kitchen. Jim recommends ‘soft’ distilled water for wax-processing and creating cosmetics to guarantee a completely clean product.
Top Tip 2 is to set aside TIME…if you try multitasking, the wax will be forgotten for that critical
instant!
To clean the wax (already free of honey residues), Jim has a natty twist to the purification process.
He boils water at the same time as gently melting the wax. He pours about ¾ inch hot water into
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a flat non-stick pan, and then tips in the molten wax on top. Immediately, the pan is insulated with
newspapers, and left for 24 hours. The water stays warm and the wax molten, allowing enough
time for most impurities to sink gently into the lower water layer, before the wax sets hard. Finally, any tiny particles are later removed from the wax cake individually or in a second or third
melt, being passed through medical lint.
Having got some nice pure, clean wax …………recipes for its use flowed, borrowed from three
favourite texts (below), and included lip balm, moisture cream, soap and furniture polish. He kept
us all on our toes, switching effortlessly between measurements in ounces, cups, grams and degrees Centigrade and Fahrenheit.
Customer care is needed when using essential oils as scents, or nut oils, in case of allergies which
can be extremely serious for some folk, and as a consequence, products may not legally be sold
without being officially tested – even with detailed labelling attached.
One of the simplest recipes was for a Moisturising Bar:
 100g coconut oil – it is a solid except on very warm days.
 100g sweet almond oil
 100g beeswax pieces
Scent e.g. lavender, geranium or lemon grass essential oils.
Melt together the two oils and beeswax in a stainless steel jug stood in a water bath over a hotplate. Remove the jug from water bath and dry the base, if liked - adding a few drops of essential
oil, mix, pour into moulds e.g. ice tray, and leave to set. To use, rub to moisturise dry skin.
The books Jim used were the following, although several are available on Amazon, Abe Books
and Northern Bee Books:



‘Dr Saras Honey Potions’ by Dr Sara Robb. ISBN 978-1-904846-36-9
‘Beeswax’ (Third Edn Revised) by Ron Brown. ISBN 0-905652-36-3
‘Soap Recipes, seventy tried and true ways to make modern soap with herbs, beeswax and
vegetable oils’ by Elaine C. White. ISBN 0-9637539-5-9
A GREAT day of learning and gentle entertainment. My grateful thanks to Jim for a memorable
day, and also to Roger and Maggie for assisting, organising and tea-making!
Judy
Jim Ryan kept us enthralled, with his delightful Irish brogue, on the four days of the Wax Workshop held at Hampers Green Community Centre at the beginning of February.
He showed us how to cleanse and prepare the wax, then demonstrated how to make hand moisturizing bars, lip balm, soap, furniture polish and skin cream. All done with routine kitchen equipment, and a great deal of humour! Roger did his stint as assistant ‘Debbie McGee’ style and was
kept on his toes washing up and measuring ingredients.
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Jim is a hugely knowledgeable and experienced beekeeper and we all learned a great deal – even
Roger – about dealing with wax. Jim welcomed questions and we had some interesting and lively
discussions about many different aspects of wax, honey and beekeeping. He introduced some interesting new concepts such as drawing wax after the harvest and running scale hives; something
that some of us may pursue when he sends the plans across.
The workshops were very popular and booked up quickly; so much so that we had to increase
from two days to four. They were a great success, due largely to Roger’s hard work, planning and
Jim’s well-deserved reputation as an extremely engaging and interesting speaker. We had many
messages of appreciation from attendees, some of whom travelled from London, Dorset, the New
Forest and Kent. We were so fortunate that Jim was willing to travel from Tipperary for our workshop and we would definitely like to lay on further workshops in the future, for when a new generation of beekeepers has spare wax.
We thought a caption competition might be in order. So far we have:






Debbie McGee and Paul Daniels – leave that to you to figure out which one is which!
Val Singleton – here’s one I prepared earlier!
Saturday Morning Kitchen – what, no wine!
Fanny & Johnny (Craddock for the youngsters)
Move aside the Hairy Bikers
The new episode of Breaking Bad (telly addicts will understand)
Maggie
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Caroline Drewett shares the joys and frustrations of running an out-apiary.
It’s the beginning of March and looking out of the window you could easily assume that spring has
arrived; but step out the door and there is an icy chill to the wind. The sun feels warm so no doubt
some beekeepers, with hives in sheltered locations, will be lifting the crown boards and taking a
quick look at their bees.
There is the age old question of when spring begins. In addition to this is the debate as to whether
spring is the start of the beekeeping season.
The first day of spring is an easy question to resolve. The Met Office uses the first day of March
for convenience, slotting the four seasons neatly into the 12 months of the calendar year. Historically spring starts on the day of the vernal equinox, which usually occurs on the night of 20th/21st
March. The next astronomical spring (as it is known) begins on 20 March 2015 and runs until 21
June 2015.
Less simple to resolve is the question of when the beekeeping season starts. Answers are varied
and can be January (matching the calendar year), “the spring”, or the time when you prepare the
bees for winter. I attended the West Sussex Beekeepers Convention this weekend and amongst the
many interesting speakers was Dan Basterfield. Dan’s talk was titled ‘Read the bees and act accordingly’. One of the many things he mentioned was the beekeeping year and how the bees prepare for each of the four meteorological seasons. Having thought about this I believe there is in
fact no beginning and end to the beekeeping season; it is perpetual as far as the bees are concerned. The beekeeper thinks in terms of a 12 month calendar. The bees instinctively do what
they need to do to survive; regardless of what date the beekeeper’s calendar may show. In autumn
the bees are doing what they need to do to survive the colder months; in spring they are doing
what they need to do to ensure the colony grows ready for the warmer months; in the summer they
increase their numbers, possibly swarm and prepare for autumn; for the bees it is a continual process, they do not take a holiday at any time!
As a beekeeper my season needs to be perpetual too. I can divide my tasks between the calendar
years, and refer to the busy months as ‘the season’, but if I am to work with the bees in accordance
with their needs, then my beekeeping season is continuous, with quiet times and busy times. Beekeepers could learn a lot from the bees – don’t leave it until the summer to prepare for the summer,
use the quiet winter months to ensure you are as ready as you can be to assist your bees when ‘the
season’ starts. Your bees are already prepared and waiting for the warmer weather, are you?
In the January newsletter I promised to write a review of my beekeeping year (not season), so this
will cover the 12 months of 2014. Regular readers will have followed the ups and downs within
the apiary in my monthly articles, but it doesn’t do any harm to re-cap what has happened during
the year; reviewing the failures as well as the successes (we all hope for the latter!) and take time
to plan how we can improve our beekeeping during the next 12 months.
I took two hives into the winter of 2013/2014, one on a double brood chamber. This colony had
been too large to reduce to a single brood box in the autumn. The queen dated from May 2011,
making her two years old. At my final inspection of this colony in early October 2013 there was
no brood. The last time eggs had been seen was 31st August, but I was not overly concerned as
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this mirrored what had happened in the autumn of the previous year. I spent the winter pondering
on how best to reduce the colony to a single brood chamber in the spring.
The first inspection of this hive in 2014 was 1st April. Queenless! Still a brood box of bees, well
worth saving, with no sign of a laying worker. At least that answered my question as to when and
how I was going to reduce the hive to one brood chamber!
It took two attempts to raise a new queen with eggs donated from the other colony, but finally on
16th May a new virgin queen emerged. Success!
For the second year running I treated the colony with MAQS (I have no evidence that the use of
this product the previous year affected the queen). When I removed the MAQS strips on 3 rd October, both the queen and eggs were seen, so hopefully all will be well this spring.
The second colony overwintered with a queen from that summer, July 2013. The first inspection
of this hive in 2014 was 30th March. Brood on 5 frames, 6 frames packed with stores; super added.
As part of swarm control, this queen was removed to a nuc on 9th May. A new virgin queen
emerged at some point between the following two inspections, 25th May and 8th June. Another
success! Well controlled and timely swarm prevention; and a new laying queen.
This colony was also treated with MAQS in 2014. When I removed the MAQS strips on 3 rd October, it was evident the queen had continued to lay during the treatment period. However, at my
final inspection on 19th October there were no eggs to be seen and only sealed brood. I suspected
the reason for this may be the late nectar flow, resulting in the lack of laying space. Time will tell
if this was the cause.
At the beginning of May I had two colonies, which is the number I usually aim to keep. At the
end of May I had four colonies (it doesn’t take long; four can soon become eight.......!). So where
did the fourth colony come from? When I undertook the swarm prevention on the second colony,
I retained one of the queen cells and placed it in a two frame nuc as a ‘back-up’ should the queen
cell in the parent colony fail. This queen emerged on 25th May, and was laying at the time of my
next inspection on 6th June. This small colony thrived, with lovely calm bees and so I retained it in
a new fourth hive. Another success, but my plan had not been to increase to four colonies!
My biggest frustration in 2013 had been the unexplained disappearance of queens. So this was a
big improvement in 2014.
So everything in the apiary buzzed along nicely, with successful swarm prevention, a previously
queenless colony re-queened, and another two colonies with new laying queens. But things are
never that simple in the world of beekeeping........
On 29th June an inspection of the colony created as part of swarm prevention on 9th May revealed
queen cells. One of the cells was not far off being sealed. I didn’t see the queen but there were
eggs that had been laid that day. To bide some time, I removed all the queen cells and placed a
super of combs directly onto the brood chamber to create ‘brood and a half’. I hoped the extra
space for brood and stores would suppress the swarm urge. I planned to return in a few days, with
additional equipment, and assess the situation.
I returned to the hive later that week, anticipating that the queen would have begun to lay in the
super combs. So what did I find? The swarming urge had indeed been suppressed, with no further
queen cups or cells built. The super was completely full of fresh nectar, the queen had remained in
the brood chamber. I placed a queen excluder above the brood chamber, and replaced the full super plus a second super on top. There were no further queen cells. Another success, but an unexpected one!
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Four hives going into winter, not exactly what I planned number wise, but I’m pleased that I practiced good swarm prevention, with no swarms originating from my apiary; and a successful
method of increase, utilising a two frame nuc. But before I get too carried away, let me think
about the things that could have gone better, and lessons learnt..........
Lesson one. Make sure that the holes in the lid of your smoker remain clear and are not completely blocked by tar. This will save you the trouble of continually re-lighting your smoker during an inspection!
Lesson two. When using a crownboard with the feeder hole reduced in size to clear supers after
extraction, ensure the hole is the correct size. I returned to the hive a few days later to find the supers empty of bees. The slot was too small (but only just) and the bees had been unable to make it
bigger. Lesson learnt - use a ruler!
Lesson three. If storing supers and combs in a shed, check for wax moth. You
don’t want a shed full of wax moth larvae. They can burrow their way into almost anything!
Lesson four. If you have an excess of wax moth larvae, don’t destroy them, sell
them to the neighbours to feed the garden birds!
Lesson five. Now that you store your supers and spare brood chambers outside,
remember your school physics lessons and the theory of the centre of gravity........too tall and the
stack will fall over in gale force winds (even if there is a lump of concrete on top)!!
Lesson six. When collecting oxalic acid, ensure that your suitable, clean and dry, plastic container, kept from the previous year, hasn’t developed a tiny hole in the bottom. This causes the
oxalic acid to leak onto the work surface. (Apologies to Tom!)
The warm weather of 2014 extended well into the autumn, with plenty of late foraging for the
bees. When I went to the apiary on 29th November it was a warm 13oC and all the colonies were
busy foraging and bringing-in pollen As a result, three out of the four colonies are over-wintering
on ‘brood and a half’. The fourth hive placed all stores in the brood chamber, and so the super was
removed. There was no need to undertake the customary winter feeding. Of the four queens, three
are from 2014 and one from 2013. Will they still be there in 2015......?
No major catastrophes in the apiary during 2014. What is my highlight of the year? I have two.
The first was when I heard a queen ‘pipe’ from within a sealed queen cell. The second was finding a mummified bumblebee on the floor of one of the hives.
As the weather was dry and bright at the weekend, I walked to the apiary to sit and watch the hive
entrances for a few minutes. The bees were returning with pollen. There was another visitor to
the apiary – a wasp. It was sunning itself on the side of a brood box and I quickly beheaded it with
the end of a hive tool. It was the first day of March!
Caroline
Thanks to this month’s contributors. If you have similar articles or beekeeping experiences you would like to share, please supply articles and any photographs for
the April edition no later than the 22nd March.
If you need any help submitting an article, please give me a call.
Caroline
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