Hon. Newsletter Editor:
Peter Edwards
E-mail: beekeepers@stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk

As you can see, this year we will be attending at least three events, setting up the gazebo with display boards, observation hive, various bits and pieces of equipment, honey for sale and plenty of handouts. Once again, we will be looking for volunteers to help, both with setting up the displays and with talking to the public about beekeeping. The work is not particularly arduous and there is usually plenty of time to have a look at the other exhibitors. Obviously, the more hands that are available, the better!

If you feel that you could help - even for a short while - please contact me.
Peter Edwards

On Sunday 18th April we will be holding a working party at Hampton Wood to prepare the Apiary for the coming season. I will be there from 10.00am with materials to carry out a variety of jobs which we must get completed as soon as possible. These will include work on the shed, beehives, making stands for the hives, making frames, fitting foundation and repairing the damage caused by the woodpecker. We have a lot to do so if anyone can spare a few hours come along and give us a hand - whatever your skills are you will be found something to do. We will look at the hives if the weather is suitable and as we have eight live hives at the present time we must decide which ones we can pass onto our beginners so they can start the season with a decent hive of bees. The wood is a lovely place to be in the spring, with primroses and bluebells adding some colour to this wonderful place to stroll around and give you some fresh air in the company of fellow beekeepers. Please bring your own handtools if you think you will need them. Hot drinks will be supplied during the day until 4pm or until we run out of jobs. Hope to see you there.
Apiary Manager

You should have received your membership card with the recent direct mailing of BBKA News. Please contact me if you have not yet received it.
Peter Edwards

This excellent book has been a standard reference work for many years and was my guide when I started beekeeping. Now the publishers are offering associations the opportunity to buy 6 copies of the latest edition for the price of 5 (i.e. £50, or £8.34 each). Please contact me if you are interested in obtaining a copy.
Peter Edwards

One of our more senior members in the Ilmington area has been trying to give up beekeeping - but seems to keep attracting swarms! He is now offering the following for sale at £120:

3 colonies in National hives (NB these have been modified for top bee space)
25kg stainless tank with strainers
2 gross honey jars
Sherriff hood and veil (new)
Uncapping tray
Numerous honey buckets plus other equipment

Contact me if you are interested.
Peter Edwards

Do you need Apistan or Bayvarol? Our treasurer, Will Spencer, will be buying his supplies at the BBKA Spring Convention and has kindly offered to buy some for any members unable to attend. Contact Will if you would like to take up his offer.

Our swarm service organiser, Mrs Donley, is finally hanging up her telephone for a well-earned rest after many years of sterling service. At its meeting on 19 March, the committee agreed unanimously that she has handled the task most efficiently, advising and reassuring members of the public who have swarms and then arranging for beekeepers needing swarms to attend. I am sure that all members, especially those who have benefited from swarms, would wish to join the committee in expressing their thanks to Mrs Donley for all her hard work.

I am pleased to be able to report that Moira Osborne has kindly volunteered (?) to take over the position with immediate effect.
Peter Edwards

You may remember that in May 2003 I reported on work by Tom Seeley that showed increased honey production when drone comb was removed. However, I read a paper recently that suggests that drones may be more important than we have previously considered in selecting for varroa resistant colonies.

Traditionally, beekeepers have bred from the queens of colonies that show desirable characteristics, often doing little to select desirable drone lines. However, queens are diploid (i.e. they carry two sets of chromosomes) and will therefore have both dominant and recessive alleles - so there is no guarantee that they will pass on the characteristics that we would like. In contrast, the drones have only one set of chromosomes - what you see is what you get (to borrow a well-known phrase!) - which makes drone selection a valuable tool in selective breeding. Of course, whilst it is easy to breed from a selected queen, controlling which drones mate with her is not so easy unless you have access to instrumental insemination equipment and the necessary skills to use it. However, in selecting for varroa resistance it seems that the varroa themselves will do the drone selection for us - if we let them! Here is how it works:

We know that varroa mites are particularly attracted to drone brood and if drone larvae are damaged by varroa, then they usually die soon after emergence or at an early age without mating.

Now, it seems to follow that where colonies are treated with high efficiency treatments, e.g. Apistan, all drones will survive and may pass on their genes - good or bad. No natural selection will take place.

On the other hand, where colonies have minimal treatment for varroa, i.e. varroa is kept at sub-lethal levels but not virtually eliminated, drones will be infested in those colonies showing little or no resistance and those drones will not mate. In contrast, any colonies that have some degree of resistance will produce viable drones - and, of these drones, those that mate will pass on all their genes. Natural selection!

I have never used Bayvarol or Apistan and have kept varroa at sub-lethal levels using thymol since 1997. I have also had perhaps rather more drone comb than might have been considered desirable! I am now having great difficulty finding any varroa. Is resistance starting to appear - or is this wishful thinking? One thing does seem clear: if I were to try to restrict the number of drones in my hives in order to increase honey production, then my queens are more likely to mate with someone else's drones and this could lose me any advantage that I have gained so far.
Peter Edwards

An unidentified viral infection may be the cause of aggression in worker honeybees, say researchers from Japan. Their findings appear in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Virology.

While initially trying to pinpoint genes responsible for aggressive behaviour in worker honeybees, the researchers stumbled upon a novel RNA sequence, which they named Kakugo, that could only be found in the brains of honeybees that displayed aggressive behaviour toward a hornet decoy. They believe that the RNA is an indicator of a viral infection.

"These results demonstrate that Kakugo RNA is a plus-strand RNA of a novel picorna-like virus and that the brains of aggressive workers are infected by this novel virus," say the researchers. "In aggressive workers, Kakugo RNA was detected in the brain but not in the thorax or abdomen, indicating a close relation between viral infection in the brain and aggressive worker behaviours."