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

Friday 8 February, 7.30pm. National Beekeeping Centre, Stoneleigh. Arranged by the Warwickshire Association, this is an opportunity to hear Dr. Ruth Spinks, one of the country's acknowledged experts, bring us up-to-date with the work being done at the NBU on European Foulbrood. Robin Hall, our Regional Bee Inspector will also be attending.

Friday 22 February, 7.30pm. Talk by John Home entitled "Bees are my Business", at Stratford College. John will give us the low-down on how to make a living from beekeeping.

Friday 22 March, 7.30pm. Robin Hall, our Regional Bees Inspector, will give a talk 'Preparation for the season's first inspection'. This will be one of the most important meetings of the year, as we will be discussing with Robin a new strategy for disease inspections in our area - 'Safaris'! Please do not miss this meeting.

Wednesday 27 March, 7.30pm. Committee meeting at Denis Keyte's house.

Sunday 21 April, 3pm. First Association apiary meeting. Regular meetings will then be held on the third Sunday of the month up to the end of September; additional ad-hoc meetings will be arranged as necessary.

Friday 18 October, 6.30pm. Annual Honey Show. (Advance notice so that you can start thinking about entering - no excuse now!)

ASSOCIATION HONEY - There is still some Association honey available at £1.25 per lb. This is stored in 30lb buckets, but I can supply smaller quantities if required. (PE)

(Continued from last month)

Dr Stephen Martin's lecture 'Collapse of varroa infested colonies explained' certainly lived up to its title. Ever since varroa first infested the Western Honeybee, Apis Mellifera, beekeepers and scientists have struggled to explain why some colonies collapse whilst others, often with higher mite populations, seem to be able to survive. Many theories have been advanced and treatments promoted. Perhaps it was the timing of treatment? Perhaps the treatment caused the collapse? Perhaps the problem is re-invasion from other, untreated or feral, colonies in the autumn after treatment has been completed? Perhaps it was the strain of bee? Africanised honeybees (AHB) in South America - the so-called Killer Bees - seem able to survive without treatment - so perhaps we should all start keeping them!

Although these are all relevant factors, the truth is quite simple and, as Stephen told us with justifiable pride, was discovered by British scientists. The answer lies with viruses and much of the credit for this work must therefore go to Brenda Ball whose work on varroa and honeybee viruses led her to conclude many years ago that it was the viruses, vectored by varroa, that were the major problem. The damage done to larvae and adult bees by varroa mites sucking their blood, whilst not insignificant, is of secondary importance to the transmission of viruses.

There are several important viruses, but it seems that the one that causes the most problems is the Deformed Wing Virus (DWV). This virus is found naturally in the adult honeybee population and, like Acute Paralysis Virus (APV), normally causes few problems. So why is it that DWV and APV become a problem when varroa is present? The answer is that varroa transfers the viruses from adult bees to larvae, injecting them into its blood - a pathway that does not exist unless varroa is present.

Larvae infected with DWV may emerge with deformed wings (this was at one time thought to be due to the physical damage caused to the larvae by varroa feeding on them) - but more significantly, both DWV and APV infected larvae produce adult bees that have much shortened lives. This is the reason why colonies usually collapse during the winter. Often, severely infected colonies can struggle through the summer because they are producing bees to replace those dying early; however, the brood reared in the autumn must provide winter bees that will ensure the colonies survival until the following spring. These winter bees should live for about six months - but DWV reduces their lives to an average of 88 days, or less than three months, and the colony therefore dies out during the winter.

It now becomes clear why some races, e.g. AHB in South America, can tolerate large numbers of varroa. It is simply because bees in sub-tropical or tropical climates do not need to overwinter; they are affected by varroa and DWV - and their lives are shortened in the same way as our bees are affected - but they can survive this because they carry on breeding all the year round.

So what are the lessons that we need to learn?

• Varroa numbers are less significant than the presence of DWV and APV
• Beekeepers cannot see, or test for, these viruses so must assume their presence
• Varroa numbers should be kept as low as is reasonably practical to avoid transmission of the viruses to larvae
• Colonies are likely to survive higher levels of varroa during the active season because there are sufficient bees being produced to replace those dying early
• It is essential to keep varroa numbers low from the time that the crop is removed in order to produce 'clean' bees to overwinter.

In practical terms, this means that we must treat colonies immediately the crop is removed in early August - any delay may result in the production of virus infected winter bees and the death of the colony before the following spring. (PE)

There were suggestions last year that all beekeepers who sell honey may be required to hold a certificate in basic food hygiene. Sue and I had already been considering whether we should have something like this, so we made enquiries and found that Warwickshire College run regular courses at Leamington for the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health's (CIEH) 'Basic Food Hygiene' Certificate. There seemed to be no interest from other Association members, but Sue and I enrolled in November.

The course was run by Hazel Childs, an environmental health officer from Birmingham, and consisted of three weekly two-hour sessions. The first two sessions covered the course material and the last session was used for revision papers followed by a thirty question multiple-choice test; the pass mark for the award of the certificate being twenty, i.e. 67%.

The course was very well run in a friendly, informal style with good visual aids (e.g. samples of rat droppings - in a sealed container!) and an excellent course booklet - the CIEH 'Food Safety - First Principles'. Subjects that we covered included: microbiology and illness; bacteria and how they multiply; high-risk food (did you know that rice is high risk?); contamination (bacterial, chemical and physical); temperature control; spoilage and preservation; personal hygiene; cleaning and disinfection; food pests; premises and equipment. There were also hazard-spotting exercises.

Whilst much of the emphasis on bacteria (e.g. salmonella, E-Coli 0157) had little relevance to honey, which is classed as a low risk food due to its bactericidal properties, the sessions on contamination were very relevant. Honey can easily become contaminated by chemicals (hive preservatives, medication for disease and varroa, pesticides and fungicides used on crops, chemicals used to repel bees when removing the crop, etc), or physically (hair, string, jewellery, clothing, insects and vermin, glass, etc). One potentially serious bacterial contamination could be from Clostridium Botulinum. This bacterium is commonly found in soil and could be picked up if supers are placed on the ground, or dust is blown on to the honey when using a blower to clear the crop. It can cause infant botulism if honey is fed to infants under 12 months old - there are approximately seventy cases a year in the USA but none have ever been confirmed in the UK.

I would certainly recommend the course to everyone, as, even though it is not all relevant to beekeeping, it is certainly relevant to everyday food preparation in the home. I am pleased to be able to report that we both passed and are now looking forward to receiving our certificates. (PE)

Transrural Trust talked to us last year about their work in helping beekeepers in Kosovo recover from the ravages of war and we gave them a donation. They have now sent us a progress report. Apart from providing important moral support and encouragement, they have supplied 1000 sheets of wax foundation plus other tools and supplies, a number of small grants to a local association to enable leaflets on disease treatment and control to be produced, and for equipment to enable war widows to take up beekeeping (hives to be made locally). Support has also been given to a hive manufacturer in Albania to facilitate the production of bargain priced hives. Also included were the personal stories of a number of men and women, telling how beekeeping was helping them to cope with life. For us a few hives is a pleasant hobby; for many of them they make life bearable again, both with the income they bring in and with helping them to forget the tragedies they have experienced. The telephone number for the Transrural Trust is 01993 771230 and they are based at Office 18, Spinners Court, 55, West End, Witney, OX28 1NH. What those of us who went to the lecture liked was their attitude of working with those that they are helping, not just handing out money to them. Their programme of support for Kosovo is expected to continue for several years, so any donation would be welcome. (MO)