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

Firstly, my apologies for the delay in producing the newsletter this month - we have been sunning ourselves in India (as they say, it's tough - but someone has to do it) and secondly my thanks to Terry and Mike for their contributions below - without them there would have been quite a lot of white space this month.

Remember that all contributions are welcome! Could you write something?

The 43rd Annual Delegates Meeting of the BBKA was held on Saturday 18 January 2003. Following Denis Keyte's retirement after 40 years of valiant service, I was elected to represent our Association at this year's meeting.

We received an encouraging report from Bernard Diaper about a meeting that had taken place with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in connection with the Bee Diseases Insurance (BDI) scheme. It would appear that the FSA realise that there is a problem with the present arrangements and are prepared to attempt to resolve these; they also requested that no more letters be sent to MPs on this matter - they have got the message. [Success! - PE].

Most delegates were surprised to hear that the honey collected from member Associations for presentation to the Queen to commemorate the Golden Jubilee had not yet been delivered. Delivery to Buckingham Palace was due to take place on 21st January 2003.

There has been an increase of 113 in the membership of the BBKA in the last year. The new membership list is now 86% of the potential membership. The BBKA individual membership cards should be received by members in early February.

The proposal by the BBKA executive that the capitation fee be increased by £2.50 per annum was passed by a large majority. We were told that without the increase the BBKA would have to further reduce its support to members and the public.

During the meeting the President Mr I A Preece on behalf of the BBKA conferred the award of Honorary Fellowship of the BBKA on Brenda Ball BSc Cbiol and Professor Ingrid Williams BSc PhD, both from IACR Rothamsted.

Terry Hitchman

At the 2002 Spring Convention I made my usual visit to the Irish Beekeepers stand. In conversation with them I mentioned that we planned to visit Ireland for our family holiday during the last week of June and I also expressed an interest in Dark Galtee queens which are produced by Micheál MacGiolla Coda in Co. Tipperary. My interest in Galtee Queens stems from the good reports I have received about them. It was suggested that whilst in Ireland I should visit Micheál. When we set off for our holiday, I was determined to try to see Micheál and order queens from him. Our holiday in Ireland included a visit to my brother who lives in Lismore. Whilst there, he offered a tour of the area and, after some gentle arm twisting, I persuaded a reluctant brother to include Cahir in the tour, as I knew that Micheál lived on the Cork road a few miles from Cahir.

We eventually found Micheál's house and fortunately for me he was at home tending his bees. I introduced myself and explained the purpose of my visit. Micheál explained that the spring weather in Ireland had been wet and cold with only a few days of warm weather. Due to the inclement weather he had not managed to mate many queens up to that point in the season. His 140 colonies were on the verge of starvation as they were still living off stores gathered from the ivy in autumn 2001. I was impressed by the fact that his colonies had survived for nine months on winter stores.

Micheál's Dark Galtee Queens are raised from the Dark European Honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) which is the indigenous bee of Ireland and the British Isles. Morphometry studies in recent years have shown that the bee that predominates in Ireland is the Dark European Honeybee. Micheál's selection procedures for choosing breeder queens and drones include the use of morphometry to confirm that these are Apis mellifera mellifera. Samples of Micheál's bees have recently been tested using DNA techniques at the University of Copenhagen and these tests have confirmed beyond doubt the racial purity of his Dark Galtee strain of bee.

Micheál is a member of the Galtee Bee Breeding Group, first formed in 1991. This group consists of more than 30 members, all of whom are members of BIBBA. The group's aim is to work together for the conservation, restoration, study, selection and improvement of their own strains of Dark European Bees. The group operates over a pure breeding zone of about 2,000 square miles. Micheál's mating apiary is situated in the centre of this pure breeding zone. I spent over an hour with Micheál and was given a guided tour of his mating apiary where he had over 150 Apidea Mini Nucs, all numbered. He showed me his book where he recorded the ancestry of every breeder queen and their offspring. We discussed Varroa, which had been found in the Galtee/Vee valley in October 2001, and he was assuming that the presence of mites would be confirmed in his apiaries in the course of the 2002 season.

By now the family was becoming very impatient with waiting for me, so after receiving a gift of a pot of his honey, it was time for me to say goodbye to Micheál. I felt honoured to have been in the presence of a master of his craft; Micheál is obviously an expert in his field and needs all the encouragement we can give in promoting the conservation of Apis mellifera mellifera. I placed an order for 3 queens and these arrived on 29th August. Two of the queens were for David Titcomb and I introduced my queen into one of my colonies. I am looking forward to the forthcoming season to assess the Dark Galtee Bees against my own strain of Apis mellifera mellifera.

Terry Hitchman

Peel the orange thinly, cut off the pith, remove the centre core and then liquidise it. Add the chopped stem ginger.

Beat the margarine and sugar together and then add the honey. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Add half the flour and mix well.

Add the orange and ginger mix.

Add the remaining flour, baking powder and ground ginger. Fold in well.

Bake in a lined cake tin at 150ºC (fan oven) for 11/4 to 11/2 hours.

Moira Osborne

Held in the Cygnets Restaurant at Stratford College, the Association's annual dinner on January 30th was a great success, with the usual excellent food and wide choice of menu. 37 people attended, members old and new, and included ex-BBKA President Michael Badger, fresh from receiving his MBE. He spoke a few words to us on how it never ceased to surprise and please him what a wide variety of people he was continually meeting through his beekeeping activities.

The main event of the evening was the presentation by our President, Mike Helps, of the book 'Fauna Britannica' to Denis Keyte on his recently giving up the post of Association Secretary after 23 years. The book, written by local expert Stefan Buczacki, looked big enough to keep Denis happy for some time to come!

Mike Osborne