Hon. Newsletter Editor:
Mike Osborne
New E-mail: M.Osborne@care4free.net

The practice of using 80% acetic acid to sterilise empty comb, both brood and super that are temporarily out of use, has always been recommended because it kills EFB, Nosema, Amoeba and wax moth. The current prevalence of EFB (new cases are still being found in the area) clearly makes it even more important than usual. For many years one of our members always kept a stock of the acid in a glass carboy and was able to supply local beekeepers with small quantities as required at a reasonable price. However, I now have a considerable number of boxes to treat and have had some difficulty in locating suitable suppliers. Thorne's normally sell it at nearly £35 for 2.5 litres (and you have to collect it from Wragby) but generously offered a price of £25 if I bought 10! Enquiries through Beefarmers' contacts located a wholesaler in Southampton offering 2 litres for £10.87, but with £7.95 carriage - and all plus VAT. Eventually, I found a source in Warwickshire at a sensible price, but had to take my trailer to collect it as they would not let me use any vehicle without a bulkhead to separate the acid from the driver's compartment. I now have 50 litres in stock, which should last me for some years, but will be willing to supply Association members at £10 for 2.5 litres (I will also supply safety data sheets).

The method of sterilising boxes is given in detail in many of our library books but, briefly, involves placing a pad of old rags or cotton wool on top of the frames and pouring approximately 1/4 pint (142 ml. if you must!) of acid on to the pad. Further boxes are added and the hive is then sealed for a week; combs should then be well aired before use.

Peter Edwards

The Bee Unit of the Central Scientific Laboratories have produced excellent leaflets on the recognition of brood diseases and, because of the continued presence of EFB in the area, we are enclosing copies with this newsletter. We have gone to some trouble to obtain and distribute these, so PLEASE read them and make sure that you could recognise EFB in your hive.

Following the wet winter a number of members lost colonies and hence the expected honey crop, whilst I know of some, particularly among our garden beekeepers, who have done well so far and will obtain more than their requirements. Should you have a surplus contact Peter Edwards on 01789 295169. It need only be roughly strained and would be acceptable in 20/30lb. buckets. He is after a ton of honey!

This meeting was again well attended and provided considerable interest.

Before reading the following account, you may wish to re-read last month's newsletter to refresh your memory on what we did at the last meeting. I will use the same numbering of the hives to describe what we found.

No.1 was a great success. It had the old queen laying in the bottom box and a new queen laying in the top box. However, the foundation in the bottom box had not been drawn, probably because the majority of the workers were upstairs with the new queen. They had built some more wild comb, hanging from the crown board and filled with honey. We removed the box with the old queen and installed the new queen downstairs, added a super and left the wild comb over the crownboard, which has a hole in it, so that the bees can clean it out (we hope).

The artificial swarm on no. 2 had worked perfectly. The old queen had laid up a full brood box - with no new queen cells - and the parent colony had a new laying queen. A super of honey was removed by David using his 'bee blower' (actually it is a leaf blower) - although engine trouble meant that the last few bees were shaken off.

No. 3 - our over-wintered Association colony - had not fared well; the sound coming from the hive suggested that they were queenless and, when we removed a frame, one look at the bees scenting on the comb was enough to confirm their predicament. The problem was overcome by uniting the box with the old queen from no. 1 to this hive. Given a bit of luck, they will supersede her later in the year and we will have a reasonably good colony to go into winter.

Peter Edwards

I went along to the Sunday sessions of the meeting organised by the Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham branch of the Warwickshire Beekeepers on 17th June, and heard some very interesting talks as well as enjoying an excellent meal. The first speaker was Julian Routh on queen rearing. Unfortunately, weather problems over the previous days prevented the full practical demonstration hoped for, but some useful points were made. Firstly one must be clear in one's mind what are the characteristics that one is looking for when rearing new queens from present stock, such as good temper, ease of handling, good honey production, disease resistance, etc. Use can be made of queen cells naturally produced in the preferred 'breeder colony' or a of 'cupkit' system (see Thorne's Catalogue) in which the breeder queen is induced to lay eggs in a block of plastic cell cups, which are then easily transferred to a queenless 'brooder colony' for looking after until they hatch. This can be another hive or more traditionally a nucleus box or a mini-nuc (Apidea). The last only requires a cupful of young bees to look after the queen cell and the new queen is left to emerge and mate, so that in two weeks a check can be made that she is laying. Because there are so few bees in a mini-nuc the queen is easily seen and this is a good time to mark her. The next speaker, after the lunch break, was Dr. Eva Crane, known internationally for her knowledge of the history and different methods of beekeeping throughout the world, about which she has written several books. We saw some very interesting slides showing the rock art of honey hunters from places such as Spain in about 4,000 BC and of more recent date from Southern Africa. Beekeeping in ancient Egypt and Greece was shown, with modern day comparisons demonstrating how little has changed in some areas of those countries, although in 1682 a book showed that there were basket hives in use in Greece with removable top bars for the combs. Swarming was a positive benefit in Medieval Britain to maintain enough colonies, because of the requirement to destroy colonies at the end of the year to get at the honey. These and many other facts about man's association with honey bees made for a most entertaining talk. Norman Gate from the Research Centre at Rothamstead talked about bee diseases with particular reference to the fact that the presence of varroa brings out otherwise dormant viral infections. Slow paralysis virus has only become common with heavy varroa infestation and deformed wing virus has only become apparent since the arrival of varroa. The direct effect of the varroa mites is very limited. Bees emerging from infected larvae have an initial weight loss which is soon made up and no effect on the bees' life-span occurs. Suggestions are that the mites carry the viruses between the bees and/or that protein present in the mites' saliva affects the bees' immune system. On the treatment of varroa in the late summer, this should be done as early as possible for maximum effect. I asked about the possibility of bumble bees suffering from varroa, as one of our members has reported them without wings, but it was suggested that this could be due to a viral infection not necessarily brought on by varroa. The final speaker was Claire Waring, who talked about beekeeping in Africa, accompanied by her own excellent slides, showing a variety of hives, some of them hollowed out logs suspended in the trees and split for ease of access to the combs. Because of their very defensive attitude and tendency to abscond, many hives are looked at and the honey collected at night. A tip for those looking for a good smoker fuel - try dried cow dung!

Hopefully, some of you will have some surplus honey this year which you may be thinking of selling for the first time. If so the label must provide certain information:

1. A description of the contents, e.g. 'honey' or 'Warwickshire honey'.

Care has to be taken if descriptions such as 'heather honey' or 'wild flower honey' are used, as the contents would have to predominantly agree with this, e.g. include at least 75% of the specified honey.

2. The name and full address of the supplier.

3. The nett metric weight, e.g. 454g (equivalent to 1lb which may be included as well). The metric figures should be at least 4 mm. high. Although the weight is currently only to be defined in metric terms, honey may only be sold in the following imperial quantities: 57g 2oz, 113g 4oz, 227g 8oz, 340g 12oz, 454g 1lb, 680g 1.5lbs or multiples of 1lb. This is why putting honey in standard 1lb or 1/2lb jars makes life easier.

4. A lot mark. This is a number or lettering, preceded by the letter 'L', so that it is possible at a later date to identify the batch of honey that it has come from. A mark based on a date, e.g. L601 is acceptable and reminds one of when it was extracted.

5. It is not necessary to include a 'sell-by' date.

Lakeland Plastics in Stratford sell a very useful stainless steel coarse strainer. It is rectangular and has expanding supports so that it can be left resting across the top of a variety of different sized containers whilst the honey drips through. Cost is £16.95. Turned over it also makes a useful food cover.

Sunday, 8th July. Denis Keyte's apiary meeting at 3 pm. If you have not seen Denis's cool, calm and collected approach to beekeeping now is your chance.

Sunday, 15th July. Hampton Woods, Association apiary meeting at 3.00pm. The above report on the last meeting gives an idea of the sort of manipulations that can be seen and learnt from at the apiary. Any queries please contact the apiary manager

Friday, 20th July. Committee meeting, 7.30 pm. at Peter Edwards house.

Wednesday, 25th July. Annual Summer walk in Austy Wood, Wootton Wawen. Be sure to reserve the date for this popular event which starts at 7.0 pm. at the Navigation Inn and finishes there at about 8.30 pm. for a bite to eat.

Friday, 19th October. Annual Honey Show, at Stratford College. You have plenty of time to think about this. Don't forget the photographic class, all you need is a camera to take 3 photographs to do with beekeeping.