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

We will again be having a stand at this very popular event and need volunteers to help with our stand. Last year we had a great day with plenty of time to look around at the other exhibits. I am now putting together a rota and even if you can only manage a couple of hours this would be a great help. Free entry if you do! Ring me now!
Peter Edwards

Volunteers are also needed to help with our stand at this two-day event. Again, I am putting together a rota and even if you can only manage a couple of hours this would be a great help. Ring me now!
Peter Edwards

Denis Keyte has arranged another of his popular summer walks for us on 26 July and Shirley Davies has again kindly volunteered to arrange a supper to follow.

The walk will start from Yew Tree Farm in Wootton Wawen and will take in the canal towpath and Austy Wood, an easy walk of perhaps a little over three miles. After the walk we will drive to Shirley and Keith's house for supper in the garden; if the weather is wet then the supper will be in the village hall.

The cost will be £5 each, with a £2 supplement if we have to use the hall.

Arrangements have been made for us to park in the yard at Yew Tree Farm (A3400 from Stratford, down the hill towards Wootton, past the Navigation Inn on right-hand side, under the aqueduct, turn right into Pettiford Lane and the entrance to the farm is 50 yards up on the left-hand side).
Peter Edwards

You may recall that I purchased some queens from Derbyshire last year. One was introduced into an Association colony and I used the rest to requeen an entire apiary where I had problems with poor temper. These queens were bred for their near native characteristics, supersedure and docility.

So far, none of them has tried to swarm and the majority of them are producing good crops after a slow start. Their temper, although reasonable, is not quite as good as I might have hoped. I certainly have other bees that have produced more honey and some that are better tempered (and some a lot worse). Their great advantage is in their low-swarming characteristic; if I had this in all my colonies, it would eliminate the need for swarm control. It will be interesting to see how they progress in their second full year - in theory they should start superseding and I will be making good use of the spare queen cells.

Although I have not yet been able to follow up personally on the one used for the Association, Denis tells me that the colony has not swarmed either.
Peter Edwards

The National Beekeeping Unit has confirmed that a few apiaries in South Wales have been found to have varroa resistance. Laboratory tests have confirmed the field tests and show that Apistan efficacy is only around 40%. This is the first resistance to be found outside the original area in Devon and must serve as a reminder to all those using Apistan or Bayvarol that resistance may well appear in this area - and mis-use of strips will bring that day forward.
Peter Edwards

Another strange start to the year! At first I thought that we might be going to have a 'normal' season. Unlike last year, the harder winter and cool early spring held back the oilseed rape, so that we had none of the early flowers that can cause granulation problems. This granulation starts when the bees store small amounts of rape in the supers early in the spring and then abandon it to cluster in the brood box during the cold nights; the honey is left to cool and granulate and this then seeds honey gathered later. Colonies were also held back to the size that we might reasonably expect for March and April.

However, from 6 March to 18 April there was no significant rainfall except for a small amount on 1 April. Temperatures climbed to 24°C on 16 April, crops were beginning to suffer and we began to wonder if it would ever rain again. We need not have worried! The last week of April brought rain and strong winds and these continued through the first three weeks of May. In addition to the rain and wind, temperatures were poor, particularly at night, with just 1°C on the night of 14 May. We watched the rape going over with very little in the supers and colonies struggling. Gloom set in!

Then, on 25 May, everything changed again - the day dawned dry and reasonably warm with a gentle breeze; since then we have had a run of almost perfect beekeeping weather. Temperatures have climbed steadily, with only 3 days below 20°C in June, no nights below 10°C and a high of 28°C on 31 May and 22 June. Rainfall has been about right to keep things going and the honey has poured in.
Peter Edwards

Back in the days when Sue and I were running about fifty colonies we had good control of our colonies, with all queens clipped and marked, 9-day or better inspections (unless the weather was too bad) and complete hive records. Then, as the day job became more and more demanding, things slipped a bit!

Last year we re-instated full record keeping. I use a Dictaphone to record details after each hive inspection and these notes are then transferred to the record book at the end of the day. I find that this is much easier and quicker than trying to write notes in the apiary, especially if there is a breeze, and having the notes in a book, rather than in the top of the hive, enables me to check what equipment is needed before leaving home next time. However, I no longer keep the Dictaphone in my top pocket after it fell out and landed in the bucket of soda-wash! (Quickly dried off and with the heads cleaned it now seems to work better than it did before.)

This year we have concentrated on swarm control, clipping and marking all queens and maintaining 10-day inspections. This has paid great dividends - only two colonies managed to get a swarm away before we had finished clipping - one of those obligingly went into an empty hive - and we have been able to make good increase from artificial swarms. Perhaps the greatest benefit has been the lack of granulation this year - colonies that swarm have insufficient bees left to keep the honey warm, especially at night, and it is always these colonies where the rape honey sets like a brick. Of the first 130 supers brought in only 4 or 5 have needed any scraping down and even those had quite soft granulation, this despite a late start to extracting due to a problem with my baffle tank that took more than a week to fix. Perhaps if I give up sleep completely then I might have total control!
Peter Edwards

Reports from other parts of the country confirm that we are not alone in seeing very heavy swarming this year, with many beekeepers reporting that every colony has tried to swarm. A considerable number of colonies have swarmed before moving into the supers - being confined to the brood box by poor weather in May caused considerable congestion.
Peter Edwards

A member recently confessed to throwing combs of granulated honey in the dustbin because they were a problem to deal with (no names - no pack drill!). I can understand why, because over the years cappings and granulated honey have been a major headache for me. I have now solved the problem with the latest modifications to the uncapping tank (of which more at a later date) and might even consider buying cappings from members not wishing to process them.

This made me wonder what tasks other beekeepers find a problem - so give me a ring, send me an email or a note and I will put together a list of the least popular tasks - and perhaps offer some solutions.
Peter Edwards

We now have a copy of 'An Introduction to Beekeeping with Paul Metcalf' in the Association library. Contact Ron French if you would like to borrow it.
Peter Edwards

A very warm welcome to Geoff Hilton of Alcester who has recently joined the Association.

(I think that Geoff is the first person to join the Association after finding our website on the Internet).
Peter Edwards