STRATFORD-UPON-AVON & DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER
March 2003
Hon. Secretary:
Mike Osborne, Oak Lodge, King's Lane, Snitterfield, Stratford-upon-Avon, 01789 731745
Hon. Treasurer:
Will Spencer, Park Farm, Preston-on-Stour, CV37 8NG. 01789 450204
Hon. Newsletter Editor:
Peter Edwards
E-mail:
COMING EVENTS
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Monday 10 March, 7.30pm |
Invitation to the Solihull meeting at Blooms of Bressingham - see January newsletter. |
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Friday 21 March, 7.30pm |
Committee meeting at Denis' house. |
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Friday 28 March, 7.30pm **Note change of date** |
Association meeting at Stratford College. Chris Ivin of the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust will talk to us about the work of the Trust, with particular reference to Hampton Wood where the Association has its apiary. |
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Saturday 26 April, 9am to 5pm |
BBKA Convention at Stoneleigh. A full day of lectures, demonstrations and trade stands. |
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
It occurred to me that we have been rather lax in welcoming new members and also reporting changes to our membership - my apologies for the omissions and a warm, if belated, welcome to:
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Adrian Hopkinson, Norton Lindsey |
Ewart James, Norton Lindsey |
The following members have left:
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Ken Edwards, Alveston |
Hilary Robson, Snitterfield |
IT COULD HAVE BEEN WARWICKSHIRE
... but it wasn't. Mile after mile of bright yellow fields looked at first like the fields of oilseed rape around Stratford, but this was mustard and we were in Rajasthan on our way from the fabled pink city of Jaipur to the Taj Mahal in Agra. We stopped the car to take a photograph.
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Surely, with this much forage there must be bees! We asked our driver, Harminder, if there were honeybees in the area. 'Oh, yes sir', he replied. 'Will we see any?' 'Oh, yes sir'. We drove on. After about half a mile we came to an apiary and stopped again; there were probably between eighty and a hundred hives in the apiary, which was right beside the road. I took more photographs and then looked around for a beekeeper, but unfortunately there was no-one around so we drove on again. |
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We had only travelled perhaps a quarter of a mile before we came to the next apiary, then another and another! I eventually lost count, but we must have passed thirty or forty apiaries that day. All were very similar - with around eighty to a hundred Langstroth hives in each; the system appeared to be that the hives were run with two deep boxes and no shallow supers, with honey being extracted as the top box filled. Each apiary had a tent - presumably accommodation for the beekeeper and possibly for extracting honey. In one apiary we saw an extractor in the open with a mesh tent around it. The bees were Apis Mellifera - very yellow and very docile. All of the hives were on metal stands and cracks between the boxes were sealed with mud; they appeared to use sacking as a crownboard.
We asked our driver to stop if we passed an apiary with beekeepers working. We soon found one and I walked across.
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Even without smoke, the bees were very docile although one did get a bit too friendly and became tangled in my beard by my right ear. We waved goodbye and continued on our journey - time was short! Harminder explained that a great deal of mustard is grown in the region; it is used as a green vegetable (which is particularly favoured in the Punjab), for animal forage and, of course, for its seeds which are used in cooking. |
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Next month: Bees at the Taj Mahal!
AFB OUTBREAK LAST YEAR
A reminder about the outbreak of AFB in Warwickshire last year (see October 2002 newsletter). The National Bee Unit now has a map on its website showing the locations affected:
http://www.csl.gov.uk/science/organ/environ/bee/afboutbreak/outbreak.cfm
Please inform the Bee Unit if your bees may have had contact with any of these apiaries. Remember also that the disease could have been spread further by beekeepers who are not members of any association and who may not even be aware of the outbreak, so do have a good look at your brood this spring (when the weather is suitable, of course) and ask for help if you have any suspicions.
CHINESE HONEY
It seems that there is still a great deal of contaminated Chinese honey in circulation. Of more concern is that it appears that it is now being marketed through other countries to disguise its true identity, e.g. Singapore seems to have suddenly produced an all time record crop of honey from its skyscrapers!
The following appeared on an Internet newsgroup after the story appeared on CNN recently:
"U.S. SEIZES MORE HONEY TAINTED WITH ANTIBIOTIC...
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was cited as saying on Wednesday that nearly 185,000 pounds of honey imports were seized in Texas because of contamination with a human antibiotic banned from U.S. food products."
Let's see...that's about $1850.00 that's not going to the National Honey Board, if it was going to be sent at all!
I wonder where the shipment originated and who the importers and buyers were. Having had so much publicity on this sort of thing in the last year you would think that the importer/buyer would get an analysis prior to purchase.
I also wonder how the news services will handle this since there is so much going on in the world news right now. This may be buried somewhere in your local paper and the TV folks will probably not even cover it unless it is really brought to their attention, hint...hint.
We have talked about this problem before; this is one of many arguments that a beekeeper can use to promote local honey.
Chuck Norton Reidsville, NC
Now I wonder what happened to all the Chinese honey that was withdrawn from our supermarket shelves...
FEEDBACK NEEDED!
The committee would welcome your feedback on meetings and newsletter content. Are we providing the services that you would like? Please tell us!
BOOK FOR SALE
The Association has a spare copy, brand new, of 'Bees at the Bottom of the Garden' for sale at £7.50. 'Beekeeping is a hobby that any interested amateur could explore - that's the message of this book which aims to take the mystique out of keeping bees.' Very clear illustrations. Normally £8.95. Contact Mike Osborne if you are interested.
FEBRUARY INSPECTION
A mid-February inspection showed most colonies in good condition. A small number had died out due to queen failure (expected after the poor weather last May and June) and a few, with yellow queens, needed extra fondant. The majority of colonies were very heavy.
WOODPECKER DAMAGE
Despite our best efforts, sometimes the woodpeckers do get through and we are then faced with the problem of mending the hole(s). I will cover this next month, but if you have any tips and tricks on repairing hives then I would like to hear from you.
