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

After many years of decline - in line with national trends - it seems that membership numbers are at last starting to recover. This month I am pleased to be able to welcome another new member: Mike Ashton of Armscote. We wish you 'full supers'. We also have a number of prospective members who we hope will join us soon.
Peter Edwards

I was sorry to read that Ruth is leaving the NBU. For many years 'the Ministry' has tried to control EFB by treating 'light' cases with antibiotic and destroying colonies with 'heavy' infections. The policy failed dismally - to the point where EFB is now, by any criteria, out of control. Ruth's innovative work on EFB and the shook swarm treatment has therefore been invaluable and quite a breath of fresh air after the years of failure. However, her work is not yet complete and we must hope that it will be continued, despite the proposed cuts in funding for the NBU (see below).

Ruth has also been a good communicator - keeping us up-to-date with articles in the beekeeping press and also giving many lectures. We will miss her.
Peter Edwards

We have been invited to support this event which will be held at Wishaw Country Sports, Grove Lane, Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, B76 9PQ just off junction 9 of the M42, near the Belfry. (The location is also used for First Honey Co-operative meetings and I can certainly recommend the food). The programme is as follows:

14.15 Welcome and Official Opening

14.25 Session 1 - Professor R Pickard: Honeybee Thoughts

15.40 Session 2 - Dr Adam Hart: Honeybee Science

16.55 Tea Break and demonstrations - Integrated Pest Management and computer based Microscopy

1800 - 1900 Assemble - Bar available

1900 Evening Meal After dinner speaker: John Home

11.00 Demonstrations - IPM and Computer based Microscopy

12.00 Lunch

13.30 Session 3 - Celia Davis: Mr Bee

14.30 Session 4 - Dr Adam Hart: Getting Home Safely

15.30 Tea Break

16.00 Session 5 - Brenda Ball Bee Viruses

17.30 Closing speeches

Trade and Crafts Stands on both days

Cost: Whole Weekend: £35.00 including a meal both days

Saturday Only: £20.00 with evening meal

Sunday with Lunch: £20.00

Further information is available from Miss Ruby Smith, 14 Wrekin Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5SU. Telephone: 0121 354 7548. Email: routh.family@lineone.net.

Thumbing through my collection of Association newsletters for 1965 (duplicated on foolscap paper), it is clear that many of the Association's activities and problems haven't changed much. In that pre-oilseed rape era, most months saw a reference to the bad weather, and in September it was reported that the Association hive had produced 16 lbs of honey - and that was better than the other hives that Mrs Leefe and Miss Jerrold kept at Spa Lodge, Bishopton. They were the hard-working secretary and treasurer whose artistic achievements probably surpassed their practical beekeeping abilities. Ouch!

1965 was a notable year in that it saw the retirement of Harry Allen as the County Beekeeping Lecturer and the start of the process of dismantling the widespread system of providing free advice and assistance to beekeepers. Harry gave four winter evening lectures at the school that used to be at the Alcester Road/Grove Road corner. In March 1965, there was a social afternoon at the church rooms in Payton Street and the first Association apiary meeting was on a Saturday afternoon in mid-April. Subsequent apiary meetings were at Moreton Hall, Newbold Pacey Hall, College Farm at Bearley and Luddington Experimental Horticulture Station. So there were opportunities to see skilled beekeepers at work, though not perhaps so much chance of hands-on experience as we have at Hampton Wood.

The honey show in September 1965 was held in conjunction with the Gardeners' Guild at the Hippodrome in Wood Street - who remembers that? There were 11 classes and 56 entries, judged (in private) by Jack Charles. The final three events of the year were talks in which Mrs Waldron described how her late husband had come to invent the queen excluder that bears his name and Harry Allen showed slides - presumably his swan song as CBI. The AGM in November followed the familiar pattern. The treasurer reported that 50 members had paid some £44, BBKA capitation fees totalled £5.3s.6p, and - remarkably - the profit for the year was nearly £25. A newcomer to the committee was one David Titcomb.

It is hard to believe that the Royal Show at Stoneleigh has been going for 40 years! In 1965, the original bee garden and BBKA pavilion were opened by the Duchess of Gloucester. Much of the early practical work at Stoneleigh was done by local volunteers and the final newsletter of the year suggested that members paying their 17/6d subscription should add half-a-crown for the Stoneleigh Fund!
Denis Keyte

On 18 March, Julian Routh, from Warwickshire's Sutton Coldfield branch, gave us an interesting and well-presented talk about his experiences with a Dartington Long-Deep Hive. This looks a bit like a coffin on legs and contains 21 frames, each measuring 14" x 12". Such a size is apparently a problem for fitting into most extractors, but was chosen as being near to the natural size for brood and surrounding stores. Dividing and dummy boards enable the size of the colony and brood area to be controlled lengthwise. They also make colony division for artificial swarming an easy task, with use then being made of a rear entrance. Made of marine plywood, and thus no more expensive than a standard National (although it should be painted), the hive is large and heavy, with no handles, and therefore not easily moved. The entrance has a right angle bend in it, which is apparently mouse proof. Small supers can be added, holding only 5 standard British National frames and therefore easy to handle. Because these are stacked only one high, more are added horizontally, to enable which 4 crown boards are necessary. Thus to fit the long roof on redundant supers need to be in position. Thus from the start a complete set of equipment is needed, which is not ideal for a beginner. The Sutton Coldfield branch have found that being at a sensible height and easily accessible for colony examination, the hive is useful for training purposes, but there has been no rush of potential users amongst their members. For anyone who is interested, Julian said that we were welcome to attend their apiary meetings to see their Dartington hive "in action"; also one of our members, Geoff Hilton at Alcester, has recently acquired one. Some of the features, such as raising the hive on legs and the mouse guard, could of course be applied to the standard hives that most of us are already using.
Mike Osborne

The National Beekeeping Unit (NBU) asked for samples of bees last year so that they could be tested for viruses using the new TaqMan technology available at the Central Science Laboratory. We were asked to send samples from any colonies that were not doing well and might therefore be suffering from a virus disease. I duly found my worst colony and sent in a sample. The first results have now been received and the survey now seems to have become the 'Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) Survey' - no surprises there if you read my note on imports from the USA in the March newsletter!

A total of 458 samples were tested and of these two apiary sites tested positive for KBV. This is, of course, a significant and potentially serious discovery because viruses are vectored by varroa.

Apparently the NBU has suspected for some time that KBV was in the country (it had already been found in Europe).
Peter Edwards

I wrote to our MP, John Maples, regarding the cuts and I am pleased to say that he forwarded my email to Lord Whitty. As you may know, there were so many letters from beekeepers that Lord Whitty had to resort to a standard reply.

I then wrote again to John Maples, asking him to support the early-day motion by Paul Tyler MP deploring the proposed cuts. I am pleased to be able to report that he supported the motion. I wonder if he would like to keep bees.
Peter Edwards