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

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS

I am delighted to be able to offer a very warm welcome to another two new members, Dr David Chandler and Dr Laura Baxter, who both work in the research laboratories at HRI, Wellesbourne just a couple of miles from our Association apiary.  We wish them both ‘full supers’.
Correction to members list
Please note that Miss C Kimberley was incorrectly shown as ‘Mrs’ on the membership list.
Peter Edwards

TOTAL APATHY - ALMOST?

Over the past months I have devoted a considerable amount of space to the promotion of the idea of setting up a bee breeding group, with the aim of improving the quality of local bees by breeding from stocks of native bees.  Our February meeting with Terry Clare was, I thought, a very successful evening.  So when I asked, last month, for members to contact me if they wanted to join the group, I was rather surprised that, apart from committee members, only two members expressed any interest at all!  Presumably you all have perfect bees – good temper, low swarming, excellent honey crops, disease resistant, overwinter on very little food… if so, we want to hear from you!  Or perhaps you are still hibernating yourselves!
Peter Edwards

NOSEMA CERANAE

During the February meeting, Terry Clare mentioned a new species of Nosema that is devastating colonies in some European countries; many at that meeting seemed to be unaware of this new threat, so here are some details.

In 1996 a new species of Nosema was discovered in Apis cerana, the Asian honeybee, it received the name Nosema ceranae.  An assumption was made at that time that this species was specific to A. cerana; however in 2005 Chinese scientists isolated the 'new' Nosema species in A. mellifera colonies in Taiwan.  In the same year scientists in the Castilla - La Mancha Institute in Spain and the University of Madrid found Nosema ceranae in Apis mellifera in Europe for the first time.  This disease vector is only able to be distinguished from Nosema apis, the classic Apis mellifera vector using molecular genetic techniques.  The incidence of Nosema in Spain has increased from a level of 10% in 2000 to some 88% in 2004.

Eight colonies in Germany have already been diagnosed positive for N. ceranae and all of these colonies died.  The Swiss, Italians, Germans and Austrians have been co-operating in a Europe wide research programme since 2002.  In winter 2002/2003 the Nosema infection levels were around 38%.  Results from trials in Spain seem to indicate that Nosema infestations are on the increase.

A worrying factor in the latest reports is that colonies appear to be being killed very quickly and losses are occurring during the course of the whole year - bees crawling on the ground in front of the hive is a classic symptom.

During the observations this winter colonies were noted making relatively heavy cleansing flights at 4ºC.  This observation seems to indicate a severe need for the bees to defecate.  A link to the new Nosema organism however cannot be made conclusively.  There is very little known about the course of the disease and its symptoms in Asia.

Reference: ‘Asian Nosema Disease Vector Confirmed - Is this a new Infestation or only now discovered?’ Dr Wolfgang Ritter, Freiburg University.  'Das Deutsche Bienen Journal', March issue 2006.
Peter Edwards

NOSEMA STUDIES IN TURKEY

The Journal of Apicultural Research recently published the results of a study in the incidence of Nosema in Turkey.

Traditionally, it has long been believed that Nosema is made worse by long periods of confinement during hard winters.  This study showed that outbreaks of this disease are not the result of confinement per se.  Prolonged cold winters proved to be no worse than short mild winters.  However, the amount of rainfall (precipitation) was highly correlated with Nosema and those parts of the country with the highest rainfall also had the worst outbreaks of Nosema.  Furthermore, it was suggested that the wettest areas may be acting as reservoirs of infection.

Interesting information – but I am not sure how we can make use of it!  Perhaps it is yet another reason to ensure that bees have dry sites, especially for overwintering, with good air movement and little shade during the winter.
Peter Edwards

WINTER LOSSES

Our own bees seem to have had a good winter with losses of under 5%, so I was very surprised when talking to beekeepers at Stoneleigh that there have been very heavy losses around the country.  Up to 50% seems to be not uncommon and I heard of two associations who have lost 18 out of 20, and 21 out of 22 colonies respectively.

The reasons are not yet clear, but could be due to resistant varroa mites.  Certainly the very favourable weather last autumn put colonies in very good condition and, even though the winter has been long, well-fed colonies should have overwintered well.  Other reasons might be queen failures, due to varroa treatment chemicals, or perhaps even the new Nosema ceranae?

I would be interested to hear how our members fared locally.
Peter Edwards

FIRST APIARY MEETING OF THE SEASON

Well, for an intrepid few the first apiary meeting started at 1.00pm and we soon had one group making frames under John's watchful eye, whilst another group was putting together some of the new hives, this time under the watchful eye of Kevin.  The good thing was there was plenty to do whatever the skill level of those present and as well as a chat we got a lot of work completed.

We had two new members arrive who had never seen inside a beehive so, after a little construction work, Brian got them dressed in some of our new one-size-fits-all beekeeping suits and they had their first experience with bees at the apiary.  The blessing was that, although it was not very warm, we were able to look through all the hives and solve a variety of problems.  In two cases the mouse guards had been left off and the little darlings had been in - so the membership present could see the mess they left.  It was amazing to hear one of our more elderly experts say, "what do you expect if you leave mouse guards off in the middle of a wood”; the apiary manager hung his head in shame.  In another two hives we found a drone layer so, with a bit of expert advice from some of the more senior members present, these were united and we have some spare comb ready for breeding later on in the season.

If you can recall, we put in four new queens last year and some bright spark wrote on each roof which hive we had put them into; yes, you guessed, eight months later the weather had removed the marks.  But all was not lost!  An even greater spark had put a green - yes green – ‘R’ on the front entrance of each hive with a Ratnieks queen so we could at least tell where they should have been and three had survived and were breeding well.  So what was an eventful meeting ended well with about 15 members present.

The next meeting will start at 1.00pm.  Please bring a hammer - all other tools will be provided and the tea and coffee making facilities will improve, especially for those who have been busy making frames and hives.  See you there.
B.E.R.D.

SHE’S GONE!

The queen wasp featured in the March newsletter finally left her unusual hibernation site on 21 April.

Whilst on the subject of wasps, I have it on very good authority that queens have overwintered well and we can probably expect a plague of wasps later in the year!

On a less pessimistic note, it has also been a very good winter for bumble bees and I have had many comments, both from beekeepers and members of the public, about the very large numbers of queens that we have seen recently.  Our heather bed has been reminiscent of Heathrow on a busy day.

It also seems to have been good for the solitary mining bees (Andrena fulva) and we seem to have hundreds in our garden.  For those that do not know this bee, they are responsible for the little ‘volcanoes’ that appear in lawns and borders at this time of year as the females dig their nests; males are small and drab, but the females have glowing chestnut coloured overhairs. 

Nest site of Andrena fulva, the Tawny Mining Bee

Andrena fulva, male (left) and female (right) on plum blossom

Their stings are unable to penetrate human flesh and they do excellent pollination work on early fruit such as plum and gooseberry.  Unfortunately, some members of the public still think that they are dangerous pests – so if you get a call to ‘deal with’ swarms of bees living in holes in the ground, this is a great opportunity for you to do a little education.
Peter Edwards