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

Please note that John Sheppard will not now be able to act as Honey Show Secretary and Julia Seymour-Smith will be dealing with this year's entries. Please send entry slips (from the Honey Show schedule) to Julia instead of John; you can also phone your entries to her.

There has been a very serious outbreak of AFB centred on the Coventry/Nuneaton area. The beekeeper concerned has a large number of colonies and it is possible that members of our Association may either have bees near one of these apiaries, or may have bought in colonies from the affected area. I understand that over 150 colonies have either died out or will be destroyed. Obviously outbreaks on this scale do not happen overnight and it is thought that it has been spreading for several years. Mike Brown at the National Bee Unit gave me the following information on 18 September:

'David Kemp and Ian Molyneux are co-ordinating dealing with the outbreak in Robin Hall's absence. We are doing follow up inspections as well as dealing with the destructions which should be finished this week. 25 apiaries clustered pretty close together from half way between Nuneaton and Hinckley, down to Coventry (near Meriden) Stoneleigh and Kenilworth across to Rugby, and back up to Lutterworth and across to Bedworth. That's the general area. Most of the apiaries are between Rugby and Bedworth and Lutterworth. There will be a more detailed map up on the site shortly. (Bee health inspection and advisory page). We will have a large area to look at due to bee movements (borage, heather etc) so we'll be checking for a time.'

Note that the nearest apiaries with confirmed AFB are in the Kenilworth area, but it is possible that bees may have been moved further into our area at some point. What should you do?

1. Look at the sealed brood in your colonies (if you do not know the symptoms for AFB either look at the National Bee Unit web site - link from our links page - or ring me). If you have any doubts about the health of your brood then ask for help.

2. If you think that your bees have had any contact with the affected area inform the National Bee Unit or me so that we can arrange follow up inspections.

3. You should not move bees away from the area as this could spread the outbreak further. Get them inspected first.

At the last committee meeting Denis dropped the bombshell that we have all been dreading by indicating that he intends to stand down as Secretary at the next AGM. After so many years of dedicated service it will not be easy to find a replacement. We hope that he will continue to serve as a committee member.

John Sheppard has indicated that he will not be standing for re-election due to the amount of time that he now spends in France - those that have seen his idyllic property out there will not be surprised. We look forward to further contributions to the newsletter on beekeeping at Clos de Moreau, John!

So there will be changes to the committee at this year's AGM - do make sure that you come along and have your say about the way that the Association is run; or perhaps you might like to stand for the committee yourself (more ladies would be especially welcome). Who knows, there may even be a vote!

A good crowd of us gathered for one of Denis' walks that gave those who went on the walk a good appetite for the wonderful barbecue prepared by Keith and Shirley Davies. Not only was the food delicious but the company of the twenty people who attended kept us all chatting until it was pitch black. A big thank-you from us all and an event we must try and arrange again for next year. BERD

The turnout for the meeting on 27 September was rather disappointing, but those who did attend were treated to a fascinating talk by Celia Davies.

The EGM first agreed a small increase in the subscription to £16 (this is to cover proposed increases in BBKA capitation fees). The Association can supply Bee Craft at the reduced price of £16.20 by paying in advance and this represents a considerable saving on the normal price of £18; Will Spencer made the point that members must pay subscriptions on time so that the money can be forwarded to Bee Craft.

Celia then gave her talk on 'Other Bees and Wasps' illustrated by some excellent slides and also a hornets' nest (without hornets!) that Will had brought along. After a brief explanation of the relationship of bees and wasps to the other hymenoptera, Celia concentrated mainly on the lifecycles, feeding and nesting habits of a selection of the huge number of species of solitary wasps and solitary bees, many of which are common in this area. It was an excellent evening.

My article on blue pollen and Phacelia last month produced some responses from members - the first since I took over the post of Newsletter Editor!

One of our farming members tells me that he has grown it, but that it seemed to need rather better prepared soil than it was given; not a great success. In discussion, the point was made that, for it to be an economic proposition, Phacelia would have to produce a considerable increase over the crop that the bees would normally gather from the existing flora. In other words, in an area where the forage is good - as it usually is in this area - then the cost of planting Phacelia might not be justified.

Oliver Elston wrote to tell me that he has grown Phacelia as a green manure and can confirm its attractiveness to a wide variety of insects. Small quantities of seed are available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue (I have put a link on the website, or telephone me if you would like the address), with the 100g packet being more than sufficient for 50 sq.yds.

The last meeting at the Hampton Wood site went well with a small number of us closing down the bees in preparation for the winter. A little late but we put in our varroa strips the day before the meeting and the varroa were very evident on the floors of two out of the five hives. I must say the knock down of varroa in my own hives has been surprisingly high so please ensure you treat your hives or you may have no bees by the spring. [I did warn you all in the August newsletter! PE]

Back to the wood: we put mouse guards on and a couple of varroa floors so I will be checking up to see what our infection rates are this year. Each hive had a slab of fondant on to help them through the winter but I had already fed some syrup and some of the hives had collected a nice flow of honey towards the end of the season. Well, for next year we have some good stocks of bees including our new queen who I will say is laying well late into the season, which is always a good sign. The hives we are using will need some work this winter and I want to try and put the hives on some taller stands to try and save the strain on our backs. The shed is a disgrace so one weekend I will put an appeal out for a group of us to go and sort out the rubbish, try to make it mouse-proof and put up some shelves and a work surface. Next season we must try and get some more decent brood combs and some super combs that do not look like they have been in use since the Boer war. If any of you are ever walking in the wood, pop in and look at the hives and put a note in the hive record book which is kept in the top of one of the hives. A big welcome to our new member Kevin Roles who joined us at the wood and was soon helping out and handling the bees. We hope to see more of you over the coming season. BERD

I am sorry to have to report that death of one of our former members, Mrs Eileen Hay, on 5 September at the age of 94.

I first met Mrs Hay in the early 80's when I started beekeeping. She worked at the Birthplace and very kindly recommended me to them when their honey supplier retired.

Mrs Hay kept three or four WBC colonies in her garden in Shottery. She was noted for producing early (and numerous!) swarms and I was frequently called to collect these. Perhaps the most interesting was a swarm that went into the electrical supply box half way up the post supporting the Bell Inn pub sign just across the road! They were smoked out gently and the queen manoeuvred into the skep as they ran up the post. The skep was then hung from the sign and the remaining bees smoked out vigorously. I am not sure what the coachloads of Japanese and American visitors thought of the cloud of bees flying around and the skep hanging from the sign! It was only when Mrs Hay became too frail to lift boxes and I started to help her with her bees that I discovered why she produced so many swarms; apparently, someone had advised her many years before to remove the end frames and replace them with spacers - she was running her colonies on just eight frames!

She frequently recounted - very indignantly - how Jim Crundwell had failed her in the BBKA basic examination because she always added a spoonful of honey to her winter feed. I did not have the heart to tell her that I was 100% behind Jim on that one!

When she became too weak to carry on, she donated her bees and equipment to the Association. Our sincere condolences go to her sons, James and Graham.