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

RENEWAL FORMS

Subscriptions are due on 1^st October and renewal forms are in the post.  Please pay promptly, as chasing members for their subs is a time-consuming, costly and thankless task for our Hon. Treasurer.  Why not do it now?
Peter Edwards

CENTRAL ASSOCIATION STRATFORD WEEKEND

You do not have to be a member of the Central Association to attend their Stratford Weekend.  This year the seven lectures will be given by speakers from Rothamsted, Devon, Somerset, English Nature and Ireland; the subjects cover Pollination, T.W. Cowan, The Winter Bee, The Birds and the Bees, Another Generation of Entomologists?, Varroa Research in Ireland, and Swarms.  The conference fee for non-members is a mere £39 – you will not find better value!  Contact me for further details.
Peter Edwards

WE STILL NEED A NEW TREASURER!

Will Spencer first gave notice of his wish to retire from the post of Hon. Treasurer at the 2001 AGM.  At the 2002 AGM he announced that he did not wish to stand for re-election, but was persuaded to continue for another year in the absence of any volunteers for the job.  He is still trying to retire after completing fourteen years in the post.  Please consider whether you could fill this position.  It is not particularly onerous and both Will and I would be happy to provide any assistance to the new treasurer during their first year (I was treasurer for the ten years before Will).  The duties are:

·         Keeping accurate accounts (our system is very simple and requires no previous experience of book-keeping);

·         Receiving application and renewal forms, issuing receipts to members (the forms are computer generated and sent out by me) and banking receipts;

·         Paying the appropriate sums to Bee Diseases Insurance, Bee Craft and BBKA etc.;

·         Producing a year-end summary of the accounts, liaising with our auditor and writing a brief commentary on the accounts for the AGM (probably half a day's work in all).

If you are interested and would like to discuss the post further, do give Will, me or any other committee member a ring.
Peter Edwards

HONEY SHOW

I will assume that you are all well on the way to getting your exhibits ready for our annual honey show!  Remember that our more experienced members will not automatically take all the prizes, so why not have a go.  Although novices (those who have not won a first prize in any show) have their own class, this does not prevent them from entering any, or all, of the other classes.

A major problem for our honey show secretary occurs when members arrive late with their entries; this can delay the start of judging – which is very discourteous to the judge – and cause the whole evening to run late.  This year you may have noticed that we have added a note to the schedule (sent out with last month’s newsletter):

‘In order to ensure that the show can start at the scheduled time, the Honey Show Secretary may refuse to accept entries submitted after 7pm.’

Whilst we do not want to refuse entries, we do want the judging to start at 7.15pm and the prizes to be presented at 9.15pm so that everyone has time to have a good look at the winning entries afterwards.  So, please send Mike your entries before the show so that he can prepare your labels in advance, get your exhibits there early and do not rush to remove them at the end.
Peter Edwards

NATIONAL HONEY SHOW

Some of our members will be attending the National Honey Show on Saturday 21 October, travelling on the Chiltern Line to Marylebone.  Although there is a limited service from Stratford, a better option is to join at one of the stations on the line from Birmingham, e.g. Warwick Parkway, as there are later trains during the evening for the return journey (9.40pm to Warwick, but 6.54pm for Stratford).  A cheap day return costs £23.50 plus the cost of the Underground from Marylebone.
Peter Edwards

APIARY MEETING – 17 September 2006

Five members were joined by potential new member, Jon Segar, on this occasion.  Despite gathering clouds, the rain held off and the bees were in a good mood as we prepared the six colonies for winter.  We transferred some colonies into brand new boxes, continued treatment with thymol and fed with fondant.  The reasonable conditions enabled us to take our time and we were able to have a good look at the colonies that we transferred.
Peter Edwards

A NEW SMOKER

I do not think that I treat smokers very unkindly – well, except for the one that I backed the Land Rover over – but they do not seem to last long!

The copper ones are the worst; they look good, but the metal is very soft.  Problems occur when the cap gets a bit gummed up and refuses to open.  The brute force needed tends to distort the whole thing and often causes the seams to come apart.  Of course, that silly little plastic knob is of no use whatsoever, usually parting company with the cap at the first serious pull and leaving a ragged hole behind.  The pop rivets - usually aluminium! - that hold the hinge to the front of smoker are another similarly weak point.

In recent years I have been using the Etna smoker, made of stainless steel, and this has lasted longer, although it does not stay alight as well as the Empire smoker with the classic bent-nosed design.  In addition the hinge came away from the body (those pop-rivets again) and the spot-welded piece of thick wire that serves for a handle on the cap soon fell off.  Then the bellows split!

Some years ago, I read about a new design of smoker called the Rauchboy (‘Rauch’ is German for smoke).  It promised a durable stainless steel construction, leather bellows and a new type of firebox with an inner perforated container that prevents the smoker extinguishing itself when put down; in addition, all spare parts are readily available.  I treated myself to the large version which I bought direct over the Internet.  The smoker was sent without any advance payment, a discount was offered for payment within 30 days and there was no carriage charge; the total cost was £25.15.  Quite a bargain when compared with the Etna (£33.59) or Empire (£33.10) from Thorne (each plus carriage).

Incidentally, I have also mended the Etna smoker, putting in new rivets for the hinge and patching the holes in the bellows with my glue gun.  Best tip of all, I have replaced the handle on the cap by drilling a hole and attaching a short stainless bolt with nuts inside and out – simple, but very effective as it gives good leverage when the cap is stuck.
Peter Edwards

PROPOSED CHANGE TO THE ASSOCIATION RULES

Changes to the Association Rules can only be made at the AGM or a SGM and it is a requirement that the proposed change is notified to members at least two weeks before the meeting.  As the agenda for the AGM is sent out with the November newsletter (time is required to prepare the accounts), notice is hereby given of two proposed amendments.

The Committee intends to propose a change to Rule 4 so that the chairman of the Association will be elected at the AGM, rather than by the committee at its first meeting after the AGM (usually in the following January).  This will avoid the Association being without a chairman in the intervening period.

The proposed new wording is:

‘The management of the Association shall be carried out by a committee comprising: Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Newsletter Editor, and five members.  The committee members shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting.

Four committee members shall constitute a quorum.

The committee shall have power to fill any vacancy that might occur in any office or in the committee, and to appoint sub-committees or to co-opt members to carry out special duties.’

Mike Osborne intends to propose a change to the first sentence of Rule 3 (a), so that the meeting is not required to elect Vice-Presidents (something that it has never done in recent years!), but may do if it so wishes.

The proposed new wording is:

‘A President shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting which may, at its discretion, appoint one or more Vice-Presidents.’
Peter Edwards