BRAMBLINGS – the occasional newsletter of NCBKA

Many of you will know what has happened at our AGM last week, simply because you were there! Eric Drinkwater has now become President. He still intends to come to meetings, help newcomers and so on, but will take a back seat from the running of meetings and the Association. Eric is also stepping down as Branch delegate to the County Executive. With me taking on the job of County Treasurer, North Cotswold representation is changing. Jeremy, who is our new chairperson, takes over as our delegate. I was an elected member of the Executive, elected at the AGM (in March), so we should be thinking who could fill this vacancy. The executive meets four times a year at Hartpury and deals with wider issues of concern to beekeepers. Apart from the need for people with legal or financial expertise, there is room for people who are interested in such things as GM pollen, the National Honey Show (County is short of a delegate to this), etc, etc.

Hopefully, the other side of this sheet will tell you that Kate Smart has taken over as our Secretary. The committee will be meeting soon to plan the programme for the next year. If you have any ideas, either of topics for visiting speakers or how we might change things, get in touch with Kate or one of the other officers. I remain as treasurer and am happy to report that we know have 15 subscriptions paid for the coming year. If you haven’t yet paid, there should be a first reminder with this letter. Remember that late payment leaves you vulnerable to losing insurance cover and you will be left out of the Yearbook. The ideal opportunity to pay is at next week’s skittles match. Skittles is an ideal social event for beekeepers since there is plenty of time to chat with others.

Our friends at the Central Science Laboratory are coordinating efforts to contain the spread of Varroa mites resistant to Apistan and Bayvarol. Latest evidence is that it is localised to North Devon/Cornwall area. There is talk of introducing new drugs if the need arises, but in the meantime do use available treatments according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It is not too late to put strips in, but they must be removed after 6 weeks. Obviously, the later they go in, the greater the difficulty in removing them. Opening hives during the Winter is not generally recommended, but no harm is done if it is done in mild weather (preferably when bees are flying) and the operation is well planned.

Hives that I have opened in the last few days seem to have queens that are still active, and many colonies have more brood than this time last year. I am having difficulty taking off extracted frames put in for “licking off”. Most colonies are collecting large quantities of Ivy pollen and I suspect are bringing in an abundance of Ivy nectar. Remember that Ivy takes about 20 years before it has “grown up” and flowers, so do not be too hasty to tidy up walls, gate posts and the like. Honeybees can be seen working Ivy as late as December, so allowing odd corners to revert to nature can be a great benefit to Winter survival.

I have just been reading ‘Medical aspects of Beekeeping’. Did you know that raw honey is not considered an appropriate food for infants under one year old? Also, inhaling hive dust can cause hay fever type symptoms, but these can be alleviated by taking an antihistamine tablet prior to visiting the bees. More on this another time.

Will Messenger, 11^th October 2001