The BeeHolder, January 2010

October Meeting - Beekeeping, a Vet’s Perspective

The October meeting was very well attended by over 50 people, many of them new members who had attended the successful open day at Bryn Mawr in September. Sarah Farrington, a final year veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College, gave a presentation on her recent four week visit to the National Bee Unit (NBU) to carry out research on acarapis mites. Sarah’s research formed part of her final year dissertation and is possible the first time a vet student has chosen to study a subject related to bees. Sarah gave a brief introduction about the work the NBU carry out and bee health from a veterinary student’s perspective, followed by a description of her project and it’s findings. Acarapis woodi is known to cause acarapisosis disease whereas the other two species of acarapis mites do not. The work aimed to distinguish the DNA of the three species with the aim of using the information to create a test for the mite. The talk included an interactive demonstration of DNA replication and an interesting question and answer session.

Tony Bosworth brought some varroa mites for members to view, which were of particular interest to some of the many new members. As usual the meeting was well supplied with refreshments and an enjoyable evening was had by all. Further information on the NBU can be found on the “Bee Base” web site at https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/

Roger Farrington

Theoretically only fully qualified and licensed vets can prescribe “Medicines” for bees. It is wonderful that this trainee vet, coming from at least 3 generations of beekeepers, knows something about bees. See the article “Taking bees to the Vet ( Ed.)

November Meeting - The year behind and the winter to come

I have amalgamated the reports of both Paul Kingsley and Kate Franklin as they cover different aspects. Where their paragraphs covered the same point I have cut the longer one. It is the lot of the editor to have his wax effigy full of pins from many sources. (Ed.)

On a blustery Autumnal evening we listened to the thoughts, advice and reminiscences of Peter Guthrie. Peter is one of our regional bee inspectors and has been keeping bees for over 50 years himself and both his father and grandfather before him, so he has a wealth of knowledge available which is freely given.

The evening started by all members being asked to heft a hive and to guess its weight. The eventual total was revealed to be 55.6kg and the winner, John Bennett, was given a 25kg bag of sugar which had been secreted inside the hive. I don’t think his bees will go hungry next year.

I personally had never met Peter before but he is always highly spoken of so I was looking forward to listening to his talk. It was almost like a stream of consciousness as he has so much information to impart and as time was limited he wanted to give us as much benefit as he could. I was kicking myself that I didn’t bring a notepad and pen because there was so much sound information given, from the correct siting and orientation of a hive to treatments for varroa.

I’m sure even the old hands heard a few pearls of wisdom and enjoyed Peter’s thoughts on the general state of the environment, the hope of a varroa resistant bee strain and the availability of Ambrosia (not the food of the gods nor tinned custard) direct from Peter – at best price for MBKA members I’m sure!

Peter’s talk was aimed at newcomers and began by how to select a suitable site.  He showed us some of the basic equipment that he took  with him when setting up a new hive. A compass to orientate the hive opening, ideally southeast, but not if that is the direction of the prevailing wind. A spirit level to slope the hive slightly forward so any moisture would drain away and not collect on the floor of the hive.[We were shown some slides of hives on stands with solid floors where damp could be a problem.

Next Peter dismantled the hive he had brought along with him, layer by layer, explaining the purpose of each item. The whole stack of the hive was held tightly together with an adjustable strap which is another essential piece of kit when transporting the colony. Under the lid was a square of old carpet underlay for insulation laid on the crown board,  then an Ashworth feeder.[Another reason to tilt the hive is so that syrup in the feeder goes to the opening end and bees can easily access it.] A honey super was next with stores, followed by a queen excluder. It was recommended that the QX was taken off in winter so that the cluster of bees around queenie could move as one up to the stores when needed, otherwise they may be reluctant to leave her and could starve. Then there was the brood box on a mesh floor with space beneath to put in an observation floor to record mite drop.

The talk was very informative and entertaining. Peter had set himself a deadline to talk for an hour but he kept getting sidetracked and could have gone on all evening. We were quite happy to listen to him but Jessica said it was time to take a break, although she managed to get him to come again to talk to us and arrange the possibility of a visit to his apiary in Pembrokeshire. The evening was rounded off with mince pies and drinks all round and everyone agreed it had been most enjoyable.

On a point of interest Peter made it plain that he was speaking as a beekeeper of many decades experience, and a recent commercial beekeeper, and not as a SBI.  Perhaps it was just as well because, on speaking with some of the older beekeepers at the meeting, they told me that some of what he said was quite contentious.  For example Peter's views on open-mesh floors were certainly not the orthodox line I had heard elsewhere, however, all in all a very informative and entertaining evening.

Paul Kingsley & Kate Franklin