The BeeHolder, July 2009

With the strengthening of the service in Wales by the National Assembly Government the number of seasonal bee inspectors has been increased from 7-11 under Regional Bee Inspector for Wales John Verran. As a result of the reorganisation of the boundaries of individual inspectors, that part of Montgomery broadly to the North and East of Caersws which was previously covered by Peter Guthrie has now been transferred to John Beavan (tel 01824707286, Mob 07793584139) Peter wishes to sincerely thank all beekeepers old and new for their help and cooperation over the past three years since taking over from Phillip Jennings.

Members who have not yet done so are still urged to complete and return to the National Bee Unit the Honey Bee Husbandry Survey 2009. Further to this and with the receipt of additional funding the NBU has recently set up a Random Apiary Survey for 2009/10. This is designed to quantify the overall health status of bees as a whole in England and Wales. It is therefore, quite possible that apiaries already visited this year may come up for revisiting by either John Beavan or Peter Guthrie in order to secure a small sample of bees from specific hives to be sent to the NBU for detailed analysis. Your help with this is both essential and much appreciated by the inspectors in order to achieve a statistically viable picture of bee health.

Peter Guthrie SBI