Oswestry Beekeepers Association
Beekeepers' News
News Page:
2005 season
Following Peter and Polly's start to the season, meetings were as usual a pleasant mix of venues and weather. Actually, the weather was not too bad: although we would have welcomed sunshine for Glyn's meeting to assist our guest photographer Matthew in his endeavours to capture the essence of bee keeping. Fortunately, he was able to attend the next meeting, at Tina's, when the light was better.
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See more in the Pictures section.
Our drive for new members has been moderately successful. John Welch managed to set up 4 beginners with swarms, though not without some tribulation. A swarm reserved for Dominic resolutely declined to stay in the warm box provided. Becky's new colony lost its Queen and was rescued by providing a frame of eggs and larvae.
Oswestry Beekeepers were at the Oswestry Show this year, and at the Operation Home Front Festival in Cae Glas Park (www.homefrontreunited.co.uk), where we entered into the wartime spirit by encouraging visitors to keep bees and produce honey to augment their sugar ration (a meagre 250 grammes per week!).
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Our year ended with the Annual General Meeting, on this occasion held at Anthony's home. We were treated to an excellent meal which we are hoping will become a traditional adjunct to our end-of-year get together.
Contacts made at the two shows we attended have produced tentative recruits to our bee keeping circle and, bees tucked up warm and store-right for the winter, we now look forward to the next season with our remarkable hobby.
The first meeting of 2005
The first meeting of 2005, and particularly memorable in that we welcomed 8 beginners, as well as Martin Smith from the British Bee Keepers' Association, at Polly and Peter's lakeside home.
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Spare veils were at a premium, but we managed to kit everyone up except the photographer, who blessed his camera's 10X zoom facility.
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Our guest expert, George Critchley, opened Peter's three hives and gave considered judgements, advice and brief lessons in the basics of beekeeping to beginners and the more experienced of us alike.
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With such good weather we brought our tea outside in the sun.
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Martin is visiting associations in this part of the midlands in his role as a recently elected member of the BBKA National Executive Committee (and a beekeeper from Lancashire). He congratulated the newcomers on their new hobby and talked on various topical matters, including the much criticised move by the Government to reduce the already pitifully small amount it spends supporting bee keepers in this country. He advised us to continue pressure on the Government through our M.P., and to hope the dreaded Small Hive Beatle does not arrive here soon. This threat is reason enough to increase the budget. It was suggested that a ban on all importations of bees would be a good idea.
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John Welch now has a small collection of books available for loan to members.
Meeting 17th July 2004
There were very nearly more bee keepers than bees at today's meeting. Weather and other difficulties left us with a single 'home' colony as the planned 'bussing in' of some of John's other hives was not possible.
Secretary Glyn Jones' examination of the solitary hive showed a well-founded colony with plenty of sealed brood and stores on brood-and-a-half, and two full supers. A case of quality if not quantity!
Glyn demonstrated that a colony can be examined without excessively agitating the bees by careful use of two cloths, keeping the frames covered, and a little smoke. After an initial defensive turnout, the bees soon settled down to little more than routine traffic, making the most of the weather after the morning's deluge. Anthony was meanwhile recording with his video camera.
Rather earlier than usual, we retired to the conservatory for tea and a bite to eat.
We will not be having a stand at the Oswestry Show this year, due to a 'clerical error' and not, as reported in the Shropshire Beekeepers' newsletter, because the Show had been cancelled! We will certainly be there next year!
The last apiary meeting of the season, we now look forward to the harvest, preparing our bees for the winter and, of course, the Annual General Meeting.
Meeting 26th June 2004
Mid-summer's day has passed, and it's time to visit our venerable Secretary's apiary. Glyn's foresight in buying a gazebo, a sort of open tent, proved wise as it had been wet all day. The only drawback to the idea is that you get very wet putting it up.
In spite of the damp outlook, the meeting was well attended and we were soon able to examine colonies as the rain moved away.
There was discussion of the problems of section production. Glyn had sufficient success with heather sections last season to persuade him to invest in more foundation in 2004.
Three wise men.
Meeting 12th June 2004
Last year we suffered from heavy rain throughout the meeting. This year Anthony had organised plenty of sunshine.
Brian Goodwin, President of Shropshire BKA, opened the WBC hives and talked of beeswax and string in his inimitable manner. The pros and cons of the different hive designs were discussed for the benefit of new members seeking help in their choice to begin bee keeping. Inevitably, after talk of Smiths, Langstroths and nationals, top and bottom bee space, total brood area, Manley and Hoffman self-spacing frames, and so on, the beginners may have been left more confused than enlightened, but that's bee keeping for you!
Anthony then took us to see his hives in the wild area at his school where the bees form a valuable part of the curriculum. It was gratifying to see honey bees taking their place in childrens' education, alongside other fauna and flora. Every school would benefit from a hive or two, helping to show children that food does not grow in jars on supermarket shelves.
Meeting 22nd May 2004
Delightful weather, and an enjoyable meeting in the Welsh mountains. Mr George Critchley made a thorough job of going through Ken's colonies. New members were able to observe several aspects of bee keeping as we worked through the well-populated hives.
Ken's bees are at last losing their reputation for 'friskyness' and no one suffered from their ultimate weapon. A few were admittedly still intent on checking on us humans as we ate a delicious spread on the terrace, but that in no way affected a very pleasant afternoon.
Meeting 8th May 2004
A day to remember for manifold reasons. The first of the season, the meeting held at Polly and Peter's was not blessed by the Meteorological Office's good fairy: it poured with rain and a chill wind blew under a heavily clouded sky.
In spite of this discouraging setting, Mr David Sutton, the MAFF Bee Disease Inspector, opened one of Peter's hives for the benefit of beginners, and also the reporter and photographer from the Border Counties & Oswestry Advertizer, who had chosen Oswestry Beekeepers to launch a series on local pastime interests. Particularly notable was the bravery under fire shown by the journalists, who must have felt they were facing a numberless horde of hostile warriors from behind, to them, all too flimsy protective gear.
Sadly, whether because of the appalling weather or another journalistic assignment is not clear, but the Advertizer's finest left early and missed the event which saved the day and more than made up for the dismal deluge - Polly's delicious spread, accompanied by steaming cups of tea.
Conversation was muted briefly as we tucked in, then, more comfortable, we gave our attention to David demonstration of the MAFF method of checking for Varroacide resistance. Interestingly, when David got to the point where it required the drowning of a jarful of bees, a general murmur of dissent arose. Was it really necessary to sacrifice so many of our friends just to demonstrate a technique? Finally, by common assent, it was agreed that as Varroa was not likely to be present in great numbers this early in the season, it would be more appropriate to test their resistance at some later date. Meanwhile, we had understood the working of the method. An interesting insight into our fellow beekeepers' compassionate natures!
TO THE HEATHER! August 2003
Glyn is ready to take some bees up in to Wales. With temperatures nearing record levels he decided to move them in the early, cool, hours of the morning rather than in the evening, so at 4.15 am we head off in the Land Rover, with trailer in tow, to Ellesmere to pick up 15 hives.
By 5.15 am the trailer is loaded and ready to move. Light is visible in the eastern sky, but under the trees my emergency pocket torch comes in handy. Note the last hive on the right - more of this one later.
The road to Wales begins undramatically, but soon the mountains are in view. The road steepens, winds tortuously, and the surface deteriorates until we are bouncing vigorously over pothole and rock. Our path takes us through forest and sheep grazing, game birds scattering before us. The trailer follows faithfully behind and the journey is completed without incident.
Stepping from the Land Rover, however, Glyn discovers that the last hive loaded has sprung a leak. Somehow the foam strip pushed carefully into the entrance has become displaced. Bees are massed over the outside and they are not happy bees! We don bee gear and prepare to unload but the bees are in a fighting mood. I am immediately stung through gloves, trousers and shirt and retire some distance to add a boiler suit and extra gloves to my protective layers. Glyn, meanwhile, has no time for such niceties and is grimly hauling boxes off the trailer and dumping them on pallets placed in the heather. I join him belatedly and we complete the job under a determined barrage.
We decide not to turn the Land Rover and trailer under fire so drive further up the track. It's quieter there and we are able to get our breath back before returning past the hives, now in the safety of the cab (just a handful of bees in there with us!). The bees are a little quieter now and Glyn decides to make a final check.
We compare stings - I have half-a-dozen but Glyn has more than a score. Several of the stings are still in his forearms, but the sting marks on his hands are too many to count. He can't remember having had such a difficult experience in thirty years and more.
As we head back towards Oswestry, an hour behind schedule, we resolve to be more careful with the packing next time. I am planning a fool-proof bee-proof entrance closure!
Oswestry Show 2nd of August 2003
We didn't win the 'Best of Show' silver salver this year, but we nevertheless had a busy and enjoyable time talking to visitors and spreading the message.
Despite the initially large stocks, only by dispensing the free honey flapjack and mead (courtesy Polly and Eileen) in miserly portions were we able to make them last the whole day. A respectable 40 pounds of honey were sold together with several of Glyn's round sections, recipe books and honey spoons. All in all, income exceeded the show expenses by a comfortable margin.
Association members ensured a good level of manning on the stand. Sally led the drive to sign up passers-by for 'Guess the Number of Pollen Granules in the Jar' for which Ken and Glyn donated the prize of two jars of honey and a tin of beeswax polish.
Recruitment of new members, the raison d 'être of the show stand, is difficult to evaluate at show time. Enthusiasm may evaporate over the long winter period, but at the same time seeds may have been sown which grow unexpectedly next spring. Time will tell. Now we have a web site we hope this will prove a useful channel for contact and encouragement of interest.
Meeting 28th June 2003
Last Saturday's meeting at Secretary Glyn Jones' apiary was special for at least two reasons: the introduction of Oswestry Beekeepers' first all-weather bee meeting with Glyn's new gazebo, and the official launch of our web site.
The weather forecast proved accurate and it remained dry with patchy sunshine. The meeting began with a small ceremony around the apiary 'friendly spirit'.
Glyn worked methodically through the 15 or so colonies he has on site and described his techniques for handling his bees. His hives are Smith's and he uses single brood. Sharp eyes spotted several queens, but, as he explained, actual sight of the queen is not an essential in judging that a colony is 'queen-right'.
Glyn had a box of round sections on a swarm and the bees had worked very hard drawing them out.
Working clockwise around the field Glyn left the colony in the top corner until last. This proved a wise choice because, as he had warned us, these were particularly 'keen' bees and when we finally moved away some dedicated warriors followed us across the apiary to the gazebo.
However, these few brave defenders were soon encouraged to return to the old homestead and, unmolested, we tucked in to strawberries, cream, cake and tea and ended the meeting in a very satisfactory manner, although as fewer members (13) attended than expected we were obliged to have a second helping of strawberries and cream. Would that life were ever thus!
Meeting 12th July 2003
The weather was sunny and very warm for the last member's apiary meeting of the summer. John Welch's densely wooded garden had plenty of welcome shade for beekeepers wisely dressed in full protective gear - not that the precaution proved really necessary, but the bees here do have a certain reputation.
Wynne Jones was our guest expert, and patiently explained points of bee husbandry as he handled the bees. Five colonies were arrayed for examination, although this was reduced to four by nightfall.
The first was a small cast recovered in two instalments from Oswestry Golf Club (John Welch had been in far greater danger from high velocity golf balls than bees). Shortage of foundation had given the bees the opportunity to draw comb their own way and an unsuccessful attempt had been made to wire some 'wild' brood comb in an empty frame.
Next came a colony once very strong but reduced to a shallow brood last spring. It was now bursting at the seams, requiring addition of a deep brood box.
Number three was a swarm from a colony at Llansanfraid, literally gathered up by Glyn Jones who had patiently scooped bees into a skep under a steady downpour of rain. These bees were doing very well - they had drawn out 80% of a National brood box of foundation in just over a week. Another week or so and it will need supering, but meanwhile it was decided to amalgamate the cast (number one) with this colony late that day (newspaper method).
The fourth colony was the parent of number five and the grandparent of number three - three generations together! This was much reduced in numbers and two supers with only a few pounds of honey were removed.
Number five had had two full supers removed before being moved in from Llansanfraid a couple of days before and the brood and a half was very full of bees. A super was added.
Overall the bees had been very patient with us, and we were able to take tea close by without being harried. Wynne Jones had been using compressed cotton waste as smoker fuel for his demonstration and we discussed this new (to us) material and the practical application of 'BeeQuick' for shooing bees out of supers ready for extraction. An enjoyable day.
