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The Basingstoke BeekeeperAutumn 1998
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ContentsApiary Update |
Apiary UpdateDavid Purchase, Apiary ManagerThis is the Silly Season as far as the Association apiaries are concerned. Not a lot to report. After a very shaky start, the queen rearing at St. John's Copse was ultimately a great success. I will leave Norman to provide a blow-by-blow account. The parent colony was not re-united at the end of the programme. Instead, the queenless cell-raising 'top box' was left with a queen cell. The queen hatched and mated successfully. At the Apiary Meeting on 1st August (I was not quite alone as Frank and Tony attended), both halves of the parent colony were doing very well. We inspected a colony of mine which had appeared to be queenless for several weeks. Just over a week earlier I had united it with a colony from The Manor. Although the physical uniting had gone smoothly, the queen had apparently been lost in the process. There was no young brood and several queen cells. We left two unsealed cells. I have not yet been back to check progress. The two colonies at Breach Farm have been disappointing. Both, and one in particular, got off to a slow start. They did not benefit from the spring (autumn sown) rape. The stronger of the two eventually swarmed and now has the worst case of sacbrood that I have ever seen. More on that next time. The weaker one is now a reasonably respectable colony and has just about filled a super, the Association's total honey crop for the year! Although both colonies would benefit from new brood comb - a job for next spring - I believe that the main problem is the site itself. It is well protected from the east and south but very exposed to the north and west. I have little doubt that their development was retarded by their exposure to the cold, wet and windy weather of April and June. I did plant several native tree and shrub saplings as a wind-break three winters ago but none survived, probably because of nettles and rabbits. Hazel hurdles may be the answer. All Association colonies are being treated with Bayvarol. Beulah Cullen's training day was a great success judging by the feedback I have received. Eight Association members and one Fleet member participated. Just about the right number for the activities involved. By comparison, my Apiary Tour was a disappointment. Three members offered their bees for inspection - many thanks to Frank, Jim and Tony. Christine, Frank, Jim, Tony and I had an enjoyable and productive day. By productive, I don't mean Foulbrood - we found none I'm glad to say! It was felt by those who had attended both that the meeting dovetailed nicely with Beulah's Training Day of a fortnight earlier. The end of the season is nigh and I shall soon be suffering my annual withdrawal symptoms! Still, there is the social season to look forward to, particularly the Hampshire Convention and the National Honey Show. I hope to see many of you there, as well as at our Association winter meetings. As a final note, I have to return to my obsession with spelling. Viz. my last report, I do know how to spell supersedure. It must be our Editor's American spell-check which thinks it supercedure ! Sorry Gordon! [This time it was my doing entirely as I had previously told the spell checker the spelling. That said, whilst Dave is right that supersedure is the prefered spelling, according to the OED both are correct. My spelling checker now knows only the prefered spelling. I wonder why a word based on cede should be converted to sede in this case. Curious language, English.] English As It Is RoteEye have a spelling chequer David RowseI regret to inform you that Mr. David Rowse died peacefully in his sleep during the early hours of Monday 31st of August. David Rowse was proprieter of Rowse's Honey Farms for many years. A such he made major contributions to the British honey trade and also to beekeeping itself, his company being at least part responsible for giving us and employing such notable beekeepers as Ted Hooper and John Furzey. The Association offers it's sincere condolences to his widow Ada and their family. Honey ShowIn Conjunction with Basingstoke Council's Nature's Harvest DayThe Honey Show will be held in the Walled Garden as now usual, however the Apple Day has been renamed and has a wider compass, including all things `harvesty'. The arrangements for the day will be similar to earlier years, but this year there will be no charge for exhibits and we hope to have a judge who will both judje to show and make comment upon the why's and wherefore's of the result. Queen Rearing ProjectThe Jenter Queen Rearing at the Association Apiary (continued)When the going gets tough, the tough gets going and we are not to be beaten. Further discussion and we resolve to release our queen to roam free within the lower box and to re-assess the situation three days hence on Wednesday 10th June. Wednesday comes and our queen is laying! oh happy days! Once more she is confined within the cage and once more, twenty-hours later, she has failed to lay a single egg!. A paranoia descends upon the group and evil thoughts are thought, a further twenty-four hours she will be given and eggs will be seen or she may never again emerge from the cage unaided! Twenty-four hours and we are in heaven once more... eggs can be clearly seen nestling in the cells within the cage. Hurriedly, we assess the programme, if we transfer these cells to the cell raiser tomorrow (Saturday 13th) we may yet have cells for distribution on Sunday 21st June (out of office hours). That is, of course, if the cell raiser will accept eggs in lieu of larvae. We are unsure, but are prepared to risk it as the colony is in good heart considering the break in egg laying. Having transferred the cells to the cell raiser the long wait began and on Sunday 21st June the group re-assembled to be rewarded by the sight of seventeen of the finest queen cells ever likely to be seen. Transfers were made into various queen mating nucs prepared earlier (who said optimism was dead?) and later reports indicate that a substantial number have mated and are now heading colonies. Here's to next year! when, older and wiser, we can do the whole thing again. A final note: We have received a complaint from our local Council that the track leading to the Association apiary has been somewhat over used. Since our initial aim was to stimulate interest and encourage participation at our Association apiary, we are rather proud of that and are considering having it framed! Success!With the Irish contingent at the National Honey Show in London appearing somewhat invincible year after year, to take them on in their own backyard, so to speak, would call for a large measure of optimism. But that is just what Norman and June Hughes did earlier this year at the Irish National Honey Show held at Gormanston, with some success. With grins from ear to ear, they gained three trophies and two rosettes in the wax classes including the Best in Show Eager to share her skills, June's two workshops entitled Wax Products... From Hive to Shop Shelf were well received with spontaneous applause from the large audiences. The Millenium BeehouseA Beekeeping Study Centre For BasingstokeIt's a little more modest an ambition than the Millenium Dome and should have a total bill with fewer zeros, but it's local, it's about bees and we're doing it! A couple of years ago I wrote about wanting to set up our own `owned by us' beekeeping centre. Well, the Committee, perhaps rightly, decided that was too ambitious. However, we did all think that it should be feasible to sponsor a dedicated Beekeeping Study Centre in the Walled Garden. We have all worked hard over the years to build and strengthen our financial standing. This has a number of benefits. It makes us more solvent and able to do things for ourselves that we otherwise couldn't consider. It builds and strengthens our credibility within the local community. Our standing is also helped by us appearing either with the Association stand at public events, or with smaller displays and talks at schools, with nature conservation trusts and so on. As that credibility has built, we have gained access to further trust and grant schemes and gained the backing of organisations like Basingstoke Council. We decided it was time to begin a Millenium Project and what better than a Study Centre? After getting an agreement in principle from the Council, we began a series of meetings to plan the project, its costs and timescales. Our first guess of costs soon escalated from two or three thousand to eight thousand pounds -- just for a 10x20 foot wooden hut, though with electricity, displays, equipment and so on. John Peacock, Chairman and Chief Fundraiser, with periodic help from Norman, approached a number of organisations and received varying levels of help. Talking with these organisations takes time, and we were a little apprehensive about just how far we actually would get. We've raised a few hundreds of pounds in the past, but thousands seemed a new game altogether. Our contacts were:
Four Lanes Trust is a local organisation, which has been running for a number of years. In 1996 they gave us a grant to buy the TV/video machine, display boards and posters. Now they have given us £ 579 to pay for a slide projector and overhead projector. Copus (Committee on the Public Understanding of Science) are sponsored by The Royal Society, The Royal Institute of Great Britain and The British Association for the Advancement of Science; all of which are registered charities. Copus' main aim is to advance the public awareness and understanding of science in all its forms and we qualify as a natural science. The Millenium Community Activity Grants Scheme is designed to find activities to mark the millenium. The criteria to obtain a grant are that the ``activity'' should be memorable and have a lasting effect, it should contribute to the heritage of the community and be available to as wide a range of the public as possible. We certainly qualified for that one. The Association is grateful to all the organisations who have contributed to a project that we feel will both help us and bring a greater awareness to young people in particular of the extraordinary value of bees to mankind and the world. We hope, too, that we will sow seeds of beekeeping amongst the young. Gordon Dear Fellow Beekeepers,To mark the millenium we wish to erect a Classroom cum Study Centre in the Walled Garden at Down Grange. The Classroom would be used to promote, encourage and support the craft of beekeeping, for the benefit of the environment, people and bees. It would also complement the environmental activities which are already catered for in the walled garden; which is open top the general public. To achieve our aims we plan to buy a Classroom cum Study Centre, where we can have a permanent display of beekeeping posters, and observation hive, binocular microscopes and other equipment for use of 42 local primary schools, secondary schools and other groups. Several members already are willing to supervise and teach in the centre. If you would like to help please tell any of the Committee members. We will be able to give talks to local retired groups, Women's Institutes, gardening clubs and other interested parties. We hope to encourage others to become beekeepers to carry on the work when we have passed on. The British bee needs future generations to become the beekeepers of the next millenium and the guardians of our future environment. We intent to start building in September 1998 providing the funding is available, or as soon after that date as possible and to become operational in the spring of 1999. It will be both memorable and have a long lasting effect on the community for generations to come. We have already obtained grants to the tune of £ 7,479, enough to erect the Classroom and buy most of the equipment needed to get started. There is one snag at the moment, the Council have proposed a rent of £ 250 [ Latest, September 7th: The Council have reduce this to £ 12.50 per annum.] per annum and legal fees of ``up to £ 500''. We cannot sanction that sort of rent year on year, even though we are allowed the use of The Bothy free at the moment. We intend to negotiate for a lower rent and legal fees. If anyone knows how we can achieve both these aims please telephone me on 326748. John Peacock Pause for ThoughtJust how long do bees retain their memory of flight lines?Recently, prior to going on holiday, I lodged a mini-nuc containing an un-mated queen with a fellow beekeeper living over three miles from my home. On my return and close to four weeks later, the mini-nuc was returned with the now mated queen. Prior to my holiday the mini-nuc had been sited on a bench close to the house, but on return I sited it further down the garden some 40ft from its original position. The mini-nuc was returned during the late evening and, from first flights the next morning, it was clear that a small number of bees were visiting the original site. Of course, it may well have been that they were simply scenting this area, but from observation, it appeared that the bees concerned were returning from a foraging flight and, after a short pause, would spiral away and return to the mini-nuc. This continued for much of the day but had ceased by early evening. Were these bees flying on retained memory or is there some other explanation? Surely, our vast army of surfers can shed some light! Norman Hughes There is quite strong evidence that foraging bees may never lose their memory for the location of their home. That recommended six weeks is about the lifespan of a flying worker! Quite how that fits with the suggestion that you can move a hive further in winter I'm not sure. Obvious if moot possibilities are that the bees don't fly far enough in cold weather to get disoriented, or they don't fly for long enough to deeply learn the area. I've read some interesting experiments where hives have been deliberately moved in small steps a couple of feet a day, for quite large distances. In these circumstances, it appears that the bees learn ther their home moves and seem to get used to the idea. The hives are moved around a foot for the first few days, then the step size can be gradually increased as they learn. Whilst they always fly to the hive's original location, they seem happy simply to fly over the location without hunting around looking for it... and fly immediately along the movement path until they reach the new location. One wonders why bees might learn to do that. It isn't obviously something that's useful to them in nature. TeamworkThere are four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anbody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. Of course that's a reminder that we really do need you to help out from time to time. Helping with fetes; participating in the honey show; writing for the newsletter; attending the evening and apiary meetings; making the tea; helping beginners; asking for speakers or subjects; speaking either at our meeting or to other organisations; swarm collection; advice to the public about their bee problems. The list seems almost endless. Cleaning HoneyA method of processing without filtering is to settle the honey. I do not heat my honey. I leave it in a room at 85 to 90 degrees F. When extracting I keep the extractor at low speed until the combs are almost empty then speed it up to finish up. From the extractor it goes through a course strainer and then is poured slowly into a holding tank. When full the top is placed on the tank and sealed with stretch wrap to keep out moisture. It is then left to settle between 2 weeks to a month depending on thickness. I have known beekeepers the store it this way for 3 months for clear show honey. Using this method, wax particles and other impurities will float to the top. When the honey has had time to settle, I bottle from the bottom of the container and the very last which contains trash is filtered through a stocking and is sold as filtered or used for cooking. I have seen this method used for the thickest of honeys. It just takes a little longer to settle. Frank Humphrey email@omitted.anti.spam What's The Risk?Norman mentioned to me that Margaret Johnson had written an article for Meridian, about the warnings on some honeys regarding young infants, honey and botulism. So why the warning and what are the risks? Margaret's article concentrates on good sound everyday hygiene, like cleaning work surfaces, the extracting room, stored comb, not putting supers straight on the ground and so on. All excellent advice, but unfortunately it partially misses the point in this case. As Margaret points out, Clostridium botulinum comes from the soil and its spores are common on all raw agricultural products. This is a problem for infants under one year of age who have not obtained an adequate gut fauna to protect them from various bacteria. Once the fauna has been established, there is little problem from Clostridium botulinum in everyday concentrations. All raw agricultural materials have the spores and it is essential to thoroughly wash all vegetables that come straight from the garden before feeding them to any child under one year old. Washing the vegetable removes most of the spores, but on items like carrots or radishes, the skin is porous or ``wrinkled'' enough that you need to peel the vegetable before feeding to children. The spores get into honey when the bees collect water. The problem with honey is that you can't wash it and that's the only reason honey is singled out! The majority of bacteria do not survive in honey due to its natural antiseptic properties and dehydrating effect. The risk from them therefore is minimal. It is the spore formers like Clostridia and Bacillus species that would give more cause for concern. AFB spores certainly remain viable in honey and this feature is used in some countries to monitor the disease. The high concentration of sugar in honey, along with the production of peroxides when it is diluted, takes care of most infectious organisms. However a problem can come when diluted honey has been previously heated to over about 38C, which is hot enough to destroy the peroxide producing enzymes, but far from the temperature that destroys the harmful bacteria. Upper EntranceAndy Nachbaur email@omitted.anti.spamI would like to experiment with the upper entrance notion with my hives. Has anyone out there used this type of setup? I would be interested in hearing about the pros and cons of this. Upper entrances may be nice in the winter but can cause your honey yields to take a dramatic drop and are not necessary even in the hottest and wettest locations but having said that they are fun and interesting. If you want to do something to increase production increase the distance between the bottom board and combs by using 3/4 or larger spacing on the edges of the bottom that the hive body rests on. This gives the bees clustering space and they ventilate the hive more efficiently, actually reduces the temperature inside the hive and reduces swarming. It also keeps more of the guard bees inside the hive and reduces the aggressive behavior. Some put slated lath in the space to reduce brace comb to the hive floor but that just reduces the clustering space and these brace combs are seldom a big problem. Entrance reducers and guards may be necessary in the fall and winter. Its fun time in the bee yard and bees can be trained to use upper entrances such as with ``top'' pollen traps. I had a hive one time that I trained to land between two hive bodies and march single file to a entrance in the back of the hive to the amazement of all visiting beekeepers and friends. They did well with an entrance that would only admit one or two bees at a time. Because the bees place pollen as close to the entrance as they can, with upper entrances even with excluders to keep the queen down, the bees will store much pollen in the upper hive body or super. But the rub seems to come with the nectar which they also like to store in the super above the entrance and then work UP with it as the space is filled. With upper entrances they seem to give it up and do not take the nectar down so you can have nectar and even honey in the top box and the brood starving in the bottom boxes, of course without excludes the upper entrance will insure that the queen soon abandons the bottom boxes and moves to the top. For years I used upper entrances in supers that had a small, one or two inch of clear plastic tubing that allowed the bees one at a time to leave but did not allow them to come back. This worked good without any negative effects. In some areas such as the California Wild Buckwheat flow that produces very nice pollen it is possible to close up the bottom entrance and force the bees to use an upper entrance and they will store combs half full of pollen with a layer of sealed honey over it which I have always thought would make a interesting comb or cut comb pack for the Health Food Trade but know of no one who has taken advantage of this. I am sure there other flows that could be used to do the same thing. Restricting or redirecting bees to a upper entrance can cause the bees to try to make a new entrance and any place that is thin or allows a small amount of light in the hive will become thinner and in time the bees will eat their way out. In any case they will depreciate that expensive wooden box to nothing in a season or two. They do this by actually wetting the wood and chewing it down. In old style bee boxes with deep hand holds it does not take much more then a season for the bees to make a new entrance. Another interesting thing to do is to paint part of your bottom entrance white and another part black. The bees will leave via the white and come back in via the black. You can even do stripes so that the bees come and go from several areas of the bottom entrance. You can have fun with bees by painting an landing X or O spot above the entrance and the bees will land on the X or O like good little pilots and follow the black painted landing lanes to the entrance ramp. You can get them coming in by landing on the front or side of the hive and leaving by the white painted entrance lanes. This Bee Traffic Control is bound to increase production by avoiding those frequent bee collisions and traffic jams resulting in a 5% to 10% increase in production at very little cost. No tricks to any of this except you should have well established hives and a fair flow to get it working in a reasonable amount of time. There is also some difference in how yellow bees and back bees respond to all this. The yellow ones seem to drift to other hives when confused while the blacks can find their own hole no matter what you do. I have always suspected these black bees were used for so long in bee houses that they developed better homing senses or maybe they just were late in coming out of the bee trees to the bee hive. What do they use for a landing board? Bees don't require any special landing board, but if you want to paint some dark color around the upper entrance they will find it faster. What is the best way to create the upper entrance? Bore a hole in the super or top, or several? Are you suppose to close the bottom entrance if using the upper entrance? If you want them to use only the upper entrance you got to close it. I am sure none of this helped, but if it makes beekeeping more fun for someone then its worth the effort. ttul, the OLd Drone Strains of BeeMichael Reddell email@omitted.anti.spam Can someone please tell me about the advantages and disadvantages of Italian and Carniolan bees. I live in the rocky mountain just south of Salt Lake City (Utah the Bee Hive State). The difference that first comes to mind between Italians and all the others is intensity. The Carniolan and Caucasian colonies I've had never seemed to match the intensity and vigor of Italians. Maybe it comes from all those thousands of years foraging in oregano and thyme :) A more tangible and rational difference is winter brood production and spring buildup. Italians are from a warm temperate climate with mild winters. Consequently they don't always completely stop brood rearing even in cold winter conditions. They maintain a large winter cluster and expend stores trying to maintain a small brood patch in the center of the cluster. This isn't ideal in a climate where you have a lot of snow and cold weather. Even though it isn't ideal, they seem to manage. I always kept Italians in Idaho (sometimes as cold as -20 F) and Seattle (sometimes as cold as 16 F), and they did fine. On the other hand, Carnies are from the mountains of central Europe where winters are much more harsh. They shut down the brood nest in the winter and maintain a smaller winter cluster to save honey stores. You would think this would put them behind the curve in the spring, but they build up really fast and catch up with the Italians by mid spring. This rapid buildup tends to encourage swarming. I live in a climate similar to Italy, and I don't like Carnies for my location. We only have a few weeks when the bees can't fly and those weeks are scattered over about 3 months. Even when they can't fly, it's more because of rain than cold. There are minor nectar flows throughout the year, and buildup starts in December. I reported the very first swarm on the Bee List on February 24th last year. I see bees foraging on Eucalyptus and other available crops every month of the year. It drives me nuts to see a Carnie or Caucasian hive languishing through the balmy winter months because of an internal clock designed for hard weather. The Utah Rockies are a different story - Much more like the Alps, where Carnies came from. I didn't know enough back when I was in the Bitter Root Mountains of Idaho to try Carniolans, so I kept Italians there. I don't have much experience with Carnies in cold weather, but it makes sense that they would be a more winter hardy choice in such a location. A few other minor differences are that Italians propolize, rob, and drift more, Carnies are a little less productive and a little more gentle on average. My suggestion is that you start with one or two of each and see what you think. Pretty soon you'll end up as strongly opinionated as the rest of us! On Black BeesKeith Hall email@omitted.anti.spam Yes, black bees are still around in UK, I have been keeping them for nearly 20 years now. While I do not claim is that they are the ``original British black bees'', their genes are probably predominantly of that race. Black bees are still common in the north of England (where I live) and Scotland with some beekeepers managing to keep strains going further south. The old race evolved to succede with the climate and flora of this country. They are still succesful bees here now even though modern agriculture means a very different flora. The bees, assisted sometimes by beekeepers, have changed to take advantage of the changing flora and local conditions. For example in a moorland area, the main flow is heather starting as late as mid August so a late developing strain would have been advantageous before migratory beekeeping. Beekeeping methods can also promote evolution, eg skep beekeeping would have encouraged swarmy bees. So while the books might give general charachteristics of the the race, there is quite a lot of variation which a breeder can use to advantage. The biggest difficulty in maintaining the character of the old strain is that for over 100 years, some beekeepers have thought that foreign races should be better performers (the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!). So there have been imports from all over the world -- and still are -- resulting in uncontrolled crossbreeding. A thoroughbred strain of black bees are enjoyable to keep and perform well. Some imports likewise but the crossbreeds can be the very devil. A spate of imports of New Zealand bred Italians into this area by one ot two beekeepers caused many others to complain bitterly of bad tempered bees for the first time. When the imports stopped, the black strain reasserted itself, probably because it is better adapted to the weather patterns. However to keep good tempered, low swarming, productive black bees demands breeding effort by the beekeeper because there are just too many mongrels around. Time pressure has meant I have neglected this recently and I can see the changes in behaviour as well as in the appearance of a small percentage of bees with yellow bands in some colonies. So if there has been all this crossbreeding over the last century, how do we know present black bees are native or near native? The best evidence for this is wing vein measurements -- measuring the relative lengths of certain wing veins and angles between them. In a good pure bred stock these measurements are surprisingly consistent but are quite different in the different races of bees. But still we need to proove that the measurements of our black bees are the same as bees before imports started. Recent evidence means we can do this. An archeaological excavation of a Viking settlement in York unearthed a skep dating from the 10th (from memory) Century. In it were quite a number of bees and bee fragments which had been preserved. Local beekeepers who heard of this arranged for wing vein measurements to be taken which gives the base line aganst which to compare our colonies. There are plenty of black bees around in this area with very similar wing vein measurements. I believe they are worth maintaining both because they are sucessful in their own right and because it is sensible to maintain the gene pool for future generations of beekeepers and bee breeders. Keith Hall Capt Ken Black email@omitted.anti.spam British Bees have not disappeared. Morphological measurement of local honeybees has proved that there are still plenty of British Black (Apis.M.M.) bees around. I have been collecting genetic material for the last couple of years but BIBBA have been at it for considerably longer. This bee really suits our climate here. In my view it has the following benefits over other types here in Britain: Its breeding habits can be quite localized, in areas where Oil seed rape (the main crop for many) is produced the local bee starts brood rearing quite early in the spring and peaks in May, in the heather growing areas brood rearing doesn't peak until much later (Jul/Aug). As previously mentioned the Apis.M.M maintains a compact brood nest. I aim to keep them on 11 BS frames. A bigger brood nest may produce larger surpluses in good years (as seen in some of the more prolific types) but, over a 5 year period I would say the dark bee will average out better. It will fly in the cool damp conditions often experienced in the British Isles when yellow types are snug in bed. This is also useful for breeders in that dark drones will fly much earlier in the day and are around early in the year, we have a much better chance therefore of obtaining purer matings. Another benefit as far as the VJ mite is concerned is that the dark bee has an identifiable pause in its breeding cycle. In August there is a halt in egg laying for around a month before winter bees are produced this trait provides a useful period in which to strike at the adult V mites. This bee winters particularly well, in small compact clusters, it tends to be more frugal in its consumption of winter reserves. Yellow types breed too late into the year in Britain and in poor winters large numbers starve. Contrary to other views I feel that this bee is extremely robust and although IoW disease may have contributed to a large drop in their numbers other factors like The Great War and the resulting lack of good husbandry during this period also took its toll. What we have now in many areas are honeybees that have survived and are carrying that resistance in their genes. Yes there have been outside influences but in my opinion local traits have won through in the gene survivability battle and we still have excellent British honeybees. I am producing around 40 Black queens this year and last years queens are producing excellent crops already. Ken Black. Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. OX6 9QF email@omitted.anti.spam It would seem to me that if most of the British Black bees were wiped out by Isle of Wight disease then they are susceptable rather that resistant to the disease. The bees that survived probably did so because of their geographic location. These British Black bees were very dark brown in colour hence the name ``Black Bee''. They were not very agressive but were excitable during manipulation. They did not defend their hives very well against robbers. They are probably prone to brood diseases. I do not understand why BIBBA wants to breed back to these bees. It is perhaps an interesting academic exercise but that is about all. The bees which I, and many people in Scotland, have today are certainly very dark in colour but they are not British Black Bees. There have been a lot of bees imported into Britain over the years and I think that the resultant crosses are better than the originals. As a matter of interest there were also many French Black bees imported in the 1920's which was just after the Isle of Wight epidemic which was very similar to the British Blacks but according to R.O.B.Manley they were rather vicious. Harry. Scotland JG NY email@omitted.anti.spam Sid Pulllinger wrote: The man in question was Beowulf Cooper, a government entomologist and enthusiastic beekeeper. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1982 and the book mentioned above was compiled after his death by a Mr Philip Denwood from the mass of material he left behind. Thanks, Sid, that was the author I had in mind. His book was extremely interesting, and it is fortunate that Mr. Denwood was able to undertake the task of completing the work. One of the most fascinating aspects of the book regarding the British bee was the examination of bee longevity vs merely prolific tendencies. In other words, instead of having huge populous colonies, there was a tendency in some British stock to have longer living individuals. So with smaller, more manageable colonies, the net result in work/nectar gathering would be similar. Additional emphasis was placed on the advantages of a less prolific bee which would not use up stores excessively (in raising too much brood), and which would thrive in a single brood chamber hive. Of particular interest, too, was the topic of supercedure vs. swarming, meaning that some British stock appeared to produce queen cells and just replace the queen, instead of swarming. That would be an extremely useful trait for which to breed. Anyone doing special breeding work for trait selection would find a wealth of information in Mr. Cooper's book. Unfortunately it is probably not widely available in North America, but I believe BIBBA does still offer it. Swarm TrapsGarth email@omitted.anti.spam Here in South Africa, many people trap swarms. I myself have a few trapping sites, the best of which, using one bait box, collected nine swarms over a three week period in the peak swarming season. (This site was directly above my solar wax extractor which I placed in a crook in a wall facing the rising sun) There are two common trapping techniques employed in south africa. One is to use specially made boxes and place them in suitable spots where bees will naturally scout. (eg on cliff faces, on sun facing walls of buildings etc). These boxes are made to hold between four to five frames and should have an internal volume of 50 litres (about ten gallons of some sort I think) if one wishes to trap european bees. (I think the reference for that volume is in Honeybees and Wax, HR Hepburn). For african bees the volume is less important, but in hot weather the trap must not exceed an internal temperature that will melt wax. The inside of the box should be smeared with melted wax and propolis. I have found the gunk left over after cleaing wax up is fine. (In this regard the plastic ammo crates used by some armies, as well as the old M16 and South African R1 rifle ammo boxes are the exact right size to take 4 frames) Alternatively, one can rotate all old colonies into new boxes, and use old boxes as bait hives. This works exceptionally well. There is a commercial beekeeper to the north of me in Durban who routinely moves in a thousand old boxes into metropolitan durban where he nets a full catch of swarms by the end of the season. Apparently in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe beekeepers there have charted routes through the city where bees move each year, and know the best places to place catch boxes. In the Natal region many beekeepers have built special attachments to put on their Land Rovers and Range Rovres to allow them to move through saligna (a type of eucalypt) groves and check/remove full catch boxes nailed on racks up in the trees. In my area, a number of people place catch boxes at sites where bee removals have been done. Every spring this stops the owners of houses saying `our' bees are back in their wall, loft, etc. In my experience it is not as much the wax that attracts bees to a site as it is propolis. Hope this is of help Garth Adrian Wenner email@omitted.anti.spam With regard to the description and use of swarm traps, Justin Schmidt just sent me a message: Actually the best paper for beekeepers on swarm traps is the ABJ paper Swarm traps'' 129:468-71 (1989).'' And, yes, they do work! Bee Decline?David Green email@omitted.anti.spam Although mites have been a serious factor with honeybees, honeybee populations were declining before mites arrived, due to pesticide misuse, poor honey markets, and other factors. Bumblebee populations, especially in the south [of the USA] are badly depleted, primarily due to cotton spraying in violation of label directions. Many solitary bees are also affected. Pesticide misuse is a factor in many other areas as well. Some other factors are loss of forage (changing crops patterns, loss of hedgerows, increased herbicide use, and monoculture pine forests rather than mixed forest), clearcut logging, development, bee paranoia (more homeowner spraying, more vandalism to beekeepers), and fire ants (ground nesting solitary bees are especially vulnerable to these predators). The decline of pollinator populations is one of the most significant environmental problems, one that will greatly impact our children and grandchildren, if not ourselves. It is little recognized and I commend you for being alert to this situation. You can help
BumblebeesDavid Green email@omitted.anti.spam The bumblebee is a more efficient pollinator than Apis mellifera. They start earlier, work later and visit more flowers per bee. They also ``sonicate'' or buzz the flowers which releases more pollen. The statement is true for individual bees, but needs to be qualified. On curcurbits [Cucumber family. Ed.] each bumblebee is worth about 3 honeybees. They are very fuzzy and brawney, so they are more efficient as they push their way into the flower. (Good pollination is not accomplished by a single visit of either -- I'd like to see 7-8 visits by a bumblebee or 20 by a honeybee.) But bumblebees nest in colonies of 50-150. Honeybees nest in colonies of 20,000 to 30,000. So there is definitely a quantitative advantage on the honeybee side. Honeybees also show fidelity to one species of plant, and they communicate to other bees where the goodies are, so their pollinator value increases. Bumblebees will happily go from dandelion to apple blossom. And they do not tell others where to go. They are very haphazard, with each worker going off on her own. Both are important pollinators, and we need both. But I couldn't let go by a blanket statement about bumblebees being more efficient. Each has strengths and weaknesses. There are some (I think delusional) folks who are gleefully rejoicing over the problems that honeybees are having. They think this will lead to a marvelous resurgeance of the wild native bees, and everything will be hunky dory with agriculture again. I think actual experience with commercial crop pollination, under contemporary conditions would cure them. We need to learn to manage, enhance, and protect ALL pollinators from pesticide misuse and the other threats they face. Honeybee keepers who are involved in pollination ought to be also studying up on, and maybe involved in, the culture of other pollinators. And those who are rooting for native bees, should not be trying to shut out the honeybee keepers and take pot shots at them. We are natural allies... RecipeHoney-Roasted PearsIn Chocolate Sauce
Finely chop the nuts and apricots, and mix together with the a little of the honey to form a paste. Peel the pears, core them from the base and stuff with the nut paste. Pierce each pear with a clove and then arrange the pears in a well buttered oven dish. Melt together 120g of the honey and the orange juice and pour the mixture over the pears. Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preaheated oven at Gas~4/180C for around 45 minutes, basting regularly, until the pears are firm but tender. Whilst the pears are cooking, melt the remaining butter in a saucepan, chop and add the chocolate, condensed milk and the remainder of the honey. Bring the sauce to the boil over a gentle heat and remove immediately from the heat. Allow to cool a little before adding vanilla essence to taste. Serve the pears in their juices and the chocolate sauce. |
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