The Basingstoke Beekeeper

Autumn 2001

Contents

APIARY UPDATE

by Daivid Purchase

The season has been one of consolidation in the Association's apiary at St. John's Copse, Oakley. Under Peter's guidance, ably supported by Christine, stocks have been increased to three. The only colony at the start of the season, which was found early on to be lightly infected by European Foulbrood, has built up nicely since it was Shook Swarmed (see my last report). It has produced a modest honey crop. Last year's cast which had been overwintered in my garden developed into a very strong colony producing a good crop. The total yield from the two colonies is almost 90lbs. A nuc was made up from the second colony and that, too, has developed well and should be a good, productive unit next year. All queens have been marked and the colonies are currently being treated for varroa. Attendances at apiary meetings have improved on last year, averaging eight. Each has lasted a good two hours, with a variety of practical tasks to educate new members and hone the skills of the more experienced.

Congratulations to Peter and Christine. Both have passed the BBKA's Basic Examination following a three-hour test of practical and theoretical skills and knowledge. Why not follow in their footsteps? Please contact me for further information. It is planned to use the Study Centre as a base for a course for beginners and prospective beekeepers, starting in the New Year. Again, please contact me for further information.

By the time you read this, you will probably be aware that varroa mites resistant to Apistan have been found in Devon. It is likely that resistance will be found also to Bayvarol as it, too, is a synthetic pyrethroid. It is not an alternative treatment. Since starting to use the products it has been known that eventually they would cease to be effective. Probably resistance is being hastened by a minority of beekeepers misusing the products. Hopefully, in our part of the world, we will enjoy at least one more year of efficacy. You can help by following the manufacturers' instructions. The mid-August treatment is the vital one, but please remember to remove the strips after 6-8 weeks. Treat in the spring only if you need to, otherwise you could be wasting your time and your money and helping the mites to evolve resistance. Bee Inspectors are carrying out field tests on colonies showing signs of possible resistance. Please contact me for further information and advice.

In Hampshire generally, the number of confirmed cases of European Foulbrood is down on last year (see map). However, there has been an increase in the Basingstoke area. It has been confirmed in twelve colonies in eight apiaries in and around the town. If you have an apiary within flying distance of an infected apiary, then I should by now have contacted you in order to undertake a precautionary inspection. Unfortunately I am unable to disclose the precise locations of infected apiaries. However, if you think you have been overlooked, or you are at all concerned about the health of the brood in your colonies, please contact me. I would be particularly interested to know of abandoned apiaries as they can be reservoirs of disease. I am pleased to say that I have found no American Foulbrood.

To end on an upbeat note, the majority of beekeepers are reporting a very productive season, some having enjoyed record honey crops. I hope you are among them! Who would have thought that it would turn out so well after such a late, cold, wet spring with many colonies nearing starvation. Despite the abuse to which our planet is subjected, perhaps nature is capable of fighting back after all. Let us hope so.

Dave Purchase,
Association Secretary and Seasonal Bee Inspector

Apistan dose clarification.

I asked Max Watkins to clarify the "two strips per brood chamber" statement, on behalf of someone with a double-brood National using four strips in total.

Here's Max's reply. Much as expected, a little guarded.

Hi Gordon,

In The States the recommendation is for two strips per brood chamber. Fine in Florida conditions with hives bursting with bees at almost any time of year. However, the difference in efficacy using two strips as opposed to four - in a double brood chamber - in more temperate Europe is not great as there is usually enough transfer of active material from two strips between two chambers in the same hive and the number of bees is usually far less, when the treatment season comes around here (anytime from mid August to late September or even later in some cases).

Fours strips will definately do the job in a double brood chamber. Where the chambers are not completely packed with bees I would try two strips. If you see a lot of mites at the end of a treatment let me know.

Best regards,

Max

Dr Max Watkins Vita (Europe) Limited

Concerning Bees

From Our Elizabethan Corespondent

As concerning bees, I think it good to remember that, whereas some ancient writers affirm it to be a commodity wanting in our island, it is now found to be nothing so. In old times peradventure we had none indeed; but in my days there is such plenty of them in manner everywhere that in some uplandish towns there are one hundred or two hundred hives of them, although the said hives are not so huge as those of the east country, but far less, and not able to contain above one bushel of corn or five pecks at the most.

Pliny (a man that of set purpose delighteth to write of wonders), speaking of honey, noteth that in the north regions the hives in his time were of such quantity that some one comb contained eight foot in length, and yet (as it should seem) he speaketh not of the greatest. For in Podolia, which is now subject to the King of Poland, their hives are so great, and combs so abundant, that huge boars, overturning and falling into them, are drowned in the honey before they can recover and find the means to come out.

Our honey also is taken and reputed to be the best, because it is harder, better wrought, and cleanlier vesselled up, than that which cometh from beyond the sea, where they stamp and strain their combs, bees, and young blowings altogether into the stuff, as I have been informed.

In use also of medicine our physicians and apothecaries eschew the foreign, especially that of Spain and Pontus, by reason of a venomous quality naturally planted in the same, as some write, and choose the home-made: not only by reason of our soil (which hath no less plenty of wild thyme growing therein than in Sicilia and about Athens, and maketh the best stuff) as also for that it breedeth (being gotten in harvest time) less choler, and which is oftentimes (as I have seen by experience) so white as sugar, and corned as if it were salt.

Our hives are made commonly of rye straw and wattled about with bramble quarters; but some make the same of wicker, and cast them over with clay. We cherish none in trees, but set our hives somewhere on the warmest side of the house, providing that they may stand dry and without danger both of the mouse and the moth.

This furthermore is to be noted, that whereas in vessels of oil that which is nearest the top is counted the finest and of wine that in the middest, so of honey the best which is heaviest and moistest is always next the bottom, and evermore casteth and driveth his dregs upward toward the very top, contrary to the nature of other liquid substances, whose grounds and leeze do generally settle downwards. And thus much as by the way of our bees and English honey.

Submitted to bee-l by Peter Borst Ithaca, NY

My Manuka Honey Experience

by Sheilah Openshaw

I hate going to see the doctor, it's not so much what she might say or make me take, it's just that interminable wait in the surgery with the 1923 Country Life magazines.

Just before Christmas I trod on a thistle & some of it stuck in my foot. I was unable to get the splinters out and thought it best to wait till they worked their way out on their own. Needless to say 5 months later when my husband was sent to New Zealand I was still limping.

While he was away the BBC lunchtime programme "You & Yours" had a piece on medi-honey. Armed with the scant information supplied I sent an e-mail to my husband who started to ask questions out there. As luck would have it one of his colleagues could supply a few details, but then when your brother-in law is a queen breeder you tend to have the resources to ask.

Leaflets, samples and Manuka seeds came home in his suitcase. After reading the leaflets I decided to give it ago. One week later the splinters had worked their way onto the plaster I was using to cover them up and I could put my foot on the floor. Later in the summer I was badly bitten by horse flies, as usual on me they became infected, but a smart application of the manuka honey & they healed nicely.

I'm not convinced that my own honey wouldn't have done just as good a job, but I feel when something tastes like Manic honey, it's a brilliant wound dressing!

And Local Honey

by Gordon Scott

It's always interesting to hear of bee produce used in these ways. I remember a TV programme a couple or so years ago, where a doctor from Medicine sans Frontier was clearly absolutely convinced by the use of honey or sugar paste as an antiseptic treatment, prefering it to most modern medicines.

Sue used honey to treat her mother's nasty leg ulcers with great success and to the satisfaction and approval of the nurse at our doctor's surgery.

For myself, I've used honey a number of times -- in fact I have a small dressing on a grazed knuckle right now to stop the healing part from splitting with movement. It's working well.

Like most beekeepers, I've pretty much (not quite) become tolerant of bee stings, but I do react badly to flee and horse fly bites. With one particularly itchy and irritating bite recently, I put on a "sticky plaster" with some ordinary honey. Within a few minutes the itching stopped. A couple of days later the bite had flushed and was healing well. Now I usually suffer bites like these for a couple of week or more. I'm convinced!

I think there is evidence than Manuka honey does have more potency than other honeys, but the ordinary stuff definitely works and works well.

Varroa Resistance To Pyrethroids

From the Central Science Laboratory's Website: www.csl.gov.uk

The Facts So Far

Figure 1 illustrates the localities of spot checks carried out by the CSL National Bee Unit in 2001 using a field resistance testing kit. The resistant apiaries were discovered in late August 2001

Figure 2 illustrates the difference in susceptibility to Apistan of mites from colonies in one of the affected apiaries in Devon when compared with mites known to be susceptible (from the NBU's colonies near York).

Some Background

Varroa will develop resistance in time to most chemicals applied to control the mite, some quicker than others. More information about resistance can be found in the CSL leaflet 'Managing Varroa'. Varroacides such as Bayvarol and Apistan have been developed with strict application methods to minimise the risk of resistance occurring rapidly. Used properly, according to the label requirements, they will have a useful life of many years. Misuse accelerates resistance development extremely quickly.

Once resistance occurs against pyrethroid (the active ingredient of both Apistan and Bayvarol) the use of such products may have to be `rested' in the affected area for several years.

The level of resistance found in Devon indicates that it may have been present for about 2 years. It was found during a spot check by CSL field officers rather than the result of a large scale problem reported by beekeepers, often involving colony collapse, as has been the case in other parts of Europe. Pyrethroid resistance has been reported in parts of several other European countries over the last 10 years including Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, France, Hungary, Spain, Austria and Belgium (Apidologie 29 (1998):537-546, `Monitoring Varroa jacobsoni resistance to pyrethroids in western Europe', Jérôme Trouiller)

The shape of the resistance curve (figure 2) is similar to that found in other parts of Europe and suggests the resistance mechanism (there are several that mites can employ) is the same. The shift to the right of the resistant mite curve (away from the susceptible mite curve) indicates the proportion of mites that are resistant to pyrethroid. In this case the shift is significant and certainly enough to suggest that in the affected apiaries pyrethroid will not be effective.

What you should do

If you rely on pyrethroids for control - do not panic. Checks across the country by our field officers indicate that mite populations are (for the most part) very low this year, often too low for us to get a reportable test result from our field checks for resistance (Figure 1 shows only the locations of tests we have managed to undertake successfully). This tells us that controls, including pyrethroids, are working very well in general.

If you are located in Devon or Cornwall, again you should not panic. We have only come across one case so far in which pyrethroid control seems to have broken down. There may be others but the fact we have not yet come across other noticeable cases of breakdown in the area suggests that pyrethroids are generally effective at the moment. We will know more once our autumn checks in the locality are complete (we will update these pages as information becomes available). Continue with this autumn's treatment but treat again next Spring and follow this up with a field test on adult bees (see below) and a further check on numbers of mites in brood cells in early Summer (not Spring - mites may not yet have migrated to brood cells from adult bees). If you are concerned by the results then please report this to your local RBI.

Checking Your Own Colonies For Resistance

The fact that this resistance case was found through spot checks rather than through a reported widespread problem may mean that (so far) it is localised. But that may not be the case. We will be searching the affected area more thoroughly this autumn. However, as a responsible beekeeper you may wish to undertake your own tests in your own area. This should be done at least once a year.

Home Made Kit

Below is a method you may like to employ. It is simple and cheap. Although it will only provide a rough guide at this stage it will provide us with valuable data and should pick up cases of possible high resistance (that we can follow up with more reliable laboratory studies if necessary). A form is also provided below for you to submit your data to CSL. Even negative results or results with very low mite counts (too low to be valid) are useful to us.

• Apistan Resistance Test Sheet
• Voluntary Varroa Resistance Test Form

If you need further information please contact your local Regional Bee Inspector.

NBU Field Test Kit

The method the NBU uses in the field was originally developed by scientists at Vita (Europe) Ltd and has been adapted by the CSL with their collaboration. It has been used extensively on the continent to identify resistance cases prior to laboratory confirmation, and has proved remarkable consistent with laboratory tests. A very limited number of test kits will be made available to beekeepers associations (on loan) from RBIs on a discretionary basis.

Further Action By CSL

The beekeeper who is unfortunately affected by pyrethroid resistance has his apiaries now under Standstill notices. However, this is merely a temporary precaution until we have more information. This is after all our first confirmed case of resistance in the UK. We would like to thank the beekeeper for the level of help and co-operation he has provided to us.

We will be conducting further checks over the next month on his remaining apiaries and on surrounding apiaries belonging to neighbouring beekeepers.

In the meanwhile contingency plans to limit the spread of resistance are being put in place. As soon as these are finalised we will update these pages with all the necessary information.

Last Modified: 04-Sep-01

Pyrethroid resistance

and the future of British beekeeping

by Max Watkins of Vita (Europe)

Varroa mites resistant to pyrethroid hive treatments (notably Apistan and Bayvarol) have existed in mainland Europe for over 8 years now so it should not be too surprising to learn that pyrethroid-resistant varroa mites have just been discovered in the UK.

This was inevitable and is an entirely natural phenomenon -- one of adaptation and selection in the target species, in this case, the varroa mite.

This is exactly why the bee health company Vita (Europe) Limited has always promoted Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practice for beekeeping, that is the use of a variety of approaches to varroa and other bee pest and disease control and not relying on one method alone.

However, this is not a signal to stop using the tools we have available to us for varroa control, rather to vary the approach.

In the UK the beekeeping industry is fortunate in having a dedicated efficient team in the National Bee Unit. Through the monitoring by Bee Inspectors the first case of pyrethroid resistance has been detected and is being evaluated by CSL. It will not be the last case but there is every chance that through vigilance and a thorough monitoring programme, pyrethroid resistant mite populations can be detected and their spread limited.

Definition of Resistance

One definition of resistance is "the ability of an organism to tolerate toxic doses of a substance that would be lethal to the majority of individuals in a normal population of the same species" This is a natural phenomenon that is widespread not only among mites and insects but also among nematodes, bacteria, fungi, weeds and even rodents. It is certainly not new and has been documented since the early 1900's.

Resistance (to a pesticide for example) is genetically transmitted to offspring from the parents and is not generated spontaneously as a chemical treatment is applied; the characteristic already exists in the population. Just as there are some extremely short or extremely tall people in the global human population, so too are there some individual insects or mites that are particularly susceptible, more so than average, to certain substances; there are also some rare individuals which possess the ability to tolerate higher, more toxic doses of a particular substance and it is these individuals we would call "resistant".

Selection pressure

Organisms possessing extreme sensitivities at either end of the spectrum usually exist as a tiny proportion of a normal population. However, there is a "fitness" cost involved in possessing extreme characteristics and it is common for resistant stains to have a less efficient reproductive capacity. If selection pressure, by way of a medicinal or pesticide treatment, is exerted the rare resistant individuals may survive. If the selection pressure (treatment) is for a short period only, the surviving sensitive pest (mite) population will grow slowly through reproduction and also through reinfestation from nearby sites; but providing the infestation level does not exceed a threshold level for economic or real damage to the host, the treatment need not be repeated for some time. However if the selection pressure is continuous the surviving resistant insects or mites may reproduce, passing on resistant characteristics to their offspring which could eventually emerge as adominant resistant strain.

Strategies to limit resistance

The three key principles for a strategy to prevent or slow down the appearance of resistance are:

1. Principle of Moderation: It is a question from the start of keeping selection pressure as low as possible by spacing out treatments and shortening them as much as possible. In the case of Apistan the strips must stay in the hive for only 6-8 weeks, which corresponds to the treatment of not more than 2 generations of the roughly 12 annual mite generations.
2. Principle of Saturation: The varroa mites must be exposed to a very high dose of active ingredient so that any resistance will remain functionally recessive and therefore develop more slowly. It is therefore essential to use Apistan strips only once. This elementary precaution is aimed at preventing the early development of functionally dominant resistance due to a reduced dose present in used strips.
3. Principle of multiple attack: With a view to reducing the selection pressure, it is clearly advisable to use other methods and/or substances with a different mechanism of action in rotation with a pyrethroid treatment.

Substances of this type, having original acaricidal properties have been and are being developed by Vita (Europe) Ltd. Apiguard is such a development and is currently permitted to be sold and used in honeybee colonies in the UK. Full veterinary registration is imminent. Apiguard, based on the active ingredient thymol in a specially formulated slow-release gel, has been developed specifically for use in honeybee colonies. Thymol has been used for many years in beekeeping and has shown excellent control of both varroa mites and tracheal mites and is also known to have some beneficial effect against both chalk brood and foulbrood.

In addition biological control methods, such as the use of pheromones, are the subject of intensive research supported by Vita (Europe) Ltd.

Other varroa control methods include the use of open mesh screen floors, the controlled use of organic acids and essential oils, drone brood trapping and queen caging methods.

New chemical treatments may become available with time but only authorised and tested products should be used.

And what about Apistan

Bayvarol was registered for use in the UK in 1992 and Apistan, finally, in 1997. Both products are effective treatments for the control of varroa. Apistan in particular is registered and used in over 40 countries.

Where there is strong pyrethroid resistance in varroa, neither Apistan nor Bayvarol will be effective. In the UK, unlike in Italy or in the USA for example, it appears that resistant mites are not yet particularly widespread. Apistan and Bayvarol should continue to provide the essential protection against the varroa mite onslaught and there is no reason to stop using these products. However, as Vita has been advocating from the start, it would be prudent to rotate treatment methods within and or between beekeeping seasons. If resistance were detected in an apiary then it would be advisable to change control methods.

It is no good using Apistan one year and Bayvarol the next; use a method with a different mode of action (Apiguard for example) and/or a mechanical method (eg open mesh floors and drone trapping).

Vita (Europe) Limited is striving to bring new developments to the beekeeping industry in due course which will encourage the progression of the concept of integrated varroa control. In this way British beekeeping will not lose any of the essential control tools we have in place today, rather the arsenal for use against this voracious varroa mite plague will be increased in the beekeepers' favour.

Grammar Rules

For The Basingstoke Beekeeper

The following grammatical rules shall apply to all articles for publication in The Basingstoke Beekeeper. Please take every care to ensure that articles you offer for publication meet the rules as completely as possible.

• Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
• Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
• And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
• It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
• Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat)
• Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
• Be more or less specific.
• Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
• Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
• No sentence fragments.
• Contractions aren't necessary and shouldn't be used.
• Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
• Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
• One should never generalize.
• Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
• Don't use no double negatives.
• Eschew ampersands &abbreviations, etc.
• One-word sentences? Eliminate.
• Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
• The passive voice is to be ignored.
• Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
• Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
• Kill all exclamation points!!!
• Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
• Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
• Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
• Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
• If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
• Puns are for children, not groan readers.
• Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
• Even IF a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
• Who needs rhetorical questions?
• Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
• Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
• Try to avoid sexist and patronizing remarks as well as unnecessary stereotypes, because you know how girls are, they worry their pretty little heads about all kinds of silly things.

Bee Spotting

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions to help reduce this person's problem before it gets out of hand?

Gordon

I have a neighbour who has 16 hives and as a result the surrounding area is covered by spotting i.e. washing comes off the line with yellow spots cars have it on and sometimes it can be felt landing on the skin. do you know of any way that this problem can be solved without me moving or the keeper having to remove the hives.

Does your wife or perhaps even you have a secret formula for removing the marks off clothes

Any feedback would be welcomed.

I suppose this sounds like an anti bee mail, which it isn't, I just need some ideas to help resolve the problem, without a falling out of neighbours, which could so easily happen.

Mick Austen

Solar Wax Melter

Allen Dick email@omitted.anti.spam

I am thinking of making a solar melter. I understand that the design is nothing particularly difficult, but I wonder if there is any necessity to use glass on top, or if plastic will work as well -- assuming it does not melt.

Rodney Farrar email@omitted.anti.spam

Does anyone have any plans they can share? I only have about 10 pounds of wax.

Bob &Liz email@omitted.anti.spam

Hello Allen &All,

I have seen both used but glass the most on solar wax melters. . The most clever solar wax melter I ever saw was a old refrigerator laid on its back and wheels put under it. The beekeeper turned the melter to the south east in the morning. At lunch he turned the melter to the south west. The beekeeper rendered all his comb from a 2000 hive operation in two of these. He even built a special cement pad to keep the melters on. Complete deep hive bodies would fit inside the refrigerator solar wax melter.

Bob

T &M Weatherhead email@omitted.anti.spam

Plastic does work but most plastics do not have UV inhibitors in them so they tend to break up into little pieces in a short time. When I tried a piece of plastic (many years ago) it worked just as well as glass but broke up. Allen in your part of the world, remember to tilt the melter towards the south (north in our part of the world) at the angle of your latitude, if that is possible.

Trevor Weatherhead AUSTRALIA

Robt Mann email@omitted.anti.spam

Several modern plastics, e.g. polycarbonate or modified acrylate with glass fibres cast in, will certainly take the heat fine - I have used them on solar water-heaters, which run somewhat hotter than a solar wax-melter, and they last many years developing only slight cloudiness. But scrap plastic of suitable area is generally harder to come by than scrap windows. And if it is non-flat - say, corrugated - you will have to fit it to a frame of some sort. I see no point.

In many places, it will be easier to get a 'demolition' window, complete with hinges or at least still having an entire wooden frame onto which hinges can be screwed.

Any wooden cross-members are a non-problem; the incoming solar radiation is hundreds of watts per square m, and even if the box under the glazing is just a big drawer or other simple wood container, with no special insulation, the wax will melt within a few hours. This is not a case of needing to maximize efficiency; considerable losses can be comfortably tolerated.

Of all functions that can be subserved by solar energy, this would be one of the most clearly ahead of all rivals. Go solar!

Richard Yarnell email@omitted.anti.spam

If you do build a collector which you want to use for several seasons, either start with a metal box, or line a wooden one with foil or light weight sheet metal. You can buy selective coatings for use with solar collectors which improve performance by allowing less light to be reflected out of the box.

Dave Cushman email@omitted.anti.spam

I use 4 mm acrylic sheet, double glazed 10 mm gap

It works, but not as well as glass as it blocks some [light frequencies.

When I first made it I had three sheets and two 10 mm gaps, but that barely worked at all.

I have plans to make a new top that is double glazed glass and is much larger than the box.

This will allow sunlight into the box at a wider number of angles and will thus give more time per day.

Dave Cushman, G8MZY

Robert Brenchley email@omitted.anti.spam

www.beesource.com/plans/melter.htm

Robert Brenchley, Birmingham, UK.

Robt Mann email@omitted.anti.spam

A greenhouse - or a solar wax melter - works by frustrating convection, it holds in the hot air.

For present purposes, half the solar radiation is visible and half IR. (The UV, important in many ways, is a negligible fraction of the energy flux.) Darkish contents in the box absorb visible and IR. These contents then glow with IR, which does to some extent radiate back out thru the glazing - just as well as the same IR wavelengths came in. But the warmed air can't get out and that's your greenhouse.

Glass remains in general the champ. Strong, doesn't go cloudy, cheap or free as demolition windows.

Robt Mann, consultant ecologist, Auckland, New Zealand.

Ellen Anglin email@omitted.anti.spam

I made a small solar wax melter by putting a lid on an old hive body, and placing a large aluminum painters tray inside. It worked great!

I'd go out mid- afternoon, scrape out the slumgum, and pour my melted wax into a large styrofoam cup with an inch of hot water in the bottom. The hot water and the styrofoam ensured that the wax cooled slowly, allowing time for the impurities to settle to the bottom of the tall thin wax block. After shaving off the bit of trash on the bottom, I had a very nice cake of clean wax.

Now that I have a commercially made melter, I put a teflon loaf pan with a 1/2 inch of water in it in to catch the wax. The cake releases easily, and honey is dissolved in the water. Since it has a wide bottom, it is harder to get the trash scraped off, but wrapping the cake in a bit of muslin or cheesecloth, and remelting a second time usually gives satisfactory results. The wax stiffened cloth makes great fire-starters.

Ellen in Michigan

Diary

Unless otherwise stated, evening meetings are at 7:30pm in our Study Centre, The Walled Garden, Down Grange, Basingstoke and apiary meetings are 2:30pm at St. John's Copse, Oakley.

2 September

Sunday Apiary meeting at St. John's Copse, Oakley.

6 September

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

20 September

In the Study Centre. Gerry Fry, Honey and Wax for Show

4 October

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

18 October

In the Study Centre. John Cossburn.

21 October

Basingstoke Honey Show in the Walled Garden, once again as part of the Nature's Harvest show.

25 October

Visit to the University of Reading with Dr. Roy Brigder, of the Rural History Centre. "Old Beekeeping". Meet at the Museum for 7:30pm. The Museum in on the University Campus near the junction of Shinfield Road and Pepper Lane.

27 October

Hampshire Convention and Honey Show. at Crawley Court. Dave Purchase has advance tickets at \pounds 10. They're \pounds 12.50 on the door.

1 November

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

15 November

In the Study Centre. John Furzey

6 December

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

20 December

In the Study Centre. Bring and Buy sale, mince pies, tea and coffee.

17 January 2002

Annual General Meeting.

Committee

In the Study Centre. 6 February, 3 April, 5 June, 7 August, 2 October, 4 December.