The Basingstoke Beekeeper

Summer 2001

Contents

Apiary Update

by by David Purchase

Although I am no longer Apiary Manager, Peter and I have agreed that I will continue to put pen to paper each quarter. Peter may be contacted on 326766.

As I write (2nd June), the season is, at last, well under way with supers being filled and swarms being reported. Less than a month ago many colonies in rural areas were near to starvation. Unusually, many had little or no pollen. The springtime contrast between urban bees and their country cousins was more marked than usual. Some colonies in favoured urban locations were filling supers in April, despite the appalling weather.

Four weeks ago, Pete, Christine, Ron and I carried out the spring inspections in St. John's Copse. We got off to a good start in the first of the two Association colonies by finding the queen and marking her. Soon afterwards, however, we saw the tell-tale signs of European Foulbrood (EFB).

We had caught it early and, following formal diagnosis by the National Bee Unit laboratory, we `shook swarmed' the colony. This is a third option now offered to beekeepers where the colony is reasonably strong. Traditionally, diseased colonies were either destroyed or were treated with Terramycin (an antibiotic). The loss of a colony is usually to be regretted given the reduction in the number of colonies in this country in recent years. Shaking antibiotic onto contaminated comb has a relatively high recurrence rate. Shook swarming has an almost 95% success rate, and most of the failures have been from the unexplained loss of the Queen rather than the recurrence of EFB.

A clean (sterilised) hive is provided by the beekeeper. The brood box is fitted with foundation on clean frames. A queen excluder is placed beneath the brood box above the floor. The old hive is moved to one side and replaced by the new one. The central brood frames are removed from the new hive and the bees shaken from the contaminated hive, frame by frame, into the resultant `well'. Although not essential, it is desirable to find the queen beforehand and to place her in the clean hive. When all the bees have been shaken, the frames are returned. The colony is fed with a gallon of syrup containing Terramycin. All the old comb are burned and the hive sterilised by blowlamp. Provided the beekeeper is insured, he or she will be compensated by BDI for the loss of frames and extractable honey up to thirty pounds per colony.

The colony will behave very much like a swarm, hence `shook swarm'. It is amazing how quickly they can make up for lost time. The queen excluder beneath the brood box is to prevent the colony from absconding. It is removed after a few days when comb has been drawn and the queen is laying. By removing the bees from the contaminated comb, most of the bacteria is eliminated from the colony. What remains on the bees is eliminated by metabolism when the foundation is drawn, or it is 'locked up' in the drawn comb. The only real drawback to the procedure is that it cannot be undertaken after about the end of June.

Back to the infected colony at St. John's. It was a swarm I had collected two years ago. It had been hived on foundation on a quarantine site for several months before being moved to St. John's in November 1999. It appeared healthy throughout last year. Rarely is it possible to identify the source of infection. EFB is widespread throughout southern England and is never very far from any of us. It is no respecter of beekeepers. Your strong, healthy colony might rob someone else's weak, diseased colony, or a contaminated feral nest. As a precaution, I shall visit all apiaries in the Oakley area, hopefully within the next month. This is normal practice.

The second of the two Association colonies - the one that was vandalised last autumn - became weak and nosemic. Despite being treated with Fumidil `B', the colony was too small to be viable, so the queen was culled and the remaining workers united with the shook swarm. A pity, because it had been a strong colony. Being exposed to the elements for several days last autumn would not have done it any good. On the plus side, a cast which I collected last year and overwintered in my garden has been moved to St. John's for use by the Association. It is building well.

By the time you read this, the first apiary meeting of the year will have taken place. The first two were cancelled because of Foot and Mouth restrictions. From now until September, they will be held at 2.30 pm on the first Sunday of each month, weather permitting.

May your supers be full.

Dave Purchase
(Association Secretary and Seasonal Bee Inspector)

Healing properties of honey

Tony Bloor email@omitted.anti.spam-stream.co.uk

Hi All

I know this topic has been visited a few times.

I've just seen a feature on the BBC's Tomorrow's World programme re the above.

A scientist in New Zealand has produced a dressing made entirely from manuka honey which can be cut and moulded into shape. Wound care specialists in NZ are going to use it and trials on manuka honey are due to start at a Liverpool hospital this month. The following address relates:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/tw/items/ 010509\_honeyhealing.shtml

Regards

Tony

Bill Truesdell email@omitted.anti.spam-MAINE.NET

In my late trial of honey for wound dressing, I found that a hypodermic without the needle works as an excellent applicator. You can buy them from any farm (and probably pet) supply store. (I use them, with the needles, for refilling my computer printers ink cartridges.) When I first started applying the honey, it got a bit messy until I thought of using them. You can control the amount and placement of the honey easily. I use a 10cc hypodermic.

Recently, I had minor surgery and used that method for wound healing. If you use a bandaid, you can start the bandaid on one half, apply the honey to the wound and bandaid, and close the bandaid over the wound. It also makes it easy to refresh the honey by just squirting some under the bandaid from time to time. The paper I got from the doctor said the wound would heal in two weeks. Honey cut it in half. I am a believer in honey for topical dressing of wounds.

Bill Truesdell Bath, ME

Nick Wallingford email@omitted.anti.spam

Dr Molan does a truly riveting talk on the treatment of wounds with honey, complete with some of the grossest photos one would ever want to see... He is absolutely enthusiastic about the process of wound healing: the things that are needed, such as tissue regeneration, lack of infection, etc. Then, using overhead transparencies that he is drawing on, he graphically describes how it all happens, in very simple to understand terms.

Honey provides all sorts of advantages in the process: keeps the wound from drying out, is antibiotic/antibacterial (esp. manuka, which has been found to have particular quantities of this), and doesn't peel off the regenerating tissue as it forms.

Dr Molan has done most of his work with manuka honey. All honeys are antibiotic/antibacterial, due to such things as high sugar content and the production of a small amount of hydrogen peroxide. Dr Molan has found, however, that some manuka honey (not all...) has another expression of antibiotic/antibacterial, one that gives it exceptional `strength' (did this, incidentally, by removing the hydrogen peroxide component and re-testing, etc... - excellent science and method he employs).

In common practice? For me, I'll put honey on any wound, but if I was really wanting to do a good job with it, I'd go for one that has been tested and shown high activity.

And I like that idea of using the syringe! I'm going to have one set up and ready to go...

Honey for Oral Health

Researcher to Discuss the Effect of Honey on Bacteria Species Responsible for Dental Caries

LONGMONT, Colo., Feb. 26 PRNewswire -- On Friday, March 9, 2001, Dr. Peter C. Molan, Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Waikato, New Zealand will speak at a symposium entitled "Functional Foods for Oral Health" organized by the University of Illinois College of Dentistry. The symposium is part of the American Association for Dental Research annual meeting being held in Chicago. In his presentation "Honey for Oral Health," Dr. Molan will present the results of laboratory research to test the effect of honey on the species of dental plaque bacteria believed to be responsible for dental caries.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010226/SFM133 )

Honey contains an enzyme that produces hydrogen peroxide which is believed to be the main reason for the antimicrobial activity of honey. Types of honey differ greatly in their antimicrobial potency, varying as much as a hundred fold. The research has shown that honey not only stops the growth of the dental plaque bacteria, it reduces the amount of acid produced, which stops the bacteria from producing dextran. Dextran, a component of dental plaque, is the gummy polysaccharide that the bacteria produce in order to adhere to the surface of the teeth.

Dr. Molan's research is showing potential for the use of selected highly antimicrobial types of honey in the treatment of periodontal disease and gingivitis. These diseases are inflammatory conditions resulting from infection of the gums. The factors involved are very similar to those in inflamed infected wounds. Clinical research is showing that the selected honeys rapidly clear bacteria from infected wounds, even when the infection is deep-seated. However, unlike some other antiseptics, honey is gentler on tissue. The potent anti-inflammatory property of the honey rapidly removes the swelling and pain. Honey also has a marked stimulatory effect on the growth of cells that repair the tissues damaged by infection.

Dr. Molan heads The University of Waikato Honey Research Unit, recognized for its expertise in the composition of honey including antimicrobial activity. In New Zealand and Australia, honey producers have batches of honey tested in the laboratory to identify the samples with high activity. Those types are now labeled and marketed as "antiseptic." The National Honey Board is now coordinating efforts to have varieties of honey found in the United States tested to identify the floral types that have good antimicrobial activity.

Dr. Molan will be available for interviews on Thursday, March 8, 2001. For information contact Mary Ann Johnson at 415-268-5421 or email@omitted.anti.spam

For a preview VNR on the latest honey research:

Antibacterial http://tm.intervu.net/template/smirror/ prodcity/g2-vod.ram?stream=honey/healfull.rm

Energy http://tm.intervu.net/template/smirror/ prodcity/g2-vod.ram?stream=honey/enrgfull.rm

SOURCE National Honey Board

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.

7 June

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

3 June

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

21 June

In the Study Centre. Video.

5 July

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

1 July

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

19 July

In the Study Centre. Video.

2 August

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

5 August

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

16 August

In the Study Centre. video.

6 September

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

2 September

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

20 September

In the Study Centre. TBA

4 October

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

18 October

In the Study Centre. John Cossburn.

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.

Committee

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