The Basingstoke Beekeeper

Winter 2001

Contents

Apiary Update

by David Purchase

What does ivy honey taste like? I've heard that it is bitter. It may be after this autumn that someone will be able to tell me. The benign weather meant that our bees collected copious amounts of nectar and pollen from ivy (and to a lesser extent other late flowering plants such as Michaelmas daisy and sedum). I've heard on the grapevine that some beekeepers have taken an ivy crop. I confess to being 'hooked' on the aroma of ivy nectar. I imagine you either love it or hate it, but to me it's intoxicating, on a par with heather.

The autumn flow does mean that colonies are well provisioned for winter. It is not as simple as that though. The fine weather meant that brood rearing continued apace. Hopefully the extra stores will more than compensate for the extra mouths to be fed. As always, we must monitor our colonies for food reserves, particularly during late winter and early spring.

Our annual Honey Show was, as usual, held in October in conjunction with Nature's Harvest in the Walled Garden. Our good friends Bill and Mary Dartnall judged the exhibits, with their characteristic thoroughness and good humour. Where would we be without people like Bill and Mary? Disappointingly, the number of exhibits was down on previous years, even though for most beekeepers it had been a good year for honey. Hopefully it was just a 'blip', otherwise it might be difficult to justify the time and effort that goes into organising the show each year. Thank you to those members who helped to ensure that the show went ahead, especially Tony Bamberger and Christine Mackinnon.

We were interviewed by Radio Berkshire last month. Apparently, the Basingstoke area had been neglected by local radio, lying as it does on the peripheries of Radios Berkshire and Solent. To redress the situation, the BBC assigned a Radio Berkshire reporter to our area. Berkshire has a stronger signal than Solent, which explains the apparent geographical illogicality of it. Perhaps it should be renamed Radio Hants and Berks to satisfy the proud Hampshire Hogs among us! Anyway, the reporter happened upon our association's excellent website (thanks Gordon) and requested a visit. Gordon, John Peacock and I entertained the reporter for almost two hours in St. John's Copse and the Study Centre. The outcome was a five minutes piece on the breakfast programme. Well worth doing though.

Chris Mounty, Gordon and I will be running a course for beginners and prospective beekeepers on ten successive Wednesday evenings commencing 22rd January, from 7.00 until 9.00. Please contact me on 781288 (or e-mail email@omitted.anti.spam) for further information.

Will I see you at the Christmas 'bring and buy' on 20th December over a mince pie? I hope so. Oh, and don't forget the all-important AGM on 17th January. I wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Peaceful New Year.

Bee Diseases Insurance

The scheme exists to compensate beekeepers for the mandatory destruction of colonies infected by American or European Foulbrood.

Until this year, BDI had compensated beekeepers who were under-insured by paying them a proportion of the compensation to which they would have been entitled had they been fully insured. For example, a beekeeper with four colonies who was insured for only two would receive 50% of the full compensation rate. That was very generous because it was actually contrary to BDI's own rules.

I understand that things will be different next year. An under-insured beekeeper will be paid nothing.

You will automatically be insured for two colonies through your membership of Basingstoke and District Beekeepers' Association. Further colonies can be insured for a very modest premium. Don't be caught out. Include all your colonies and allow for possible increase. It is particularly important in Hampshire and neighbouring counties where EFB is widespread.

The scheme represents excellent value for money. For a modest outlay you can avoid a possibly heavy financial loss.

Dave Purchase

Hampshire Bags

Hampshire Beekeepers' Association has recently acquired a further supply of these customised carrier bags for honey sales. Believe me, they are a big improvement on the usual scruffy Sainsbury and Tesco bags.

In common with other Hampshire associations, Basingstoke and District has bought an estimated three years' supply. Some will be used for Association sales in the Walled Garden and at fetes, etc.

The remainder are for use by members for our own sales. They are available from me at a nominal one pence per bag, ie one hundred bags for £1.00. Excellent value!

Create a professional image. Encourage your customers to come back for more Hampshire honey. Buy some bags now!

Dave Purchase 781288

Editor's Note: They're also available from Gordon via the Bulk Buy scheme, as we bought a couple of thousand bags a while back, too.

Beekeeping Course

Introductory Course in Beekeeping; Spring 2002

The following is taken from our publicity brochure for the course that will be run jointly by Chris Mounty, David Purchase and Gordon Scott over a ten week period of Tuesday evenings in the spring. The course is open to members and non-members alike and will of necessity be limited to around 10 places. Contact Dave on if you wish to attend.

The Course Purpose

To give to people considering beekeeping as a hobby or vocation, a comprehensive introduction to beekeeping methods, the needs of bees and the needs &responsibilities of the beekeeper.

The Course Structure

The theory course is divided into 10 sessions, each lasting two hours in the Association's own Study Centre in the Walled Garden on Down Grange. The topics to be covered in each session are listed in the table below.

After the theory course are two practical courses, one at the Association's apiary in Oakley and one in the apiary of Chris Mounty, our Chairman.

After that we suggest that you work for a while alongside an experienced beekeeper while you further build your confidence and we plan to recommend to you a suitable beekeeper.

At the end of the courses you should have sufficient skill to handle bees safely and responsibly. There is no examination as part of the course, however by the end you will have covered enough of the subject that with a little practical experience, you would be able to take the British Beekeepers' Association "Basic" examination.

There is no obligation to join a beekeeping Association, but there are a number of benefits from so doing.

Please note that apiary meetings are always dependent on the weather and that the dates for practicals may change if the weather is unsuitable.

Programme

About Bees &Beekeeping

Beekeeping contributes many millions of pounds to the UK economy and many thousands of millions worldwide. But this contribution is mostly due to the honeybee's pollination of crops rather than to honey or other hive produce.

For the first time ever, due to a rather nasty parasite of the bees, honeybees need us to to help them survive. Without our help they will almost certainly die and that could be very serious indeed for the world's food supplies.

Honeybees, honey and other products of the hive have some remarkable medical properties. Honey is a powerful antibiotic and is increasingly being used to treat "otherwise untreatable" infections like MRSA; Honeybee venom often gives significant relief to Multiple Sclerosis sufferers and some arthritis sufferers. Many hayfever sufferers find that eating locally produced honey helps significantly to reduce their symptoms.

Honeybees don't die or hibernate in the winter, they stay active within the hive and will come out to fly on many sunny days thoughout the winter. As a colony, they can survive outside temperatures down to an incredible -40 degrees.

Honeybees have been hunted or managed by man for thousands of years. There are a number of early cave paintings of honey hunting and ancient Egyption pictures of bees kept in clay or papyrus hives.

The queen bee fertilises each egg that is to be a female bee, just before she lays it. But she never fertilise eggs that will be male bees. That means that male bees don't have a father, although they do have a grandfather.

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.

6 December

Drop-In to the Study Centre.

20 December

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

2002

17 January

Annual General Meeting, with our Cheese &Wine party to follow.

22 January

Every Tuesday for 10 weeks. "Introductory Course in Beekeeping"

21 February

In the Study Centre.

21 March

In the Study Centre.

7 April

Apiary Meeting

18 April

In the Study Centre.

5 May

Apiary Meeting

16 May

In the Study Centre.

2 June

Apiary Meeting

20 June

In the Study Centre.

7 July

Apiary Meeting

18 July

In the Study Centre.

4 August

Apiary Meeting

15 August

In the Study Centre.

1 September

Apiary Meeting

19 September

In the Study Centre.

17 October

In the Study Centre.

21 November

In the Study Centre.

19 December

In the Study Centre.

Committee

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