Combings The North Staffordshire Beekeepers association Magazine Winter 2000 Issue EDITORIAL There was no change at the AGM and all the officers agreed to serve for another year. No new Chairman could be found to replace Bill who had completed his three years service, but he did agree, at a special meeting held after the AGM, to do a further year. Bill has been an excellent Chairman and I know he hopes there will be a volunteer to take over the job at the next AGM. I am still not receiving enough local copy for this magazine, except from a few regular and most welcome contributors, and am having to rely heavily on the Bee Editors Exchange Scheme. Please make an effort to let me have your snippets and contributions early; you will find it rewarding to see them in print. The equipment and slides that have been purchased with the millennium grant have already been put to good use. Do contact Alan Silver or Ron Clewes if you are asked to give a talk to any organisation or School, this equipment will enhance your presentation considerably, and furthermore will provide the necessary proof to the Millennium Grant Committee that we are using the grant money appropriately. May I wish all our readers a very Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. Ed. Chairman’s Chat I have now completed my three years term as Chairman, and am pleased to report that the financial position of the Association is sound. The monies received from the Millennium Grant has been spent on the purchase of items listed in the application, whilst retaining a small sum for expenses to enter shows and exhibitions in the coming year, as allowed for in the Grant. At the Annual General Meeting all the Officers were re-elected with the exception of the Chairman as no nominations were received. At a subsequent Committee meeting I was asked if I would continue in office for another year which I agreed to do. I visited the National Honey Show in Kensington Town Hall on the 17th November. There were several good exhibits on show but there appeared to be quite a few that had been taken away for further examination. I was unable to get an answer from any of the stewards of the reason for this. There were some good lectures, which I attended, one by Geoff Hopkinson on “Trees and Bees” and another by Katie Shaw on “Varroa control using Fungi”. Katie has been researching this at Rothamstead and she has had some good results in the laboratory. It will be some time before the use of fungi control can be passed on to the beekeeper as there is further research and safety testing yet to be carried out. May I wish you and your families a very happy Christmas and a prosperous beekeeping New Year. Bill Woodward Meeting and Function Reports Year 2000 Honey Show This years Honey Show was again a successful NSBKA event with a small increase in the number of people exhibiting and the number of exhibits. There were over 100 items in the Show and this enabled the Honey Judge John Tipping from Cheshire to award the BBKA Blue Ribbon . The Blue Ribbon is awarded for the best exhibit and this year Alan Silver received the award for his entry of 6 jars of honey of 3 different kinds. Alan was awarded also the C. Joynson Richards cup , the Wax Craft prize and the Myatt memorial Shield for his mead. Other successful class winners were P & D Apiaries (alias David Cheek and Phil Hulme) who were not only awarded the Tomkinson Cup, which goes to members who have not won a first prize in any BBKA show, they also won the Cumberlidge-Johnson cup and the Garden Festival cup. Ron Clewes, JohnHumphries , Zac Clowes and D & MM Teasdale were also class winners The Craft section had a new judge this year, we were very pleased to welcome Meg Holton an experienced W.I. judge. Meg and John Tipping gave helpful feedback to members about the Show exhibits. Wax Modelling was the subject for the demonstration and Derek Glover fascinated members with his skills. Barbara Mountford and her helpers put on the now traditional excellent spread of food and the Show bench stewards were Alan Silver and Mark Clowes . My thanks go to all members who worked together so well to ensure that the Honey Show was such an excellent event, particularly to David Teasdale for the new prize cards and certificates created specially for the Year 2000 Honey Show and incorporated the NSBKA logo for the first time. If you can help with the next event in anyway please contact me. I would like to urge all members who have not done so before to think seriously about entering their products in the 2001 Honey Show to enable the whole association to strive towards the goal of producing good quality honey products. The next Honey Show will be held on Saturday 20 October 2001 at Hartshill Church School Rooms. Margaret Teasdale November 1st – Annual General Meeting As you will already have seen from Bill’s report, there was no change of Officers ant this year’s AGM. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this meeting, but understood there was a video shown on the ‘Dance language of the honey bee’ December 6th-Christmas Social The Quaker Meeting House was the venue once again for our annual Social. The ladies had really put on a lovely spread, marshalled so ably by Barbara Mountford. We were entertained by some excellent photography by Ken Veitch. His theme was entitled ‘Winter - the time when there is nothing to see’. Some of the slides of the Lake District and also of the Scottish Isles, all shown against a background of classical music, were really first class. October 2nd – Cheshire One Day Convention – Frodsham Ron Clewes reports The Cheshire Beekeepers Association held their Autumn Convention and Annual Honey Show at Frodsham Community Centre, 3miles south of Runcorn. The Honey show, in the main was for Cheshire members only, but there were six open classes, arranged into groups of light, medium and dark, for the Bill Corbet Memorial Shield. There was also set heather and candles for the H.J.Lea Trophy. Our own John Humphries gained the first prize in the set honey class and a one third share in the trophy. He also received a Millennium Medal. (Well done John – Ed.) Ann Reney-Smith demonstrated “Microwave Cookery with honey” and after lunch Des DeSouza of Eventis Crop Science UK LTD delivered the Blakeman Memorial Lecture. The subject was “Genetically Modified Crops – Pro’s and Con’s”. (We could do with hearing more on this subject if any of you have any detail of the arguments! – Ed.) 23rd October – SSBKA meeting at Cannock Fungus Patrol Katie Shaw who is a research worker in the same department as Brenda Ball(who gave us the information about virus being spread by mites) at IACR Rothamstead presented this very informative lecture. Katie is leading a four year investigative project into the feasibility of finding a biological control of the varroa mite. We would all like to see an end to the use of chemical varroacides. The MAFF are funding this project. The varroa mite is becoming resistant to the chemicals that are at present in use as a treatment to protect our bees. The pharmaceutical companies will be unlikely to spend large sums on research for a product that has a small market. As we are already aware, in Italy the mites are resistant to pyrethroids and resistant mites have now been found in Belgium and the USA. 750 species of fungi are known to kill insects, some of which are commercially available for the control of certain pests. In the hunt for a most suitable fungus, over 40 candidate fungi were chosen. Some fungi are specific to mites; others kill both mites and insects. One of the first things that Katie had to do was to learn something about beekeeping, and to raise a population of mites to use for the tests that she was planning to undertake, she started with four colonies in a well isolated situation. Norman Garrick found the mites and helped introduce them into her hives. Mites were taken into the lab and kept alive for quite a long time feeding on pupae taken from the hive in the white stage of development. Fortunately it is fairly easy to grow fungus in a petri dish, but the ideal temperatures are not the temperatures found in a beehive. Some of the fungi killed bees as well as the mites, but she has now found several candidates for further testing. Eighteen out of the forty killed 100% of the mites, all this however is at temperatures that suit the fungus. Many other things have to be investigated, the treatment must be safe to other creatures outside the hive such as ladybirds, and more obviously the products of the hive must be unaffected. Katie has now selected nine for further testing and is working at temperatures closer to those found in the hive. If and when the project is successfully completed it may take a further three to four years for testing and approval, but there is the possibility of fast tracking, as it is biological. Towards the end of the lecture we saw slides of the fungus established on the mites as seen through an electron microscope. The mites prefer the softer areas but are quite able to penetrate the hard parts of the cuticle. 28th November - Talk On the above date Alan Silver and I presented an illustrated talk to the Five Towns photographic society. We called the talk ‘Honey Bees’ and it was timed to last for about one hour with a tea break mid-way. We took a selection of 28 slides from our new collection. The first slides were of bees in a hollow tree and led on to a swarm on the bough of a tree. We had in reserve the set ‘Foraging bees’ and although the time was filled with the first 28 slides, the audience asked for more and we were ready with the reserve set. Ron Clewes (I also have given a presentation to the NFU at Cheadle, using these slides. They really are excellent so if you do get invited to talk to any group, then do contact Ron or Alan and borrow the slides and equipment,; also available is a full set of descriptive notes to assist in the explanation. - Ed.) Slides A changing situation between getting quotes for, and buying the equipment that we had with the millennium grant, left us with a little cash to buy the following slides to use in our new projector. They are as follows: - Honey bees: ‘The honey bee’ (8 slides) ‘Activities of worker honey bees’ (8 slides’, ‘The composition of the colony’ (12 slides), ‘Activities within the colony’ (12 slides) and ‘Foraging bees’ (12 slides). Beekeeping: ‘Hive types and other equipment’ (12 slides), ‘Seasonal management of a honey bee colony’ (12 slides) and ‘Queen rearing and introduction’ (12 Slides). Bumblebees: ‘ The life cycle of the colony’ (8 slides) and ‘ The life history of individuals’ (8 slides). Wasps: ‘ Social wasps’ (8 slides) and ‘Activities of individuals’ (8 slides). Winter Meetings Please look at your meeting card and note that, unless indicated otherwise, our meetings for the next year are to be held at the Quaker Meeting House, Miller Street, Newcastle. Directions are on the rear of your new pink meeting card. Wanted: Bees and Beekeeping Equipment A potential beginner beekeeper is thinking about buying one or two hives with bees and some equipment to get started. If you can help, please phone him at home on 01785 813598 or mobile 07973 303228 (Sorry I do not know the name of this enquirer, but as this request came from Dr. William Kirk, if you would like any more details, then have a word with William, Home telephone number 01630 673540). BBKA Spring Convention Saturday April 28th. 2001 Bob Parsonage is arranging to hire a 17-seater coach to go to the above event. Although this is mainly for the South Cheshire BKA Bob has asked me to publicise this and should you wish to join this coach, then give Bob a ring on 01270 764413 or 0378 545304. Obviously this is on first come first served basis. I realise this is some way ahead, but may well suit you to travel like this. Biodiversity’s Sweet Reward I have received from Chris Brewin, an ex beekeeper, a transcript from the Internet published by Turkish Radio San Francisco. Copyright 2000 is held by Turkish Daily News and no doubt the whole article could be obtained from them on the Internet www.turkishdailynews.com Here is an idea of the content. Veli Gulas, who lives in the mountainous north-eastern region of Anatolia in Turkey, is one of five winners of the Slow Foods Awards of 2000. He has won this award for conserving traditional species of bees and beekeeping in his region. Veli is 60 years old and has been a beekeeper since the age of 35. He has preserved the native Hemsin bee and produces his honey in log hives made from local Linden trees. Other beekeepers in his area have either finished keeping bees or switched to Cypriot bees and prefabricated hives. Varroa has reached this area and Veli initially only saved 4 colonies from the 40 that he originally kept. It has taken him 15 years to recover. The hives have three sections, a brood area and a storehouse area which are never touched or the bees do not survive. In the front of the storehouse is the area for surplus, which is the only area, harvested. The hives are strung up into Beech trees in this 2000metre mountainous region, and are not opened from April to September. Very special flavoured honey is harvested from all the Spring and Autumn wildflowers, which the bees themselves keep separate in the individual honeycombs. Bears are a problem and a circle of sharp sticks are placed around the trees, and sheets of tin plate placed around the tree trunk to prevent the bears climbing the tree. A small bell is also put in the tree to scare away any prowling bears. Veli has some special hives used for the collection of pollen as there is a falling production of honey but a strong demand for pollen. That’s progress! A Talk by Willy Robson Report on a very pleasant Saturday Afternoon spent in Felstead (Copied from the Essex Beekeeper – November 2000 Edition courtesy of B.E.E.S.) Willy Robson is the owner of Chain Bridge Honey Farm in North Northumberland. On Saturday 23rd September 2000 he came to Felstead Memorial Hall to give a talk, an event arranged by David and Penny Learmonth of Saffron Walden Division. Willy started by saying that last winter was ‘no winter’. May this year was extremely bad and set the bees and the heather back. There have now been three difficult years; in 1999 there was no yield from the heather due to the heather beetle. This year there has been some OSR, borage, beans. The farmers expect pollination of 300 acres of beans despite the weather. as selling products. Willy started beekeeping immediately he left school and was taught by his father. By the mid ‘80s many small shops were failing and this reduced the market for the honey. Willy decided to open the business centre to promote beekeeping and their own products. There is now no teaching of beekeeping in the North and Scotland – there were 10 lecturers in Willy’s youth – so at his Chain Bridge Visitor Centre they have put bees and beekeeping “on the walls” as well The idea is to promote high quality and affordable products. The Honey Farm delivers to 250 shops using two vans, and Willy has a catalogue for cold selling – a catalogue impresses shops (it certainly impressed us!). The next development is to start selling some products over the web – items such as soap and polish. Most of Chain Bridge Honey Farm’s flower honey is from OSR. They use unwired starter foundation so they get new comb every year. The supers are cleared using benzaldehyde mixed 50-50 with water; this chemical is not absorbed by the honey (unlike the carbolic that was used long ago!) and it takes about 2 minutes to get the bees out. Willy does not worry about the honey crystallising in the combs, instead he saves petrol by going to the bees when convenient – with 1500 hives it costs a lot to look at the bees. To extract the OSR honey the combs are cut out and smashed. They are put into big drums and kept at 40°C. The wax is strained off and the rest, heated to move the honey but not melt the wax. The honey is skimmed and then rolled to smash large crystals. It is settled and then bottled. The principle throughout is settlement, not heat. Willy sells to shops at £1.95 and the shops sell at £2.65 - £2.80. Willy’s distinctive labels (Robson’s superior quality”) helps to sell the honey. To get cut comb honey Willy uses a thin bladed knife to cut seven pieces out of one comb (Manley frames). A half pound cut comb sells for £1.85 and is very popular. In 1997 30,000 pieces of cut comb were sold! As all new comb is produced every year there is a lot of wax available after extraction. This is used to produce a lot of candles. Willy gave us a tip – you can shift a lot of wax by making ‘small bee shep’ candles. It is important to keep the aroma in candles and this is done by using settlement as with honey. The water level is taken down and the wax is tapped off from the side, so the middle layer of wax is obtained. Willy believes that good machinery is the answer to economic processing. He often obtains 2nd-hand or machinery from another industry. Polish is produced for furniture and leather (some dyed for shoes). It remains waterproof for a week, Willy adds carnauba wax to get a better quality, and all-turpentine for furniture polish, 50-50 with white spirit for shoes. Propolis is another of his products; he has a licence to buy the 90% alcohol needed (small beekeepers use vodka). Soap is a new product for Chain Bridge, as yet only sold in their own shop. Chain Bridge Honey Farm’s main outlets are small shops (no supermarkets), and farmer’s markets are good. A lot of time is spent on marketing. The hives are Smith hives – Smith was famous in the area – and they have their own fully equipped joinery shop with a full time joiner. This is economic with 1500 hives, from which they hope to extract 50 tons of honey (40 tons this year). The bees are local brown bees. Willy says it is important not to have too many hives in one apiary, eg 12 – 16, to reduce stress. After the talk, we were refreshed with tea and cake, courtesy of Saffron Walden Division. A very pleasant afternoon indeed. Pat Allen - Romford Division NEWHOUSE FARM NURSERIES Crowborough Road Lask Edge Nr. Leek Staffs Designers of creative Landscapes Gardens And Borders Buy plants for your Bee Garden Bargain Prices Shrubs Conifers Trees Cottage Garden Perennials Open 9am until Dusk Telephone 01782 514412