NOTTINGHAMSHIRE BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION

Welcome to the Website of
Nottinghamshire Beekeepers Association

SWARMS-do you think you have one?

If you think you have a swarm of honey bees please, look at this page on the BBKA website and follow the guide. If it is a swarm you will be able to find a swarm collector on the website.

The Basic Certificate (BBKA Basic Husbandry Assessment)

We are going to have the sessions to prepare for the Basic at the new Hucknall Apiary.
They will be held on Wednesdays and Saturdays until the assessments (dates to be arranged). You may attend either or both days. First session Wednesday 15th May.
Times: 1pm start.
Content: We will discuss some theory and have some practical handling of the bees to cover the syllabus. You will have a chance to have a mini "mock" assessment before the real thing.
You need: To bring your protective clothing (clean please). In the interests of hygiene we will be using hive tools and smoker etc from the apiary. No leather gloves will be allowed. Please bring some sort of plastic gloves if you wear them.
Meet: We will meet outside the allotment gates on Beauvale Road, Hucknall, NG15 6PD at 1pm. Go down Beauvale Road and just past the Jehovah Witnesses church fork left and the gates are at the bottom, (the postcode may take you to the right hand fork) If you need to come late then please let me know 07973 412101 and we will try and accommodate you.
Try and read through the syllabus beforehand to get some idea of what you need to know.
Conditions: "To take the Basic Assessment you should have managed at least one colony of bees for a minimum of 12 months"
If you got your bees last summer, then, by the time you take the assessment you will have had them for 12 months, unless it was very late last year.
If you are interested in coming along try and let me know (text message is best) otherwise just turn up at the above times. If you have any queries then please email me with your name and contact details.-Janet Bates. Education Secretary NBKA (be aware that I don't see my emails immediately so for anything urgent then text is best.)

2019 Practical Sessions at the Apiaries

Dates are now available- click here

Asian Hornet Threat 2019 and AHATs

It is likely that there will be incursions of the Asian Hornet into the UK in 2019. Last year there were 8,000 reported sightings although obviously most of these were false alarms. There are likely to be even more reports this year and possibly more nests identified.
It is likely that the resources of the NBU Bee Inspectors will be overwhelmed if more than 3 or 4 sightings occur at the same time.
In conjunction with the NBU local BKAs are forming Asian Hornet Action Teams (AHATs) to increase the resources available to support the bee inspectors. Their role will be to confirm sightings/photos/place traps locally/watch for flight lines.
The Association AHATS must quickly become an important reserve on which the NBU can rely to keep outbreaks under control.
The Midlands are coming together for the purpose and Sam Hampton is a coordinator of the larger group.
Destruction of nests will be carried out by pest control operators.
It is important to report any suspected sightings of this species as soon as possible. Find out how to identify Asian hornet by downloading an Identification Guide, or visit the BeeBase website.
Yellow legs and a mostly black body are key features.
Note that the AH nests in the UK have not been as large as those found in France.
Ideally photographs and/or a specimen should also be obtained.
Sightings must be reported to the NNSS Non-native species secretariat. alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk
Any foundress queens that have escaped from nests last year will be about in spring.
The AHAT coordinator for NBKA is Penny Forsyth

A New Teaching Apiary in Hucknall

We have been lucky enough to get a grant from Tesco's Bags of Help scheme for community projects and as a result we are in the process of clearing an allotment that had become hugely overgrown with brambles and troublesome weeds. We are very near to siting bee hives on the allotment.
We will be using the colonies to help beekeepers improve their beekeeping skills, in particular those who want to take the Basic assessment and the General Husbandry.
There will also be taster days for non beekeepers to have look in a hive and find out a bit about beekeeping.

Barrie Ellis

Sadly, we have to report that Barrie Ellis died in Kings Mill Hospital on Tuesday 19th February of pancreatic cancer, aged 91.

There was a for Barrie on 15th March at the parish church of St.Peter and St.Paul, Upton near Southwell.
Donations are to be divided between the Alzheimer's Society, the RNLI and the Nottinghamshire Beekeepers' Association.

Barrie was one of NBKA’s most dedicated, long-serving and respected members. During his long years with our Associaton Barrie took many roles: regional Secretary, President, Council member, creator and frst editor of Beemaster. In 1954 he founded the Junior Secton, introducing many young people to the delights and mysteries of beekeeping, among them our Chairman, Andrew Barber, who writes a tribute to his friend in the March edition of BeeMaster. Barrie was always happy to assist at our Field Days, inspiring confdence in new and aspiring beekeepers with his calm authority and legendary bee handling skills. He will be greatly missed: we send our sincere condolences to his family.

Nottinghamshire Beekeepers Association AGM
2nd February. Lowdham Village Hall @ 2.15pm

The AGM was poorly attended despite Alison having secured an interesting speaker and many people having worked hard to make it a good meeting. There were only 14 ordinary members of NBKA present the rest-18 were Council members or their family.
See your March issue of BeeMaster for details to the Speakers talk and the reports of the officers.

Autumn Honey Show 6th October 2018-Record entries!

DR RYAD AL SOUS

The Autumn Honey Show was held at Lowdham Village Hall. There were a record number of entrants this year. Well done to Alison for inspiring members to enter their honey, cakes, photos, displays and booze.
The judge this year was Peter Lewis, he hasn't been to us before. Read the interesting article he wrote about honey tasting in the October 2018 edition of BeeCraft.
Peter was a strict judge. No prizes were given in the soft set class, even though there were several entries. One reported fault was that the soft set was softer than it should have been. Could it have been due to the heat in the showing room. I wonder?
While the judging was going on our speaker was Dr Ryad Al Sous, a refugee from Damascus (pictured). He gave an interesting and at times very moving talk, much of it relating to the terribe experiences that the people of Damascus have had in recent times.
He has started the Buzz project in Huddersfield- teaching fellow refugees and long term unemployed people, beekeeping.
If you missed his talk at the Honey Show then you can listen to him talking on the radio-click here

BeeMaster is emailed monthly to all members. If you are a member and have not been receiving your email copy then it may be that we do not have your correct email address. Please send your correct email address- either to Karen or to Penny or to Janet and we will update our records.

Feeding during winter☃️- Fondant

Make a slit in the bag of fondant and place it directly on the frames over the cluster of bees.
As a rule, standard full size British National colonies will need around 20-25 kg of stores to successfully overwinter.

For further information, please see the ‘Best Practice Guidance No. 7 - Feeding Bees Sugar’ on the following BeeBase Page: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageid=167

Michael Cornish died on 2nd August 2018

Michael (Mike) Cornish died on 2nd August 2018.
Bob, Janet and Penny attended a Celebration of Life Service at St. Mary’s Church, Wollaton Park, on 21st September

Mike was a lovely man. He and his son John (who sadly died suddenly in 2016) were the NBKA librarians for several years. They did an excellent job on sorting out the library books when they took them over. They brought a selection to the Monday, Arnold meetings and other meetings for members to borrow.

Mike and John kept bees for several years until they had to give them up due to John's health problems. In addition to his beekeeping Mike did some amazing things in his life, both through his work and with his family.

Monday 6th August 2018.

Richard Ridler gave an illustrated talk.

Richard’s talk explored the differences between beekeeping practice in UK and in Africa. It explained why a less interventionist approach is appropriate, why swarm control and queen rearing are inappropriate and why top bar hives work so well. He explained why beekeeping is such a successful means of poverty relief and how Bees Abroad goes about its work.

Richard is chairman of Bees Abroad, a registered charity which works to relieve poverty through beekeeping. He has been both chairman and treasurer of the Essex Beekeeper’s Association. Together with his wife Jane he keeps some 20 hives around Saffron Walden in Essex. Both Jane and Richard are Master Beekeepers. Richard is a regular contributor to the BBKA News and to Bee Craft. Jane is the education officer for Essex Beekeepers’ Association.