July 2010 - News Letter
APIARY VISIT TO JOHN EATON
In a change to the 2010 programme we are visiting John Eaton of West End, Stanton Harcourt.
John kept bees with his father as a child and has recently restarted. He currently has 25 colonies in Commercial equipment which he makes himself.
Directions: directions removed
NEW MEMBERS
We would like to welcome the following new members to the Association:
Roy Beckham - Wardington
June Whipp - Kidlington
Christopher Russ - Oxford
David Fickling - Oxford
Per Helgeson -Thame
Andrerw Burford - Faringdon
Paul and Lynne Honigmann -Steeple Aston
Philip Pritchard -Oxford
Andrew Cleaton - Witney
Richard Carlton - Bucknell
Carol Malin - Caulcott
Peter Chaunt
Membership Secretary
FUTURE EVENTS
Sat 10th July Barracks Lane Garden
Members who live near to East Oxford and have an interest in sustainable food production and gardening may like to visit an event on Saturday 10th July from 11 am. Beginners may be interested to know that Terry Thomas has been asked by the charity to run a workshop for 'Starting in Beekeeping' between 11.30 am. and 2 pm. This will be followed by a workshop on growing plants for bees. Barracks Lane is off the Headington side of Cowley Road.
Website details- www.barrackslanegarden.org.uk
Sat 31st July THAME SHOW
Just a reminder that the Thame Show this year has been moved to Saturday 31st July. The OBKA honey stand always attracts many visitors and we would be grateful for any volunteers to man it. Please contact Peter Randall (Tel 01844 215658) or any members of the committee if you are able to attend.
This year's show has the traditional honey and wax classes. For the first time , there is also a honey fruit loaf class and a honey class designed to appeal to children's artistic instincts Prize money (albeit not enough to enable early retirement!) is given for each of the classes and there is even a trophy for the exhibitor gaining most points.
The closing date for entries is 9th July. Contact info@thameshow.co.uk
Sat 14th August APIARY VISIT CLIFFORD McLEAN
More details next time.
National Honey Show
If you are new to beekeeping and joined the association after 1st August 2009 you can get into the National Honey Show free! To get your free ticket you need to ask your association secretary (marka_lynch@hotmail.com) to apply on your behalf to the National Honey Show General Secretary. Your secretary will need to supply your name, address and your email address if you have one. The National Honey Show is run entirely by volunteers. Using email helps simplify the administration. The cut off date for applications is 31st July so get that application in now!
If you would like to read more about the National Honey Show and its history have a look at the website www.honeyshow.co.uk
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
APIARY VISIT TO RON HOSKINS ON 19TH JUNE
When Ron Hoskins breeds queens he is looking for one particular characteristic. Not good temper, prolific laying, non-swarming or any of the usual traits we might think of. He looks for queens who produce progeny with the ability to groom off and damage varroa mites.
During a fascinating visit to Ron’s apiary at Stanton Park near Swindon on 19th June, OBKA members were introduced to the Honeybee Conservation Project, based around Ron’s and his colleagues’ discoveries and methods.
Believing that the chemicals in varroa treatments and in commercially produced wax are disrupting bees’ natural physiology and damaging drone semen, he stopped using varroa treatments in 2003. His colonies quickly dwindled by half. But the surviving colonies were discovered to share certain behavioural characteristics. They were able to groom off the mites, to damage them by biting and to cull pupae whose cells were harbouring varroa. After considerable experimentation, he discovered that it was a tendency associated with particular queens and since then, he has bred from these queens to produce a strain capable of carrying out their own varroa control methods.
We were shown the instrument Ron uses to artificially inseminate his queens and given a graphic description of the process he follows for extracting semen from drones and transferring it to a virgin queen. We were then given the opportunity to examine samples of damaged varroa mites and immature antennae under a microscope. Ron monitors the progress of his project by painstakingly counting the total mite drop and calculating the proportion of damaged mites in the total. We were also given a demonstration of the making up of mini nucs with selected virgin queens and a coterie of attendant worker bees, which are used for mating purposes. We were also shown a top bar hive which is used exclusively by the colony for the building of natural comb free of chemicals to use for queen rearing.
The next stage of the project is to influence the drone population, a much more difficult proposition, and Ron will be placing his queens with other beekeepers in the area with the long-term aim of influencing the genetic make-up of drones as well as queens and producing a varroa-resistant strain of bee – the beekeeper’s Holy Grail.
Despite being situated in the depths of the park, Ron’s apiary is supplied with all creature comforts (including separate men’s and women’s loos!) and after the meeting we enjoyed a lovely al fresco tea courtesy of Camilla Daukes and Gill Oliver. Thanks to Camilla for setting up a very interesting meeting, to Gill who arrived at the site several hours ahead of the meeting to set everything up and to Ron Hill, who ably supported the other Ron in the demonstration.
Mike and Jill Rose
TEACHING APIARY GRASS
The Beginners Course tutors and Helen Raine, Teaching Apiary Manager, are indebted to Maurice Leen for his help at the Apiary; particularly for keeping the grass cut.
OBKA's electric Flymo has expired and Maurice is now using his own mower.
Can any generous member donate a mower, however old but serviceable, to the Apiary please? Failing that, it would be a help to Maurice if someone could occasionally mow the grass with their own machine between 6 and 6.30 on a Wednesday evening.
Please respond to Helen on 07967 195132 or at rainehelen@hotmail.com
Martin Seth Smith.
HIVES WANTED
New bee keeper is looking for WBC hives. Contact Paul Fowler.
Tel 01608 678204 or
07770 798989
skipper@enstoneflyingclub.co.uk
APIARY SITE OFFERED
East Hendred Apiary site
Derek Witts would like to offer his Paddock on the edge of the village of East Hendred OX12 8LG as a site for a possible apiary. Please contact Derek on 01235 831115.
HONEYCOMB WANTED
Dear Beekeepers,
I work at Diamond Light Source in Chilton and would like to know whether you could help me find beekeepers who could provide me some samples of fresh honeycomb for research (1cm x 1cm x 1cm samples).
Diamond is a materials science facility funded by the government and the Wellcome Trust and my research targets studying waxes and learning whether they can be used as a flag for a hive's health.
I would be obliged if you could put me in touch with producers. At the moment I’d like to probe some waxes from different species and from some different producers.
Best regards,
Jose Brandao
jose.brandao-neto@diamond.ac.uk
BEE PHOTOGRAPHY
Vita (Europe) Ltd is launching a photography competition. Anyone can submit up to three photos relating to bees or beekeeping to try to win a cash prize. To enter the competition, just email up to three digital photographs (no larger than 1mb each) relating to bees or beekeeping to vitagallery@vita-europe.com. The theme is broad, with current photographs in the gallery ranging from vintage beekeeping equipment to shots of active colonies and foraging bees.
Please include your name, postcode (or equivalent) and country in your email. You may also include captions for your photographs if you wish. Please state if you are under 16 and eligible for the Young Person’s Prize.
OBKA
The Oxfordshire Beekeepers Association is a registered charity, number 1005846.
The OBKA website is now on-line. Visit www.oxfordshirebeekeepers.com to see details of future events, links to other useful sites and other relevant information.
The password to the members section is NUTT.
Our Secretary is Mark Lynch, Tel 01993 883266.
Our Membership Secretary is Peter Chaunt, Tel 01869 338625.
Our Swarms Liaison Officer is Clifford McLean, Tel 01993 775914
Our Spray Contact is Harry Jessup, Tel 01491 682645.
Our Seasonal Bee Inspector are Margaret Holland, Tel 01327 857328 for North Oxfordshire and Philip Spillane, Tel 01865 396383 for South Oxfordshire.
If you have any articles or information for the Newsletter, items wanted or for sale, or any comments for the editor, contact Phil Spillane. 77 Nightingale Avenue, Oxford, OX4 7GD. Tel 01865 396383.
THORNES AGENT
John Harris is a main agent for E H Thorne, and can supply most beekeeping equipment. Contact John at 95 Buckingham Road, Bicester, OX26 3ES. Tel (01869) 252098.