(Founded 1887 - Scotland’s
oldest Local Association!) (www.eastlothianbeekeepers.org.uk)
Newsletter 144 August
2007
The summer has not
been kind to our bees or our Association. The weather eased sufficiently for
the visit to Mark Hedderwick’s model apiary to go ahead on 26th May
and this time I think I’ve got my head around his management system! Thanks to
Peter Wright, we also learned the best way to orientate a queen excluder. But I
was left on my own to do justice to all the scones and cakes afterwards. I failed.
The visit to the Association apiary at Lennoxlove couldn’t take place because
of the rain, and then the Haddington Show was cancelled after a very wet week.
Perhaps as a result of the odd weather I have only had two phone calls about swarms,
and the Council had very few requests either.
The Association survey
of colony losses last winter revealed that 39 hives were lost out of 129 hives
(30%). Thirteen of the 28 beekeepers who responded lost hives. The dead hives generally
had plenty of stores and there were no piles of dead bees. Two hives were
probably lost to vandalism, one was queenless going into the winter, and two
probably starved. Of the remaining 34 losses, most occurred in apiaries that
had not been treated for Varroa (22 losses out of 25 hives, 88% lost) or had
only been treated with Oxalic acid by either fumigation or trickling (9 losses
out of 14 hives, 64% lost). In contrast, there were only 3 unexplained losses
amongst the 75 hives that had been treated with Apistan or Bayvarol (4% lost).
This suggests that the unusual losses observed over the last winter were due to
the failure to treat adequately for Varroa infection rather than to the more
sinister “empty hive syndrome”. These results should remind us all that treating
for Varroa is not optional. Infection is widespread throughout the county and
even if you don’t think you have Varroa infection, you probably do. If you
don’t treat the infection your bees then they will die. Unless you are taking
your bees to the heather then treat the hives as soon as you take the supers
off - you will have time to take the strips out again before winter arrives.
Forthcoming events
18th &
19th August Gifford Show Honey Section- the classes are:
601: One 1lb jar Clear, Dark Blossom Honey
602: One 1lb jar Clear, Light to Medium Blossom Honey
603: One 1lb jar Naturally Granulated Honey
604: One 1lb jar Soft Set Honey
605: One 1lb jar Heather Honey (liquid)
606: One piece Cut Comb Blossom Honey (approx 8 oz.)
607: One piece Cut Comb Heather Honey (approx 8 oz.)
608: One section Flower Honey
609: One section Heather Honey
610: One shallow frame Blossom Honey
611: One shallow frame Heather Honey
612: One Bottle Wine-type Mead (not fortified)
613: One piece beeswax,
614: Honey cake (no recipe given) – but see our website
You can take your
entries along to the Marquee in the village square in Gifford from
1st October
Talk by Brian Hateley,
15th November Talk by
Graeme Sharpe from SAC, Auchincrivie on Bee Diseases.
29th November
Association Social Dinner at Bonar’s, Haddington, with a honey themed menu. Dinner and wine £21.50 per head. The more the merrier! Numbers to me please.
Beginners
Despite the poor
swarming season several beginners have managed to get themselves set up with
bees – notably Scott Hood, Jane McCormack, Jeanne Simpson and Dylan Bell. A few
meetings have also been held at the Association apiary at Lennoxlove where the
bees appear to be doing well, with two supers removed for the Haddington Show.
All members are welcome to visit and work on the hives. Record cards and a pen
have been placed in the roof of each hive.
Observation Hive
Drew Stenhouse has
kindly donated a very fine observation hive to the Association. It came to Drew
from Tom Ramage who got it from Tom Brownhill of Humbie. The hive was made by
Robert Lee of Uxbridge, Middlesex, and rotates upon a metal plate so that both
sides can easily be seen – any ideas what to do with it?
Equipment for sale
All of the equipment kindly
donated to the Association by Kay Kemball is still unclaimed – no reasonable
offer refused!
Smith travel screen 2
Smith zinc queen excluder (unframed) 1
Smith crown board 4
Smith hive stand 1
Smith Super 1 National floor 1
Queen excluder (smaller than Smith) 1
Mouse guards 7
Wooden entrance reducers 2
Box of metal ends 1
Honey pails with lids – large 2 large, 2 small Leather gloves with sleeves – small 2 pairs
Sleeves 1 pair
Veil without hat 1
Hive entrance rapid feeder 1
In addition there are some
items donated by Sandy Murray:
Smith super – flat pack 1
Smith DN4 frames 1 pack of 10
New members
We welcome Dylan
Donald Smith (Secretary)
Garden Cottage
Clerkington
Haddington EH41 4NJ
01620 822441