Category: Article

Article

July 2024 Apiary Notes from Wally Thrale

At last the weather has become ‘summery’ and the bees are making er, ‘honey’! Up until a couple of weeks ago I thought there wouldn’t be a summer crop; bees were eating what stores they had and feeding was becoming a consideration. Now supers have filled with the warm sunshine.
Most of my colonies are on four supers to accommodate the bees. But these supers are now quite full and I would like to extract some of them. So to try and force the bees to finish processing the honey in the supers I want to extract, I have left two lighter supers below the crown board and two heavier ones above it. They have been left like this for a few days which allows bees to store fresh nectar in the supers below as they tend not to store it in the supers above. A quick ‘shake’ test with a frame next to the wall to test if honey comes out of the comb confirms the honey is safe to extract. Supers can then be returned to hopefully be filled again.
The poor weather we experienced for quite a while stopped many colonies from swarm preparations but that doesn’t mean swarming is over yet. It is important to inspect colonies for queen cells and carry out an artificial swarm if necessary (see last month’s notes for a couple of methods). Losing a swarm now that the weather has improved and a honey flow taking place means a hive will produce very little honey if any.

Now we are approaching July it is the time when wasps tend to make their appearance around our colonies. Being prepared is better than trying to stop wasps once they have targeted a hive. It is a good idea to reduce entrances down to around an inch or so, smaller than this for nucs. Once wasps have found a way into a hive it is very difficult to stop them. They can easily take out a weak colony or nuc in a short time. They then move on to the next target. Do get the foam ready and apply soon.

Many beekeepers treat for varroa in August which means no honey should be present. Do have your treatments ready to use as some of them are time and temperature critical. If they are not applied as per instructions they are barely effective. This is a waste of money but will also compromise the colony as the winter bees will not be in good condition. Winter bees need to be healthy (and lots of them) for a colony to survive to next spring.

On a different topic I recently wrote an article on rendering wax using a slow cooker. This I find a very effective way to render down spare wax into a block that can then be traded with the Association. Remember that if you want to buy more than 4 packs of foundation you will need to trade the equivalent weight in wax to buy discounted foundation. You can find the article by following the link:
https://bedsbka.org.uk/rendering-wax-by-wally-thrale/

Next Tuesday (2nd July) we will run a Zoom session to talk over any of these points or anything else you may wish to ask. The invitation will be sent out nearer the time.

Finally, it is not too late to make nucs to overwinter and this is something all beekeepers should try to do in case of a bad winter.

Article

June 2024 Apiary Notes from Wally Thrale

Each spring we have weather issues to contend with. Looking back at the previous years we have had: record amounts of spring sunshine; followed by air frosts on most nights during April the next year; then one of the driest April / May periods the following year and this year cold and wet weather. The weather for each of those years made it difficult for bees and beekeeping (except the sunny one!).

But now we are at the height of the swarm season so checking for colonies making queen cells is essential. If colonies have already been artificially swarmed with frames of foundation do check the bees are drawing comb – sometimes it is necessary to rearrange these frames so that all the foundation is drawn by the end of summer. If a colony goes into autumn with undrawn comb they may not have enough space for their winter stores. Bees are less keen to draw comb late in the season so ensure all foundation is drawn by the end of summer.

On the swarming theme, some beekeepers are not sure how best to deal with a colony that has queen cells as there are so many ways to deal with this situation. So here are two overviews – one where the queen is found and the other where the queen cannot be found. Note – for these overviews the original colony with the queen is called the ‘parent’ colony and the new brood box introduced is the ‘artificial swarm’.

  1. a)       Where the queen is marked and can be found.

Locate the queen and cage her and put the cage to one side in a safe position.

Move the parent box away several feet in the apiary and then place an empty brood box (artificial swarm) on the original site so that flying bees will return home.

My preference is to add two frames of sealed brood (remove any queen cells first!) to the artificial swarm from the parent colony and then fill the box with empty drawn frames and foundation. If possible add no more than four frames of foundation. This is why it is important to have spare drawn frames.

Return the queen to the artificial swarm and return the supers here as well.

Now leave one good looking open queen cell in the parent colony with the brood, knocking down all the others.

  1. b)      Where the queen cannot be found. Note this applies only if open queen cells are present; if sealed queen cells are there the queen may have already have left the colony.

Locate a frame containing eggs and young larvae only and knock down any queen cells from this frame.

Place this frame with attached bees in the artificial swarm in the centre of the box. Place drawn frames either side of the frame with eggs and fill the remainder of the box with foundation – but no more than four if possible.

Return the supers to the artificial swarm.

Replace the frame taken from the parent colony with a frame of foundation.

Leave for seven days and then –

Look in the artificial swarm – if there are no queen cells then the queen is probably here and eggs should be present. If queen cells are present select one good looking one and knock down the others.

In the parent colony look for eggs; if they are present then the queen is here and the house bees should have torn down the queen cells. If queen cells are present then select one good looking cell and knock down all the others. Put a drawing pin in the top bar with the queen cell and look again after eight days – the queen cell should have an emerged queen.

A couple of final points. When taking off the spring crop ensure the colony has enough stores to carry on otherwise they may starve especially as the ‘June gap’ is upon us.

Next Tuesday is the next Zoom Improver session for which an email invitation will be sent nearer the time. If you have any concerns or questions please do ask on the day. You can either send a message via the Zoom ‘chat’ function or talk about your question.

Article Public

The BBKA Asian Hornet Conference 17th February 2024

This conference provided an overview of the effect of the hornet in 2023 and plans for dealing with it in 2024.

You can view a recording on YouTube here. Best to start from about 9 minutes from the beginning.

Nigel Semmence: ‘An Update from the NBU’
Contingency Planning and Science Officer, National Bee Unit

Martin Smith; eR2 Project Manager: ‘Communication is the key’
An introduction to the way in which we beekeepers fit into the fight against the Asian Hornet.  Following on from the NBU update, this talk will confirm the roles of AH Coordinators and Verifiers and how they appear on the various maps that are now available, both publicly and within the secure eR2 membership environment. It will also outline the way in which a suspect sighting reported by a member of the public via the AH App will be passed as quickly as possible to a beekeeper to follow up.

Kirsteen Thorne;  BBKA Outreach Officer
Kirsteen has previously worked as a journalist, presenter and radio producer for BBC Radio Norfolk and the regional BBC Look East programme. Initially she will be focusing on raising the profile of the threat of Asian Hornet and implementing the BBKA outreach plan.

Alastair Christie:  ‘An update on Jersey and what BBKA could learn from the Jersey Experience’ 
Alastair Christie works for the Environment Department with the Government of Jersey as an Invasive Species Officer. He has been in post as Jersey’s Asian Hornet Coordinator since 2019 managing the control programme and working closely with the volunteers who carry out much of the work. As such he has built up considerable experience of the invasive Asian hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) and has seen how the hornet landscape has changed over the years, and how their techniques for controlling them have evolved and been refined. In 2023 they have found a record 339 nests, up from 174 in 2022. In his lecture he’ll bring you up to date on what happened in 2023 in Jersey, some of the lessons that others can learn.

Jackie Thomas of Dover and District BKA: “An update from Kent”

Jackie relates the experience and lessons learned by DDBKA in 2023. DDBKA have developed a simple and sustainable way of utilising members to perform widespread monitoring.

 

Article Members Only

2023 Honey Show Results

A message from the Honey Show secretary, Sue Lang:

“Thank you to everyone who entered/helped at the Honey Show and Festival on Saturday 7th October at The Discovery Centre, Luton.
It was a brilliant day, lots of great quality entries for the honey show, and lots of people through doors for the festival. The stalls were swamped and all the honey was sold. There was also great interest in the Yellow Legged Asian Hornet stand. This event is only successful because of all the people who give up their time to support the association, so Thank You again.

I’m very pleased to report that Bedfordshire came 2nd this year in the Federation Cup, hosted by the National Honey Show. Thanks to the class winners at Bedfordshire’s honey show, who kindly allowed their winning entries to be put forward (Wally Thrale, Phil Archer, Caroline Luxford, Sue Lang)”

Results and Placings

Trophies and Awards

National Honey Show Federation Cup Beds entries and places

The 2023 Honey Show was managed using the following:

Honey Show Schedule 2023 – details and description of entry classes

Rules for 2023 – please make sure you follow these rules to ensure that all your hard work is judged!

Labelling Exhibits – details of how to label your exhibits

Recipes – these are the recipes that should be used for our show (note they are not the National Honey Show recipes)

Awards for 2023 – details of the awards given for various classes

Beds BKA Honey Show Entry Form 2023 – all entries must be received by midnight 1st October 2023

 

Article

November 2023 Apiary Notes from Wally Thrale

The main reason for these notes is to highlight to members the dramatic number of Asian hornet (AH) nests discovered this year. So far the number of nests located and destroyed stands at 71. That figure is far higher than all nests found in previous years combined. It now looks as if some nests may have produced queens that will overwinter and start the process next spring. Trustees are very concerned about this matter as many beekeepers still seem to be unaware of the seriousness of the problem.

There will be a meeting on Tuesday 5th December at Flitwick village hall to inform members about the problems AH will cause us. Beekeeping on the continent has been seriously impacted by AH and we all need to understand how we should monitor for AH and how to deal with AH if they become established.

More details of this event will be sent to members soon. Please do make every effort to attend this meeting. We must be vigilant from now on – we can’t reply on bee inspectors locating and destroying all AH nests. We all need to understand the gravity of the situation.

We will also cover Asian hornets on the Training day at Flitwick village hall on Saturday 27th January 2024. Other topics for the day are:
Assessment of approved varroa treatments;
Using honey as an ingredient;
Overview of commercial brood boxes;
And surviving winter – for bees!
This event is available to sign up on Webcollect (members only). Follow the link:

https://webcollect.org.uk/bedsbka/event/improver-training-day/

Now for the apiary Notes. Although there is little to do with our bees at this time of year I thought a little reminder of jobs that need doing before winter might be of help.

Feeding syrup should have finished a while ago. If colonies become light then feeding with fondant will be necessary. The Association has stocks of fondant so contact your local stockist to check for availability.

All my colonies now have a 50mm piece of insulation (Celotex) above the crown board and below the roof. This should help retain heat in the brood box as it is exactly what we do in our homes. Now that pollen foraging is minimal mouse guards should be put in place. At the same time wire netting is wrapped around the hive to keep woodpeckers away during cold spells.

It is then a matter of keeping an eye on colonies over the winter and checking they have sufficient stores, especially as we approach spring, which is some time off.

Winter is a good time to carry out routine maintenance of kit that is not needed until active beekeeping starts again. So queen excluders are scraped clean and edges treated with a heat gun. Supers and the frames are scraped and just generally tidied up. Personally, I prefer to treat external surfaces of hive parts (e.g. Cuprinol, Barretine etc) on a regular basis to prevent the wood decaying. Hives properly looked after will be serviceable for decades.

Article Public

Learn about the Asian Hornet Threat

The Yellow-Legged Asian Hornet (Vespa velutina)

Defra update 03.11.23 – So far in 2023 there have been 71 Asian hornet nests found in 55 locations.

The Asian hornet is the biggest threat to honey bees since the Varroa mite came to our shores. It can also have a devastating effect on other insects (butterflies, bumble bees etc).

Beekeepers and the public are encouraged to install the Asian Hornet Watch app (available from Google Play Store/Apple App Store) on their mobile phones to be able to report any credible sightings of the Asian hornet to the authorities. Photos or a specimen are essential to get your report seriously considered.

Acknowledgements: The information provided has been drawn from various public sources including DEFRA, the Animal & Plant Health Agency, the National Bee Unit, the British Beekeepers Association and the Non Native Species Secretariat.

1        Asian vs European hornet

Vespa velutina (or the yellow legged hornet) is smaller than our native European hornet (Vespa crabro) and distinguishable by its yellow tipped legs, its dark abdomen with an orange/yellow fourth segment and its size. The queen (or gyne) is about 30mm long and the workers are slightly smaller at 25mm.

The European hornet with its larger size, powerful jaws and thick exoskeletons makes direct attacks on a hive whereas the Asian Hornet must rely on another method of attack that gives beekeepers some rather different problems – it uses its aerial agility to hawk bees in preference to a direct attack on the hive which is why Asian hornets are called solitary hawkers. However, later in the beekeeping season they may make a direct attack on hives usually on weaker colonies.

To compare the Asian hornet to the European…it is smaller and looks different, but its nests (yes – plural – they can make more than one nest) are 3-4 times more populous, they are more aggressive and their active season is much longer.

2        The Asian hornet lifecycle:

2.1        Spring

After winter hibernation, the queen emerges and seeks out sugary food (carbs) in order to build energy to commence building a nest known as the primary nest. This “foundress queen” makes and looks after this nest by herself. You can see a photo of a primary nest here – they are small and often built in urban areas under eaves. It has been noted that the hornet favours building a new nest in the vicinity of an existing old nest from the previous year.

At this stage, she is alone and vulnerable to attack from birds, being trapped or being killed by another queen but she rapidly lays eggs to produce the future workforce. As the colony increases, a larger nest is needed. They may expand the primary nest or build a secondary (main) nest near to the primary nest. The bulk of the workers move to build the main nest and are later joined by the queen and other workers. So if you find a nest with no eggs or Queen, there will be a main nest nearby.

2.2        Summer

During this period a single colony can produce 6000 individuals in one season. From July onwards, the hornet predates on honeybee colonies. Predation (hawking, waiting outside hives for returning foragers) increases and lasts through to the end of November. During late September – early October our honey bees are raising the winter brood that will take the colony through winter so any losses reduce the colony’s ability to survive. It has been estimated that 4 hornets outside a hive creates c40% reduction in honey bee foraging, 6 a c60% reduction and 12 hornets hawking outside a hive means NO foraging at all causing undue stress to the bees. As hawking continues, the honey bee colonies reinforce their guards as the colony starts to get stressed, and in the absence of food coming in, the colonies will take their queen off lay but they may also kill her; thereby, the cohesion and organisation of the colony starts to collapse. During September, absconding has been reported in Europe in heavily predated areas. Once an apiary is found, the hornets learn waymarks to find it again, driven by the smell of pollen, honey, and the honey bees Nasonov gland pheromones.

2.3        Autumn

During Autumn, the priorities of the Asian hornet shift from foraging and nest expansion to producing gynes (queens) and males for mating. However, only a small number of potential foundress queens will successfully mate and make it through the winter (<10%). The newly mated queens find somewhere to hibernate for winter, whilst the old queen and the other hornets die, leaving an empty nest. At this time of year, the hornet may also make direct attacks on hives. The following Spring, the process starts all over again.

3        What can we do?

“Inaction and lack of knowledge on the part of the beekeeper and the public are two of the Asian hornet’s greatest allies”.

Be observant. A single hornet can fly 20-30kms per day and with a favourable wind even further so they can quickly populate new areas.  In Jersey, where the hornet now seems established, most sightings are reported by the public. It has been found that there can be more hornets in urban and suburban areas rather than rural ones. However, it does mean there can be many more opportunities to spot them.

Report sightings. Your role is to spot the Asian hornet and report it. Download the Asian Hornet Watch app – this is how beekeepers and the public should report any sightings.

Educate and encourage beekeepers and the public to be aware and observant. We have identification posters and leaflets that can be put up on Community notice boards and in village halls, visitor centres etc. Contact our Asian Hornet Coordinator (phill_howes@icloud.com) to request them.

Use monitoring traps. Where possible, in spring (from late February to end of May),  use monitoring traps in gardens, school grounds, garden centres etc as well as around apiaries. See the APHA link in section 4 below for information on monitoring traps.  To minimise the affect on other insects, use non-killing traps and regularly (ideally daily) inspect so you can release other insects. Note it is illegal to free a trapped Asian hornet.

Spotted an Asian hornet nest? Asian hornets defend their nests aggressively. Do not attempt to destroy an Asian hornet nest – a bee suit will not protect you. Use the Asian Hornet Watch app to report it.

For beekeepers:

  • They may not be in our area yet but that could happen at any time and you need to be prepared.
  • Defence is all about putting the right measures in place at the right time; that requires knowing the hornet’s life-cycle and the measiures available to combat it (see links in section 4 below esp Andrew Durham’s videos)
  • Sick bees are in no shape to fight off the Asian hornet so practice good apiary hygiene
  • Bees with high varroa levels are compromised so treat for varroa
  • Selective trapping. Make or buy non-killing monitoring traps, get them in place from early Spring (late February) to end May to help trap queens and limit nest building. Monitoring should continue through to November during the season when large populations of the hornet are present and captures/sightings more likely. Monitor traps frequently so that any other species trapped can be released.  The APHA link below gives options for traps.
  • Should hornets be present, make sure your apiary environment favours the bees not the hornets:
    • Don’t draw attention to the hives, keep olefactory signature low e.g. don’t have hives open too long,  etc.
    • Grow grass in front of the hives so the bees have somewhere to hide.
    • Close off the sides and under landing boards, use a solid floor or close off the open mesh floor as hornets hawk underneath hives and stress the bees. French beekeepers add skirts to their hives blocking the access from under the hive to the entrance or build a wide access ‘conservatory’ to the entrance, hence shielding the bees from surprise attack.
    • Single/weak hives are vulnerable so consider uniting weak ones and maintain several strong colonies.
    • Try early morning/dusk feeding and inspections (the hornets return to their nest for darkness).

4       Additional information …

We have given a simple overview above. For more detailed information, you can use the links below. There is some great information on the websites of the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA), the National Bee Unit (NBU) and the Non Native Species Secretariat (NNSS).

We encourage you to watch Andrew Durham’s excellent talks on You Tube.

Andrew Durham videos:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/live/mx3LhC2fnoc?si=tI78GJ531pdiClR0  (start ca 20 mins in)

Part2: https://www.youtube.com/live/9SNvrq7oNBY?si=LlFrYsSbnWJRSWJo  (start ca 13 mins in)

BBKA Asian Hornet Week videos:

https://www.bbka.org.uk/asian-hornet-week

Non-Native Species Secretariat general info inc on AH:

https://www.nonnativespecies.org/home/index.cfm

APHA video on making an Asian hornet monitoring trap:

https://youtu.be/CR6MUekAjMo?si=XMVPPAfO02YZpSq9

Somerset BKA video on setting up an AHAT team:

https://youtu.be/NtSjcGP-zj8?si=-Jb_cH8hQP4CKl4g

NBU Latest Asian Hornet News

https://www.nationalbeeunit.com/about-us/beekeeping-news/2023-asian-hornet-rolling-updates/

A useful book:

https://www.asianhornethandbook.com/

Article

July 2023 Apiary Notes from Wally Thrale

Now we are in July it is the time when wasps tend to make their appearance around our colonies. Being prepared is better than trying to stop wasps once they have targeted a hive. It is a good idea to reduce entrances down to around an inch or so, smaller than this for nucs. Once wasps have found a way into a hive it is very difficult to stop them. They can easily take out a weak colony or nuc in a short time. They then move on to the next target. Do get the foam ready and apply soon.

Swarming in my area was very busy until a week or so ago. Hopefully most colonies have finished with that now but the occasional one will consider swarming. Now we are past the longest day of the year bees tend to recognise this and realise they need to have enough stores for winter.

At the end of the season (typically end of July to early August) there are often super frames that are not capped over as the bees are waiting or hoping for another nectar flow. By having local knowledge of the local flora we will know if another flow is likely or not. It is best to leave supers on the hive for a few days when a flow has finished to allow time for the bees to ripen the latest batch.

Uncapped frames can be extracted but do the ‘shake’ test first. Hold the frame firmly with one side facing downwards and give a good shake. If no honey falls out it is safe to extract the frame. If honey does fall out put these frames back into a separate super and return to the bees for a few days, where they will finish ripening the honey.

To remind you, the Association has several extractors around the county which can be borrowed at no cost. Obviously, they may be in demand around early August so be aware that you may have to wait a little while.

Many beekeepers treat for varroa in August which means no honey should be present. Do have your treatments ready to use as some of them are time and temperature critical. If they are not applied as per instructions they are barely effective. This is a waste of money but will also compromise the colony as the winter bees will not be in good condition. Winter bees need to be healthy (and lots of them) for a colony to survive to next spring. Varroa was probably a cause for some of the large losses last winter.

Next Tuesday (4th July) we will run a Zoom session to talk over any of these points or anything else you may wish to ask. The invitation will be sent out nearer the time.

Finally, it is not too late to make nucs to overwinter and this is something all beekeepers should try to do in case of a bad winter. I have in stock two brand new polynucs the Association bought a while back. If you want to purchase one please get back to me – they cost £58.