Category: Public

Events Public Winter Talk

Online Talk – Rational Varroa Control by Professor David Evans

Don’t miss out! Get your free ticket for another talk by one of our favourite speakers – Prof David Evans. Click here to get a ticket:

Varroa remains the greatest threat to bees and beekeeping. The mite, and the viruses it transmits, are responsible for most overwintering colony losses. To avoid these mite levels must be minimised. This presentation discusses some of the science behind why Varroa and viruses are a threat to our bees before moving on to practical beekeeping considerations including how and when to control Varroa in your hives. Many beekeepers treat at the wrong time of the season, or use the wrong treatment, for maximal effect. In addition to a late summer and midwinter treatment (which should be all that are needed for successful Varroa management) the opportunities to treat in the middle of the season, the importance of managing Varroa in swarms and the strategic, landscape-scale, management of Varroa are also discussed.

Honey Festival Honey Show Public

Bedfordshire Beekeepers’ Association’s Honey Show and Festival

Our annual Honey Show, run to National Honey Show rules, is where beekeepers and others submit their honey, wax items, cookery and craft items related to bees and beekeeping for judging by experienced judges, with rosettes and trophies awarded to winners. There are entry classes not only for our members but also for other beekeepers and the public. See here for details.

Our Honey Festival (11am to 4pm) is a fun day for all with stalls and talks throughout the day. Tasting and sales of local honey are always popular. There will be live bees on display, facepainting, apple pressing, candle rolling and more. Talks will include “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Mead Making”, “So You Want To Be A Beekeeper” and “Gardening For Bees”.

Do come along, we would love to see you.

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 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 Public

June 2023 Apiary Notes from Wally Thrale

We are now half way through the active beekeeping season. Looking at the state of colonies as they came out of winter it was hard to see how they could build up in time for the OSR crop. But bees are amazing at expanding rapidly in spring if they have enough forage, even in this spring which has not been kind to bees.

Swarming is in full swing judging by my bees and the number of swarm calls I have received. This year we have tried to carry out pre-emptive artificial swarms on colonies to save time on subsequent inspections. The process was to find the queen and place her in an empty brood box on the original site and add a couple of frames of sealed brood. This brood is important as it provides plenty of nurse bees for the queen when they emerge. Frames of foundation were then added to make up the required number of frames plus some drawn comb if available. The box containing the brood was moved to one side and given a floor, roof and frames of foundation. This box will make emergency queen cells and, at the next inspection 7 days later, one sealed queen cell is left after knocking down all the others. It will be at least a month after the initial process was carried out before the new queen comes into lay but it may be necessary to provide a super to the hive to cater for the emerging brood (and honey hopefully).

Another way of slowing a colony down is to take a few frames of brood and place them into a nuc. Nucs are so important and we all should over winter some, preferably in polynucs. Winter losses for last year were high and quite a few people sadly lost all their bees. Nucs build up really well if transferred into a full box in early spring. We placed several nucs on OSR and they have produced a good crop, not far behind that overwintered full colonies. These nucs will also make emergency queen cells and again, inspect after a week and leave one good looking queen cell. Leaving many can allow a swarm to emerge from the artificial swarm or nuc. For nucs I prefer to move them to another apiary to avoid losing too many flying bees back to the parent colony. For a conventional artificial swarm this is less of worry as nearly all the bees in the box containing the brood remain there after the splitting.

There is far less OSR grown these days because of the neonic ban. However, if you had bees near a crop of rape it is important to extract soon as it will start to granulate quickly. So tomorrow the extractor will be in use for the first time this year. Hopefully it will spin easily and empty buckets can start to fill up.

The Association has extractors available to borrow but remember many people will want to extract around this time so best to put your name down if you want to make use of one. See the Yearbook for members who look after extractors.

Sometimes there is a shortage of nectar in June so do check your bees have enough stores to tie them over to summer flow.

Regards
Wally

Events Public Winter Talk

DIY For Beekeepers – an online talk by Professor David Evans

You can register for the talk at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/480906322757

David says:

This talk covers topics as diverse as recycled For Sale signs, the number of jars of honey it takes to pay for a Toyota Hilux (and how to move hives slightly more economically), foundationless frames and wasp-resistant hive entrances. It is an entertaining look at some of the things that either aren’t available commercially, or that can be built at home both better and cheaper. None of the items discussed require any specialist, expensive (or even power) tools . . . though a pizza cutter will come in useful. Several of the items described have won prizes in beekeeping shows (for readers of The Apiarist, unfortunately not for me). This is the ideal talk for late autumn or early winter when beekeepers have a little more time on their hands … it is intended to convince you that the bees don’t need fancy woodwork, and to inspire you to build something yourself.

David Evans (The Apiarist https://theapiarist.org)

David Evans is Emeritus Professor of Virology in the School of Biology, University of St. Andrews. His research interests included the replication and evolution of human and animal viruses, and the biology and control of both Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) of honey bees.

David is an enthusiastic beekeeper – an activity that pre-dates his research on honey bee viruses by several years – and a member of Fife Beekeepers, the East of Scotland BKA and Lochaber BKA. He runs about twenty colonies and is particularly interested in queen rearing and ‘pottering in the shed with bits of wood and a nail gun’.

His interest in DIY for beekeeping resulted in a regular column in the Warwick and Leamington Beekeepers newsletter Bee Talk which, over time, evolved into his personal beekeeping website The Apiarist. On this he covers topics as diverse as Varroa management, responsible mentoring, the price of honey and practical waspkeeping. New posts appear every Friday afternoon and he regularly discusses recent scientific advances on the biology of honey bees. The popularity of the website has resulted in numerous invitations to talk at local, national and international beekeeping meetings.

David now lives on the remote west coast of Scotland in one of the few remaining parts of mainland UK that is Varroa free.

You can register for the talk at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/480906322757