Combings Magazine   
Issue No 20 ~ December 2006

The Combings is the Quarterly Newsletter of the York & District Beekeepers Association offering a good source of information for our local Association. 

We welcome contributions.  Please submit your ideas to the Editor, John Fuller, e-mail: japlusja@btinternet.com

First Words from the Editor ...

Our AGM was held at Murton on the evening Wednesday 18 October.  President Ian Kibble chaired the meeting. There were the usual reports from the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.

As has been mentioned in September, Colin Hattee stood down as Secretary. Alan Johnston was appointed in his place. Alan will be assisted by Kate Wallace.  Chris Robinson was re-elected as Treasurer.  A new Committee was elected.  They are:

David Aston, Rob Coleman, Colin Hattee, Sue Hesp, Bob Hirst, Tom Robinson, Jenny Smith and Kate Wallace

Other topics discussed:

	“Beecraft” can be bought at a reduced price by buying through the Association – contact Alan Johnston.
	The queen rearing class will be held again next year - contact Rob Coleman.
	The Association is to pay Murton Museum £150 for the use of their facilities.
	You will recall that in January this year we had Kate Beck speaking Mercy Ships and the work that they do. The programme she spoke about was the setting up beekeeping in Ghana. The Association made a donation.  Colin Hattee read out a letter received from Ghana - a copy of which is attached to “Combings”.    At the end of the meeting we had a whip round and raised a further £25 for Mercy Ships.
	Honey jar labelling was talked about, more details of which appear later.
	Right at the end of the meeting Bob Hirst stood up and proposed that Ken Barran be made an Honourary Life Member of York BKA – this was passed unanimously.   Ken is one of only four members to hold this honour.  Speaking to Ken later he told me that he joined York round about 1973.  I hope to have his life with bees in your next “Combings”.

At a Committee Meeting held on Monday 23 October, Tom Robinson was elected Chairman and Sue Hesp Vice Chairman.

You are reminded that you have until 31 December to pay your subscription to York BKA.  After that, your membership will lapse.  Subscriptions for this year are £25.00.

At the meeting held on Wednesday 13 September, Tom Robinson told us that Norman Carreck had been made redundant at Rothamstead.  Mr Carreck spoke to us earlier in the year.

A word of praise for Vera Rider.  Vera is Secretary to Yorkshire BKA.   Being on her mailing list any messages she sends out, I get a copy, which allows me to pick out those that are not date sensitive to include in “Combings”.  In the three month period June, July and August I received nineteen messages from her on all sorts of beekeeping topics.  She must put a lot of time and effort into collating information and disseminating it.

I learned through Kate Wallace and Alan Johnston that the CSL at Sand Hutton has an extensive library that is available for the use of beekeepers.   Kate asked around and sent me the following e-mail .  It is self explanatory.

“The Central Science Laboratory (CSL) at Sand Hutton is the home of the National Bee Unit (NBU). The Information Centre at CSL holds a number of beekeeping journals with an extensive collection of back issues and a comprehensive collection of bee books. The collections may be available to The York and District Bee Keepers Association members for study and reference purposes on written application to the Information Centre Manager.”

To arrange a visit to the CSL Information centre please email science@csl.gov.uk or telephone 01904 462272.

A five week theory course “Introduction to Beekeeping“ is to be held at Selby College on Wednesday evenings from 1900 hrs to 2100 hrs.  The first lesson will be on Wednesday 31 January 2007.  Enrolment is through Selby College.  The cost will be the college’s standard evening class fee.  The course will include the background to beekeeping, biology of the honeybee, managing colonies, diseases and hive products.  The tutors will be John Whittaker and Robin Tomlinson.

With John Whittaker’s name on my mind, Yorkshire BKA want people to become involved with its running.  He asked me to include this in your newsletter.  To that end, Tom Robinson put his name forward at the Yorkshire AGM at the Buckles Inn on Saturday 11 November and was elected to be their representative at BBKA meetings.

Becoming involved with the work of the Yorkshire BKA

The organisation of beekeeping is at three levels.  At the base are the district associations like York and District Beekeepers Association, Leeds Beekeepers Association or Barkston Ash Beekeepers Association.  At the second level are the county associations such as Yorkshire Beekeepers Association (YBKA) and the top level is the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA). By being a full member of the district association you are automatically a member of the county association and BBKA.  All of these add to what we can get out of beekeeping.  But here I wish to talk about YBKA. The YBKA executive committee is made up of members, who each have a role within the association such as BBKA representative, secretary, equipment officer, etc.  At the present there are at least three additional members required.  Movers and shakers are good but so are steady types of ladies and gents that can simply get a job done.  The main qualification is a determination to protect the beekeeping legacy we have inherited and take beekeeping in Yorkshire forward in the future.  There is some hard work and a great deal of satisfaction.  If you feel you would like to be involved please contact the Chairman of YBKA, Sue Chatfield.

Over the August Bank Holiday, I helped man a stall at Cawood Craft Fair run by Barkston Ash BKA.   While on the stall I had a long talk with a lady who had worked with Frank Abbot in the late 1930’s at Brough (10 miles west of Hull).  Frank Abbot was the founder of Mountain Grey Apiaries; he was also a member of Ousedale BKA that was later amalgamated with York BKA in 1959.  While talking to the lady, it became apparent to me that the way we do things today is just the same as she did them seventy years ago!

Also at Cawood show – while I was walking out of the car park I spotted a big car that looked an absolute wreck from a distance, with no windows, doors, bonnet or radiator and what looked like half a rusty oil barrel where the engine should be – that set me thinking – so I went over for a look. It was a Stanley steam car dating from 1921.  Alongside it was another Stanley steamer that was well on with its restoration and alongside that was a Locomobile steam car with tiller steering fully restored.  All where American built.

Naively thinking these cars must be very rare I went onto the internet to see what information I could find -  lo and behold- there was masses of it, including a picture of the “wreck” I had looked at.

I was extracting the last boxes of honey in early September.  I had done half and returned next morning to finish off.  I had just filled the extractor and started spinning when it died.  After replacing the fuse a couple of times it became apparent it was something a little more serious.  I eventually concluded that it was the electronic speed regulator.

Looking through my records, I was surprised to discover that I have had the extractor for twenty one years – it doesn’t seem like that long.  It is a Thorne’s extractor with the drive motor mounted vertically on the frame under the main body.  The cage is driven by a V belt.

My first thoughts where to ring Thorne’s to see if they could help.  Needless to say, the whole lot is obsolete, but the situation could be rectified by fitting a new motor on the top frame with a four week wait – and I had boxes of honey waiting to be spun out!

In the end I turned to Yellow Pages.  The first call I made – to Eclipse Electrical Engineers on Clifton Moor turned up trumps.  They got me a new speed controller with next day delivery at a quarter of Thorne’s price.  With a small modification to my extractor the job was done in two days.

Wax Moth

There has been mention of greater wax moth in recent editions of “Combings”.  If you go to page 24 of this October’s Beecraft, there is an article on the subject, with two photographs of the depredations of greater wax moth.  If you have not seen the damage they can cause, then these photographs will be an eye opener.

More on the Wax Moth

While reading up on wax moth for the articles that appeared in previous editions of “Combings”, I read in the 40th edition dated 1990 of the American book ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture “that wax moths, especially the greater wax moth, are often thought to be useful in the control of certain bee diseases.  Any colony that dies, especially from American foul brood, will soon have its comb reduced to a mass of webbing and wax moth faeces within weeks. In this way any American foulbrood spores that are present are destroyed or contained in the debris in such a way that they are no longer a problem”.

As I understand it, foul brood spores can remain dormant for many years - (I have heard as many as fifty years).  I cannot see how the ravages of wax moth can eliminate AFB or EFB spores. I think they will be in the debris.  Any comments?

Even more on the Wax Moth

Jenny smith tells us of her experiences with the creature.

"Help! Look what I've got!" was the title of an article in Bee Craft in October 2002 and that is exactly what I thought when I went to get some supers out of my new bee equipment store in August. The pile of supers had been carefully stacked, after being cleaned up by the bees, with sheets of newspaper between each one with a few mothballs. The supers had come off the borage and had been stored for about three weeks when I lifted the top box off and to my horror found the dreaded cotton wool effect and tunnels in the frames. As I lifted each box down I realised that the moth had gone through the newspaper and into most of the other boxes. If hadn't inspected the top box when I did it would have been devastating in the spring. My new bee store had just had a nice new door on it completely sealed to the light and it also houses the oil boiler that gives enough warmth out to make it very cosy for the moth. I thought I was doing everything right and being very careful but I will make sure that I inspect stored comb every week in future.

I spent the next few hours looking up everything article I could find on the moth and read, to my dismay that larvae can leave an infested hive and travel up to 50 metres to infest another hive. I went to bed that night imagining larvae struggling over the long grass and wondered if they could climb over straw bales separating some of my hives!  My next job was to go through all the hives to check but all was OK. Near my hive is a row of Leylandii trees and I now look at them in a completely different light after reading that the male greater wax moth stays up in a tree for his short life and the females fly up to his to mate! There are probably hundreds of them sitting up there waiting!

I scraped out all the wax from the infected combs and burnt it and the frames were boiled in a Burco boiler. I was amazed how many larvae were in the comers of the frames that I had missed. The supers and other frames have now all been in a freezer for 3 days at a time and are now sealed in large dustbin liners for the winter. In the spring any new frames will be treated with Certan and the freezing technique carried out before storing each winter.

One thing I would like to mention. Each hive had two wasp traps in the form of jam jars with cling film on the top with a small hole in. In each of the jars as well as the wasps were quite a few adult moth and I am sure they were the large wax moth. Maybe this is a way of catching the females at night when they try to get into the hives?

While on a shopping trip to York during September, my wife and I were looking round Lakeland in High Ousegate.  On a shelf was Manuka honey at £9.50 for 8 ounces. I know that Manuka honey is reputed to have properties that our honey does not have, but for that price it should give the consumer eternal life!

This prompted me to ask Terry Nundy about the medicinal qualities of honey.  This is what he has to say:

Therapeutic Properties of Honey

The antibacterial properties of honey have attracted attention recently particularly in relation to Manuka honey from New Zealand.

Honey has been used as a medicine for thousands of years; the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and Chinese used it. More recently scientific explanations have been sought to explain the beneficial effects of honey especially in wound healing.  In 1963 it was discovered that honey possessed an antibacterial effect due to the release of hydrogen peroxide when applied to infected wounds.  This is due to the presence in honey of the enzyme glucose oxidase which digests glucose to form hydrogen peroxide.  Before antibiotics, the older generation will remember the appliance of peroxide to wounds and as a gargle and mouthwash for sore throat and mouth infections.

This use of hydrogen peroxide has been largely replaced by synthetic antibacterial and antibiotic agents, but the development of resistance to antibiotics by some bacteria such as MRSA has stimulated interest in more natural methods of treating these difficult infections.

Honey, when applied to an infected wound absorbs water – ie it is hygroscopic. The consequent dilution of the honey releases glucose oxidase producing hydrogen peroxide.  Unfortunately the antibacterial action of peroxide may be limited by the production of another enzyme, catalase, which destroys glucose oxidase. Despite this some honeys continue to have an antibacterial effect and are known as active honeys.   The best known of which is Manuka honey from New Zealand.

This is marketed as having an additional anti bacterial property known as UMF – Unique Manuka Factor, but so far it has been impossible to identify the nature of this. UMF is not destroyed by catalase so that its effect is more prolonged than that of peroxide in normal honey.

All honey also appears to have an additional antibacterial effect by virtue of their weak acidity - but this is rapidly neutralised by body fluids.  So it can be seen that there are several antibacterial mechanisms particularly where active honey such as Manuka is concerned.

The use of Manuka impregnated wound dressings is currently being investigated, but from personal experience I know that even ordinary honey can produce impressive results in wound healing.

However, a note of caution.  Many of the claims made for Manuka honey have yet to be supported by large scale scientific trials.  Also honey used in wound dressings is sterilised by radiation to destroy harmful bacteria such as clostridea (gas gangrene bacteria) therefore it may be unwise to use ordinary honey as a first aid domestic remedy.

Apart from the treatment of wound infection, Manuka honey may also have an antibacterial effect on intestinal infections when taken by mouth.  It is claimed to be particularly effective against Helicobacter which is a cause of peptic ulceration, so has been used in the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers.

It is to be hoped that the antibacterial properties of honey may eventually provide an intriguing alternative to antibiotics to which many bacteria are developing resistance.

Queen Rearing

Rob Coleman tells us about the queen rearing course held at his apiary at Wigginton during the summer.

This spring Tom Robinson offered to help start a queen rearing programme. So any interested Members where invited to an introductory/theory meeting at the Bee Pavilion on the 18 March.

A list was made of interested people who could provide hives of bees to be used for the programme.   Quite a lot of interest was shown.  So a second meeting was held on the 1st April to discuss where and when we should start.

I offered to use my apiary at Plainville as a base for this year, so another meeting was organised for the 15th April – Easter Saturday.  Three members donated a hive together with my three, so a breeder was found.  She was a daughter of Les Burdett’s bee strain that have been local to Wigginton for many years.

The day we opened up the hives was quite cold; the bees seemed not to be bothered much and did not move off the combs.  They didn’t annoy us by running around forming clusters and dropping off the frames or following us around the apiary. Just nice bees - we hope!   I had already put some frames of drone foundation into my hives so we would have plenty of mature drones about when required.

On 7 May we started the programme.  Thirteen members attended our first practical day.  Frames had been prepared.  A “Cupkit” system was installed into a brood frame and frames with cell bars made up.

The “Cupkit” cage was put into the breeder queen hive in the centre of the brood nest for bees to polish up the little plastic cells ready for the queen to lay in later. A queen excluder was put on the front of the cage to stop her laying yet.

Our first donated hive was made into a “Day 1”, when the queen was put into a bottom brood box with empty drawn combs with a queen excluder over. The brood was put over the queen excluder with supers above.

So a week later on the 14 May we had a brood box of sealed and emerging brood. This was put into a long hive which would accommodate twenty two brood frames. It was a Dartington type hive converted to accept standard National brood frames.

Now this hive is going to be our cell raising colony throughout the programme, consisting of lots of young bees which are required to produce the royal jelly to raise our new queens.

They will be fed constantly with the feeder above of invert syrup.

On the previous Thursday I had caged the breeder queen to obtain our larvae.  Unfortunately we could only find eggs.  It was a wet dreary day, so under an umbrella 40 eggs were put into the cell bars and placed into the cell raiser colony between a good frame of pollen and the emerging brood.

The same day, another donated hive was made into a “Day 1” configuration.

The following Sunday upon inspection, 24 nice queen cells had been produced from the eggs.  This was a promising start. The sealed cells were placed over two queen excluders on another hive to be used as a finisher colony. More sealed brood was added to the cell raiser with a frame of pollen and larvae. Again, larvae of six to eighteen hours old are the correct age for the bees to produce the food to produce good queens.   So I caged the breeder queen on the Wednesday previous.

This now was a weekly task, producing good queen cells.

We had managed to produce queen cells, so mini nuc’s were made up with more young bees and kept fed and in the dark until the queen cells where put in two days before the queens were due to emerge.  On the day of emergence they where placed around the apiary and released at dusk.

Success.   Two weeks later queens had mated and where laying in the mini nuc’s.  This was a busy time.

On the 3 June no queen cells had been drawn down. Why?  A virgin queen had decided to go in there.  This disrupted our programme.  She was found and put into a nuc some distance away. A queen excluder was nailed over the cell raiser entrance and we started again.

Lots more queen cells were produced. That I think is the easy bit. To get queen cells through to emerging and mated is another task.

Mini nuc’s where made up and queen cells introduced. They were mainly successful because the weather has been good this summer. Consequently the queens were free to mate with no interruptions with wet days.

A further report will follow upon the statistics of success, I know one queen from the first batch didn’t get mated properly, but many members have taken away nuc’s and lots taken queens and queen cells, So all in all a promising start.

The performance of the young queen’s will only be known next season.

I know queens have been lost after getting mated and laying, this was down to our poor management, so lots to still be learnt.

PS: The week when the virgin got into the cell raiser. I tried to graft some larvae so the hive wasn’t completely queen less, because the bees became very angry then.  Upon the next inspection their temperament had returned to good behaviour. The grafts took and now I have a laying queen from our first grafting.

Our thanks to Tom Robinson for instigating this programme.  It’s a great feeling to know you have helped your bees to produce queens and “bee” there from before the eggs being laid to watch them emerging and then the sight of the patch of first brood.

Watch this space.

Editors note: Dartington long hives are designed to run on 14 × 12 frames.

I mentioned that labelling regulations where talked about at the AGM.  The next morning Tom Robinson sent me these words on the topic.

The Honey Regulations 2003

This article is an attempt to outline the most relevant items in these regulations so far as honey is concerned, but there are many pages of information which are available should anyone wish to trawl through them.  There are about 21 eight inch columns to read. The full information is available on the website or for those without this facility they may borrow my papers.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have produced guidance notes which can be found at www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/honeyguide to help provide informal non-statutory advice and clarify some of the requirement of the regulations.

	General Labelling Requirement (Regulation 5)
	Name prescribed by law (Regulation 6)
	Manner of marking or labelling (Regulation 35)
	The Honey Regulations state labelling and description of specified honey products (a full page)
	Weights and Measures (Weight declaration)
	The Food (Lot Marking) Regulations
	For the use of words such as Fresh, Pure and Natural, the Food Advisory Committee reported on the use of these terms in 2001.

Weights and Measures Reform

The prescribed measures are currently imperial –1lb and fractions thereof etc etc.

In August 2005, the FSA have tidied up some errors in the Honey Regulations which can be found at http//www.food.govt.uk/multimedia/pdfs/honeyguidance.pdf

One of the items is:

It is the Agency’s view that the country of origin could represent the UK or the individual country for example England, Scotland or Wales.

So far as nutritional items there will be revised legislation in 2010 and it is unlikely there will be a mandatory change before then.

Weights and Measures

It was planned that new regulations would come into effect in April 2006.  This is to protect consumers from short measure. The existing legislation has been recognised as overly complex and burdensome. The changes will also affect local weighs and measures authorities who will continue to have a duty to enforce legislation and who are provided with the powers to do so.

Average System

Extract from Guidance Notes - What the average system does.

The average system applies to most goods which are pre-packed in pre-determined quantities by weight or volume.  Its aim is to provide a defined regulatory framework for the automatic filling of packages. A degree of variation in the content of the packages is inherent in all such processes, etc etc.

The regulations apply this system to all packages intended for sale in constant unit nominal quantities which are between 5g and 25kg.

There are three packers rules and a tolerable negative error.

An Item On Metrication

The Department of Trade and Industry have produced a 62 page document but there would appear to be an 18 month changeover period after the item does the rounds of Brussels and Parliament. It would appear it is well into the future.  See details on http//www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/consultations.htm

Tree Swarm

This is another snippet sent to me by Tom Robinson.

On Tuesday 11 July 2006, a farmer felling an old dead tree found to his dismay a colony of honeybees. He dropped his chainsaw, helmet and petrol canister as he fled followed by a cloud of stinging bees.  I was called and found old brood combs about three feet long with a good big colony, in the fallen tree.   I placed a brood box with three food frames and eight foundation but without a floor on the top of the colony in the hope that that would eventually migrate into their new home.

On Thursday 13th I was  called again and found that the whole colony had absconded and were hanging as a prime swarm on the branches of the fallen tree about ten feet from the brood nest. There were no bees left in the nest which I destroyed with petrol.  I immediately dropped the swarm into the brood box I had left, and together with floor, crown board and roof I strapped it up.  This in effect was a shook swarm.  That night I took the colony to my allotment, which is my practice for swarms and the following day I fed the colony.

This colony is still on my allotment and has continued to grow and my hope is that it will winter well.

This snippet appeared in a health magazine in the “Any questions” page.  It compares the calorific value of honey versus sugar. It is not technically accurate regarding water content.

“Is using honey to sweeten my daily bowl of porridge healthier than using sugar?”

The reply - Honey is classed as a sugar but is a combination of glucose and fructose with a small water content to make it fluid. The water content dilutes the energy value so it has fewer calories than sugar gram for gram. However, a level teaspoon of honey weighs twice as much as a level teaspoon of sugar so this much sugar provides 16 k calories compared to 23 k calories from honey. If you go by the weight - 4 grammes (the weight of a level teaspoon sugar) of honey wiII provide 12 k calories.

The sugar from honey causes blood sugar levels to surge in a similar way to pure sugar. This makes us feel hungry too soon after breakfast.

Honey does have a small edge on sugar as far as overall nutritional value goes in that it contains traces of minerals such as magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron, calcium and potassium, and of course it tastes a whole lot better.

This is a copy of the letter we received from the lady in Ghana to whom we donated money for her to set up an apiary through Mercy Ships.

Meet Your Beekeeper

Afaundzi Yae is a thirty year old woman from the village of Ashifia situated in the Ga District, near the capital of Accra. A mother of five children she grows maize, cassava and okra, selling the crops in the local market to support her family while her husband is employed as a watchman.

In the past her district was the food basket for the city,  however in recent times the situation has changed drastically  due to intensive sand removal from the land for construction purposes in the rapidly developing city. Much of the land, which was previously farmed has been sold to developers without any reclamation work being carried out, leaving many women farmers living in poverty.

A source of hope is the remaining woodlots and sacred groves which cannot be sold and which would make ideal sites for the apiaries.

Afaundzi, along with a group of women from various communities, attended an initial three days of training in bee keeping, learning how to set up hives and attract swarms. The training is being carried out by a local Ghanaian lecturer from Cape Coast University in partnership with the Forestry Commission. Further training in hive management is planned for November and to complete the course a final three days on harvesting the produce in February 2007.

During the second day of the initial training, upon being told that they were to receive two bee hives each plus the shared use of equipment the group of women spontaneously broke into singing and dancing to express their obvious delight and appreciation to their sponsors.

At the end of the third day of training the women's leader spoke on behalf of the group saying, "If we thank you now and we do not work hard to make this project a success, then we insult you. But if we go from here, work hard and succeed then we can thank you, in the meantime we give thanks to God for the opportunity He has given us."

On behalf of Mercy Ships and the women farmers of the Ga District, Ghana, thank you.

If you would like to write to Afaundzi please write to: PO Box 58, Ashifla, Accra, Ghana.

Roasted Nut Nibbles

Debbie Hattee is always on the lookout for honey recipes and sent me this seasonal one. It sounds nice.

Whisk together equal quantities of olive oil and honey, season with sea salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Pour over unsalted nuts (Cashews, almonds, walnuts & hazelnuts all work well).

Toss to coat them then roast in the oven at 200C (fan180C, Gas No 6) for 10 -15 minutes, turning half way through, until golden.  Leave to cool before serving

What you all wanted to know ...

Deborah is the Hebrew word for honey.

Finally, last December I did a little piece on being Santa.  In the same vein, these few words of wisdom appealed to me:

“Consciousness – that annoying time between naps”

May I wish all the best for Christmas and the New Year.

Past Events

Wednesday 13 September

There was a poor turn out for the first winter meeting to hear the man who is probably the most experienced practical beekeeper in our Association - Ken Barran speak on “Heather honey – from Hive to Table”.   Heather honey is very thick and cannot be spun out in the usual way.  It can be put into bags and pressed out which is both time consuming and messy.  Ken scratches the comb face then uses a “perforextractor”   (This is a bank of darning needles set into a wooden handle. The needles are set in such a way that when offered up to a comb a needle pierces each cell.  They are no longer available from dealers and Ken makes his own.  They originated from Mountain grey Apiaries.) Pricking the cells of makes the honey less viscous allowing it to be spun out tangentially.

Ken also mentioned that foundation should be wired for strength, that heather honey is difficult to extract when cold and should be extracted as soon as it comes off the hive.

When taking bees to the heather, have a young queen.  The bees fill the brood box first before going up into supers. An old queen will go off lay, whereas a young queen will continue to lay

Wednesday 18 October

This was the evening of our AGM.  See my report earlier.

Monday 23 October

The new Committee held it’s first meeting at Murton.

Wednesday 15 November

The Honey Show sub committee (Messrs Coleman, Fuller and Johnston) met to make final preparations for next weeks Honey Show.

Monday 20 November

The Yorkshire Field Day Committee met at Murton.  They discussed progress generally.  Any Members wishing to help will be welcome.  Contact Colin Hattee.

For Sale

Easybee uncapping tray. In good order with thermostat. £200. Contact Tom Robinson at: mautomrobee@btopenworld.com

Colin Hattee has 1lb squat honey jars with lids for sale. Priced at £29.00 per gross. Lids on their own are £4.50 per half gross.   Colin will bring your order to meetings or you can collect them from Colin’s home by prior arrangement.

Tired of always ending up with backache every time you go through your hives, do you have to do your beekeeping on your knees?  Then no more, for I have the solution.  Purchase one of our purpose made hive stands capable of carrying two or three hives, made of lightweigh metal fully galvanised, strong and robust, will last you a life time and find out the pleasures of easy hive manipulation all for the modest cost of £45.  Enquiries to Bob Hirst.

Due to the popularity of using Ambrosia Syrup as a spring feed this year a bulk order is being put together for delivery next February. The syrup comes in 14kg buckets ready for use.   The final cost is not yet known, as it relates to the quantity ordered, but it is expected to be in the region of £12 per bucket. Orders must be received by 31 December but you will not be committed until the actual price is known.  To place an order contact Chris Robinson.

CLARO BEES for all your beekeeping supplies Large stock and very keen prices on all items.  Cedar National hive parts, frames (all in first and second quality), clothing, gloves, foundation, jars, spacers, tools, smokers, medicines, straps etc. etc. all normally in stock, and at below list prices.  Advice on the selection and use of beekeeping equipment always available. Open every Saturday morning 0900 hrs to 1230 hrs April to October inclusive.   Beside the Harrogate Arms, past the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens, Crag Lane, Harrogate, HG3 1QA, or by arrangement: 01423 567315. A map showing our location is available at: www.hrbka.org.uk

Forthcoming Events

December 2006

Due to the proximity of Christmas, there will be no meeting this month.

Wednesday 17 January 2007

Richard Leaming from Trading Standards is our guest this evening.  His topic will be weights and measures and any thing to do with the presentation of honey for sale.  It should be an interesting evening.

Friday 23 February

This is the evening of our Annual Dinner that is to be held at Acaster Malbis.  This was a popular venue last year and was well attended.   See menu below for you to select your meal.

Saturday 10 March 2007

Yorkshire BKA Spring Conference will be held at the Buckles Inn on the A64 to the west of York.   The speaker will be Ian Craig and his topic - “Practical beekeeping to prevent queen failure”.

Wednesday 21 March

Wild bees and hover flies is the title of the talk to be given by Koos Biesmeijer of York University.   Being a beekeeper you are automatically an expert on all things flying. Come along and let Mr Biesmeijer help in maintaining your expertise.

Saturday 14th April.

Yorkshire BKA Bishop Burton Conference

Wednesday 18 April

Ivor Flatman is the Seasonal Bee Inspector for this area.  This is your opportunity to come and meet him in an unofficial manner.  He will talk on the roll of the bee inspector and preparing for spring (or how to keep the bee inspector away!)

Saturday 21 April 2007

BBKA Spring Convention. National Agricultural Centre at Stoneleigh.

Thursday 26 - Sunday 29 April 2007

The North of England Horticultural Society will be holding their Spring Flower Show at the Great Yorkshire showground, Harrogate.

Saturday 19 May

York BKA’s auction will be held at Murton.

Saturday 2 – Sunday 3 June 2007 (1000 hrs – 1500 hrs)

Introduction to Beekeeping contact Rob Andrew at: robandrews@tesco.net. Cleveland area.

Sunday 10 June

York BKA will bee hosts for Yorkshire BKA Field Day.  The event will be held at All Saints Roman Catholic School, Nunnery Lane, York.    The car park is to remain open until 1930 hrs to allow visitors some time to look round York.

June 07

Beginners Introductory Weekend at Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve, Catterick Garrison run by David Gray. Details later.

Thursday 12 - Saturday 14 July

Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate.

Saturday 25 August - Monday 27 August. (Bank Holiday weekend)

Cawood Craft Fair

Sunday 9 - Friday 14 September

Apimondia 2007 will be held in Melbourne, Australia. For more information contact: www.apimondia 2007melbourne.com

Friday 23 February 2007

York & District BKA Annual Dinner - Friday 23 February 2006

Following the success of our annual dinner last year when over 40 members attended, we have decided to hold the dinner at the same location again on the 23 February 2007. Arriving from 1930 hrs for 2000 hrs.  Please make your choice from the comprehensive menu supplied stating numbers attending along with a non-returnable deposit of £5 per person made out to YDBKA no later than 11 February 2007.

The venue is The Wheelhouse Restaurant at The Ship Inn, Acaster Malbis.

The suggested route is as follows:

Take the A64 byepass to Bishopthorpe village via Sim Balk Lane. At the "T" junction in the village turn left down Main Street.  As you pass the Ebor pub (on your right) take the next right onto Acaster Lane. Follow this road for approximately 2 miles (the road twists and narrows) . The Ship Inn is on your right past the caravan park. The car park is on your left opposite the Inn.

We look forward to seeing you all on the 23rd.

~ Starters ~

Homemade Soup £3.75
(Served piping hot with crusty bread)

Greek Salad £4.95
(Feta cheese, black olives and cherry tomatoes combined with seasonal leaves and drizzled with virgin olive oil)

Garlic Mushrooms £4.25
(Fresh mushrooms with rosemary, pan fried in garlic butter and served on a toasted croute)

Prawn Platter £4.95
(Juicy prawns set on a bed of salad leaves served with a seafood sauce and brown bread and butter)

Brie & Bacon £4.95
(Warm brie and bacon served with a crisp salad drizzled with a honey vinaigrette)

~ Fish ~

Beer Battered Cod £6.75
(A fillet of prime cod coated in our own beer batter, deep fried and served with peas and a choice of potatoes)

Spiced Salmon £9.95
(A fillet of spiced salmon topped with a spicy red pepper jam, served on a crisp salad with new potatoes)

Scampi £7.95
(Pieces of scampi deep fried and served with salad, peas and a choice of potatoes)

~ Salads ~

A generous bowl of seasonal salad served with crusty bread

Feta Cheese Salad £7.95
(Feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and olives tossed in olive oil)

Prawn Salad £7.45
(A generous portion of prawns served with a seafood sauce)

Brie and Bacon Salad £7.95
(Pieces of bacon grilled and topped with slices of brie and coated with a mustard and honey dressing)

~ Grills ~

Rump Steak £12.75
(A succulent 12 oz rump steak served with onion rings, tomato, mushrooms, peas and a choice of potatoes)

Sirloin Steak £12.75
(A juicy 8 oz sirloin steak served with onion rings, mushrooms, tomato, peas and a choice of potatoes)

Mixed Grill £13.50
(A platter of steak, pork sausage, lamb chop and pork steak served with mushrooms, tomato, onion rings, peas and a choice of potatoes)

Pepper Sauce available £1.50

Lamb Steak £11.45
(A juicy 8 oz lamb steak served with a red currant jus, fresh vegetables and a choice of potatoes)

Gammon Steak £8.25
(A gammon steak served with either fried egg or pineapple, peas and a choice of potatoes)

~ House Favourites ~

Thai Green Chicken Curry £8.45
(Tender pieces of chicken, red onion, mixed peppers and coconut milk in a Thai green curry sauce, served with rice and naan bread)

Traditional Steak & Ale Pie £7.95
(Tender chunks of steak and fresh mushrooms simmered in a rich ale gravy with a pastry lid, served with fresh vegetable and a choice of potatoes)

Cajun Chicken £8.45
(Chicken breast marinated in Cajun spices and grilled, served with coleslaw and a choice of potatoes)

Beef Chilli £7.25
(A medium hot dish of prime minced beef, peppers, tomatoes, onions, kidney beans and spices, served with rice and tortilla chips)

Spicy Chicken Enchilada £8.95
(A large floured tortilla stuffed with chicken, mushrooms, peppers and spices. Topped with a hot enchilada sauce and grated cheese, served with soured cream, salad and   a choice of potatoes)

~ Vegetarian ~

Roasted Vegetable Enchilada £8.25
(A large floured tortilla stuffed with roasted vegetables and topped with a spicy enchilada sauce, served with salad, soured cream and a choice of potatoes)

Vegetable Lasagne £7.45
(A mixture of vegetables cooked with garlic and tomatoes, layered with pasta and cheese sauce served with salad and garlic bread)

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