Combings Magazine   
Issue No 2 ~ June 2002

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 ... by the Editor

Welcome to the second edition of our Association magazine "Combings". To date I have only receive positive comments from members regarding the first edition, this is most heartening to me.

I had a 'phone call from one of our members recently, asking for advice on clearing cloudy honey. The honey in question was borage. It had been uncapped using an electrically heated knife, spun from the comb and stored in tubs until required. It had then been warmed and passed through a 200 micron filter. After that it should be sparkling bright - but was cloudy!

"What has gone wrong?" was the question asked. He had done every thing according to the book, and I could be of no help. Can any reader shed any light on the matter?

Last week when I was doing my rounds of my honey outlets, I was given a letter by the owner of a delicatessen in Howden, that she had received from the Consumer Advice Officer of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

The headline was - "Chinese Honey - Withdrawal from Sale", and went onto say " The analysis of honey originating in China has tested positive for the antibiotic streptomycin, which presents a very small risk to public health. Because of this very small risk it has been agreed that all honey originating from China and all blended honey containing Chinese honey should be removed from sale.

Honey consumption in the UK is estimated to be 20,000 tons per year, with only 4,000 tons being home produced. This obviously gives a huge amount of scope for those who wish to sell their honey to the retail trade, from the corner shop, to delicatessens, to garden centres, to tourist centres. There are plenty of openings for us all.

One thing I do frown upon is trying to poach other beekeepers outlets - usually by under cutting his price. If you have a glut of honey this year, sit on it or sell in bulk, rather than under cut a colleague.

What price a pound of honey ?. It is always a topic for debate, and one that I shall not enter into, except to say - don't under price your self. Look around and see what other beekeepers sell their honey for, and go for that price or slightly higher.

Those of you that read "Beecraft" will be aware that Exeter Bee Supplies has changed hands and is now known as National Bee Supplies.

National Bee Supplies have not increased their prices for three years now. At the end of March, I placed an order with them to the value £150, and, because Thornes catalogue had just come through the post, compared prices. I was £25 in pocket!. If you still want equipment for this year then they are the people to go to - I doubt if these prices can be held for a further year.

Those of you who would like to take the BBKA Basic Examination, will have the opportunity this summer. Plans are being made to hold the test on Wednesday 10th July. I do not have the final details to hand, but those of you that are interested should ring Colin Hattee on 01 430 860 972.

The thought of taking exams brings back memories of GSE's, A levels or sitting for professional qualifications, where one's career depended on the out come. The Basic Examination is a practical test of your beekeeping knowledge and will not present you with any problems. Have a go.

Seven people have enrolled for this years beginners class. Two are already members of our Association and the other five have joined us. So please welcome Andrea and Stuart Bamforth from Market Weighton, David Wardell from York, Matthew Busfield from Airmyn and Fiona Dudley from Gate Helmsley into our midst.

A good crowd turned up for our Associations 3rd Annual Auction that was held at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Murton on Saturday 18th May. For the first time the weather was inclement, with light rain all morning and damp and misty during the afternoon. Non the less 129 lots went under Auctioneer Frank Arnold's hammer and all but half a dozen were sold. I think the best buy was a WBC hive with inners and some frames, all in good condition that was knocked down for £70.00.

Takings for the afternoon where just over £1000, with 34 people registering their names as potential bidders. The whole event was well organised and went without a hitch.

My views on Queens ... by John Acheson

Long ago when I first started keeping bees, the two people , whom I thought were going to show me how to carry on, just melted away and got on with their own things. So I muddled along - I read books - I went to every apiary visit to see what other people did - I even took off a little honey.

Gradually it dawned on me that the bees where wasting too much time and effort raising queen cells and swarming. I worked out a system where by at the first sign of a queen cell, I would kill the queen and leave the bees to raise a new one. The new queen had to find her own drones. ( I was not prepared to be a dating agency !)

Now that I had discovered how to get new queens, I was able to cull the poor achievers, which improved my yields a bit. But was I still hearing about the crops taken by Ken Barran and others, which where many times my poor results.

Slowly I learned more about the effect a good quality queen has on the results of the hive, and I give below a few points, which, in my experience can improve results.

In late winter/early spring, it is important to ensure that the colony has adequate supplies of food and pollen to encourage early egg laying.

A marked queen can save a lot of time when inspecting a hive. The best time for marking her is during the first inspection in spring. Choose a bright sunny day when the foragers are out of the hive.

The first cross between queen of different races of bees is often very successful, but subsequent queens bred from such a cross are usually disappointing and often fierce.

A colony headed by a queen which has been raised locally, will generally perform better than a colony whose queen was bred at a distance ( no matter how much she cost ). It is as if the queens are able to match the colony to the district.

Healthcheck ... by David Aston

A good beekeeper takes pride in developing and managing colonies of healthy bees. But in order to achieve this it is necessary to be vigilant and observe anything that is out of the ordinary with either the brood or the adult bees.

Contact the National Bee Unit on 01904 462510, or visit their web site via www. csl.gov.uk and get a copy of their free publication "Foul brood disease of honey bees : recognition and control". It also contains details of other important brood diseases, and advice on what to do. The Association has copies, so please see the Librarian.

Space does not allow me to go into the detail of how to conduct the inspection, what to look for and what action you need to take, but the following general principles apply.

Inspect each colony twice a year (say May/June and August) specifically looking for brood diseases such as American Foul Brood (AFB), and European Foul Brood (EFB). Know what healthy brood looks like ie healthy larvae are pearly white in colour. They lie in a distinct "C" shape with the head and tail curled towards one another. The body of the larvae can be seen to be divided along it's length into a series of segments. If the brood does not look healthy, investigate further. If you are concerned about your bees, don't hesitate to ask for advice from other members of the Association or your Regional Bee Disease Officer who is David Kemp (‘phone 0115 966 1238) or the National Bee Unit. Prompt attention is best for your bees and those of other beekeepers.  Even the most experienced Beekeeper's bees are susceptible to disease. If you suspect disease, clean your hive tools, smoker, gloves and wash your bee suit. Regular cleaning and washing of beekeeping equipment after each inspection is good practice in any event. Good beekeepers are vigilant and take prompt action.

Silly Story Time ... by Dick Gardner

A beekeeper went to the occulist.

Occulist: "What seems to be the trouble?"
Beekeeper: "I think I need glasses"
Occulist: "What makes you think so?"
Beekeeper: "Well, I can't see eggs"
Occulist: "Mmm, sounds bad. You mean, like boiled eggs?"
Beekeeper: "Oh no. Not boiled eggs, bees' eggs"

OK, it's a silly story, but it is true. I was the beekeeper. At the time I was going to a course for beginners given by Bill Bielby , then County Bee Advisor in the North Riding. I told Bill about my problem. He must have liked the story because it came back to me some time later, told me by a friend who had heard Bill tell it at a local Association dinner. Some time later Bill retired and emigrated to New Zealand. I was reminded of all this the other day when I bumped into our Chairman at the Farmers Market. Bob told me he was off to New Zealand and hoped to look up a chap called Bill Bielby. Had I known him. Well, naturally I told Bob this very trivial story. Bob did go to New Zealand, but unfortunately was unable to contact Bill Bielby.

What you all wanted to know ...

Bill Bielby, whose name was mentioned earlier had two claims to fame. First, he found some feral bees at Fountains Abbey and claimed they where the only surviving British black bees. The remainder having been wiped out by Isle of Wight disease, or so mongrelised as to be unrecognisable. His second claim to fame, and the one he is best remembered for was his Catenary Hive. It was based on the fact that when bees build comb in the wild the bottom is always a "U" shape. So the bottom and two sides of his hive was made of?" ply shaped into a "U", thus imitating natural comb.

The size of the Catenary Hive is 20" × 15" × 12" deep. Foundation was home made consisting of nylon reinforced starter strips clamped between two pieces of wood that served as a top bar. The bees then drawing it out. The supers also had the same top bar and starter strip. Mr Bielby says that super frames can be extracted, but does not say how. I would think they could be spun tangentially. The entrance was a circular hole half way up one side.

Its main weaknesses where the frames which tended to break just below the top bar, and the brood box that, not having a separate floor, would fill up with debris. The only way to empty it was to remove all the frames and up end it. Also with the bottom of the "U" being thin ply, it was very prone to rot.

Details of the Catenary Hive can be found Mr Bielby's book "Home Honey Production" which is available from the library.

Personality Portrait ... Bill Bell

This is the second episode of Bill Bell's life with bees. It is a cautionary tale which he has titled "A Lesson Learned". It is a situation that many male members of our Association can see them selves in!

As a fifteen year old lad with seven years beekeeping experience, I was a typical teenager, in that I thought I knew all about everything. However, I was soon to learn otherwise. I was well known in our village as a beekeeper and was often contacted to remove swarms or remove some of the wild bees when trees were felled or blown down. On coming home one summer evening, I received a message from Mrs Hayton, a local farmer’s wife, asking if I'd remove a large swarm of bees from near her washing line in the orchard.

Now here was an opportunity to show off my skills. The bees were not the main attraction this time. Mrs Hayton had two very good looking daughters about my age. Dressed only in corduroy trousers and open necked shirt, I quickly collected my swarm box and goose wing and set off across the fields. While apparently looking for the warm, I had my eye open to check if the girls where watching my act of selfless heroism. Sure enough, they where peering through the kitchen window. Soon I wished they weren't.

I spotted the swarm on the side of a large oak tree covering an area of about 18 inches across and boldly walked up to it, placed my box underneath and attempted to sweep the bees off with my goose wing. Horror of horrors, immediately on touching the bees the whole lot appeared to take off and attack. I was stung on almost all exposed areas and a few not exposed, all over my face and neck, from my finger tips to my arm pits. You can imagine the pain. I don't think I could stand that sort of assault today. I  turned tail and ran home as fast as I could, where my mother removed the stings, scraping them off with a kitchen knife. I don't think I've ever been so viciously attacked since.

Two days later I plucked up courage to face the bees (and the sisters) again. This time I was suitably armoured against the bees but just had to brave face it with the girls. Mrs Hayton admitted that she and the girls had had a good laugh on seeing me skidaddle, but were sorry to hear it was so painful. She said the swarm had been there for about eight days. Consequently when I had gone over to them, they had been starving, hence the bad temper. I decided to have another go and, although they were not happy to see me, they were calm enough after a dose of carbolic and smoke for me to retrieve them with only a handful of sting this time. On the tree bole, there were three small pieces of comb, indicating that the bees had nowhere to go and so were unusually defensive of what appeared to be a temporary resting place, but was in fact the nearest thing they had to a new home. Back at the apiary and after a good feed of syrup, they turned out to be a strong, hard working colony, if a little ill mannered.

The lesson learned and never to be forgotten, is always try to determine where the bees came from and how long ago. If you cant find out, one way of checking a swarm's mood is to pass something (your hand) quickly over the surface of the cluster. If they rear their tails, then beware and either leave them until they are quieter or ensure your kit and your pride is bee proof. I never did see the girls much after that, but don't ruin your chances.

Honey Cooker

This is the first of a series of cookery articles submitted by Debbie Hattee including some interesting historical information. Quote "Honey, produced by countless bees from nectar obtained from thousands of blooms is, without doubt, one of the most valuable and beneficial foods". Its value was recognised by the people of former times. Moreover they regarded it not only as a food but also as a medicine. The following recipe is from ancient Athens, inscribed on wax tablets about 100 BC

"Fig Dish"

Mix boiled pig fat and thick groats with milk, add egg yolks and brains. Cover this with a fragrant fig leaf and cook in a broth of poultry or goat's meat. When cooked, take it out of the pot, remove fig leaf and place the mixture in a vessel of boiling honey. When it has become sufficiently yellow, serve it either with the boiled honey or another honey. This may not sound very palatable, but it serves to indicate that our ancestors made greater use of this wonderful commodity than most of us do today.

In 400 B.C the great doctor 'Hippocrates" recommended honey as a means of curing ulcers, and we know that it also purifies festering and dirty wounds by its power of extraction. The Songs of Solomon in the bible has this to say : "Eat honey my son, for it is good, and virgin honey is sweet in your mouth". The Roman poet Virgil wrote in his "Georgics": "Many a man led by such proffs and such examples accepted that part of the Holy Spirit and ethereal breath lived in bees". Unfortunately most housewives are unaware how advantageously honey can be used in cookery and usually one only sees it on the breakfast table, when even then it is quite often rejected in favour of marmalade or some other preserve. On the other hand, it is well known as an authentic treatment for colds when taken with hot milk and lemon.

It is not so strange as it may seem to serve honey as a garnish for meat and fish dishes or to serve a vegetable soup with it. Honey has a very individual quality as a spice, it emphasises the individual taste of each dish, enriching the dish as a whole, without being overpowering. Honey provides the right kind of moist texture in such cakes as gingerbread as it is hygroscopic (capable of absorbing moisture) which prevents the gingerbread drying up. Syrup does not possess this precious quality.

Mrs Beeton in her "Everyday Cookery and Housekeeping Book" included the following recipe for Honey Cake:

Ingredients for a cake sufficient for 4-5 persons:

Half breakfast cup of sugar
1 breakfast cup rich sour cream
2 breakfast cups flour
half teaspoon carbonate of soda
honey to taste
Average cost 8d

Method:

Mix the sugar and cream together. Dredge on the flour with as much honey as will flavour the mixture nicely.
Stir it well that all the ingredients may be thoroughly mixed.
Add carbonate of soda, beat the cake well for another five minutes.
Put into a buttered tin, bake it from half to three quarters of an hour, then let it be eaten warm. Seasonable at any time.

A more modern recipe for a honey cake is as follows, but having said that, this one is derived from the Greeks who where very fond of honey and believed they would have a longer and healthier life if they ate it, and the Romans too ate honey cake, and also by the 18th century it was popular in Britain where it was made in different regions using the local honey.

Ingredients:

225 ml clear honey plus 45 ml
75 gr butter
350 gr wholemeal flour
pinch of salt
5 ml ground mixed spice
5 ml bicarbonate of soda
50 gr glace cherries
50 gr mixed peel
3 eggs
45 ml milk
grated rind of lemon
25 gm flaked almonds

Method:

Grease a 20.5 cm square tin and line.
Pour 225 ml honey into a saucepan, add butter and heat gently stirring until blended.
Sift flour, salt, spice and bicarb into a large bowl stirring in any bran left in the sieve. Add cherries and peel.
Beat eggs and milk together and stir into the honey mixture with lemon rind. Pour gradually onto the dry ingredients, beating well after each addition.
Turn into the prepared tin and sprinkle with flaked almonds.

Bake 170° C, 325° F or gas mark 3 for about 1¼ hours until firm to touch. Using a skewer prick top of cake and spoon over the remaining honey. Leave to cool.

For Sale

1 lb squat honey jars are available from Colin Hattee, 'phone 01 430 860 972. Colin will bring your order to meetings or you can pick them up at his house by prior arrangement. Price £25.00 per gross.

Fully portable metal hive stands, fully galvanised. Carries two hives and manipulation table. £50.00 each. Will last a life time. Can be seen at York Beekeepers apiary at Murton. For more information 'phone Bob Hirst on 01 904 706 111.

National floor, brood box, queen excluder, one super, crown board and roof. All scorched inside and Cuprinoled out side. (No frames) £55.00. Delivered at cost. Contact David Wordell, 01 904 438 929.

Past Events

Wednesday 20th February

Association meeting held at Murton. Our speaker was Mr David Kemp who is the Regional Bee Inspector for our area. He showed us slides and spoke of his time with Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey. He went to work with Brother Adam with a view to staying six months and stayed for ten years! Mr Kemp explained Brother Adam's system in great detail.

Saturday 9th March

Messrs Barran, Hirst and T. Robinson attended a meeting of the Yorkshire Beekeepers Association at the Buckles Inn.

Friday 22nd March

This was our annual beano. 36 members, their spouses and friends met at the "Jolly Farmer" public house at Leavening, not far out of York. It was a most convivial evening that we all enjoyed.

Wednsday 10th April

A committee meeting was held at Murton to discuss the summer programme.

Wednesday 17th April

Half Yearly General Meeting was held at Murton, followed by a demonstration given Y+DBKA by Ivor Flatman on preparing wax from black combs to show standard, plus a demonstration on moulding candles. Mr Flatman knew his stuff and gave a good talk.

Saturday 27th April

Our annual outing to Stoneleigh. Twenty one York members plus six from else where went on the trip

Wednesday 8th May

The first meeting of the summer out door programme took place at my home apiary at Barmby on the Marsh. It was a disappointing turn out with only five members attending with one apology

Wednesday 1st May

A Committee meeting was held at Murton to discuss the forthcoming auction.

Tuesday 14th May

A further Committee meeting was held at Murton to finalise plans for Saturdays auction.

Saturday 18th May

The whole day was taken up for the auction at Murton. It was a great success. See my detailed report on page two

Wednesday 22nd May

The second meeting of our summer programme was held at Colin and Debbie Hattee's home apiary at Holme upon Spalding Moor. There was a slightly better turn out this time with eight York members and one from the Beverley Association attending. There was one apology.  Although it was a cool evening with a fresh wind, Colin and Debbie demonstrated finding the queen and putting her into a Jenter cage for the first stage in their queen rearing programme. Then demonstrated marking and clipping queens. The evening was rounded off with tea and cakes.

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