Well here we are in August and for most of us the main honey season is over and you will be thinking of winter preparations for your colonies. 2002 has been a year of contrasts for beekeepers with a slow build up in spring with only two weeks of really good sunshine at Easter and then back to what passes as a typical English summer. Surprisingly the honey harvest has been quite good with my own hives producing an average of 180 lbs per hive, not to be scoffed at with hopefully the heather harvest to come, fingers crossed.

The summer activities in the Association have been varied and well attended. The beginners class, co-ordinated by Terry Nundy, was very well attended and my thanks to all who volunteered to pass on their expertise to the new members, who will now hopefully have colonies of their own and enjoying their new hobby. Welcome to the club.

The visits to members apiaries were again well attended with Rob Coleman's having the highest number of members turning out - 12 in all, with Pam Todd ten, Tom Robinson nine, and Margaret Langstaff eight. With membership of 83+ in the Y + DBKA there is plenty of room for more members to attend, try it some time and surprise yourself.

The barbecue held at Colin and Debbie Hattee's home was very well attended attracting 18 members, though unfortunately I myself was otherwise engaged. Still you can't be in two places at any one time. Thanks to Debbie and Colin.

Since I last wrote to "Combings", Ken Barran and I have paid a visit to our friends in Lithuania and enjoyed it, and their hospitality immensely. But more about that in the next issue of "Combings".

New members for the Committee will be required, so if you think you have something to give, please step forward - lets build on the foundations we have and improve the stature of Y+DBKA within the Yorkshire Beekeepers Association.

October will see us all preparing for our annual honey show, you all have the schedule, so lets have a massive turnout and knock some of the regular prize winners off their pedestals - see you on the 18th October. GOOD LUCK."

A word from the Editor

We have reached the time of the year when the season is drawing to it's close. The last of the honey crop will now be ready to extract - if it has not already been done. Our thoughts are now looking ahead to treating for varroa and to feeding colonies for the winter.

Not all your post codes and telephone numbers are on the Members List. Next time you are in touch with Secretary Colin Hattee, please give him these numbers. If you have an e-mail address, give him this also. We are looking to use e-mail where possible to get information to you.

Word has been received from Terry Nundy that he will be standing down from the committee at the Annual General Meeting. His presence will be missed as he could be relied to give a sound , reasoned argument at committee meetings.

If you would like to take Terry's place on the committee, then put your name forward at the AGM. Being on the committee is not an onerous task. There are four regular meetings per year at Murton plus the odd one to organise such things as the auction or honey show. What we want from you are ideas.

Bob Hirst's tenure as Chairman is also up at the Annual General Meeting.

Subscriptions fall due on the 1st October. If you are a tax payer and have not already done so, will you consider signing up to what is now known as Gift Aid. By doing so the Association (being a charity) is able to claim back from the taxman the tax you have already paid on your subscription.

Yorkshire Beekeepers have offered York Beekeepers a seat on their General Purposes Committee. As yet nobody has volunteered for the post.

Congratulations must go to Alan Johnston of Wheldrake who has passed Module 2 of the British Beekeepers Association's Intermediate Certificate.

The Summer Barbeque was the most successful meeting of our summer programme with 18 members attending. Bill Scriven has written a full report else where in "Combings"

This year the York Beekeepers beginners course was held at the Bee Pavilion, Murton through May and June.

Seven attended the first meeting on the 7th May when each was given a welcome pack, bee glossary and literature plus free copies of Beecraft magazine.

Different speakers each week covered most aspect of beekeeping with an emphasis on the practical. Whenever the weather permitted the Association hives were opened.

At the conclusion of the course most participants had there own bees.

York and District Beekeepers now have several new members who have been introduced to beekeeping. Many thanks to all those who contributed to the running of the course. Terry Nundy. Organiser.

Since the last edition of "Combings" the following have joined our ranks: Chris Clayton of York, Christina Pearce of Selby, John Colledge of Howasham York and Francesca Fisher of Malton. Please make them welcome.

In the February 02 edition of The Beekeepers Quarterly, Alan Walker of the Beverley Association wrote about how he cures chalk brood in his hives by sprinkling between one quarter and one half of one teaspoon of dry table salt onto the tops of the brood bars and bees. After a week clean the floor of mummies and salt the hive again. In another week the hive will be almost clear of mummies, but salt the hive again. You should no more trouble with chalk brood but re queen if you do.

Alan says that he has never had to re queen because of chalk brood. The treatment is carried out in the spring.

In a letter from Alan he states "The salt removes all the CB mummies, but whether it kills all the spores, I do not know. Bees are certainly better for the treatment".

If any of you use, or have used this treatment or have any theories regarding it, please let me know. All the books tell us to re queen if chalk brood becomes a problem, but my belief is, that if there are spores in the hive then re queening will have no effect and when conditions are right, chalk brood will reappear.

Another problem we are looking out for at this time of the year is robbing. It is something we cannot predict, yet once it has started, it is difficult to stop. There was an article in Beecraft last Autumn where the author puts a different slant on the subject. He maintains that without robbing there would be far more failed colonies. On the face of it, this sound a bit daft, but he conducted experiments that showed that colonies with old or newly mated queens or queenless colonies where the most susceptible to being robbed out - regardless of the number of worker bees. This was because these queens where not giving out the full amount of pheromones and bees from other colonies can detect this from outside the hive. In the their eyes this is a weak colony and a target for easy pickings.

It is obvious to us that colonies that we know are queenless will not survive the winter, likewise a colony that comes out of winter queenless will not survive. If we do not unite these bees to another colony then they will be robbed out for certain.

The Trials and Trepidations of a Learner Apiarist … by Ann Johnson

This is an article submitted by Ann Johnson from Moor Monkton, who, with her husband William, enrolled for the beginners class in 2001. This is her story of how things went.

Many years ago William and I purchased a book on beekeeping. I believe this was when we had a wild bees nest at the end of our garden in Reading. The bees fascinated him and I became interested also. I thought that I might be able to get these bees to produce honey. It did not last long and soon the bees had gone, but it was enough to stimulate my interest.

On a visit to York library, I came across a leaflet from the York Beekeepers Association promoting a course for beginners. When I approached my husband with this he was very interested, so we both decided to enrol.

The course was an eye opener and very informative. The York beekeepers put their expertise across in a warm and friendly manner and made every one welcome to the group. The training hives at Murton are excellent for teaching the do's and don'ts, and experienced members gave one confidence, as they are always there to help and encourage.

I was always afraid that I would get stung. In the past I have had some nasty reactions to insect bites and stings, so much so that my GP has suggested that I hibernate for the summer - you can imagine my trepidation. Whilst wanting to keep bees and have the luxury of our own honey, I also have the worry of being stung.

Completing the course was a sad occasion, as we no longer met on Wednesdays or had the opportunity to enter hives with an experienced apiarist. What we really needed was a colony of our own to enable us to put into practice what we had learned.

It was late Autumn before we got some bees, we were so excited. They arrived early one morning. We chose a spot down the paddock and set up a platform with a landing ledge in front of the hive. The hive was full of honey and very heavy, with sufficient food to last through the winter. We were instructed not to enter the hive for 24 hours and then to check that the bees were foraging and active, before transferring them into our own hive. Two days after their arrival we put in Apistan strips to treat for varroa, but did not go any further as the weather was very cold.

The experience gained at Murton is of paramount importance to the trainee. It is very comforting to know that if something goes wrong there is always an experienced person to put you right. When you first have bees of your own it can be quite scary entering the hive. The thing that bugged me most was the constant buzzing in my ears, it rather put me off and the louder it became the more concerned I was and wanted to close the hive. It is also difficult to work out if you are doing the right thing, but I must say only the bees will tell that by their reactions. A week after receiving the hive my daily visit proved to be an anxious one. Entering OUR hive were these strange bees with touches of white on their backs. I watched for some time, they were very busy, but the bees coming out of the hive were my normal ones.

My immediate reaction was one of indignation, HOW DARE these pirate bees come along and steal all the honey. I had learned from the course at Murton that robber bees can steal honey from hive and take it to another. Our first week and already the robbers were at it. I was very cross and proceeded to research the bee books and information given at Murton in an effort to find out what was going on, but the more I read the more concerned I became as I couldn't find anywhere this problem was reported. So I picked up the 'phone for advice.

Of course you experienced boffin's would know what was going on and that the bees had been foraging on Himalayan Water Balsam also known as "Policemans Helmet" or "Touch me not". Due to the construction of the flower the bees have to right down inside to obtain nectar, in doing so, their backs become sheathed in white pollen, hence the white bees in to the hive and brown bees leaving - panic over for now.

The winter was approaching fast and it became rather cold and wet, not conditions conducive to entering the hive. I am still aware that we must move the frames into our own hive so that we can return the hive that our bees came in to it's owner, but the weather gives ME a good excuse for not going in. The thought of changing over the frames terrifies me so I will now leave it to the spring when the weather becomes warmer and I might have gained a little more courage.

Healthcheck … Autumn Varroa Control

In the late autumn and over the winter period when brood rearing is restricted the varroa mites over winter solely on the bodies of adult bees within the winter cluster until brood rearing begins again the following year. In mild winters brood rearing can be quite early and may even be as early as Christmas. It is now recognised that control of the varroa mite reduces the prevalence of viral diseases e.g. Deformed Wing Virus and Slow Paralysis Virus. There has been much futile discussion on the use of so called hard and soft chemicals in the beekeeping press with much ill informed comment being given. The important thing is to use integrated management techniques to monitor and control the varroa mites in your colonies. Effective autumn treatment of varroa is crucial. Timing is critical.......why so?. Because the colonies require a good population of "winter bees" i.e. bees that are physiologically adapted to live longer (over winter ) than summer bees. If you treat too late the brood producing these winter bees may be damaged.

If you treat too early there is the possibility a colony already treated may be invaded by bees from colonies that are collapsing because of varroa / viral disease and may re infest the treated colonies. You will know nothing about this until Spring and you find damaged adults and a poor spring build up.  So what should you use for the autumn treatment ? For me the only choice is to use a UK authorised varroacide which is a vetenary medical product fully tested and assessed for efficacy and safety. The choice being Apistan or Bayvarol. In reality there is no choice because we are recommended to alternate these treatments each year. In my experience mid September in York and district is a good time to treat the colonies but if your regular monitoring shows varroa present on larvae or the adult bees or you see bees with deformed wings then treat earlier.

Please note:

	Always read and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
	Instructions are written so that the treatment will be at its most effective and will
	protect your bees. Good colonies with a population of healthy winter bees are the best spring board for the next season.

Further advice and information can be obtained from the National Bee Unit at CSL Sand Hutton and in their publication "Managing Varroa" obtainable in hard copy or on their website in a downloadable pdf format. ALWAYS CARRY OUT A TREATMENT IN THE AUTUMN FOR VARROA.

What you all wanted to know …

Many years ago when I was trying to grasp the basics of mathematics, a constant was drummed into me - pi = 3.14159. The ratio of diameter to the circumference of a circle - I'm sure you will remember it now. What has this to do with beekeeping. Again, a few years ago, I was pouring through Eva Crane's book "Honey" that had just been published and in a table giving the specific gravity of honey at different water contents I recognised the figure 1.4159, which as you can see is the decimal component of p. The water content being 18.4%.

The significance of these figures to the beekeeper are: 18.4% is the average water content of sealed honey. The SG of 1.4159 rounded down to 1.4 means honey is 1.4 times heavier than the same quantity of water. Which makes a gallon of honey weigh 14 lbs. Honey tubs until recently held two gallons or 28 lbs.

Honey Cookery … submitted by Debbie Hattee

Health benefits of honey

Honey has long been recognised as a natural remedy and has been used as a medicine for thousands of years.

Research has shown that unlike most other sweeteners, honey contains small amounts of a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidant's.

Honey, a rich source of carbohydrates, provides a quick source of energy.

Honey's unique composition makes it an effective antimicrobial agent, useful for treating minor burns and scrapes, and for aiding the treatment of sore throats and other bacterial infections.

For a soothing drink for sore throats, mix honey with the juice of half a lemon, add boiling water and stir.

If you are feeling low, try a spoonful of honey as a pick-me-up. The fructose and glucose in honey are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.

Cooking with honey - tips for use …

For best results use recipes developed for using honey. When substituting honey for granulated sugar in recipes, begin by substituting honey for up to half of the sugar called for in the recipe. With a little experimentation honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes.

When baking remember the following:

Reduce any liquid called for by ¼ cup for each cup of honey used.
Add ½ teaspoon baking powder for each cup of honey used.
Reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to prevent over browning.
Because of its high fructose content, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. This means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.
When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding honey. The honey will then slide right out.
A 12oz jar of honey equals a standard measuring cup.

Although the barbeque/salad season will be nearly over by the time this magazine reaches you, this is a suggestion for something you may like to try if we do have a fine, warm dry evening when you can relax after a busy time beekeeping and enjoy the following recipe with your meal.

Honey Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 cup honey
1 cup wine vinegar
4 cups (approx ) finely chopped white cabbage
1 cup diced celery
cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup diced green pepper
1 grated carrot

Method:

Place honey, onion, vinegar and salt in a pan and bring to the boil for five minutes. Pour the cooled dressing over the vegetables and toss lightly. Cover and chill over night if possible to blend the flavours. This should be enough for twelve people. It is usually useful I find, to have the odd tray - bake in case of unexpected guests, so why not try the following:

Flapjacks

Ingredients:

12 whole almonds
6 oz margarine
6 oz soft brown sugar
12 oz rolled oats
2 tablespoons honey
6 glacé cherries

Method:

Cream the margarine and sugar, then beat in the honey and gradually work in the rolled oats. Put the mixture into an 8 inch square tin, mark into twelve pieces. Put two almond halves in each marked piece. Bake centre oven 350°F or gas mark 4 for about 40 minutes. Cool in tin, put a cherry between the almonds.

Annual Honey Show

Our annual honey show will be held as usual at the AGM. This year we are devoting more time to it. After the official business, the rest of the evening will be given over to Mr Flatman who has agreed to be our judge again this year. The schedule is the basic one that has been used for some years now. The main difference being the introduction of a standard recipe for class 13. You have six weeks to prepare your exhibits. A prize card is a good advert for your honey on the shelf next to it.

Schedule of classes:

Class 1 - Honey light clear.
Class 2 - Honey medium clear.
Class 3 - Honey dark clear.
Class 4 - Honey naturally set. Not stirred.
Class 5 - Honey soft set.
Class 6 - Heather honey.
Class 7 - Jar of honey labelled and presented as for sale.
Class 8 - 8 oz cut comb.
Class 9 - Dry mead.
Class 10 - Sweet mead.
Class 11 - Block of beeswax less than 1 lb.
Class 12 - Block of beeswax more than 1 lb.
Class 13 - Honey fruit cake made to the standard recipe.
Class 14 - Honey cake to your own recipe

Notes:

Classes 1 to 6 to be in 1lb round squat glass honey jars.
Class 7. Can be any shape or size.
Classes 9 and 10 to be shown in 26 oz clear glass bottles of round section, with rounded shoulders. White flanged corks to be used.
Classes 11 and 12. Moulds without a pattern are to be used.
Class 12. The honey fruit cake is to be made to the following recipe taken from the 70th National Honey Show 2001 schedule.

Ingredients:

225 gr (8oz) self raising flour
175 gr (6oz) honey
110 gr (4oz) butter or margarine
175 gr (6oz) sultanas
Two medium sized eggs and a pinch of salt

Method:

Cream butter and honey together well. Beat eggs well and add them alternately with sifted flour and salt (save a little flour to add with the sultanas). Beat all well and lightly. A little milk may be added if necessary.Fold in the sultanas and stir well. Transfer to a 2lb loaf tin. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, 350°F, or gas mark 4. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

General

Only one entry per person per class. Points will be awarded to prize winners thus: 3 points to the winner of each class, 2 points will go to second place and 1 point to third place. The Alf Race Memorial Cup will be awarded to the member with the most points. In the event of a draw, the member with the highest number of first places will be the winner. The judges decision will be final.

Past Events

Wednesday 5th June

The third event in our summer programme was a visit to Rob Coleman's apiary at Wiggington. The evening turned out to be dry after the continuous rain of the afternoon. Rob is engaged on rearing queens and explained to us how he was going about it. He showed us the colonies he was going to use to rear his queens. The evening ended with his wife supplying us with liberal quantities of tea and cakes. This meeting was much better attended than the two previous meetings with twelve members turning up.

One of the hives Rob showed us was a Wormit. These were made by Steele and Brodie in Scotland, and I believe popular up there. They differ from other hives by having sides rebated top and bottom, so that when one box is sat on top of another they were locked together. This is good when it comes to moving bees as the boxes cannot possibly twist, it will also keep out cold winter winds. I think on the down side, splitting them apart could be difficult as there is not much space to insert a hive tool.

It is the first time in my twenty odd years of keeping bees that I have come across a Wormit hive.

Wednesday 19th June

The fourth of our summer meetings was held at Tom Robinson's apiary at Crockey Hill. It is a pleasant spot with Tom's hives being situated on the edge of a wood. The fields around had crops of peas and potatoes growing. Nearer the main road was the Tilmire pick your own strawberries and gooseberries.

It was a warm dry evening and nine members turned up. Tom and his son David run 200 colonies and raise lots of queens. Tom demonstrated how he uses a Jenter cage to get eggs all of the same age to start a batch of queens. Tom had inserted queen cells into two nuclei and two of our newer members looked through them to see if these queens had emerged and started laying.

Wednesday 3rd July

The fifth our Summer Apiary Visits was at Margaret Langstaff's out apiary at Burnby near Pocklington. Eight members attended on a fine evening for a general look through Margaret's hives. One hive was producing queen cells and some members took cells for their own use.

This apiary is close to overhead electric cables. Books tell us that the proximity of power lines makes bees bad tempered, but Margaret's bees where very quiet. I had bees close to power cables for a few years and they where not affected by them.

Another comment that Margaret made was how little her bees where collecting, probably due to the poor weather we had experienced up till then.

The evening ended with coffee and ginger cake.

Saturday 5th July

Bill Scriven and his wife Catherine attended the Summer Barbeque and sent this report.

Hosts Colin and Debbie Hattee provided a fantastic venue for this year’s Summer Barbeque at their home in Holme on Spalding Moor. Manicured lawns, ponds of prize winning Koi and countryside views were the backdrop for our get together this year. The setting was complete when a large owl (Tawny?) graced us with a fly by. We inspected Colins observation hive which was doing well with a clearly marked queen.

A good turn out enjoyed the huge spread of superb salads laid out by Debbie and a selection of cakes and fruit we collectively provided. We all cooked our own meat, displaying a range of barbeque cooking from Cordon Bleu to charcoaled!

As inevitable when a collection of beekeepers get together, we all swapped stories, compared notes and hints. This seasons crop increased as the beer and wine flowed and the expected harvest next year escalated by the minute.

It was a splendid evening and our thanks and gratitude go to the gracious hosts Colin and Debbie. It was a great way to promote the social side of the Association, and a must date for next years diary.

Wednesday 17th July

The sixth and final apiary meeting of our summer programme was held at Pam Todd's apiary on the outskirts of Askham Bryan. It was a fine evening and one of the better attended with ten members turning up. We looked into various hives for various reasons. The highlight of the evening was Pam's Dartington Long Deep Hive that she had acquired this spring. It is huge and when full will hold 21 14" × 12" frames horizontally. Because of it size it will be very difficult to move to different crops and is to be considered a static hive. The theory behind it's evolution is to minimise the bending and lifting that we all do now. Honey supers only hold five frames. The evening ended on a convivial note at the nearby home of Jenny Smith.

Monday 29th July

Messrs Coleman, Fuller and Johnston met at Murton to discuss this years Honey Show to be held at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16th October.

For Sale

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

Forthcoming Events

Friday 6th September to Monday 9th September

BIBBA Conference 2002. Halifax Hall of Residence, Sheffield University. The theme is "Beekeeping and Biodiversity in Europe". Contact Tom Robinson, 71 Broadway, York, YO1 4JP. Telephone 01 904 626 170.

Wednesday 18th September

A Committee meeting will be held at Murton at 19.30

Wednesday 25th September. 19.30 Murton Museum of Farming

Gerald Moxon from Hull will speak on "Showing Honey" in prepara.tion for our honey show next month.

Wednesday 18th October

York & BKA's Annual General Meeting and Honey Show will be held at Murton, commencing at 19.30.  This year Bob Hirst's period as Chairman comes to an end and a new Chairman has to be elected. The Committee also has to be elected.  Our Honey Judge will once again be Ivor Flatman from Wakefield. This year's AGM will concentrate Association bussiness and then the honey show to give Mr Flatman time to discuss it with us.  You will recollect that Mr Flatman gave us a first class demonstration on the preparation of wax at our April meeting.

Saturday 9th November

Yorkshire BKA. Autumn Conference.  To be held at the Buckles Inn on the A 64 at Bilbrough on the outskirts of York.

Thursday 14th to Saturday 16th November

National Honey Show. Kensington Town Hall, London

Wednesday 20th November. 19.30 Murton Museum of Farming

Robin Dartington will bring his Long Deep Hive and demonstrate it to us. Pam Todd has one and showed it to us at her apiary meeting. This will be an interesting talk on a different way of keeping bees and not to be missed. With the proximity of Christmas, there will be no meeting in December.