First words by the Editor ...

Good news! York & District Beekeeping Association’s own website is up and running and will be officially launched at the AGM in October. The website address is www.ydbka.org.uk. Linda Carey and Margaret Langstaff are to be praised for the effort they have put into producing the website over the past six months. I have a request from the Secretary to all those members who are on e-mail could you please e-mail Colin on beecol@hatteec.freeserve.co.uk as soon as possible with your number. This will enable information to be sent to people via the net instead of through normal means, thus costing the Association less in postage, envelopes and paper, and also less work for the Secretary and the Editor of "Combings".

Every year at about this time when wasps start becoming a nuisance, particularly around anything sweet, I have had vague thoughts as to why they have started bothering me now. After all they have been around since late March rasping at my beehives to obtain the wood to make their paper nests, and unobtrusively, catching insects to feed it's young. So why have they become the thing that everyone loves to hate? I found the answer when going through my bookshelf in an ADAS leaflet dated 1985. As I said, wasps collect protein in the form of insects to feed to their larvae, in return for which their larvae secrete a sweet fluid which is imbibed by the workers. It is in late summer when the numbers of larvae are diminishing in the nest that workers become deprived of carbohydrate in their diet that they go foraging elsewhere. Places such as open air cafes are a magnet for wasps with the dregs of soft drinks lying about in the bottoms of cans and bottles. Damaged fruit on trees or windfalls can have a dozen wasps feeding on them. It is at the time of the plum harvest that I first start noticing wasps. When ivy comes into flower everything that can fly will be there looking for food.

In the Past Events page of this edition of "Combings", at Rob Coleman's apiary, Rob had a swarm in a skep which he dumped onto a board in front of the hive and sloping up to the entrance. After many years beekeeping I can still stand and watch with awe as the bees organise themselves and walk uphill into their new home.

If you are wanting to start a new brood box with only foundation for the bees to go on, and if the swarm is small then a second or third swarm (if you use a large brood box as I do) in the same box is advantageous. Dunking the second swarm on top of the first is the quickest way, but if you have a hive that is queenless or a hive that you wish to re-queen, then you should throw the swarm onto a sloping board and catch the queen as she walks up the ramp. Have a cage in your hand ready, for should she be a virgin queen then she is a fast mover.

I find uncapping frame after frame of honey a monotonous chore. No matter how I adjust the height of my uncapping tray I always finish up with an aching back and after a couple hours I lose concentration and start taking more cappings off than I need. It is at that this time that my mind turns to uncapping machines. Most of them are extortionately expensive. Thorne's have a brush uncapper, where you manually offer your frames up to a stiff bristled rotating brush. I have heard that the rotating brush throws some of the uncapped wax and honey back at the operator. If any of you have such a machine or know of someone with one I would like to hear what they think of it.

A word of caution to those of you who attended the beginner’s class this year and have never extracted or bottled honey before. There comes a time when your extractor is full and the honey has to be run off into tubs. Never turn your back on honey running into tubs, for as soon as you do the rate of flow will double and you will have honey all over the floor. There will be such a mess and I guarantee you will not do it a second time. When bottling honey out of a tank, the tap needs only to be cracked open. Resist the temptation to open it wider to get the job done a bit quicker. Honey will gush out at an unbelievable rate onto your lap and will take hours to clean up. Once spilt, honey gets everywhere.

One morning in late June I had got out of bed to make the morning cup of tea, and while waiting for the kettle to boil I was looking out of the kitchen window with my mind in neutral when I saw a blur of movement that focused my attention. It was something I had never seen before yet instantly recognised - a Humming Bird Hawk Moth was feeding on a patch of Sweet Williams. A second one appeared for a few seconds before both flew off. I saw them fleetingly the following day but have not seen them since. My books tell me they have a two inch wing span (their wings beat so fast it was impossible to see them) and are summer migrants. They will breed in this country but our winter frosts kill off most moths and pupae.

In early July I had to put entrance blocks in my hives at one of my apiaries because my hives were being inspected by wasps. They are most persistent little creatures and once in a hive seem to come and go as they wish. They will completely rob out a colony if it is weak. I do not know if they have a system like our honey bees where they go back to their nest and recruit more foragers or they home in on a hive individually.

On the same day as I encountered the wasps I was driving to my other apiary down a quiet lane to see a field of borage that had not been there the previous week - and I had moved my bees 15 miles to a field of borage! As I passed the field entrance I had another quick look - that is funny borage. I stopped and backed up to have a closer look. It was not borage. It was the same colour, but not the same height nor did the plants have the same dense foliage as borage. I had my suspicions as to what it was. After a little bit of detective work I found the land owner and 'phoned him. My suspicions were correct. It was a field of 15 acres of phacelia being grown on set aside to be ploughed in later in the year. The crop was buzzing with the sound of insects working it, including honey bees. The farmer told me that it was probably a one off. I was hoping it would become a regular crop.

Two weeks later Pam Todd told me that she too had found a field of phacelia at Askham Bog. Keep your eyes open next year - we may have a new crop for our bees to forage on.

I have in my garden a Yucca plant that stands over four feet tall. It has only been in about four years and has flowered this year for the first time. The flowers are borne on a single central stem and are cream in colour. They are hardy and can be irregular flowerers. They are a striking plant when in flower and will be seen at their best if given a prominent position. On Radio Humberside's Sunday morning gardening programme the expert said they are moth pollinated.

This year’s honey show is six weeks away. Feedback from last year’s show indicated the need for some extra classes so three novice classes have been introduced, two candle classes and a class for a shallow frame suitable for extraction. A schedule is included with your magazine. Ivor Flatman has agreed to be our judge again this year. The honey show is meant to be fun - not daggers drawn, with classes for honey, wax, wax candles and mead. There is a class to suit every flair. Give it a go.

The White-Eyed Drone ...

Here is something unusual that few if any of you will have experienced before. Colin Hattee explains.

In early July I was helping my beekeeping friend Andrea with a colony of bees which I had given to her last year. The colony was of average size and appeared to be in good health. I suddenly noticed drones with what appeared to be pieces of white on their heads - they appeared like white goggles - the type warn by war time aircraft pilots. I attempted to brush the white from their heads before closer examination revealed it was the eyes of the drones that were clearly white - and I mean WHITE. I telephoned beekeeping colleagues, one or two, I suspect, thought I had suddenly become unbalanced! None of them could offer an explanation. I resorted to my reasonably good selection of bee books only to find that white eyed drones were not mentioned. I then recalled that our Chairman has an NDB and telephoned him and he was able to confirm that he had read of white eyed drones before and was also aware that they could appear with different coloured eyes - eg pink. The white eyed drone is caused by a genetic freak, which removes the pigmentation from the eyes of the bee.

I have preserved a few in the freezer if any one is interested to have a look at them.

Healthcheck … by David Aston

The June edition of BBKA News contained an article on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) aimed in particular at varroa control. If you haven't read it then borrow a copy. The principles of IPM can be extended to all bee diseases, both brood and adult and I have listed some of the points that meet these principles:

It is essential to be able to recognise healthy and unhealthy bees and brood.
Learn to recognise the important diseases such as the foul broods and the effects of varroa and associated viral diseases.
Nosema is probably endemic in most colonies and it is the conditions in the colony and the beekeepers practices that exacerbate the condition. Nosema is also associated with viral diseases.

In my last Healthcheck I discussed apiary hygiene. Good apiary hygiene will go a long way to helping control disease. The regular changing of the brood comb is an essential technique and this keeps Nosema in check. Melt down old combs; don’t recycle them in other colonies. Floors made of mesh screen are believed to help lower the varroa population in a colony because mites are dislodged from the bees in the hives and they fall through the mesh onto the ground and cannot climb back onto the bees.

By now varroa populations are approaching their peak and treatment should be timed when there is no more drone brood and reducing worker brood. The strategy is to get as many mites on the surface of the bees where they are vulnerable to treatment. If you see bees with deformed wings and other deformities you should treat as soon as possible. The foundations for a colony surviving the winter are being laid now, so good healthy workers are needed. Remember there is no shame in finding disease in your bees, but having found or suspect disease to be present you should do something about it or seek advice. You can ask an experienced member of the YDBKA, 'phone the National Bee Unit, call your Regional or Seasonal Bee Inspector. They will be only too pleased to help and advise.

For your information The National Bee Unit can be contacted on 01904 462510 or e-mail: nbu@csl.gov.uk. Your Seasonal Bee Inspector is Mike Booth who can be contacted on 01482 571709 or e-mail: mlbooth@booth.co.uk

Personality Portrait … John Rowbottom

John is an Honorary Life Member of York Beekeepers. In the Constitution an Honorary Life Member is defined as: " … any member who has performed meritorious service to the Association, to the general furtherance to the objects of the Association or to the general betterment of beekeeping…"

As a boy growing up one begins to have preferences as to how one spends ones spare time. I began to find compulsory cricket and football at school a real hindrance to the gardening and fishing which I preferred. Those feelings persist to this day.

In 1939 the world changed and after a time I found myself without the garden and greenhouse at my parents home, but thankfully still in the countryside at the RAF airfield at Holme on Spalding Moor. While exploring the surrounding area I made friends with a young lady who subsequently became my wife. On being invited to her home I discovered her father crawling about in a hedge bottom. His head was covered by a wide brimmed hat with a black veil. In his hand was a sort of basket made of straw and he also had a gadget which exuded pungent smoke. My enquiries were met with "Oh, he is a beekeeper; there is a swarm in the hedge".

Later that evening, having collected the swarm in the straw basket, which they called a skep, I watched him arrange a board up to the entrance of a bee hive, and empty out the bees on to this board. With a little smoky encouragement the bees started marching up into the hive - MAGIC - I had never seen anything like this before. I wanted to be a beekeeper and do this myself, in spite of being warned about stings and things.

Little things like the war which took me to India, a University course and getting a job held one up for a while, but eventually I was living and working in York and helping my Father in Law with his bees as opportunity arose.

I joined the YDBKA whose Secretary, Treasurer and general arranger of all things was Alf Race. At that time meetings were held at New Earswick School and here I began to meet most interesting people and join in their activities. This continues to this day.

Bees 30 miles away, as were those of my father-in-law, are not good. Ideally they should be at the bottom of the garden or at least as fewer miles away as possible. One day my eldest daughter, Julia with the other pupils in her class at the Park Grove School visited the dairy farm of Mr Peter Cochrane in Elvington Lane. At the end of the visit there was a question and answer session and Julia suddenly had a great idea - "Would Mr Cochrane allow my Daddy to keep some bees on his farm?" The answer was "Send him to see me" - the result - I still have my remaining hive there.

Rape was not grown until some years after the war, my father-in-law and I only needed to add empty supers when those became full. Then about the beginning of August we could take off and extract the crop for the year. But one unhappy year all of 15 supers proved to be as solid as rocks. Rape growing had begun. It took Minnie and I a long time to cut out and melt all the combs, and put in new foundation in the spring. We could only get three combs into our jam pan to melt on a low setting of the gas oven. What a long laborious and sticky job. Regular checking and changing and extracting was necessary from then on.

One day during the time I was a Committee member a non-beekeeping friend gave me a couple of books on beekeeping, of which I already had copies. I brought them to the next meeting and said "I will give these to the Association; perhaps they could form the nucleus of a library sometime". The swift reply was "You are appointed librarian" and so the library was born, and is today continuing in the capable hands of John Bowes. There are some very interesting books which may be borrowed by any member. They have been bought for members use and John brings them to meetings.

Now I am finding my varied interests are becoming a bit of an overload and I think beekeeping may have to go. My children are not interested and in any case are scattered in various places. They do help me a little when they visit at a suitable time. So I am reduced to one hive plus a swarm which arrived un invited in my garden in June and is working well. I have met many interesting people over the years, but sadly some are no longer with us for various reasons. I hope I shall be able to attend meetings for a while yet.

Trials and Trepidations of Learner Apiarist … by Ann Johnson

Now lastly to No 4 hive, this has really picked up and is developing as did No 3. On the 23 April 2003 the hive was very full of bees and contained seven frames full of eggs, larvae and capped brood. Time to fit another half brood and a honey super. This is the only hive I have not been able to find the queen, but I am not really too worried she is obviously there and performing well so best left alone.

I now believe I have given all the bees plenty of room to spread around, especially if the weather becomes wet, and all the queens have room to lay. Also the young bees have plenty to do in drawing out new foundation. I also spotted on inspection, wax moth larvae outside No 4 hive and No 3 hive, both dead, killed by the bees and thrown out.

I am now extremely conscious of the strict hygiene required when dealing with frames, supers and brood boxes. I have devised my 4 S's. That is on removal of brood chambers and super boxes I scrape, scorch, scrub and then wood stain to waterproof. This I will do with all the hives in turn and then I will know that all that I can do I have done. Only this week I replaced the foundation in a super and found four wax moth larvae in one frame. Fortunately it was the only frame that I found this problem.

My other major problem this year has been drowning. Last year all the bees collected water from the stones at one end of the pond. I went up on one occasion to find about 50 dead bees floating on the water. By coincidence I had been reading the day before that should the bees be attracted to a particular spot then it is very difficult to change their ways. So right this is. I put stones and a wet sheet and a hessian sack all to try and deter them or keep them safer, but to no avail. They continue to drink from the upright sides of the pond. I periodically do a "Bee Patrol" and any on the surface I fish out with a net and place on a stone until the have dried out and warmed up. Some are at least saved by this practice but alas not all. The hives all appear to be calm and not aggressive in any way. I have been stung once this year, but that was trying to remove the card I use to count varroa drop and it got stuck, and in my efforts to retrieve it a bee stung me on my knee. I immediately took antihistamine and rubbed in a cream called Anthisan. Unfortunately, the day after it was the size of a football and I had difficulty in bending my leg, also, a colleague has given me some Eurex cream to try next time as I'm told that it prevents itching and swelling. Both are available over the counter at the chemist. Never mind - it's all good fun. I do not wish to keep more than four hives on this site as I do not think that the flora is sufficient to sustain any additional hives. In the spring I planted 30 trays of seedlings in my garden. Not only am I producing fruit and vegetables, but now an abundance of BEE FOOD."

A few notes from Peter Green

In the March 2003 edition of "Combings", Peter Green told us of a piece of land that he has to grow crops for his bees. Here is his update.

There are two aspects of beekeeping which hold very little attraction to me – one is moving bees to find productive plants for them and the other is harvesting vast amounts of honey which then requires time and effort preparing it for sale. We use quite a lot of honey within our own household by substituting it for sugar in jam making or wine making etc, and it is a very useful product to have for presents (and bribes!), but apart from that, a surplus of saleable honey is not on top of my list of priorities.

I wrote an article for "Combings" last March in which I described a fairly useless piece of arable land that I had acquired. Although good land, it is in a corner of a field, and luckily near my bees. It has two telegraph posts in it which make cultivation with modern implements difficult. It is triangular and the telegraph posts form part of the boundary between my piece and the main field, which makes life easier for both parties. We have a little Ferguson tractor and a cultivator and an old set of discs which are adequate for doing the fairly minimal cultivation's that are necessary. I planted mustard in the plot (which is one third of an acre) following last year’s harvest after working it up with the cultivator, and the bees were able to make use of it in filling their stores up for winter. I did however supplement the weak colony with a feed in early October.

Having this little bit of land available does make it possible to keep a few colonies of bees without having to move them, which is my other apiaristic criterion, and with that in mind I made a Dartington Long Deep hive. I split my strongest colony into this in early May and if it all seems to work okay then I may build another one over winter and restrict my bees down to those two. Having said that, my plans and the bees plans are often somewhat at variance! It was quite interesting to see what came onto that late mustard. I found a huge number of drones on it, extending their life span a bit, because if you remember, October was a lovely sunny month and the bees had to work for longer than usual.

I have planted a bit more mustard this spring, which has just finished flowering (mid-July). I shall leave it to self seed next year and for a bit of pheasant cover. The rest of the plot is covered with a strong stand of borage, which was cropped over the whole field four years ago and seems to self seed where ever it can. I suppose one man's weed is another man's harvest. I am going to put various plants and flowers round it as well. After a trip to the lavender farm near Castle Howard, I am minded to try a nice thick stand of that at one side of the plot. Hopefully all this will encourage a wide range of insects and birds and so do a little bit for the environment. One very obvious and huge benefit of this experiment has been to the bumble bee population, because they love borage and they are working it in their hundreds.

Preparation of Exhibits for entering into the Honey Show

In September 2002 Dudley Gue spoke to us on the preparation of exhibits for entering in our honey show. I have compiled this article from notes made for me at the time by Debbie Hattee.

Cleanliness is the most important factor. No finger marks on jars or bottles, no damaged or rusty lids. Warm your honey and strain through a fine cloth filter. Mr Gue recommends using old style butter muslin and then goes on to say that butter muslin can leave traces of fibres. The use of modern synthetic fibres will eliminate this problem. Run your warmed honey into warmed jars and allow to stand in a warm place for bubbles to rise out. When you are preparing honey for show, do two or more jars at the same time and pick out the best one. It is up to you to decide which class to enter your exhibit in.

What the judge is looking for:

Naturally Set Honey – Frosting on the side of the jar and "scum" on the top of the honey. He will up end the jar and look for debris.

Soft Set Honey – Dry on top, but should move in the jar.

Heather Honey – The judge will use light to check for debris and granulation, and skim a pointed rod across the surface - this should leave a furrow if not a blend. Due to the air bubbles in heather honey you will have to put more honey in the jar to get the correct weight.

Honey for Sale – All the previous criteria apply plus labels must be truthful.

Cut Comb – The weight should be correct. Use a comb cutter to cut individual pieces out of a comb and leave to drain over night. There should be no runny honey in the box. Cappings must not be stained nor must there be any visible debris. Obviously unwired foundation must be used in frames intended for cut comb.

Mead - Bottle corks to be as stipulated. Bottles to be clean and free of finger marks and filled to within ½" of the cork. Your mead should be filtered through filter paper to remove any sediment. You will lose marks if there is any sediment in the bottom of the bottle or your mead is cloudy.

Wax – Block of wax may be weighed to check that it is in the right class. Liquefy and strain your wax to remove any fine particles. Pour into a mould that has been smeared with detergent to assist in it's release from the mould. Pour your wax as cool as possible to reduce shrinkage on cooling. Over heating wax causes it to darken. There should be no ripples or finger marks on your exhibit.

Cake Glasses – Cracks on the top of you cake will lose points. Small cracks are acceptable but large ones no. Nor should there be any burning or scorching. To make an even cake, lay grease proof paper over the top of your cake while it is in the oven. The top of your cake should not be sticky and when cut, the knife should be almost clean and dry. The use of good quality honey is most important. Your cake will be cut and tasted.

YDBKA – Introduction to Beekeeping Course 2003 … by Pam Todd, Course Organiser

YDBKA held the final session of the "Introduction to Beekeeping" course at the Bee Pavilion at Murton on Tuesday 8 July. The nine week course attempted to cover everything that a beginner needs to know - from information on hives and equipment, through to swarm control, seasonal management and extracting and marketing honey. The course was well subscribed, of the 23 people who enquired about the course, 19 signed up, thus York + DBA has gained 19 new members. We welcome them all and look forward to getting to know them better at the autumn and winter meetings. All the sessions were well attended, we averaged 17 students each time and often all 19 appeared! The two hour sessions were divided into one hour of practical demonstration with the bees (and we weren't rained off once), then a tea/coffee break, then an hour of theory in the bee pavilion, sitting on our newly acquired chairs. There wasn't much room but no one seemed to mind the squash - much was learned and the questions constantly flowed! All students who wanted to start their beekeeping this season have been supplied with their first colony. (Please let us know how things are going!)

The enthusiasm of the students was a pleasure to see and the enthusiasm of the tutors and their varied styles kept the course pacey and interesting.

So, many thanks to Margaret Langstaff, Dr David Aston, Alan Johnston, Rob Coleman, Colin Hattee, John Fuller, Bob Hirst and the well loved double act of Ken Barran and John Acheson. Many thanks also to all those who loaned veils. Please collect them from the bee pavilion cupboards at your convenience. Thank you to all those who came along to help, especially Sue Hesp for her able organisational and tea making support and to Ken Barran for his magnificent apiary management. Well done everyone.

An Introduction to Beekeeping … by Alan Burnside

Alan Burnside who was on of this year’s beginners class gives us his thoughts.

On 16th April this year 20 beginners came together for the first of nine workshops in YDBKA’s Introduction to Beekeeping Course. Most sessions were made up of around one hour of practical work, prising open and inspecting hives, and one hour of theory, on a variety of subjects. It is difficult to tell what inspired me or any one else to keep bees; however, during this excellent course the warmth and enthusiasm of the instructors was effortlessly conveyed to fan the spark of interest in its participants to a flame.

I doubt that anyone there will ever forget the feelings of awe and curiosity, tinged with trepidation, that accompanied opening a hive and inspecting the occupants for the first time. Nor do I doubt that people will forget the first sting in a hurry either. Beekeeping is said to be an absorbing hobby and it is true that it is difficult to think about anything else when one is getting multiple stings on the leg!

One particular moment of magic for me was watching Rob Coleman hive a swarm. It was with some disbelief that I watched thousands of bees advancing up a board to their waiting queen.

So, gradually, smokers, hive tools and protective suits were added to our possessions, alongside the desire to use them on our own hives. And, finally, to our excitement, the hives arrived and we are free to try to apply what we have learned. I doubt that anyone from the course regards themselves as a beekeeper yet, but, with guidance and support, they are well on the way to becoming one.

Chatting with other students (all of whom completed the course), we all agreed that it was difficult to see how the design and implementation could have been in any way better. Our deeply felt gratitude to all the members York + DBKA who made this possible.

Past Events

Wednesday 14 May

John Acheson, Rob Coleman, John Fuller and Colin and Debbie Hattee met at Easingwold after being invited by solicitors who were selling a gentleman's estate, to make a sealed bid for his beekeeping equipment. All the equipment was in good condition. If our tender had been successful we planned to give those on the beginner’s class first refusal on what was available. Harrogate BKA had also been asked to put in a bid. We put our offer in on the day and told we would have the out come by the weekend. But the solicitor went on holiday for a week and it was the following week that we were told that Harrogate was the successful bidder. Their offer was for £525 against ours of £505. Not a lot in it was there?

Wednesday 28 May

The second of this summers apiary meetings was held at Bill Scriven's apiary. We met by the church at Bainton not far from Driffield on a fine warm evening. Once off the main road it is a pretty village. We set off in convoy through tree lined lanes to Bill's apiary alongside a field of just emerging borage with another field of rape in full bloom not far away. He had put them on site the previous Sunday with empty supers. When we got there, bees were hanging out the entrance because there was no room inside the hives. In three days the bees had filled every available cell in the supers and brood box with honey. Bill was going to have to return the next day with more equipment to give his bees more room to store honey and to breed if he wants to prevent them swarming. Being short of space like that makes bees bad tempered and these were no exception. A pleasant evening ended in the local hostelry.

Wednesday 11 June

John Acheson has submitted this report on the meeting at Rob Coleman's apiary. Unfortunately I was a little late arriving at Rob's but there were already some 26 members there on a fine summer's evening watching Rob and Tom Robinson demonstrating a complicated operation which must have been confusing for new comers to beekeeping. It might help them to understand what was happening if I give an outline summary. The central hive was a legacy from Les Burnett, who died recently, and as it had not been examined for about two years, and the brood chamber consisted of two supers; also there appeared to be a number of queen cells so the hive was to be split into a number of small units. Arranged in a circle around the main hive were six five frame nuclei. Each nucleus was made up with frames from the main hive so that each one contained food (i.e. honey), combs of brood, a queen cell or a queen, and empty comb for the new queen to lay in." e completed nuclei were closed up. The bees remaining in the hive were shaken on to the floor in the centre of the ring of nuc's. Eventually these bees started moving towards the nuc's which they entered. Some nuc's may have more bees than others at this stage, but the following morning the strong ones exchange places with the weaker ones thus equalising their strengths.

Following on, Rob had caught a swarm in a skep and this he hived by tipping the bees onto a board and letting them run into his hive. Rob had also raised three queen cells from his own bees and he demonstrated making up mini mating hives (Apideas) so that when the new queens emerged they could fly out and mate. At the end of the demonstration the party were invited to the Coleman residence where Mrs Coleman performed nobly with tea and cakes for everyone. It is nice to see that there is a renewed enthusiasm for these apiary visits and it is hoped that members are finding them useful.

Saturday 21 June

On a fine hot midsummer’s day Ken Barran hosted a meeting at his bees on Burn airfield where he had taken them to work a field of spring rape. Seventeen members - many of them from our beginners class - met at the Anchor public house on the bank of the Selby Canal at Burn. Ken led the way a short distance to the airfield. Ken had been re-queening two of his colonies. The queens had been put into the hives in Butler cages the day before and were ready to be released. When released, the queen stood on a top bar for a short period and Ken squirted water over her. The workers would then have to clean her up which would help in her acceptance into the colony. He then went on to demonstrate how to mark a queen. If you are going to attempt this procedure then every thing you need should be to hand when you first enter the hive, for once you find the queen you have to contain her immediately or she will vanish in an instant and may not remain on the frame you found her on. Many of Ken’s hives had three supers of honey on, so he brought out a spare empty super and went along the row of hives, removed the roof and crown board and with the dexterity of many years practice took the full frames out one by one and gave them a sharp tap to remove the bees and put the full frame into the empty super. In a very short space of time his trailer was full.

It was not only bees that where flying that afternoon. We were about 150 yards from the runway of the gliding club and could see clearly gliders being towed into the air and coming back to land. I am not all that keen on flying at any time but the thought of flying with out an engine was not my idea of fun, but I had to admire the skill of the pilots when coming in to land when they had to be in the right place, at the right height and at the right speed - they could not go round again for a second attempt. Finally we all returned to the Anchor to enjoy a buffet that Ken had laid on.

Although apiary meetings demonstrate other ways of keeping bees, I found my self on the edge of the meeting talking to new members and old hands alike, and I think this aspect of apiary visits is as important as any demonstration taking place - an informal exchange of ideas and views.

Monday 30 June

A Committee meeting was held in the Bee Pavilion at Murton on a very wet evening. Among the topics discussed where a report on our last auction and the fixing of a date for next years. To discuss at the next AGM a new type of membership for those of you who do not keep bees, but wish to be a member of the York BKA. The cost to the associate member would be less than a full member. You would be a member of York BKA, but not of Yorkshire BKA or the British BKA. You would not have to pay bee disease insurance, hence a reduced cost of membership. We undertook to man the Pavilion at weekends during the summer and disappointment was expressed at the number of people visiting the Museum. Another topic raised was - should we have an Association policy of charging the public for collecting swarms? There is a cost involved to the beekeeper when dealing with swarms. Vehicle fuel getting to and fro, Apistan/Bayvarol treatment and ones time. This matter is to be discussed further at the AGM.

Saturday 5 July

Rob Coleman has prepared this report on the visit to Tom Robinson’s apiary. Tom Robinson's apiary visit began after gathering at the Highwayman public house in Sheriff Hutton. The afternoon was dry but overcast. Sadly only three beginners and three old members turned up. As I drove into the pub car park in my sons Morris pick up, I saw a gentleman looking intently. I recognised him as one of my mentors from Bill Bell's beginners course of years ago. It was Mike Langdale who lives in the village and was an active York +DBKA committee member in the past. We had a quick chat during which he said that he no longer kept bees. Consequently Tom has taken over his site. We left the pub yard and drove a few minutes down the road, parked and then walked across the fields to a superb location. An old orchard complex with an old hen hut now acting as Tom's bee shed and queen rearing centre. Tom began explaining his method. He had brought with him some 18 hour old larvae laid from his breeder queen kept elsewhere. He had enclosed these in a Jenter box set in the middle of a full brood comb attended by worker bees. He released the bees on the other side of the orchard away from the work site; consequently we could handle the larvae gloveless. We began removing the cups from the Jenter cage which holds 100 cups. Carefully inspecting a cup you could see a larvae lying on its side like a small letter "c". These cups were put into a holder that was then placed into a converted brood frame holding 20 cups. Two frames worth of larvae were chosen giving 40 potential queens.

We then took these frames to a large brood box that had been made queenless 24 hours previously. The frames already in the brood box had been positioned so that we could quietly drop the new frames in. A crown board was fitted and they were fed syrup in a rapid feeder.

This colony will now begin to build queen cells. Tom said he has achieved a success rate of over 90%. We then went on to look into some Apideas. These are small mating boxes constructed from polystyrene. It is these boxes that our next 40 queen cells will be placed in. A queen emerges in 16 days from the egg being laid. Four days before emerging the Apideas are filled with bees and fondant and left in a cool, dark area. The boxes are sited and left for the queens to emerge and go on their mating flights as the weather permits. We saw some newly mated queens in these boxes with their tiny clusters of eggs. Once the queen is laying she is ready to take on her duties. Either by re queening a hive or building her own colony.

At this point it was picnic time. Tom produced sausage rolls and wine as we sat and chatted about the procedure. We could hear droning but not as Tom has previously heard. He said the drones gather across the fields on the fringe of a wood about a mile away. You can sit and listen to the drones returning on a still evening.

It was now time to leave our interesting apiary visit. We strolled back to our cars disturbing a long tailed tit which flew into the next field where a skylark was singing and then into the next where swallows were skimming the crops catching midges. Deer prints could be seen in the dust along the track. A true natural environment to work with bees.

Saturday 5 July

Our thanks must go to Margaret Langstaff and her husband Steve for hosting this year’s barbeque at their home. The previous few days weather had been unsettled, but the gods were on our side and it was a fine day. Twenty members turned out to enjoy it. Half a dozen children worked up an appetite playing tennis. Among the deserts were fresh raspberries from the garden of Ann and William Johnson. A sad loss was the pint of cream dropped on the footpath!

Wednesday 16 July

This evening’s apiary visit was at the apiary of Pam Todd who's hives are on Jenny Smith's farm at Askham Bryan. It was well attended with 19 members turning out. Pam organised a practical session of colony uniting for the graduates of the beginners course. Colin Hattee demonstrated his world renowned talcum powder method on Pam's Dartington hive. The virgin queen proved elusive, even for a seasoned practitioner like Ken Barran, and cries of "Has any body got a better pair of eyes?" could be heard from time to time. Pam demonstrated the newspaper method of uniting on two national brood bodies with the environmental section from the "Guardian", which is no doubt was why the bees were so quiet. Cream teas and other carefully prepared goodies, courtesy of Pam and Jenny were later consumed back at the farm house. A good time was had by all.

Tuesday 22July

The honey show sub committee comprising Messrs Coleman, Fuller and Johnston met at the Bay Horse at Murton to discuss new classes for this years honey show.

Wednesday 30 July

Nineteen members turned out on a fine warm evening for the last of this summer’s apiary visits at the home of Ann and William Johnson at Moor Monkton. We went through four hives looking for the queen with a view to marking her but only managed to find and mark one. I was most impressed with the docility of Ann and William's bees. The only time smoke was used was to put queen excluders back on. The evening was finished off with drinks and a buffet outside.

Monday 4 August

A Committee meeting was held at the Bee Pavilion at Murton. It was warm enough for proceedings to be held in the open air. Matters touched upon were the honey show, maintenance of the bee pavilion, a new education officer, the web site (nearly ready), and a report from our Treasurer.

Tuesday 5 August

Messrs Coleman, Fuller and Hattee met at the Strensall home of Jim Britten ex member and ex Chairman of York Beekeepers who is disposing of his bees and equipment. It is intended that it will be offered for sale to members of the Association. It is hoped that an inventory can be made and included with your "Combings". Following vague instructions we eventually found two colonies of bees in the door way of an old farm building and surrounded on three sides by dense undergrowth with little sign of bee activity. On lifting the lid of one of the hives a family of shrews made a dash for cover. They are only tiny but had carried a pile of dried leaves up into the roof space and built their nest.

Tuesday 12 August

Again Messer’s Coleman, Fuller and Hattee met at the home of Jim Britten and collected more of his equipment that he is disposing of. We also collected some of Jim’s bees from deep inside rural North Yorkshire working 'till well after dark.

For Sale

1lb squat honey jars are available from Colin Hattee 'phone 01430 860972. Colin will bring your order to meetings or you can pick them up from his house by prior arrangement. Price £28.00 per gross.

Forthcoming Events

Wednesday 17 September (1930 hrs)

YDBKA meeting at Murton. Hilda Cowling will talk on "Beekeeping My Way".

Wednesday 15 October

YDBKA Annual General Meeting and Honey Show will be held at the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Murton. Exhibits for the honey show will be received from 1915 hrs and the AGM will commence at 1930 hrs.

Saturday 8 November

YDBKA November Conference. To be held at the Buckles Inn on the A64 between York and Tadcaster. The morning lecture is to be given by Margaret Thomas followed by a pub lunch and thence official business in the afternoon.

Thursday 13, Friday 14 and Saturday 15 November

The 72nd National Honey Show will be held at the Kensington Town Hall, London.

Saturday 13 March 2004

YDBKA March lecture at the Buckles Inn on the A64 road between York and Tadcaster. The speaker will be Ian Molyneux.

Saturday 17 April 2004

YDBKA One day conference to be held at the Bishop Burton College on the A1079 approximately three miles west on Beverley. More information and booking forms later.

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