[…]huge crops of wild flower honey. In 1897 Lancelot won the record for the biggest British crop of honey from one colony: 334lbs. He would never have got that with skep beekeeping, or the modern flora here on the island! He also won a special prize in Manchester for Bell Heather honey in 1892. Lancelot told of foul brood in […]
[…]group on selective queen-rearing. Lecture Title: “The hive as a processing centre” “A hive of activity” as the saying goes! To ensure the colony survives in a healthy state, honey bees collect everything they need from the surrounding area in the form of relatively simple, readily available, natural products. They then process these in sophisticated ways into such diverse items […]
[…]to OSR, thus minimising the stress to man and bees of moving hives while giving a selection of honeys. With her partner Paul, Camlad Apiaries is run as a small, sustainable business supplying health food shops, delicatessens, village shops, and the most northerly castle in the UK. Trisha is a BBKA Master Beekeeper, Project Manager with Bees Abroad (UK NGO), trustee of […]
BIPCo would like to invite beekeepers to the 6th Annual Bee Improvement Day A one-day event organised by the Bee Improvement Programme for Cornwall (BIPCo) To be held at Lanhydrock Memorial Hall, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 5AE on Saturday 18th February 2017 commencing at 9.00am for registration (9.30am start) until 3.30pm A day for all those interested in […]
[…]queens – course Tutor – Roger Patterson In conjunction with West Suffolk BKA and BIBBA Thursday 20 July and Friday 21 July at Nowton Park Apiary, near Bury St Edmunds. Course fee Early bird £50 if booked before 4 July the event £60 if booked on or after 4 July. Please bring your own lunch and refreshments Contact Kevin Thorn, […]
What is it? An all day event for beekeepers of all abilities to help and encourage them to improve their bees by using locally produced queens. Why? When buying queens you may be promised high yields and docility, but later generations of these queens can often produce aggressive colonies. To overcome this problem it is often advised to buy new […]
What is it? An all day event for beekeepers of all abilities to help and encourage them to improve their bees by using locally produced queens. Why? When buying queens you may be promised high yields and docility, but later generations of these queens can often produce aggressive colonies. To overcome this problem it is often advised to buy new […]
A day of theory and practice for all beekeepers This is an all day summer event to help increase the knowledge of beekeepers of all abilities on bee improvement. Attendees are encouraged to rear queens from desirable colonies that are docile, calm on the comb, productive and suit their local conditions. There will be one or two PowerPoint presentations to […]
[…]stay. Accomodation, food, etc. The course fee includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day. We will arrange for delegates to meet up for dinner at the end of the first day to share thoughts and expereicnes and to socialise. This is not included in the course price but will be arranged at a local, cost effective location. There is accommodation […]
[…]stay. Accomodation, food, etc. The course fee includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day. We will arrange for delegates to meet up for dinner at the end of the first day to share thoughts and expereicnes and to socialise. This is not included in the course price but will be arranged at a local, cost effective location. There is accommodation […]
[…]such as wearing my reading glasses and resting my hand on my knee while kneeling on the other one or even sitting on a hive stand or roof, etc. Having once accomplished these tasks I developed real confidence and each Spring this confidence is renewed after I clip my first queen or two of the year. Not only has these […]
[…]which, without drones, go to an isolated island site off the coast of Jutland. On our final day, Monday after a long drive we visited the premises of Swienty in Sonderboug, which again is situated in an old impressive farm. We were welcomed by Anna Marie and Bernhard and the rest of the family and were fed Danish food and […]
[…]date, it makes it easier when making up queen mating nuclei over several days rather than all in oneday. I make up these on the 10th day after grafting, so you see that writing it down or taking a photograph is a must and does make life so much easier. Four days later I can then introduce my queen […]
[…]single comb nests in the open, florea in low bushes and dorsata in trees. Like other tropical honey bees they are prone to migrations, at times over considerable distances. These migrations may be seasonal or in some cases may be a defence against predators and parasites. Although unsuitable for apicultural use, both these species make a major contribution to the […]
[…]Colonies do not exhibit following and are not overly defensive but do rarely produce a ‘Pet Hive’: one at the source apiary and once at Beinn Eighe, the non-response of such bees to the beekeeper, wasps and robbing makes them difficult to maintain for long. Other dark bee attributes are also encouraged including supersedure (line mothers are allowed to fulfil […]
[…]bee suits and gloves are not essential, but head protection is. What is or isn’t included? A oneday practical and online video. Pre – COVID, this was a 2 day course, but the videos now replace the first day. Please see individual events for details. Accommodation is not included, but there should be several options locally depending on your […]
[…]in the Ribble Valley https://thebeecentre.org/home/ Affiliated with BIBBA, Gearing up for Sunday 19th May – World Bee Day. Largest selection of different hive types we’ve ever seen in their teaching apiary, great shop, friendly team. Work has started to collect data for the Plymouth Uni PhD project run by Victoria Buswell on the phenological brood cycles of our bees and temperament. […]
[…]her memberships involvement in the establishing of a little known national treasure in the honeybee reserve on Colonsay. Subsequent questions indicated that the existence of varroa-free areas and native honeybees in the UK was indeed news to some delegates and suggest that these should be better supported. Conspicuous by its absence from the wild pollinator and bumblebee debate was the […]
[…]value to beekeeping in the area, that we are doing rather than talking. The enthusiasm of everyone involved in this project has been excellent, and I know I am not alone in looking forward to the next beekeeping season with keen anticipation. Albert […]
[…]– Alan Brown Every beekeeper can raise queens and they probably do so every year Burzyan wild-hive honeybees – R. A. Ilyasov, M. N. Kosarov. A. Neal, F. G. Yumaguzhin When the number of natural tree cavities declined sharply, beekeepers were forced to carefully treat the wild-hive bees more carefully. . . Queen rearing on the Isle of Man – […]
[…]the German Dark Bee Association included some details of a system of mating isolation by time of day (“Mondschein”or “Moonlight”) mating… Pure Mating by Time Isolation – John E Dews For ordinary beekeepers a major problem in bee breeding is the difficulty of ensuring pure matings for their selected queens. If this problem can be solved, much more rapid progress […]
[…]on marine and naval projects has meant that, for many years, he had little time for regular 10 dayhive inspections as advised in text books. Nevertheless he has harvested at least average crops of honey year on year using bees improved over lifetime by his father, a process he is now continuing following his father’s death in […]
[…]– Margaret Murdin There were three lecture streams with each stream providing five lectures per day. So that gave me a choice of 45 lectures. BIBBA/SICAMM Conference – Roger Patterson I think it is true to say the committee had differing ideas on what form it should take and indeed the expected success. BIBBA/SICAMM Conference – Dorian Pritchard A SICAMM […]
[…]Bulletin on the Black Bee was “tongue in cheek”… Galtee Bee Breeders’ Group Workshop Day – Mary Ryan Report on one of the most exceptionally successful and satisfyingdays in our calendar activities to date. GBBG News – Mary Ryan SICAMM Conference, Aviemore – Philip Denwood Chairman’s Report – Dinah Sweet Local Queen Programme – Roger Patterson BIBBA members can download […]
[…]comb tidy (although one of my colonies builds three frames of drone comb regardless!). Just put one frame of drone foundation, one in from the outside frame or in your best colonies two frames – one in from either end. Introducing Queens Simple queen introduction – rather than picking a queen off the frame and putting her in a cage, […]
[…]“The Mystery of Mating”. View Recording – Lynfa Davies – “The Mystery of Mating” Tuesday 1st September 7:30pm – Roger Patterson – “Challenge what you are told……….” View Recording – Roger Patterson – “Challenge what you are told……….” Tuesday 8th September 7:30pm – Peter Jenkins – “The KISS Approach” View Recording – Peter Jenkins – “The KISS […]
[…]in September. Depending on the season, the multi floral spring and summer nectars give about one third to one half of the crop. Heathers usually dominate the mix, but can fail completely some years due to rain. Stocks overwinter on at least 30 lbs. of honey. Wintering on heather honey is not a problem, as mild winters allow plenty of […]
[…]one queen was dead upon delivery and two were found dead in cages introduced into colonies five days previously. I passed one queen onwards to a new beekeeper because I was struggling to give her a quality home. That may all sound bad, but it equated to around about an 80% success rate in introducing a lot of bees very […]
[…]to manage their lives” March 2. Lynne Ingram “Comb honey – a natural hive product” 9. Roger Patterson “Dave Cushman. A man and his website” 16. Lynfa Davies “Drones – their role in the colony” 23. Tony Jefferson “Heather Honey production” 30. Pete Sutcliffe “The hive as a processing centre” Bee Improvement. […]
[…]a smoker and keeping it by you in case you need it. Maintenance of smoker. A smoker along with a hive tool are important beekeeping tools. Make sure you have a good quality well made smoker, not a cheap poorly made one that will fall to bits. Keep it in good condition by making sure the bellows don’t leak. If […]
[…]the temper of the colony is not tested as it is queenright throughout. The colony can be set up oneday and queen-rearing can begin the next day, or even set up in the morning and grafted cells added in the afternoon. It is usually done with grafted larvae but works equally well with a Jenter or Cupkit larval transfer […]
[…]for carrying out the work is excellent, for in queen rearing one cannot put off a job even for oneday, it must be done on time. Each one of us seems to have carved out a task that we have made our own, we work well together, and find enjoyment in knowing we are making strides in improving our […]
[…]queens’ to produce our next generation of queens, we are also helping to select ‘good’ drones for next season. These drones, from unfertilised eggs, will be produced from the queens that we rear this season. Although queen matings may be a bit random and not necessarily within our chosen strain, we can make a difference, over time, to the local […]
[…]14×12 frames. This means that there are no other boxes involved and that the heaviest thing anyone has to lift is one frame. The height of the hive can easily be adjusted to suit the height of different wheelchairs or the beekeeper. Since the Club was formed, membership has grown steadily to almost 50, mainly with newcomers to beekeeping. One […]
[…]webinars to preview the 'classroom' side of things, it allowed the same to be delivered as a one-day event. Thanks must be given to Roger for his tireless efforts over the 10 days, for the preparation and delivery of the course and for adapting the approach each day depending upon what was discovered during the hive inspections. All hosts were also […]
[…]possible and should, of course, be free of disease. The frames should also contain as little drone brood and as few drones as possible. Two frames of brood and bees can be taken from colonies that are very strong. It is important to note that, contrary to some people’s expectations, the bees from different colonies will not act aggressively toward […]
£10 a head; tea and coffee provided, bring your own packed lunch Contact details Susan Fotheringham Bank details for BACS payments (preferred): Lloyds Bank Sort code: 30-98-97 Account number: 30350560 Directions: CLYDESMILL M74 southbound CLYDESMILL M74 […]
