From the President – Jo Widdicombe Trials and Tribulations – Frank Hilton Are you a Natural Beekeeper? – Brian Dennis Natural Beekeeping – Philip Denwood Racial Profiling of Mongrels – Paul Honigmann Bee Improvement and QR – R Patterson History of Manx beekeeping – Cilla Platt Making Increase – Brian Dennis Locally Adapted Bees – Wally Shaw Bee Races in…
Bee Improvement Magazine: subject index. Issues 1-25 to search the index type Ctrl+f (Cmd+f on Mac) to open search box Africa Beekman, Dr. Madeleine "The Cape invaders." 9, 12 Allergies Tarzi, Dr. M. D. "Allergy to hymenoptera venom." 9, 8 Apis mellifera mellifera Burry, Harris "Conserving biodiversity in the dark European honey bee." 2, 8 Crudgington, Dr. H.G. "Hygienic behaviour…
The improvement of bees is an important part of beekeeping. The suitability of bees to the environment and their temper are issues that concern the caring beekeeper, but are not often included in tuition. This course will cover many of the topics and techniques that will suit the "ordinary" beekeeper, with a large practical element
Pete Sutcliffe has been keeping bees for over thirty years now, having started out with two home-made WBCs inherited from his father. He now works in a beekeeping team with his wife: together they keep an average of 20 colonies on various sites in the Dane Valley in Cheshire. Following his retirement, Pete put himself through the various BBKA examinations…
Trisha keeps around 40 colonies of locally-adapted bees on six apiaries in the Welsh Marches, breeding her own queens selectively. Some apiaries are close to ling heather, others 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…
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
Improving bees by raising your own 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…
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.
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.
Rearing your own queens is a cost effective way to ensure the continuity of your hives, grow your stock and improve the quality and temperament of your bees. This practical, 2 day workshop covers a range the topics and techniques to suit the “ordinary” beekeeper. It includes a large practical element that is easy to understand and apply without the…
Rearing your own queens is a cost effective way to ensure the continuity of your hives, grow your stock and improve the quality and temperament of your bees. This practical, 2 day workshop covers a range the topics and techniques to suit the “ordinary” beekeeper. It includes a large practical element that is easy to understand and apply without the…
Over the summer months, BIBBA is broadcasting a series of live apiary demonstrations. The events will be live streamed on YouTube which will allow an unlimited audience, but they will not be able to ask questions. A limited number of BIBBA members will be able to sign up to a WhatsApp group, where they will be able to post questions…
Live @ The Hive Roger Patterson brings you live sessions direct from West Sussex. Drawing on over 50years experience, countless talks & a bee farming business, Roger brings his practical knowledge and tips direct to your digital device. The weather makes dates and times of the sessions a little difficult to predict. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel to…
Finding queens in Spring, and marking and clipping them whenever necessary, has become an integral part of my seasonal beekeeping programme. Advice from Micheál Mac Giolla Coda
Report On Visit To Jutland Report by Tom Robinson This is an account of The British Bee Farmers Associations Spring meeting to West Jutland, Denmark in the spring of 2003. On Thursday 13 March we flew from Standsted to Esbjerg taking the bus to Rinkobing Fjord to stay in our base of the Hotel Fjordgarden where David Ashton, who is…
The main purpose of this systemis its versatility and to have an additional use so you always double its value in purpose, and it's not lying around for the best part of the year unused. Given the choice honeybees prefer vertical narrow empty spaces with unlimited depth, and just enough space to build 5 or6 combs side by side...
What are honey bees, anyway? Bees of all kinds belong to the order of insects known as Hymenoptera, literally "membrane wings". This order, comprising some 100,000 species,
Margie Ramsay reports on a project reintroducing A.m.m. to a reserve in Scotland. Update July 2015 In 1905, just before the First World War there was a 20 year long bee plague called Isle of Wight disease which was considered by many, including bee breeder Brother Adam, to have eradicated the native subspecies of dark European honeybee Apis mellifera mellifera…
We know everyone is busy, but thought we'd draft a little newsletter of the topics covered in March and April. Tried to keep it short, but please get in touch if you need more information on any of the topics. Links and names have been included to try help you Google your way. As with all our communications - please…
A problem that has long been with us, has been to find a mating site that gives reasonable isolation. We have used sites several hundred miles from our base. These include Spurn Point on the East Coast, and the Elan Valley in Wales. The restriction on movement of bees when varroa arrived put an end to such travelling, and over…
Queen raising – Alan Brown Burzyan wild-hive honeybees – R. A. Ilyasov, M. N. Kosarov. A. Neal, F. G. Yumaguzhin Queen rearing on the Isle of Man – John Evans The SMARTBEES project – Jo Widdicombe Conferences and Workshops – Roger Patterson Working for a better bee – Mark Edwards Polynucs – Peter Edwards QR at Keepers Cottage – Peter…
The article below is based on a lecture given by Philip Denwood to the SICAMM Conference in Landquart, Switzerland, on 1st September 2012 Articles by Dr. Dorian Pritchard,1 and by Norman Carreck2 of the Laboratory of Social Insects at Sussex, have presented the evidence, convincing in my opinion, for the immigration of the honey bee into mainland Britain across the…
BIFA Days – Roger Patterson Moonlight Mating – Philip Denwood Pure Mating by Time Isolation – John E Dews Ownership of a Swarm – Brian Dennis Annual General Meeting Agenda – Secretary Annual Accounts – Treasurer Trustees Report – Chairman Draft Minutes – Secretary BIFA meeting in Sussex – James Norfolk Book Review – Philip Denwood Patron Saints – Brian…
Peter Jenkins has kept bees since the age of 14, a period of over 50 years. He now keeps around 40 colonies of near native bees in and around the marginal areas of Cardiganshire. Spending most of his working life as a Chartered Engineer working around the world on marine and naval projects has meant that, for many years, he…
Looking for the best bees – M. Meixner & R Büchler Introduction of exotic bees – Brian Dennis Echoes from the past 2014 Conference – Margaret Murdin BIBBA/SICAMM Conference – Roger Patterson BIBBA/SICAMM Conference – Dorian Pritchard SHB press release – COLOSS
The Harding Hive Debris Floor - John Harding Three fertile queens in one colony - Roger Patterson Variation in susceptibility to bee diseases among European races of honey bees - Dinah Sweet Isle of Wight disease in Warwickshire - Brian Milward Griff Jenkins - obituary by Albert Knight Queens entombed in wax - Norman Walsh Reply to Robin Dean’s article…
A key question any individual or group should consider is what method should I/we follow to Improve our bees and to produce queens. There are a few key choices depending on your aims, capacity (time and equipment) and capabilities. I’m assuming the reader is looking for a bee that is native and/or locally adapted.
List of PresentationsTuesday 18th August 7:30pm - Roger Patterson - “Dead Bees Don't Buzz - Surviving the Winter "Tuesday 25th August 7:30pm - Lynfa Davies - “The Mystery of Mating”Tuesday 1st September 7:30pm - Roger Patterson - “Challenge what you are told……….”Tuesday 8th September 7:30pm - Peter Jenkins - "The KISS Approach"
Assessment of Colonies A fundamental part of the National Bee Improvement Programme will be the assessment of our colonies. A quick and easy system of recording qualities is vital to the selection of our breeder queens. Selection of these breeders not only allows us to raise the next generation of queens but also plays an important role in producing a…
CONSERVING BLACK BEES (Apis mellifera mellifera) in the Hebrides, Scotland by ANDREW ABRAHAMS, via the American Bee Journal Readers might ask, why on earth spend much of a lifetime conserving what most beekeepers perceive as an aggressive, unproductive race of honey bee — a race perhaps left behind by history? I was fortunate, often by chance rather than grand design,…
Last year, I did several splits including splits of all my favourite breeder colonies in mid-August. It was a slight gamble where I live in Cheshire but the weather was fair and the outlook very similar. Roger mentioned that I was out of action from last September (2 months to get walking, a year to pass a medical to get…
Beowulf Cooper book New Year Message from the President Record Cards – options on what criteria and how to score them The NatBIP Guide and the Record Card
Lighting the smoker and keeping it lit seems to be a major problem to many beekeepers. This is something I have never been able to understand, because it has nothing to do with learning beekeeping, it has more to do with school science lessons and common sense. How many beekeepers do you see who fill the firebox up with fuel,…
Queen Rearing Methods There are so many techniques of queen rearing, and so much has been written about them, that it may seem unwise to add any more. Studying too many methods can be a source of much confusion and leave one overwhelmed and unsure of how to proceed. Like most things in beekeeping, the best way to learn is…
Use of plastic foundation in the Apidea mini-nucs Use of Syrup instead of candy in Mini-nucs Use of cut comb containers for candy Grafting using a magnifier and torch Preparation of cell raising colonies Use of a cell transporter Use of an incubator for hatching queen cells
OUR NEW BREEDING APIARY Dr Fred J Ayres, Chair of Trustees, Lune Valley Community Beekeepers Lune Valley Community Beekeepers was founded in June 2016 by a small group of beekeepers who wanted to engage in more bee-centric rather than beekeeper-centric approaches to beekeeping, and adopt a focus on improving the environment for bees rather than producing honey. These approaches included:…
£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 northbound
Hosted by: Norwich and District Beekeeping Club Venue: University of East Anglia, Dev Farm, Bluebell Road, Norwich, Norfolk. NR4 7TJ Cost: Inc lunch/refreshments £65 before May 1st, £75 afterwards Details and booking: Stewart Spinks. 01603 402130, 07889 727 543, info@norfolk-honey.co.uk
