lydney apiary: oxalic acid & Candy

Well I have happy to report that all the hives are still alive at the lydney apiary. All have now been treated with oxalic acid. Many now have their 2nd block of candy as they had mostly eaten their first block. The hive which we hope to use for queen rearing the double brood looks strong so an ideal hive. Only hive 9 looks weak so we are not sure if it will survive. The mower has been taken for a service, so everything is getting ready for the new season to start.

there was much chat about various aspects of beekeeping, and there was going to be some discussion on the dean forest website about some idea involving baby oil to help keep the vaoroa board clean.

Will report back in about 1 week after we have checked the number of varroa that has been killed.

Dean Forest Beekeepers New Website

Well thanks to the very hard work of one of the members dean forest has an excellent new website which is at www.deanforestbeekeepers.co.uk It is so full of information that I don't know where to start. One of my favourite areas is the forums, and I cannot wait to see what interesting topics get discussed there. I also hopping to see lots of photos on there of bee related things. Anyway it is well worth a visit.

change in entry qualifications for Basic Bee examination

Recent received a copy of a letter sent by Jim who amongst the many jobs he does for the dean forest bees runs the basic beekeeping course. I was appeal and shocked to read in the letter the the BBKA have changed the entry requirements before you can be assesed for the basic examination. Jim's letter is below, and having taken the course last year I could not agree with him more every beekeeper should aim to do a course or get regular help from an experience beekeeper before keeping bees, and the BBKA seem to have moved away from this..anyway here's Jims letter

As Trainer for the Dean Forest Branch of Gloucestershire BKA, about to start lectures for this year’s basic course, I am very concerned about the change the BBKA has made to the conditions of entry for the Basic Assessment. In past years “the candidate shall have managed at least one colony of bees for a minimum of 12 months or have attended a course in practical beekeeping”. This year the alternative choice to attend a course has been removed.

As there is no mention of a course in the prospectus, candidates could present themselves for the Basic, having received no formal training whatsoever. I attended the BBKA Forum on 3rd October 2009 which focussed on education. Is this one of the outcomes of this forum?

One of the aims of the BBKA Forum was to improve the quality of demonstrators and trainers. This change in entry conditions is a vote of no confidence in all the voluntary trainers giving up their time to promote the art of beekeeping. This change will also discourage new beekeepers from taking their Basic. Let us also remember that this assessment is meant to be “basic”. An extra hurdle has been introduced. Beekeepers will hopefully take a course early in the year, obtain their bees, and then in the second year probably have to take a refresher course to cover the oral part of the basic, which is two-thirds of the assessment. This will be added work for the trainers and demonstrators.

In Ireland, under the Federation of Irish Beekeepers (FIBKA), newcomers are given the opportunity at the Gormanston Summer School to attend lectures and demonstrations for three days, and then take the FIBKA equivalent of a basic assessment. The standard of the Irish basic is much lower than the BBKA version, but it does ensure that potential beekeepers can start their new hobby with the requisite knowledge.

I have been training beekeepers for three seasons, with all my candidates achieving passes at the Basic Assessment. The potential beekeepers, who attend my course, receive 12 hours of lectures, with detailed handouts, and then attend 6 practical sessions of 2 hours each at the branch apiary, where they practice handling bees under instruction.The candidate performs most of the work and learns to handle the bees correctly. In addition we run weekly apiary meetings where potential beekeepers are team members managing their own hives within the branch apiary.When they get their first nucleus we also provide as much assistance as they need. There have been a mixture of experienced beekeepers and newcomers. I find that the experienced, who have received no formal training, have the most difficulty handling bees as they have developed bad habits. Their knowledge of modern practices, especially Integrated Pest management, is also lacking.

By changing the conditions the BBKA will make it more difficult for beekeepers to take their Basic Assessment, and have added to the workload of all the voluntary trainers throughout the country. It may also put the bees in danger. If someone, who knows nothing about bees, just buys, or is given as a gift, a hive and bees, the bees are very often unknowingly mistreated. It is then that members of the association are called upon to sort out a crisis, or the bees are left to die at the end of the first season, due to lack of knowledge of the so-called beekeeper.

Ivor Davis wrote an article in the BBKA News in December 2007, and I quote:

“The Basic qualification is much like the driving licence – but for honeybees. Once you have taken it (and the pass rate is well over 95%) it shows that the beekeeper is competent to keep bees.”

There has obviously been a change in opinion since this article was written. This clearly states that the Basic qualification shows the beekeeper is competent to keep bees, not that beekeepers should keep bees as a pre-requisite to taking the Basic Assessment. With a pass rate of 95%, what was wrong with the previous conditions of entry for the Basic Assessment?

Tintern Apiary: Oxalic Acid

Hi All
Here we go with my first Blog, this hopefully will be a fun way of keeping you all informed of stuff which is happening in the my bee world. Well today was the day for the oxalic acid at my home apiary at Tintern. The important thing with doing the acid is the weather and after an early frost this morning a lovely sunny day, with the temperature at 5 degrees celicus was perfect. So firstly after working out wheather to use the syringe or the tricle bottle off we went with both methods in hand to give it ago.

The acid is to only be used once a year and when there is no brood in the hive, temperature has to be between 3 and 7 and you give 5ml per seem of bees. The aim is to kill the rest of the varroa whist it is on the bees and not hiding in the brood. Interestingly the is only a small percentage of acid the rest is sugar and water, so really just feeding the hive. Read more at this website. Well the first hive would have to be the most powerful of the 8 hives we did today, with an incredible 8 seems of bees to do. should of choose a weaker hive to start. A few came out to say hello, they were eating their candy nicely.

Well all went well and all the hives where done in no time. Somehow or another a bee managed to get up the back and my suit and sting me, that will teach me for not putting on the full suit and only the half suit. A few more bees where flying than I expected.