June Roundup
Despite some very wet weather June does not seemed to have stopped the bees.  We are still hearing reports of swarms and smaller colonies are building up fast.  The NBU have advised of high counts varroa so do make sure you check your mite drop.
We were proud to support Bees for Development at their garden party at Marlborough house in late June.  What an enjoyable event it was.  Brilliantly organised by Bees for Development and very well attended.  Congratulations to all involved.

Equipment Focus………
As the season continues we start to see the orders for frames, foundation and hive parts gradually decline and the orders for honey processing equipment begin to rise.  We have so many pieces of kit to make this messy job just that little bit easier and enjoyable.
Our 25kg Mini Strainer and Tank is a really easy way to strain and then store your honey.  Simply extract straight into the 0.8mm stainless steel strainer (if you want a finer strain you could even attach a straining cloth directly underneath the built in coarse strainer).  Allow your honey to settle and then open the tap and jar directly from the tank.   Also includes a loose fitting lid to keep your honey nice and clean!

We also offer several strainers that can be used with other tanks and buckets.  
The Stainless Steel Double Slide Strainer has adjustable arms that can be used on a 30lb bucket or ideally a 40kg tank.  The coarse strainer mesh as an aperture of 1.5mm and the fine 0.5mm.
The very popular Nylon Double Strainer is ideal for 30lb buckets.  It is made from food grade plastic and nylon mesh – and is probably the most popular strainer we sell.  The strainers are 16 and 30 mesh per inch.

Finally the ever useful stainless steel conical strainer.  Ideal for a first coarse strain.  You can even hang the strainer over the tap of your extractor.

Ask our Expert
Beekeepers Back
Have you given much thought to how much your bees put you through? You do a lot of lifting and moving of boxes during your weekly inspections. I was always told you had to use your legs when lifting, and to keep your back straight. Oh yes, and don’t twist when lifting… So what do we do, lift heavy supers, twist and put them down, usually on the upturned roof on the floor, no wonder a lot of us suffer from bad backs.
I run a mixture of WBC and Nationals.
The WBC’s are fine; I get down on a kneeler and operate at ground level. The lifts of the outer case can give you a sensible operating height stand on which to park your supers.
To stop me from having to kneel down to my National hives, I decided to raise them up so that the top of the open brood box was at table height (28-32 inches). The stand needs to be knee-high so with the floor and brood box combined the open top is at table height.  The Twin Hive Stand is ideal. The stand has enough space to be able to park the supers to one side. Most of my hive stands are now too full with full hives and Nucleus hives, so I have built a small stand I can move from hive to hive and park supers on. The whole idea is to minimise the bending of the back when the spine is loaded with extra weight, you still need to move your feet instead of twisting your spine. So adjust your operating height, try to be kind to your back, and stay off the painkillers!

Bees for Development Update

Hundreds of supporters of Bees for Development gathered to celebrate bees and the work of the Charity in the gardens of Marlborough House, a former Royal Palace and HQ for The Commonwealth.

The BBC’s Martha Kearney, presenter of The Wonder of Bees, and Hive Alive hosted the event, together with fellow beekeeper, Classic FM’s Bill Turnbull. During the evening Martha Kearney interviewed some of the bee personalities enjoying the Party, including Peter Tompkins, Master of The Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers; artists Alex Hirtzel and Kurt Jackson; Jeweller Alex Monroe, author Laline Paull and stock-broker turned beekeeper Dale Gibson of Bermondsey Street Bees.

The Bee Garden Party was opened by Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland. Guests were initially greeted by the table of wonderful raffle prizes from autographed books to wines and jewellery. There were opportunities to taste honey with The London Honey Company and mead with New Quay Honey Farm. Guests enjoyed fantastic food and drinks featuring only bee-pollinated delicacies, with sparkling wine, organic gin fizz, mimosa cocktails, and Honey beer. The lively auction was run by self-styled bad beekeeper Bill Turnbull.

Hundreds of supporters of Bees for Development gathered to celebrate bees and the work of the Charity in the gardens of Marlborough House, a former Royal Palace and HQ for The Commonwealth.
 The BBC’s Martha Kearney, presenter of The Wonder of Bees, and Hive Alive hosted the event, together with fellow beekeeper, Classic FM’s Bill Turnbull. During the evening Martha Kearney interviewed some of the bee personalities enjoying the Party, including Peter Tompkins, Master of The Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers; artists Alex Hirtzel and Kurt Jackson; Jeweller Alex Monroe, author Laline Paull and stock-broker turned beekeeper Dale Gibson of Bermondsey Street Bees.
 The Bee Garden Party was opened by Secretary General of The Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland. Guests were initially greeted by the table of wonderful raffle prizes from autographed books to wines and jewellery. There were opportunities to taste honey with The London Honey Company and mead with New Quay Honey Farm. Guests enjoyed fantastic food and drinks featuring only bee-pollinated delicacies, with sparkling wine, organic gin fizz, mimosa cocktails, and Honey beer. The lively auction was run by self-styled bad beekeeper Bill Turnbull.
 Bill auctioned a range of exclusive lots featuring bee related treats, luxurious holidays, hampers and jewellery: a jar of his own honey raised £350 for the cause! The silent auction was a huge hit with guests bidding for treats such as champagne teas to bee- themed jewellery and artwork. Political Guests included Government Ministers Michael Gove and Lord Alli, while bee researcher Professor Dave Goulson promised that bees would feature in the following day’s news - topical new findings on neonicotinoid pesticides.
This year’s Bee Garden Party was a great success, and Bees for Development thanks the many companies and individuals who gave their time and contributed their skills and produce to create a fun evening to benefit bees and beekeepers in some of the world’s poorest countries.

The Bee Garden Party could not have taken place without fantastic support from E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd.

National Honey Show News
As you are checking your hives and assessing this year’s yield of honey, no doubt your thoughts will be on what happens next: bottling it, admiring it, eating it and selling it.  What makes your honey attractive to the buyer?  Is it the source location, the colour, the consistency,  the jar, the label, the overall presentation?  This is what showing is all about: learning the best tips on presenting and marketing the fruits of yours and your bees’ hard work. So you’ve been to your local honey show, maybe helped out in the bee tent and sold some honey at the county shows, but the most amazing show of all is the UK National Honey Show.  The £20 National Honey Show membership fee covers your admission to the exhibition and trade hall for all three days, attendance at all lectures where we now have much more space, it entitles you to exhibit in the special members’ entry classes, and to book places – from 1st September, via our website - on our popular programme of workshops.  You can pick up tips on presentation and marketing, ask questions, meet up with your beekeeping colleagues from across the country and best of all, watch this space for special offers on the Thornes stand at this year’s show.

The National Honey Show, 26 to 28 October 2017, Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, KT10 9AJ www.honeyshow.co.uk

Upcoming Events
Thornes of Scotland Sale Days     -     Friday 11th August 3.00pm to 5.00pm
Saturday 12th August 9.30am to 11.30am