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April Roundup
After all the cold weather in March we were really hoping spring would start in April. Apart from a few days of sun we have been very disappointed!!
The BBKA Spring Convention did dawn bright and sunny. The one day show worked well for the traders and we were kept busy all day long. We also had several tonnes of wax traded in for fresh premier foundation.
We have been busy stocking the new shop in Devon.
The opening weekend is Saturday 5th to Monday 7th May. Come along over the bank holiday weekend and take advantage of 10% off across the whole store plus a chance to win a complete National Hive, a warming cabinet, large copper smoker and vouchers.
Our new shop managers Abigail and Gail will be there to say hello and Gill, Paul and Rebecca are making the trip south for the opening event.
We will also have 10% off across the whole store until Saturday 12th May.
The shop is at Quince Honey Farm, South Molton, North Devon, EX36 3AZ. The phone number is 01769 572587 and the email address is devon@thorne.co.uk.
Email us at sales@thorne.co.uk for more information.
Equipment Focus………
Stainless Steel Queen Excluders and Frame Runners
We introduced National stainless steel excluders two years ago because of the VMD approval of MAQS.
MAQS is an aggressive Varroa treatment using formic acid. This acid will readily corrode ferrous metals such as galvanised frame runners, regular galvanised excluders, slotted steel excluders and even roof metals (as can often be seen by corrosion near upper roof vents).
Our stainless steel wire excluders are assembled here at Rand and are probably the strongest on the market being glued and screwed together using sixteen stainless steel screws. All our National and Commercial hives come complete with stainless steel excluders as standard.
If you prefer the completely flat excluder then why not try our Rand excluder? Made of 304 stainless steel with a mirror finish, the Rand excluder, is ideal if you are using any chemical treatments.
Similarly, our stainless steel frame runners are made here on our own specialised machine tools. Available to fit National, Commercial, Smith and Dadant hives.
To, to ensure your National excluders and runners do not corrode by using aggressive acid treatments look no further than Thornes.
Ask our Expert
We often have questions asking about shook swarms – if, when and how??
If you think you have a notifiable disease you should call the Bee Unit and inform your local Bee Inspector. If the bees are healthy a Bailey Comb Change is kinder, as you don’t sacrifice all the unborn brood in the colony. However, doing a shook swarm is the quickest way to get your bees onto fresh comb.
To avoid taking any disease or infections from the original hive to the new one, the process is done without smoke. You don’t want the bees filling their crops with honey that may contain bacteria, viruses or any other infected media.
Move the original hive a couple of meters away from its current position. On the original site place a fresh floor with a queen excluder and then a brood box full of new combs on top. (The Queen excluder is to stop the Queen and colony from absconding, as the Queen will be at her laying weight and shouldn’t be able to get out through the excluder). Remove the middle two, or three frames from the new brood box; this creates the void into which you will shake your bees.
Now you take one comb at a time from the original box, inspect it to see if the queen is on it… if she is you may want to store her away in a Queen Clip until you have finished all the shaking. If you do, don’t forget to add her back to the colony as you close up.
Place the old comb in the gap in the new brood box and shake vigorously to dislodge all the bees. New/young bees cling on hardest, as they haven’t used their wings much yet. Now place the old comb into a sealed box, or bag to stop bees robbing from it, or re-orientating on to it.
Once all the bees have been shaken into the new box, add the Queen if you found her during the process, then put on a cover board, with a feeder with light syrup. This will allow the colony to recover even if the weather becomes inclement.
The old nest is disposed of. This may seem somewhat draconian, but often it is the brood that harbours the diseases, and Varroa. Some people use this process as a method of swarm control, by giving young bees lots to do, in the form of building a new home, it reduces the need and urge to swarm.
The Queen excluder can be removed after a few days, when the queen has started laying a new nest, as bees will seldom abandon eggs and larvae.
One final note! If you find one or two swarm cells later on in the summer…DON’T destroy them. The stress of creating a new colony nest has taken its toll on your queen, and as the old girl is failing the bees are rewarding her by superseding her. This often happens with swarms as well. Leave them to get on with it; you should get a good new queen from the process.
Beekeeping Blog
April
This month we have been able to get out with the bees! In the warm weather we experienced in the middle of the month, we were able to carry out the first inspection of the year. The results were pleasantly surprising, with many colonies doing better than expected, given the terrible weather we’ve had so far this year.
Last month, we treated with Apivar. In the last four weeks, we have seen a steady mite drop. Apivar is a longer treatment process than some others but it does hit the mites at all stages in their breeding cycle during the weeks it is in the hive. This gives a lower mite drop in the first instance but a larger mite drop overall.
We plan to feed the hives that need it with syrup shortly as the temperatures are predicted to rise, which will give the bees a boost as their colonies increase in size. There are quite a few drones appearing at the moment and with some of the larger colonies expanding rapidly, we are keeping a close eye out for the first signs of swarming!
Bees for Development Update
Bees for Development at RHS Chelsea Flower Show May 22-26
Join our Patrons Bill Turnbull, Monty Don and Martha Kearney and visit the Bees for Development stand in the Great Pavilion at this month’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Bees for Development won this fabulous opportunity to appear at the Show, and E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd are generously creating the special display emphasising the value of bees for pollination of world crops, featuring food crops from allspice to watermelon, and fibres like cotton and linen. Find us at Stand 103 in the Discovery Area and watch out for us in coverage of this year’s Show!
Cashew nuts and honey
Among the produce we are displaying at Chelsea will be cashew nuts - do you know that the cashew nut tree keeps on flowering and fruiting for six months? This makes it an especially valuable source of income for smallholders in Ghana. However there is a problem: research shows that outside its natural home of Brazil, cashew trees often suffer from lack of pollination because many pollinating insect species have short life-cycles that cannot keep up with the long flowering season. Enter the honeybee! Beekeeping and cashew growing are a perfect combination. The bees do well on the plentiful supply of nectar, and honey harvests are good. And as the bee colonies build up they can provide the pollination services, week after week. At Bees for Development in Ghana we are now scaling up our work, helping more smallholders learn how to keep bees. “I have already harvested more cashew nuts than last year – and I am only half way through the season. I thank the bees for this change”, Daniel Mwama, Techiman, Ghana.
A beautiful comb of cashew honey from a top-bar hive, harvested in April 2018
Win a pair of original paintings by Kate Osborne
Bees for Development’s 25th Birthday Giveaway offers fantastic prizes every month of 2018. For May the fantastic prize is a pair of original, framed paintings of bees by artist Kate Osborne. Kate works in watercolour with the minimum of compositional drawing, attempting to capture the beautiful, transitory nature of bees in flight. For a chance to win this unique pair of paintings, enter your details here: www.beesfordevelopment.org/giveaway/index.html. Congratulations to Paula Carnell, winner of April’s Digital Refractometer.
Bees in flight by Kate Osborne
National Honey Show News
For this year’s National Honey Show, it would be great to see a bumper crop of competitive entries.
We know many associations get together for the delivery of entries, and if you can add to the list below, do let your local newsletter editor know
However, if you would like to enter but can’t get down to book entries in on the Wednesday, there are more options. There are various collection points around the country where you can deliver your entries, and there are various options for what happens at the end of the show. The Gift Classes are sorted, no need to worry. You can collect entries in person on Saturday afternoon, or arrange for the stewards to package them up again and return them with the carrier who brought them to the show.
Additional collection points are:
Any Thornes Shop:
Beehive Business Park, Rand, Market Rasen, Lincs, LN8 5NJ (including the Rand Open Day 13th October)
Thornes of Windsor, Oakley Green Farm, Oakley Green, Windsor, Berks, SL4 4PZ
Thornes of Stockbridge, Chilbolton Down Farm, Chilbolton Down, Stockbridge, Hampshire, SO20 6BU
Thornes of Devon, Quince Honey Farm, North Road, South Molton, Devon, EX36 3AZ
Thornes of Scotland, Newburgh Industrial Estate, Cupar Road, Newburgh, Fife, KY14 6HA
Maisemore Apiaries, Old Road, Maisemore, Gloucestershire, GL2 8HT
B J Sherriff, Carclew Rd, Mylor Downs, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 5UN
Northern Bee Books, Scout Bottom La/Scout Rd, Hebden Bridge, W Yorkshire HX7 5JS
You will obviously need to send in entry forms to our organisers as usual. Not yet – around September. You will need to contact the companies above beforehand. Entries should be boxed up and labelled securely. These volunteer companies are only delivering, YOU are responsible for presentation and ensuring compliance with rules and regs, and making sure entries are delivered in good time and by arrangement, ideally by Thursday 18th October.
It’s going to be great, and we look forward to a super-stunning event.
The National Honey Show, 25 to 27 October 2018, Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, KT10 9AJ www.honeyshow.co.uk.
Upcoming Events
Thornes of Devon, Grand Opening Weekend - Saturday 5th May 10am – 5pm
More information on our website - Sunday 6th May 10am – 5pm - Monday 7th May 10am – 3pm
An Introduction to Beekeeping - Saturday 26th May
One day beginners course
Rand Head Office
An Introduction to Beekeeping - Saturday 16th June
One day beginners course
Rand Head Office
Summer opening hours
Rand, head office Mon – Fri 9am – 5.30pm
sales@thorne.co.uk Sat 9am – 3pm
01673 858555
Thornes of Scotland Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm
scotland@thorne.co.uk Sat 9am – 12 noon
01337 842596
Thornes of Windsor Tues – Sat 10am – 5pm
windsor@thorne.co.uk
01753 830256
Thornes of Stockbridge Tues – Fri 9am – 5pm
stockbridge@thorne.co.uk Sat 9am – 4pm
01264 810916
Thornes of Devon Mon – Sat 10am – 5pm
devon@thorne.co.uk
01769 573086
