October Roundup
Didn’t October just fly by??? We had our annual Open and Sale Day at the head office in Rand, Lincolnshire. The weather was kind and we had several hundred beekeepers enjoying the bargain shed, collecting their orders, converting their wax and browsing the shop – not to mention sampling some of the delicious food on offer in our restaurant.
The final event of the year for us was the National Honey Show. For the second year this was held at Sandown Racecourse in Esher. It was very well attended with great lectures, workshops, exhibits and of course the trade hall. We tried to take a very wide range of equipment and showcased some of our new products. We hope you all enjoyed the show and try to put it in your diary again for next year.
During October we also enjoyed a short visit to Chaillac in France as guests of Veto-pharma. Apivar has recently been licensed in the UK and we will be supplying beekeepers later this year.
Equipment Focus………
We are pleased to offer this nifty queen cage – the Quintrex Cage.
Made from expanded metal, this cage is designed to introduce a queen over sealed brood. The cage has sharp edges which are necessary to secure the cage onto the comb. It is very strong and can be sterilized in boiling water if using on different hives.
There are two holes covered with swivel gates: one is for introducing the queen and the other is for placing fondant in the feed tunnel. Please note the gates will be stiff at first until they are ‘worked’.
The new, laying queen is trapped between sealed brood and the Quintrex cage. This gives the colony a chance to get used to her pheromones. Meanwhile, workers eat their way through the fondant towards the queen.
Sealed brood emerges from beneath the cage and because she is the only queen these newly hatched bees have ever known, she is immediately accepted.
£6
Ask our Expert
Something a little different this month. We don’t think all our TS Candle making customers realise that we manufacture our silicone candle moulds ourselves. This is done by Brian, our Newburgh branch manager in Scotland. Below is a brief overview of how he makes them and the work involved!!
What started out as a winter “infill” job for yours truly! about 8 years ago is now a part big part of the Thornes operation in Scotland. It has taken many many years to perfect what is a very technical and at times challenging job. All our moulds are individually handmade with great care taken at each part of the process.
The first task when creating a brand-new candle mould is to create a ‘master’. These masters are made from very hard resin, as they are continually used to create the silicone moulds. In fact, we have several identical masters for some of the most popular moulds. The metal spike protruding from the top creates the wick hole in the mould while the bar attached to the spike creates the groove where the excess wick sits.
The mould masters are then setup ready to pour the silicone. We use a very high-grade silicone which has been proven over the years to give best results with the moulds lasting many years.
The silicone is very carefully weighed out. The curing activator is then added to the silicone and thoroughly mixed in.
All air is then removed from this mixture and we are ready to pour the moulds.
The mixture is then ready to pour into the containers holding the masters. Once poured the silicone mixture will need to sit and cure for at least 24 hours.
The photo below shows masters on the left all set up for a pouring and moulds on the right sitting curing.
The masters are then carefully removed from the cured silicone.
Some moulds are then cut down the length of one side which facilitates the easy release of the candle.
The moulds are then labelled, checked and packed up to be sent to Rand for despatch all over the world.
The process then starts all over again, after the masters are thoroughly cleaned of course!!
A very unique job with many quirks. In fact, I have many secret processes when making the moulds which I don’t even share with HQ!!!!!!!!!!
Here is one of the finished products! TS25 – Skep and Bees
These silicone moulds can be used for years. If carefully looked after you can make 100s of candles from each mould.
We have over 250 designs to choose from so why not turn your spare wax into candles this year?
Bees for Development Update
11-12 November 2017 Treatment free beekeeping in horizontal hives with Dr Leo Sharashkin of Missouri, USA
Weekend Course on beekeeping with a natural approach. Dr Leo Sharashkin is a proponent of Layens’ design of horizontal hive, popular in France and Spain. Leo lives on a forest homestead in southern Missouri, USA, where he does non-timber forestry work (wild-growing black walnuts and pine nuts) and manages an apiary with various horizontal hive models. He propagates bees only by swarming, never feeds them sugar, never treats them with any chemicals or medicines, and otherwise follows natural beekeeping principles.
Dr Sharashkin is editor of the English edition of Georges de Layens’ Complete guide to Apiculture, as well as Keeping Bees With a Smile. He writes for American Bee Journal, Bees for Development Journal, The Beekeepers Quarterly, and Acres USA, and speaks internationally on sustainable beekeeping, organic growing, and earth-friendly living. He holds a PhD in Forestry from the University of Missouri. Price: £325 includes tuition, refreshments and lunch on both days, and VAT. Venue: Ragman’s Farm GL17 9PA. Last few places still available - call 01600 714848 or click here to book.
SAVE THE DATE - Your donation will be doubled 28 November - 5 December
Bees for Development’s Big Give Christmas Appeal this year is to restore forests for bees and beekeepers in north Ethiopia. During 28 Nov - 5 December, all donations will be doubled! Please go to www.thebiggive.org.uk/christmas-challenge/ or www.beesfordevelopment.org
National Honey Show News
After the highs of this year’s show, which was over far too quickly, it’s a good time while fresh in our minds to sink into the armchair, have a relaxing think and make some plans for next season.
• What are our beekeeping plans for next year?
• Are there workshops we would like to see on the National Honey Show programme to take advantage of? Suggest them to the team.
• Did we think we could do just as well if not better than some of the exhibits? Perhaps we could give it a go next time? Try out something new in the local and county classes first?
• Do we want to get more involved? Stewarding is a small commitment with a lot of fun and being part of the team has great rewards.
• What can we do to fire up our local Association to take the show by storm? Enter something a bit more ambitious (there’s plenty of help and advice available, ask the team, contact us via the website)
• Float the idea of a coach visit from your area.
Whatever your interest the National Honey Show team look forward to welcoming you all for an even bigger and better show next year.
The National Honey Show, 25 to 27 October 2018, Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, KT10 9AJ www.honeyshow.co.uk
Upcoming Events
Polycarbonate Candle Mould/Equipment Sale -Ends Monday 13th November
Black Friday Sale -24th to 27th November
Winter Sale -Saturday 30th December at 00.01am
Special Announcement
• Thornes can now offer a more personal wax conversion service.
• If you (or a group of beekeeping friends) have at least 500lbs/225kgs, (or multiples of 500lbs) of beeswax, we can convert this into foundation.
• We guarantee you will get your own beeswax back so you have peace of mind knowing its provenance.
• Any size of foundation is available. Just advise the approximate number of sheets you require
• Price is just £1.00 per pound
• Wiring, if required is extra.
For more details call 01673 858555 or email sales@thorne.co.uk
