September Roundup
September is always taken up with the Windsor and Stockbridge Sale Days. Both events were well attended and the weather didn’t let us down at all! It takes a lot of work to prepare for these sales so well done and thank you to everyone in our merchandising and despatch departments. We have a very slick team who come down from Rand to the southern branches – and this year we even introduced a new member of the team – Chris - to our Windsor customers. So, a big thank you to Colin, Stuart, Andy, Anthony and Chris for all their hard work during these days. It’s always nice for the guys to get out and about and meet the customers. Finally, well done to Bob, Lin and Chris for making these days so successful and enjoyable. You all do an amazing job!
Windsor Sale Day – a little while after opening.
Stockbridge Sale Day – getting ready!
Chris, Stuart, Andy and Anthony - our team……(minus Colin!)
We are all ready to go for the Rand Sale and Open Day and the National Honey Show. Remember you can order now for collection at either of these events (insert sales link)
Equipment Focus………
Uncapping tray and wax/honey separator
If you have several hives these bits of kit will be invaluable.
A heated tray will increase your uncapping process greatly. You will of course generate a large amount of molten wax and honey. As this builds up it is a very good idea to have a wax/honey separator situated under the drain-off spout.
As the molten mixture pours into the separator the off-set baffle comes into play. The honey, under pressure from the beeswax floating on top, is forced under the baffle and up the smaller chamber, finally running out of the spout.
The wax, in the larger chamber, sitting on top of the honey runs out of the upper spout on the other side.
Wax/Honey Separator only £35 (introductory offer). Uncapping Tray £294
Ask our Expert
How Many Hives should I have?
A lot of people when they start beekeeping don’t usually consider where their new hobby may lead them. They start with one hive in the first year, this then increases to two in the second year, as a result of a split if they are in control, or as the result of a swarm if the bees got away from them…
My own beekeeping started with a gift of a hive; the following year there were two, the following four, then eight… whoa! I discovered 14 hives were too many for me with a full time job, and young children.
You should consider how many colonies you want to overwinter from the outset. This number can double in the season if you take into account swarm control and the raising of new queens. You may need up to twice the number of boxes you plan to overwinter.
A single hive is never a long term prospect. If you only have one colony and it becomes queenless you have very few options. The best test to confirm a hive is queenless, is to give the hive a frame of eggs from another hive to see if Queen Cells are created (so where are you going to get them from?). This usually confirms the prognosis, and often fixes the issue. If you only want to run a single hive you should get yourself a spare hive, or a Nucleus hive to control swarming and raise yourself a new queen.
You can “retire” the old queen into a nucleus, or spare hive during the spring (a nucleus will generate you fresh comb). The primary colony will re-queen itself. You can hang on to the old queen as an insurance policy, just in case the new Queen turns out to be a dud, fails to mate properly, or fails in early life. Should this happen you can reunite the two back together. Once you are sure your new queen is laying well, you can either dispose of the old Queen and unite the nucleus back to boost the original colony; or you can sell or pass on the Nucleus to another beekeeper. I try to keep a spare nucleus of bees to the end of the season, as you never know what the season will throw at you.
I find if I have three colonies on a site, one will be doing very well, another will be on a sabbatical compared to its previous year performance, and the third will be doing my head in! Next year they will all have changed roles… But at least with three hives I will always have options! * I have a supply of fresh drawn comb, a spare Queen, Queen-cells (if I remove my spare Queen), eggs, sealed brood, and even stores if required.
*Note - Always make sure you check for disease before moving frames around between your hives.
So give some consideration over the winter period to how much kit you need; it’s good to have a plan…. even if it doesn’t survive encounter with the enemy
Bees for Development Update
Bill Turnbull and Professor Tom Seeley
Invite you to join us for our annual Bee Quiz with supper (nibbles and drink on arrival, baked potato with choice of fillings and ice-cream), wine and bee chat on Friday evening of the National Honey Show, 27 October.
Booking your trip to the Honey show? This is THE best way to spend Friday evening.
Good company and fun, supporting Bees for Development. Sandown Park KT10 9RT, from 6.15pm.
Come as a Team, or on your own and we'll organise tables. Early-bird tickets available now £15. Later bird tickets bought at The Show, £20.
To buy tickets call us on 01600 714848 or click here
You do not have to pay entrance to The Honey Show to attend this evening event.
Bees for Development has been working in Mbale, Uganda since 2014. We have helped set up a beekeeper mentoring scheme whereby a group of existing beekeepers were selected for further training – provided they agreed to pass on their skills and knowledge to other people in their communities. The selected beekeepers are called Community-Based Beekeeper Trainers (CBBT). Joseph Masayi, a primary school teacher, was selected as a CBBT and attended a series of training days to help him progress personally, and also to give him new knowledge to pass on to others. “As a primary teacher in a government school I earn little salary, just £70 a month. I wanted to do more beekeeping both to teach school children and also earn money from selling honey. In fact I have been successful and the Uganda Martyrs University has started bringing students to learn from my apiary. Imagine! University students visiting a primary school to learn!”. Joseph has 15 hives and ten are occupied with bees. Between November 2016 to April 2017 Joseph harvested 154kg of honey and used the proceeds to pay for his daughter’s university fees. He also sold a little beeswax as well. In Joseph’s family beekeeping is infectious. After seeing that her University fees were coming from bees, Joseph’s daughter, Betta, has started beekeeping too and she now has 4 colonies, and his wife, Lucy, has 8.
True to the purpose of the CBBT mentoring scheme Joseph has been training other farmers and helping them get started as beekeepers. In 2015 Laurence Namukhone had no hives and no beekeeping knowledge – but with Joseph’s help he now has 15 colonies, comfortably housed in local-style beehives. But it has not been easy. Some of Laurence’s neighbours took against the idea of bees, and damaged his apiary. Yet Laurence had already seen the benefit of bees having earned more than £200 since he started. This money helped him to pay for the school fees for his four children. So Laurence is determined to repair his damaged apiary and invest more effort in beekeeping. Joseph is also advising him on how, together, they can convince his neighbours that bees are brilliant!
http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/
National Honey Show News
The National Honey Show isn't just a honey show. There is much more to it. Trade stands, lectures and workshops to suit all interests and experience levels. It really is a great event for all beekeepers.
Trade stands. Browse and buy books and equipment for next season. Get new ideas for your Christmas list.
Lectures. Three full days of presentations to help beekeepers understand and keep their bees better, including both scientific and practical topics.
BeeCraft lectures on Friday feature some of the exciting work being researched by scientists
Beginners Programme on Saturday.
Workshops are on all three days covering a wide variety of topics. Spaces are limited and are bookable online only.
See the website for full details of the exciting programme.
The National Honey Show, 26 to 28 October 2017, Sandown Park Racecourse, Esher, KT10 9AJ www.honeyshow.co.uk
Upcoming Events
Rand Sale and Open Day - Saturday 14th October 10am onwards
National Honey Show - 26th to 28th October
We are now taking orders for collection at the Rand Sale and Open Day and the National Honey Show. (insert link to our sale page here please!!)
