April: Beginners practical classes start

Don't be fooled by this sense of calm...

This apiary is about to get very busy, because today is the day the beginners practical summer course gets up and running....

These folk don't look at all nervous do they?

I'm not sure they all know exactly what they've let themselves in for...

Starting with checking what the bees are taking into the hives...

a quick check of the notes from the last inspection of last year...

A whiff of smoke...

and the roofs are off...

The first frames are levered out...

All eyes down to find the queen!!

Many hands  make light work...

The weather was (just about) kind to us and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves.  Now if we could just ensure that every Saturday is like this from next week till September we'll be alright!

Isn't it lovely to see the apiary busy again?

April: Bees and Ducks

The weather was certainly better suited to ducks than bees but undaunted we set up the stall and the hive...

We waited patiently and as the clouds briefly split the wonderful people of Epsom and Ewell came out to see the duck race.

And a good number of them stopped by to try some local honey...

I can't pretend that the ducks weren't the stars of the show though.  At 2 o'clock prompt they were off!

Bobbing and weaving along the Hogsmill....

Sometimes with the help of a steward with a stick...

We caught a glimpse of them as they spun past ...

Sadly we haven't heard where our queen-bee-duck came in the race for big "corporate" ducks...we're presuming that means not in the top three!  Never mind - we've got plenty of time to redesign her for next year!!  Perhaps we could incorporate a little motor?

March: Focus on disease

On Tuesday 31st March we held a "Bee Disease Awareness and Diagnostic Clinic"

Splitting the evening into two halves we started with a talk about the Small Hive Beetle.

Understanding some more about the beetle's life cycle and how it has adapted to exploit the opportunities of the honey bee hive should make us all less intimidated by the news of its progress ever closer to the UK.

After that several beekeepers who had been brave enough to collect a sample of their bees were able to test them Nosema.

 




Sadly this involves killing a sample of about 30 bees and then snipping them apart...

Examining the bee abdomen soup under the microscope some members found rather more nosema spores than they would like, so will be getting their bees onto new comb as soon as they possibly can.

This event was kindly sponsored by BDI (Bee Disease Insurance).  It won't be our only opportunity to test bees for Nosema and Acarine this year.  If you didn't make it this time we encourage you to bring a sample to the next session.  We will ensure the dates are well advertised on the website calender, facebook and in the monthly newsletter.