On Saturday the 29th March we held the second day of our beekeeping for beginners course. In the morning session there were two very interesting presentations given by Steve, one of our most experienced members, that covered swarming, measures to prevent it, methods to mitigate it and how to collect a swarm when it does occur. Steve also covered bee diseases and pests; AFB, EFB, Sac brood, Chalk brood, Nosema, wax moth varroa and the methods and legal requirements regarding their reporting



In the afternoon session there were presentations on extracting honey, labelling rules, mead making, soap, cream and candle making. Regulations covering these activities were covered.



At the end of the day Samantha gave a presentation on siting hives, obtaining bees and the benefits of joining a local beekeeping association (insurance, support, mentoring and on going education). The last session of the day was, as is our tradition, given by a new beekeeper. Steve, who had only started keeping bees last year. His talk was given, warts and all, about how his first year went, amusing, informative and engaging.

We are planning to hold our next beginners course in March 2026 and if you would like to register for it you can use our contact page

We are pleased to note that two of our members, Louisa Richards and Helen Rathbone have both sat the BBKA Module 1 (Honey Bee Management) examination and passed with a distinction and a credit respectively. Well done to the two of you!

This weekend was the first day of our beginners course, where we do our best to teach a group all the basic information they need to start keeping bees.



This year the course was fully booked, with a few people on a waiting list in case someone pulled out at the last minute. On day one we covered a lot of material...

Role of Queens, Workers and Drones in maintaining integrity of the colony. Development times of casts and why they are important in managing bees. Substances collected by bees and their purpose. The Winter Cluster, stores, impact of winter, colony development during spring and into summer. Disease treatment and feeding



On day one we also covered the equipment needed for Beekeeping...
Structure of a removable frame hive, Personal protective equipment, Hives and accessories, Storage space, Hive types, New or second-hand - pros and cons, Cost of equipment, Hygiene



Inspecting colonies was also covered with areas covered such as; Health and well-being of bees, Why we inspect once a week in the Spring, What to look for during an inspection (Hoopers 5), How to hold combs, Disposing of wax, Hygiene between hives/apiaries/tools/clothing, Stings - protection and safety of self and public, Finding and marking queens, keeping records.

At the end of the first day all the attendees seemed to have really enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the second day.

This month Dave Bonner from the Coventry Beekeepers Association visited us to give a presentation on queen rearing using the Miller method. At the start Dave explained he was going to condense eight weeks of manipulations on two colonies of bees into a 60 minute talk and tha it may be a little pacey!

However, although the who process involves many steps, each one was explained perfectly by Dave and by the end of the talk most people, many taking notes throughout, had a good understanding of what needed ot be done.

Dave gives his talks to raise funds for Bees Abroad, a very worthy charity that trains people in Africa to maintain their own honey bee colonies and in so doing generate a valuable cash crop, honey. This income allows them to provide some of the basic necessities in life.

It was a dreary damp day and the wind was starting to get fairly brisk when we turned up to to carry out our annual apiary cleanup session



This year we had three colonies over wintering, all doing well, but as we have enough hives for eight and the spares were in need of a good scrape and torching we set about the job



A small team of scrapers were employed and as the weather was fairly inclement and the temperature around 7C the wax and propolis were easily removed. It wasn't long before a small pile of scraped boxes, queen excluders, crown boards, etc. were piling up ready to be torched.

One of our volunteers had brought along an industrial sized gas bottle and blow lamp to seriously take on the job of torching the hive parts



Despite the low temperatures, disturbing the colonies upset them a bit and some of our valiant volunteers decides to go into fully suited mode to stop the guard bees doing their job!



Many thanks to all of you who turned up to help, as we had plenty of help we just managed to finish, tidy up and leave as the first drop of rain started to fall.

Same time, same place next year

Last Wednesday, the 5th February, was our AGM. We just about managed to squeeze a quorum out of the members attending. All items on the agenda were approved, the last minutes, the year end accounts and the membership fees. The current committee, including the three officers were re-elected and our two trustees of the Warwickshire Beekeepers Association CIO were also re-elected to represent us on the board.

At the end of the meeting we enjoyed a very informative presentation given by one of our members who flew for the RAF and is now a commercial airline pilot.

Of course tales of beekeeping and winter woes were also exchanged!

Microscopy Group

WBKA has a successful microscopy group. It meets at Eathorpe Village Hall on Saturday mornings (10-13.00) every other month and also has zoom calls on the second Thursday of the month. To find out more contact us.

The dates for 2025 are:

• Meetings (Eathorpe Village Hall )
  • 4th Jan, 8th March, 3rdMay, 5th July, 6th September, 1st November
    
• Zoom calls (7.30-9.00)
  • 13th Feb, 10th April ,12th June, 14th August, 9th October, 11th December

BBKA Honey Bee Health Certificate

If you have your Basic Assessment, why not take the Honey Bee Health Certificate? This is a totally practical assessment which really gets you to understand hygiene, disease and pests - it is very useful to your beekeeping. To prepare you and give you confidence, the Warwick and Leamington branch will be having a training programme. This involves a number of zoom study calls and a day workshop:

• Zoom March 20th 7.00-8.30
• Zoom March 27th 7.00-8.30
• April 13th- whole day workshop at Eathorpe Village Hall, CV339DE and apiary (weather permitting) 9.30 - 4.30
• Zoom call 24th April 8.30-9.30.

There is a charge of £5, which will include the cost of refreshments at the day workshop. These sessions are for members who have enrolled in the Honey Bee Health Certificate. To sign up for the course and enroll for the assessment please contact us

The Warwick and Leamington Branch are organising training which they have opened up to other branches. So this could be a great opportunity to fulfil one of your new year's resolutions

Towards the BBKA Basic Assessment

If you have a year or more of beekeeping experience by next summer, why not take your Basic Assessment- your beekeeping "driving license"? This is a practical assessment which involves going through a hive, discussing your beekeeping and making a frame. To support members of Warwickshire we are running a blended training course of zoom calls and a training day. This will boost your confidence and put you in touch with other beekeepers doing the same thing. The sessions will be:

• Zoom 2nd April 7.00-8.00pm
• Day workshop 12th April 2025 Eathorpe Village Hall, CV339DE, 9.30am - 4.30pm
• Zoom 24th April 7.00 -8.00pm

There is a charge of £5 for refreshments.

This course is intended for those who have entered for the Basic Assessment next year. To get the sign up details for the course and register for the Basic Assessment please contact us

Welcome to our revamped website. Our previous web master, Rowan, to whom we owe a massive thank-you for his hard work, moved away from the area and we temporarily moved this website to a new hosting platform. The new site was quite basic and so, over the last few weeks, some time and effort has been put in to make the site you see today.

The site has been designed with mobile phone and tablet access in mind, so we have made sure it works well on these devices. It still works fine on a PC or laptop though.

Over time it will evolve with more information added and existing information updated. If you notice any mistakes or broken links please let us know through our contact page.