Tips for the Month:
Do not disturb your bees at all by opening the hive, if you need to feed you can do so over the feed hole, or if the colony is weak lift the crown board and place the fondant directly on the top of the frames above where the bees are clustered. If you check your varroa board first you can see from the debris on the floor where the bees are.
St Andrews parish church held their Festival of Christmas Trees event again and 2018's theme for the festival was ‘Eco and Recycling’. As always, the main purpose of this event is to raise funds for charities that support the local community. This year, in addition to the work of the church, Gift of Years, Rugby and Futures Unlocked were supported.
The branch has a good library containing many a good read.
If you want to borrow a book but are not able to come to a meeting, contact Gail Plester and she will try and arrange for you to pick up the book.
Our Honey Show this year was well represented by 13 members with an entry on the day of 79 exhibits. A number of novice bee keepers entered and did exceptionally well. Our judge John Home made reference to the quality and standard of the honey being shown, and suggested that they were of a standard that could be entered into the County Show, and one or two being of of a standard to enter the National Honey Show. Our members need to be more confident and enter these shows.
First Apiary Day Saturday 21st April
The Sun shone as we all arrived. Lots of anticipation and excitement as we all donned our suits and walked over to the Apiary. We started with a briefing from Margaret around safety and dos and don’ts. We then all had the opportunity to light our Smokers and get familiar with smoke control and some good tips on what to use.
