Dear Member,

As I write this we are sweltering in the first real heat of summer and the bees will be busy at last sucking up nectar far into the warm evenings. Just as well as the cool, sometimes even cold, weather in July saw the bees feeding off the nectar they had stored in supers. A large group of Rugby beekeepers also enjoyed the warm weather at ‘The Bell’ in Hillmorton in July, sharing stories of the ups and downs of beekeeping and the current political rollercoaster. So sorry to be the bearer of sad news but in August the beekeeping season is beginning its downward curve into Autumn and preparations for Winter will soon start! Hopefully many of you will have extracted or will soon be extracting honey from your hives. Remember, keep any well sealed frame of honey for exhibition at our Honey Show in October!! Also put a few jars of your beautiful strained honey aside for entry in the Honey Show - you may be pleasantly surprised to take home an award….and it is good fun to have a little gentle competition with your fellow beekeepers. As usual it has been a funny old year for beekeeping, the weather bringing challenges and rewards, and the bees presenting even the most experienced beekeepers with some head scratching problems. So come and join together with other beekeepers at our summer social on Sunday the 21st August and hear tales of success and failure from fellow beekeepers. We hope that the weather will be kind and that with the usual sumptuous ‘bring and share’ lunch, a range of tastes will be satisfied. This is an opportunity to chat with other beekeepers (and their partners or family) about bees and other things of interest.
Rowan, Fran and I attended the Bee Health Day at Stoneleigh in July run by Jo Schup the regional bee inspector and some of the seasonal bee inspectors from our region. This was a whistle stop tour of all the pathogens and non-native pests our poor bees have to cope with. What was highlighted was that beekeepers are largely responsible for transferring disease and non-native pests (by importing bees) and we all need to be proactive about good hygiene in our apiaries and by informing ourselves about how to notice signs of abnormal brood. We are not expected to be experts, but we do need to know when something is not right with our bees and to contact bee inspectors for help and advice. And… we need to understand and deal with known pests like varroa through good beekeeping practice throughout the season and the judicious use of treatments.
I can’t stress enough how useful it is to go on information/education days like this - beekeeping is not always straightforward and the more you learn about bees (and their enemies) the better and more enjoyable your beekeeping will be. I hope some of you managed to attend the Warwick and Leamington Branch Extraction day at Stoneleigh. I am sure Tim Foden and Douglas Nethercleft managed to pass on some good tips. If not, come along to Tim’s talk at our Honey Show in October for ideas for next year. Talking of which, do put the date of our November meeting in your diaries. Graham Royale, who is an amusing and informative speaker, will be here again giving a talk about the anatomy of the honey bee. You will be fascinated at how complex and interesting our little friends are.

Margaret Holdsworth