Dear Member,

Our beekeeping year is kicking off with an AGM on Wednesday 15th February. I know AGM’s are not everyone’s idea of a fun night out, so we try to keep it as sweet and short as possible, and our current Chair, Steve, will then be entertaining us with his ‘Chairman’s choice’.

Do come along and help us appoint a new chair, a new Honey Show secretary and a speaker organizer . You could even volunteer to join the committee!

The next few months will see our beekeeping responsibilities increasing as the queen starts to lay and we assess which colonies have come through the winter. The association is also planning a number of activities for you to put in your diary, so we have a busy time ahead. Have a look at the events list to see what is in the pipeline.

You will notice that we are planning another beginners course in March/April. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please put them in touch with Cathy (email on the printed newsletter), or ask them to enter their details on our contact form.

Also we will be building Asian Hornet traps which we are all being advised to hang in our apiary’s in February to monitor for queens which may be emerging from hibernation at this time. What we want is to locate the queens before they establish a colony.

Those of you who attended Graham Royale’s fascinating talk last month on bee biology will know that he is also a seasonal bee inspector and was involved in the search for the Vespa Velutina (Asian Hornet) nest found in Gloucester last year. He strongly encouraged us all to make, and hang, these traps as these hornets are expected to arrive in the UK at any time and location. It will be a tragedy for bees and beekeepers when they do as they can rapidly decimate a colony and they breed prolifically.

Some of the snowdrops in my garden are showing their little white heads and the crocuses should soon be giving us a blaze of colour. Do plant these and other early pollen giving plants near your hives to give the bees a boost in early Spring. When the weather is still cool /cold the bees can only fly relatively short distances from the hive - about 100 metres, so plants nearby give a good source of pollen (protein) for the increasing brood which require large amounts of pollen in their brood food at a time when the stored pollen has probably run out. Well fed brood develops into healthy stronger bees.

Sam will be running a small study group for those interested in taking the Basic Assessment some time in July. Those of you who have not yet taken the Basic Assessment can of course, consider doing this on your own - check the BBKA website to see what is involved or have a word with Sam who can advise you.

We hope this year to have regular Apiary meetings. Do let us know if there are any manipulations you would like to see demonstrated in the apiary as we can incorporate them in the programme.

There are several dates you may want to put in your beekeeping calendar, so please visit our events list. Do think of attending some of these events - it is a great way to learn more about beekeeping.

Margaret Holdsworth