Dear Member,

As the days shorten the active beekeeping season comes to an end, but really this is the start of the next beekeeping season as if we have healthy well fed bees going into winter they will have a good start next spring to build up to strong colonies once the warmer weather arrives.

Now that the bees are settling down into their winter cluster it is important not to disturb them once the final inspection has been done to ensure they have sufficient stores for the winter, so this means that we beekeepers have time to….study, clean and repair equipment and make plans for the next year.

October is also the month when Rugby Beekeepers have their Honey Show! Do put your entries in to Fran Payne as soon as possible, and come along to see the wonderful produce that bees and beekeepers have harvested this season. It is good fun to enter and by doing the careful preparation needed to win a class you will improve your honey preparation if you intend to sell or gift your honey crop.

When we belong to an organization it is easy to overlook the work that various people contribute to ensure that it all runs smoothly. One of these people in our association is Steve Martin. Steve has for many years stored the Branch extractor at his home and is responsible for loaning it out to anyone who needs to extract honey. This year he has had to deal with the additional stress of our new extractor from Simon the Beekeeper, breaking on two occasions. So thanks to Steve who in addition to this responsibility, also checks (audits) our Branch accounts each year once Sam Peckett has done her bit in balancing the books before the AGM.

As I hope you are all aware, there have been three sightings of Asian Hornets this year so far, two in Cornwall and one in Hull. This is an increase in sightings from last year, so unfortunately it seems that we are heading steadily towards this non-native pest becoming an ongoing threat to our honeybees. If everyone remains vigilant and spreads the word to others about being on the watch for sightings of the hornet and reporting it, we may manage to keep it away a little longer. Margaret Murdin will be talking about the Asian Hornet in November at our regular meeting, so do come along then to find out more about how we can deal with this threat, and what the BBKA and the NBU are doing about dealing with it.

Regards

Margaret Holdsworth