RBKA members, welcome to the June Newsletter. Thankfully reports of Asian Hornets are sparse, one silver lining to the rotten weather. So far there have been 5 sightings in Kent/ East Sussex during May. On the Island of Jersey, numbers are currently 118 queens spotted and 20 nests. Scary, but less than this date last year. One, more worrying but not yet confirmed, was on the Oxford canal at Heyford. Spotter was a beekeeper, but no photos were taken. It would be quite reasonable for insects to migrate via the waterways. Forage and water are readily available. We are at least a month early for AH workers to be scouting but please keep a look out when out and about. The BBKA is hoping more members will become verifiers, we have had some volunteers already from within RBKA but everyone is welcome. If you are interested but unsure, please contact me.

Cathy Moore

June has somehow zoomed in on us’, I hope you’ve managed to prevent colonies from swarming, but easier said than done at times, even with the best possible attention to detail. However, sadly It upsets us all when one of our colonies do swarm. It appears most swarms occur on warm sunny days, between May and the end of July between the hours of 11am – 4 pm, but don’t rely on them all doing that!

There is a beekeeper saying - ”A swarm in May is worth a load of hay, in June it's worth a silver spoon, and a swarm in July is not worth a fly”

So a swarm caught in June has the potential ability to become a strong colony and see its way through the winter, you never know if caught, it may also pay a further dividend and fill a few supers of honey for the summer extraction.

Dunchurch Fete is on Saturday June 23rd and as usual Rugby Beekeepers will have a stand there. Help is required to put up and run our stand. Can you spare an hour or two of your time to support the branch? Whether it’s building the marquee or discussing pollination and the welfare of honeybees with the public your time would be most appreciated. Please offer a little help, you would actually find it a lovely few hours and I’m sure quite educational. If you can volunteer please let Martin know

Tips for the Month;

• Due to risk of swarming - continue with the 7 day inspections to check for formation of queen cells and to ensure queen has plenty of space to lay.
• Have supers at the ready - for when the bees are covering 3⁄4 of the frames in the super then add the next one, a super can fill very quickly.
• Honey extraction time - is when the frames are sealed or nearly fully sealed.
• Check on the water content before extraction if you have a refractor, or shake the frames to see whether nectar runs out of cells if not fully capped. Refer to good text books or more experienced beekeepers if in doubt .
• Book the Association extractor if needed with Steve Martin
• Disease - check for disease when inspecting, both on brood and on adult bees.
• Consult someone more experienced if you are concerned.
• Apiary sessions - please attend if you feel you will benefit from the education.
• Stock - ensure you have enough empty hives or nuc boxes for swarm control measures or collect swarms.
• BeeBase for new beekeepers, If you have not yet registered with them it would be wise, as they will contact you should any local disease outbreak occur.

Gail Plester