The Chair and committee would like to wish you all a very Happy and Healthy 2025 New Year.

All the preparations you made prior to the winter to ensure the bees are well fed and secure in their hives should now be paying off. However, whilst this is not the most active time of year for us, there are still a few tasks we should all be considering;

• Monitor hives for weather damage, at this time of year wind, rain, snow and the cold can really take its toll on them.
• Woodpeckers are attacking many hives near me, check and protect yours accordingly. Chicken wire, or plastic netting wrapped round the hives is an effective deterrent
• Ensure mouse guards are still intact. Mice love the warm shelter a hive offers, plus there is a food source available to them
• Use straps or building blocks to hold the hives down to stop high winds from lifting the roofs off, or blowing the hives over
• It is really important to regularly check the weight of your hives at this time of year. You can use luggage scales or simply heft the hives by hand. Ideally get to know the weight of your hives, so you become aware of reduction

Despite the current low temperatures, overall this autumn and winter have been very warm, the bees have probably been flying, the queens laying and stores getting used up. There is virtually no forage available, although I have noticed that aconites and a few primroses have started to flower, so if your hives are getting light, put a pack of fondant over the crown board to prevent starvation.

This is the time of year when an oxalic acid treatment can be applied to your colonies. We normally do it at this time of year to get rid of the phoretic mites as the queens have normally stopped laying, oxalic acid will not affect mites in sealed cells. Follow the instructions given on the packaging, but please check that the treatment you are using is approved for use in the UK

Whilst not all of us are interested in going back to school, there are many opportunities to read about new areas of beekeeping that interest you or, maybe consider studying for a BBKA course We hope we will see you at our monthly meetings held generally on the first Wednesday of each month at Sacred Heart Church Hall.

Next Meeting Will take place on Wednesday 8th of January when Jane Medwell will give a presentation on the yellow legged hornet (pka the asian hornet)