Welcome to the April 2026 Newsletter from Rugby Beekeepers

April has arrived, if you live in areas growing rapeseed you will notice the yellow spreading over the fields. This is a sure sign the bees will be visiting, and the colony expanding. If so, ensure the queen has plenty of space or you may be looking at potential early swarms occurring.

There have been a few warm days which has probably allowed you to at least open the bees and check for space and stores. The weather is still unpredictable, brood soon chills, so caution unless the day is warm, and hive is ideally in the sunshine [the old saying is, open bees if comfortable in short sleeves]

I found a mouse that had made a beautiful nest !! in the middle of one of the super stores where the entrance block had fallen out over the winter – as I lifted the roof a shocked mouse ran out of the entrance ‘it had chewed out an almost perfect circle circa 20 cms - the whole pile will need to be discarded and scorched now.

I would like to thank all the members that helped arrange the New Beekeepers Study days and those that attended to support in various ways. It was great to see the excitement and feel the anticipation in the group both days.

Things to consider in April;

• Swarms - look out for early signs of the colony preparing to swarm- lack of space for queens to lay, increased drones and charged cells, which can be hidden very well!
• Education - BBKA news April issue has a good article on queen cells by Bruce Henderson Smith
• Health of bees - Once the weather favourable - A full disease check is wise before the season starts.
• Preparation – make brood and super frames ready for wax to be inserted at short notice.
• Notes – review last year’s notes – do you want to breed from any of the colonies this year. Keep new notes.
• Comb changes - consider your options to change dirty comb.
• Remove mouse guards - to prevent pollen loss at the entrance.
• Prepare for swarms - with spare hives ready to use if you have them.
• Stores - as colonies expand starvation can occur.
• Crop spraying – speak to your local farmer and ask when spraying is to take place, so you can close hives in preparation the evening before.
  
  BBKA spring convention is the 17th to 19th April at Harper Adams University
  
  Help required We will be running 3 main shows during the late spring and summertime. Please consider offering a little time to help support the branch either with the stall or helping with more muscular cores’ setting up or taking down the displays. The days are usually good events chatting to the public or helping the children roll candles. You do not need to be an experienced beekeeper to attend, you just need to enjoy beekeeping! Martin will be sending out dates and venues via an email. Please volunteer if you can.
  
  Gail Plester

Beginners course As this was my first year organising the beginner’s course, I knew it would be a challenge for me on an organisational level as well as a steep learning curve in writing. I approached it with the question of what a novice beekeeper needs to know before taking on the responsibility of caring for a hive in terms of cost, commitment in time and some of the tasks that they will face. I hopefully covered these needs, but time will tell once they have started. I know I let a few errors appear in the presentations after I corrected slides but failed to upload them to the final folder, sorry. As for the course, I would not have been able to run it without a lot of help. So first of all a big thank you to all who put their hands up to present a module. Namely Kaye Angus, Duncan Harrison, Paul Doolan, Chris Eldred and Liz Davis. It is not easy to stand up in front and talk but it was done with enthusiasm, passion and experience of the subject. Then there were the helpers who baked, set up, cleared up and chatted to the students passing on invaluable tips and encouragement. Not to forget my technical director, Martin who also held my hand and answered a series of ‘how do I do this on the computer’ questions. Finally, a big thank you to Cathy and Liz who I was able to bounce ideas off and who gave me encouragement. I now need to learn how to delegate and offload some of the problems. We had some great feedback and constructive comments for improvement. The new branch laptop now copes well with videos so will aim to bring in more for next year. As always, the cakes were really appreciated with one suggestion that we run a baking course as well! Another asked not to be sat so close to the cakes. So from me, a big thank you to all who contributed to two good days. Greg Winton

Spring and Summer Training Sessions As we start the new beekeeping season we have our program of practical apiary sessions starting at our training apiary this month. As in previous years, each month we have a session that covers a topic, or topics, that are relevant to what needs to be done at that time. These sessions are aimed at first time beekeepers who either are just getting their first colonies, or have only had their colonies for a year or two. The dates and subjects we are going to cover are listed below. If you are interested in attending any of the sessions please let me know by emailing training@rugbybeekeepers.org 12th April - Your first Inspection 3rd March - Carrying out an artificial swarm 7th June - Completing a disease Inspection 13th July - Preparing for honey extraction 2nd August - Assessing varroa load and treatments 7th September - Preparing your apiary for winter Greg Winton