Newsletter May 2020

Posted on30th April 20201st May 2020Leave a comment

Summary of contents: Beginning the Beekeeping Season, Sprucing up Hilbert Road, Do You Need Frames and Foundation? Colony Loss Survey, Read More …

Previous Newsletters in 2020

Posted on1st January 20201st May 2020Leave a comment

Click on January date above for these previous newsletters: Newsletter March 2020 Newsletter February 2020 ; Newsletter January 2020

NOTICE BOARD.

Apiary Meetings – All 2020 outdoor apiary meetings are temporarily postponed.

Hilbert Road: All meetings start at 10 am and will be held on most Sundays from March through to June. 😎👍Check with Vic Webb or here for late cancellations due to weather.😂

Barrwood: All meetings start at 2.00 pm and will be held on most Saturdays from March through to June. 😎👍Check with Cliff Hayward or here for late cancellations due to weather. 😂

Our MEETINGS page gives exact dates & more complete detail.

Website Editors:

John Farrow assisted by Sarah Rapley.

Site Visits since 1st Jan. 2019:

Topical Tips for May

This is is when the swarming usually starts in earnest so be on the look out for the start of the colony building queen cells.
So a thorough and regular inspections of the brood comb is required, preferably weekly.
Work old comb to the outside so that it can be removed and replaced. Old comb harbours disease and should be replaced systematically, as good practice. Aim to change one third of the frames each year.
Place new frames and foundation either side of the brood nest to allow the queen to increase her nest size.
Congestion can cause swarming. If necessary remove outside frames, but ensure enough food and pollen remains. (Frames with food can be given back in the Autumn after storing in a freezer.)
Check whether your bees are making honey from oil seed rape: if so remove and extract the supers as soon as they are full. (Oil Seed Rape honey will crystallise very quickly in the comb and become impossible to spin out.)
Additional supers may now be required.
Consider putting one or more ‘bait hives’ in the apiary to catch swarms. A nucleus box with old used comb is ideal and maybe lemon grass oil.

Topical Tips for June.

Continue to examine at 7 or 14 day intervals for any signs of disease or swarming.
The brood should be able to fill most of the brood chamber this month.
Swarming will continue through June so continue to be vigilant.
You may be able to take off some frames of capped honey or even complete supers. Ensure you have empty frames or supers to replace those taken.

Topical Tips for July & August.

Swarming should be over by early July, allowing the colony to concentrate on collecting nectar.
Set up wasp traps a few metres from your hives (jam jars containing water and a spoonful of jam work well).
Honey can be harvested in early August allowing the bees to keep what more they make for themselves.
After the honey has been harvested, remove the queen excluder, and put a crown board below any supers that you are leaving on to be cleaned out.
Treat the brood box for varroa. MAQS strips, Apiguard gel or ApiLife Var strips are curently recommended. (Make sure your hives are well ventilated when using MAQ strips. Read Wally Shaw’s article on varroa control.) Record the varroa drop in the following two weeks so that you know how badly your colonies are infested.
In early August reduce the size of the entrance so the diminishing colony can defend itself against wasps.

Swarms: If you have a swarm of honeybees land in your garden, and they look like this:

go to our SWARM PAGE to check if in fact they are honeybees and to find a list of beekeepers who are prepared to collect them.

Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells Beekeepers

A branch of the Kent Bee-Keepers Association

Category: Uncategorised

Newsletter May 2020

Previous Newsletters in 2020