The Journal of Devon Beekeepers' Association

Beekeeping

Vol 83 No 9 November 2017

Asian hornet arrives in DevonPhoto by Martyn Hocking

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BEEKEEPINGPublished by Devon Beekeepers’ Association Registered Charity No. 270675

www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk

General SecretaryBarry NealBadgers BarnLangtreeTorrington EX38 8NLgen.sec.dbka@gmail.com

Editorial team Lilah Killock: Editor editor@devonbeekeepers.org.uk Mike Ticehurst: Compiler/Advertisementsads@devonbeekeepers.org.ukFor independent subscribers in the UK the annual subscription to Beekeeping in 2018 is £14.50. Outside the UK the rates are: Within Europe £30.50 Outside Europe £37.50 Payment must be made in Sterling drawn on a UK bank. (If paying from any non-UK bank, a supplement of £6 to meet bank charges will apply.)Please apply to:-Lilah Killock Fosbery Bridgetown Totnes Devon TQ9 5BAEmail: editor@devonbeekeepers.org.uk Make your cheque payable to “Devon Beekeepers' Association”

To advertise in this magazine please contact the Advertising Secretary, email: ads@devonbeekeepers.org.uk

Website: www.devonbeekeepers.org.uk Your EC delegate or Branch Secretary can provide you with the log-in details for the

restricted area of the Devon Beekeepers' website.Items for the December 2017 edition of the magazine must be with the Editor by

the 10th November 2017.Copyright on all items rests in the first instance with Devon Beekeeping Association.

ContentsFrom the Editor ..................................170

Chairman's Brood Box ......................170

Asian hornet arrives in my apiary ....172

North Devon Branch Honey Show ...176

The National Hive ..............................178

Birds and Bees Part II .......................182

BBKA Exams Application Form is Revised ...............................................183

Notes from a Garden Apiary .............184

Book Reviews ....................................185

Letters to the Editor ..........................189

Diary Dates .........................................191

For Sale ..............................................192

The views expressed in this magazine are the author’s own and not necessarily those of the Devon Beekeepers' Association or this magazine.

November 2017 Vol 83 No 9

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Chairman's Brood BoxTony Lindsell

I have a very encouraging task to start my brood box this month and that is to congratulate 26 of our members from across the County who have been successful in achieving their Basic Assessment. As most of you will know the Basic Assessment is a practical exam that ensures you have a sound knowledge of the basics of a hive and the bees. It is not easy when you are a new beekeeper to be scrutinised as you make a hive inspection, so very well done to all candidates.

It was pleasing to note that there were no failures so well done to the trainers/educators in the Branches and thanks to the Assessors who give up their valuable time to test us. The Assessors are very experienced and I remember when I took my Basic Assessment I also learnt a lot more about beekeeping just by doing the Assessment. Those of you who haven’t yet gone down that road I really encourage

From the EditorLilah Killock

The front cover shows an Asian hornet predating honey bees here in Devon. The photograph was taken by Martyn Hocking who talks of his experience finding and reporting the Asian hornet on page 172. I, no doubt, like many beekeepers thought that I only had to report a sighting and immediately people from the government would be knocking at my door eager to trace the nest.

What becomes apparent on reading Martyn's report is that we beekeepers owe him a huge debt for his determination to get the evidence needed to convince the powers that be that he had indeed seen an Asian hornet. A less committed person would probably have given up, with the result that the hornets would still be there, producing queens ready to start building nests next Spring.

A book on The Asian Hornet - Threats, Biology and Expansion by Professor Stephen Martin has recently been published, and is reviewed by two of our members on page 186.

November is the month when all the Branch Annual General Meetings are held. Robert Blackmore of Tavistock Branch has been so incensed by the way AGMs have been categorised as boring in this magazine, that he has felt compelled to write to me. See his letter on page 189. I do hope you will go along to your Branch AGM, and chat to your fellow members about your bees and beekeeping.

It is great that we have so many contributions from members all over the county. Please keep them coming in.

171you to do so - your beekeeping and your bees will benefit from it. I’m sure that your Branch will be only too willing to help you.

Our proposals to the BBKA ADM have now been finalised and cover two aspects of bee importation. The first is to encourage the BBKA to ensure that the Bee Health Certificate process is sufficiently robust to prevent the introduction of bee pests and diseases into this country. The second is that a programme of publicity be put in place to discourage the importation of bees that may lead to the spread of bee pests or disease. The propositions are driven by our concern about the small hive beetle but we widened our proposals to include all possible bee pests and diseases.

Rather disturbingly, as I write this, I am hearing the unwelcome news that an Asian Hornet has been confirmed after a sighting by one of our colleagues in North Devon. By the time you read this I am hoping it will be under control and found to be another isolated incident similar to the Gloucester case last year. However the vigilance of our colleague in North Devon shows how important it is to watch our hives and know what an Asian Hornet looks like. (Even the press get confused!). It is important that we continue to build into our beekeeping portfolio and training courses how to identify and trap Asian Hornets. It is also helpful to know how to report it and there is an app (Asian Hornet Watch) available for those with smart phones or tablets. For those who cannot access the app then other means of reporting are detailed on the Non-Native Species Secretariat website

at http://www.nonnativespecies.org/alerts. Our members in Tavistock should also be thanked for keeping us updated through their excellent website http://www.tavistock-beekeepers.org.uk/

I am keen that the DBKA should celebrate all the positive aspects of beekeeping in Devon so indulge me while I celebrate my bees. I have been keeping bees for 10 years and this year I am really pleased to say that all my colonies are as strong as I have known them going into winter. They didn’t produce as much honey as in previous years but the good weather early in the year seems to have enabled my queens to produce workers in good numbers and they have stayed healthy. Having talked with quite a few of you, you say you’ve had the same experience.

If you have a good news story about your bees or your beekeeping experience why not share it with us - send it to Lilah Killock, the Editor of this magazine.

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Asian hornet arrives in my apiaryMartyn Hocking

I am now a wiser man - well at least a wiser beekeeper. Like many of you I expect, I attended a training session with my local association to help identify the Asian hornet, widespread in France but as yet not established in this country. I felt very relaxed about this threat, thinking that since my bees were 90 miles from the South Coast, on the North coast of Devon, others would most certainly detect this invader before me. I was soon to find out how wrong I was.

I have been feeding my bees over the last several weeks and so make almost daily visits to my apiary of some 15 colonies. They are nestled in a beautiful valley that in a quarter of a mile leads to the sea. It was on such a visit, on Saturday 16th September, I first saw the hornet.

I knew instinctively that it was something strange. Dark and larger than a drone, it seemed to vanish before my very eyes but it started a nagging thought that it might have been an Asian hornet. Self-doubt prompted questions like Why here in Devon? Why here in my apiary? Why my bees? and Why me? The last report and confirmed incident was over a year ago in Tetbury and no confirmed sightings have been made in England this year.

The next day I saw several more hornets. One actually landed on my smoker as I was about to light it so I could check the key features with growing dread. Yellow legs, yellow fifth segment on the abdomen. Wings longer than its body. Yes, yes and yes! I was reminded of the old adage If it walks like a duck ...

Having checked the articles in the BBKA magazines, I was 99% positive that what I was seeing was indeed the arrival of the Asian hornet and I was obliged to inform the Non-native Species Secretariat. This I did on 18th September 2017. I received a reply the following day stating that my report was Unlikely to be an Asian hornet as there have been very few confirmed occurrences in GB to date. What was also very clear was that unless I could provide a photo or a specimen no action would be taken because of the large number of reports that were being lodged.

Asian hornet hawkingPhoto: Martyn Hocking

173

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Just as a beekeeper gets better at finding the queen in a hive of many thousands of bees, I became better at seeing hornets. I saw hornets in my garden and on the ivy bushes in the valley. In the end I saw hornets in my sleep but I could not get a photo of them .This was not surprising because only a few days before I was taking a photo of the coastguard helicopter during a cliff rescue near our house and failed to get the machine in shot. What hope for an insect? The hornets are particularly difficult to photograph because they often approach the hive from behind and seem to just vanish underneath. They take their captive to a nearby bush or bracken and by hanging on with the rear legs set about biting away the bee’s abdomen and then rotating the bee before biting off its head. The remaining thorax contains the flight muscles and hence the protein, which is needed to feed the brood back in the nest.

On the Wednesday I was joined in the afternoon by my local bee inspector, Leila Goss, but the heavy rain had kept the hornets in their nest and we had no sightings. She did at least encourage me by saying that my description was credible. By Sunday I was getting increasingly anxious that a week had passed and I was no further forward in getting proof of what I was now seeing. I knew I needed more help but an email to the local beekeeping association led to no response until after I had obtained the evidence.

As summer turns to autumn, first drones are produced in the nest followed by queens. It is hence vital to destroy the nest before the release of the founding queens. I made the decision to sit in front of one colony and wait for the hornets to visit. Hornets are not the least concerned about humans. One actually settled on

174my bee suit before resuming its hunting. Four hours later I returned home with my camera not even knowing if I had captured any usable image of the hornets. The sense of relief when I saw the hornets on the screen was enormous. I quickly sent these to the Non-native Species website and to Leila. This was now eight days after my initial report.

On the following day, Monday 25th September, I worked with Leila to capture a hornet for DNA identification. This was done and the sample sent off.

What is now clear to me, but not obvious at the time, is that until a sample is received by the NBU, a full-scale operation to first find and then destroy the hornets is not put into operation. The task of getting flight lines from an apiary of 15 hives is very difficult and from my perspective we appeared to need far more people. By Tuesday we had four Seasonal Bee Inspectors on the ground trying to get bearings of flight lines from three apiary sites that were being visited by hornets. (By contrast, a week after the nest was destroyed we had four people in a control room in Ilfracombe and four teams of two out searching for signs of hornets.) These flight lines were plotted on a map and gave an indication of the approximate position of the nest site. By 4 pm on Wednesday the nest site had been located. Once the approximate position of the nest had been found the Inspectors watched the local movement of the hornets and this led them directly to the nest. The location of the nest was not as expected high in a tree, but in an escallonia hedge just 2 metres off the ground and within 4 metres of the pavement over which countless holiday makers have walked during this summer. The nest was destroyed and removed the next day.

Each hornet outbreak - it is certain there will be others - will bring lessons for the team responsible for their eradication. In Tetbury the hornets were seen working the ivy and little predation was seen at the hive sites. In Woolacombe most observations were made at the apiaries. In Tetbury the hornets were not seen flying until late morning, in fact the Inspectors did not start until 10 am but in Woolacombe the hornets were already flying by 8 am. Flight lines, though presumed to be straight lines, now need to be interpreted more flexibly, as it was clear when the nest site was found that the hornets flew along the contours of the valley rather than over the intervening hill.

The question remains as to how the hornets arrived in Woolacombe or to be more precise how the founder queen got here. Assuming that they did not come for the excellent surfing one can only hazard a guess. It seems likely that a mated queen in autumn, possibly in France, found a crevice in a caravan or camper van and that this returned to Woolacombe in time to form a new colony in the spring. If

The nest inside the escallonia bush

175you follow this logic to its conclusion then hornets can turn up in any location.

What is also worrying is that at a time when visits to the apiaries become less frequent, post-feeding or honey harvest, beekeepers need to be even more vigilant in looking out for hornets. Reliance on traps may not be enough to provide the warning, as in an apiary with thousands of flying bees the hornets did not enter my traps until I put a mixture of cod and water in them. The solution supplied by Thornes did not attract any hornets in my traps but this is used by the NBU Inspectors.

Finally, and on reflection, I now wish I had concentrated my efforts on trying to catch a specimen hornet rather than getting a photograph. When the hornets approach the hive from the rear they are moving very slowly and a simple child’s shrimp net would have worked well enough. This might have saved a least a week in getting the evidence the NBU required.

The role of the media bears some scrutiny. Certainly the Inspectors were very conscious of keeping information secure. It came as a surprise to me that after the nest site had been found but before the nest had been destroyed, two teams from the BBC had arrived in the village. The report on Spotlight was accurate and informative. There will also be a piece to be broadcast on The One Show shortly. The written press however was unhelpful. The local and regional papers both published a report but included a large photograph of what was listed as an Asian hornet when in fact it was a European hornet. These inaccuracies only go to make the task of the NBU more difficult.

Is there a role for the local bee associations to be more involved? The answer for me is a resounding Yes! If the Seasonal Bee Inspectors are overwhelmed by the number of false reports then there is a need to engage and use more of the local resources. We cannot rely on the general public as clearly insects flying just above their heads are invisible. To the young even lamp posts are! Could not each association have a hornet busting team that can be contacted by other local beekeepers to help provide the evidence that is required. This is all so new. After all, half of all the Bee Inspectors that I have met over the last weeks had never seen a living hornet until they came to Woolacombe. I would certainly join such a group because for me, it’s personal!

I have provided the photographs that I took of the hornets. They are perhaps more helpful than looking at a dead specimen on the NBU web page and show something of the size and behaviour of these insects. Whilst I rejoiced at their destruction, one can also wonder at a creature that is so highly specialised and adapted.

Whilst this whole saga has been distressing for me and possibly weakened some of my colonies to the point of failure, there have been high points too. Chief amongst them has been the chance to work closely alongside a number of Bee Inspectors from around the country. Without exception, they were lovely, friendly, knowledgeable and supportive people. We are so lucky to have them working for us and long may it continue.

176

North Devon Branch Honey ShowJack Mummery

Our two-day honey show is held in the autumn as part of North Devon Horticultural Society Autumn Show. This year the weekend of the Show fell on 9/10 September.

Despite some members having a poor honey crop, we had a fantastic show with 164 entries judged by a National Honey Judge, Suzy Perkins, who came from Somerset to judge the honey, and Sally Wilson, a WI judge from North Devon, who judged the cookery classes.

The Show is held under cover in St John's Garden Centre so the wet weekend didn’t trouble us too much. For the last couple of years we have just missed the coveted 101 entries for the Blue Ribbon but this year our members excelled. There were 23 beekeepers who exhibited with quite a few new faces including some beginners, as well as some seasoned competitors. Our judges complemented us on the overall standard.

The star of the show was a Show Novice, Brian Sharp who won most of the trophies, namely The Croyde Cup for light honey, The Bernard Pritchard trophy for novice honey, the Chris Utting trophy for novice wax the Weaver trophy for the best exhibit between the cake of wax and wax bars and the coveted British National Honey Show Blue Ribbon for the best exhibit in the show: beautiful wax blocks which were stunning.

An innovation at this year's show was in the photographic class where the prizewinning entries together with eight

more from the show, will be used to produce a calendar which will be sold to help raise funds for the branch.

We don’t have a huge amount of space but we managed to stage an observation hive and have a good range of hive products for sale and promotional material for the public visitors to take.

A special thanks must go to Barbara Carlyle who once again organised our wonderful show and of course to the members who entered to make the show so memorable as well as the members who attended to man the sales, answer questions from the public, and provide some security for the exhibits.

177

From£128.00

The presentation of of the Blue Ribbon award: from left to right, Jack Mummery, Brian Sharp, and judge Suzy Perkins

178

The National HiveGlyn Davies

The National hive, or as it is more accurately known today the Modified National Hive, is the nation’s favourite choice when starting up. Yes. A strong statement likely to be robustly challenged. Actually I have seen no direct evidence to back this up this claim, but certainly sales of nucs and frames seem to suggest that there are a lot of Nationals still functioning strongly all around the country. What makes it so popular?

First, the frames are very easy to handle with conveniently long lugs to hold firmly. (Americans politely call these extensions ears.) When the frames are full of honey they are not too heavy and if the weather is hot the comb is not likely to fall from the woodwork if mishandled. And the brood chambers are easy to lift: the recesses on each side make them easy to lift even when the box is filled with brood, bees and stores. Eleven frames plus the essential dummy, when filled to capacity, do not make lifting the brood chamber a hernia-inducing, back-straining challenge for most healthy beekeepers. This cannot be said for larger brood chambers.

So is it just too small in overall capacity, as is the usual criticism from beekeepers as soon as they have a couple of seasons’ experience? What is the arithmetic? Each National frame at 14” x 8.5” has an area of 199 square inches counting both sides. Let's call that 200. That is around 5400 cells per frame if we have about 27 worker cells per square inch. (Wedmore)

These days a young, healthy, well-bred and fed queen could lay, at least for a short time, 3000 eggs per day. Let's be reasonable and say 2500 per day over a longer time. She has 11 frames available and let’s assume for the perfect beekeeper with perfect combs and perfect weather this queen will take this number of days to fill the perfect national brood chamber:

11 x 5400 / 2500 = 23.7 daysIn reality of course a percentage of cells will be unavailable to use for egg

laying. Combs may be damaged or filled with pollen or honey. So this vigorous queen could easily fill the brood chamber in 21 days or even fewer. Why is that important? Because it will take at least 21 days from laying the first eggs for those cells to become available again when those eggs emerge as adults. If any cells contain drones then they are not available again for 24 days.

Figure 1: This photo shows how a good queen with good new comb will fill a national

frame completely in a very short while. All cells are sealed at about the same me.

Note how the queen has avoided cells with exposed wire at the base.

179What is the point of this calculation? It tells us that all the combs in a single

National brood chamber must be in first class condition. No damage, no old pollen - not even cells filled with fresh pollen or honey. In addition, for the few weeks a very good queen might approach a laying rate of 3000 eggs per day, both the beekeeper as well as the queen might feel a high level of frustration!

So recognising the space limitations of the national brood chamber, what techniques can be used to maximise the space available? (Of course, these techniques can be applied as good practice for any size of brood chamber.)1. Brood combs

Be very conscientious about the age and condition of brood combs. One of the difficulties of replacing combs is that a poor one will often contain some good brood and stores. For the brood a hard line pragmatic approach is needed. No sympathetic beekeeper likes to kill bees or brood but a wrestle with heart and head should show that on balance the brood lost will be more than compensated for by the new fresh brood to come. This is the principle behind the popular shook swarm technique. Stored pollen is soon replaced. The valuable honey stores in the old combs can be removed easily in the spring by bruising the cappings with a hive tool and placing the comb outside the dummy frame. The bees will move the exposed honey back into the brood nest leaving a dry empty comb to destroy or render down to extract the wax.2. Brood nest expansion

This I find is the most neglected part of managing bees in any kind of hive. While it is always an important part of management, it is crucial with Nationals and even more so in WBC hives. In April the queen is accelerating her laying rate so urgently needs room to lay. Unfortunately, the conscientious beekeeper, will have fed the colony well the previous autumn; a full ivy flow at that time will also add to stores with copious - now solid - honey and plenty of pollen. The central brood nest, on say 3 or 4 frames in the spring, is surrounded by completely filled combs of stores on both sides of the brood nest. I call them blockers because the queen will not - cannot - lay beyond them in outer frames which often may be just empty cells. As far as the bees are concerned there is a lack of space for vital expansion even though to the unobservant beekeeper the brood chamber appears to have plenty of room. Early swarms in April will mostly be down to this false space availability. The message is to shuffle the combs: that is to move blocking frames to an outer position, or remove excess stores in the spring to allow expansion of the brood nest using drawn comb or foundation, so providing increased space for the queen to lay.3. Food stores

If the brood chamber is entirely taken up with brood then clearly the essential larder of pollen and honey will have to be in the first super. If this is placed directly on the brood chamber (the system commonly known as Brood and a Half) the queen will use it to lay eggs. If it is placed above the queen excluder then the bees leave a dome of polished empty cells above the brood nest, mistakenly, for the queen to use.

180

When I tried the brood and a half system I became impatient with the inconveniences of mixing shallow and deep frames of brood when making up nucs or splits or artificial swarms, and having 22 instead of 11 frames to examine just to find the queen. However, the greatest danger is removing supers for extracting honey. If the first super is removed and that is easily done if it is above the queen excluder, then instantly the colony will have no food stored and can starve in a few days. This can be after a rape crop or the main summer flow.

So the common, popular, light and convenient National hive has much to recommend it and is the first hive for most beginners, but the related fact is that it does require a high level of commitment and understanding of bee and queen behaviour and the hive’s advantages and limitations. It is good therefore to learn the principles of bee husbandry.

My final words come from a knowledgable enthusiastic, but unfortunately now deceased, important Devon beekeeper, Dr Len Heath, Professor of Biology at Plymouth University. This is taken from his small but valuable (both meanings) book A Case of Hives.

The Modified National is probably the easiest of all British hives to handle. The boxes are comparatively small and light and are provided with good handholds. ... It is the most widely used hive in Britain today and is therefore easy to buy and sell secondhand. … All in all, I do not regret my change to National Hives some fifteen years ago.

Figures 2 and 3: These two frames from the super above the queen excluder show how the bees have left a dome of empty cells for the queen to lay in but she does not

have access to them. The stored pollen is not readily accessible to the nurse bees and will be a nuisance to the beekeeper at extracting time, and if left over winter will

become very mouldy.

Figure 4: The queen has had access to this shallow comb and made good use of it. Note the dome of pollen immediately above

the brood and below the sealed honey stores. This is typical of the one-and-a-half

brood chamber system and can cause difficulty when making up a nuc or with

some swarm control systems.

181

Figure 5: With this brood comb the bees have become very short of space and filled a

large area of the brood nest with honey. There is also no place for pollen except a litte below the brood nest. This is

not very effective or efficient for the nurse bees when feeding

hungry brood.

Figures 6 and 7: These two frames are from the same colony

as Figure 5 but from the ends of the brood nest. They show

clearly the shortage of space and also the danger of excess winter feeding. To get to a reassuring weight there is a tendency with a National brood chamber to

restrict the brood nest.

Figure 8: This is an important frame to look for. It is from the end of the brood nest, packed with pollen and will prevent the queen getting access to possible unused

combs beyond it. A frequent cause of early swarming,

especially in a single National brood chamber.

182

Birds and Bees Part IIJeremy Barnes

With apologies to Raymond ChandlerIt was two o’clock in the afternoon, late May. The sun was shining as I stood on

the steps of a high rise, studying the blue blue sky. I was neat, clean and gassed up with fuel stored by my sisters (half-sisters, actually - same mother who chose not to share the proceeds of her sugar daddies with me). I was a cool dude and I didn’t care who knew it.

It was time to go. I flexed my muscular, toned thorax and stretched my lustrous wings so that the sun reflected off the sheen, dazzling the sisters, foolish slaves to their genes, who were returning home from a shopping expedition. With one kick I was airborne and back in the hunt.

I headed south west; previous jaunts had showed that was where the best dames hang out. Cruising at 65’ with the speed control set at 15 mph, it took only 12 minutes to arrive at my destination.

I recognized it as soon as I saw it. It was big, the ceiling was high, and the carpet was as rich and deep as the blood of a wounded deer seeping into snow. Once again, I regretted not being able to see red.

I circled the room, casing the joint. Rivals, petty and inadequate as they were, circled and spiraled; clearly I had no competition to speak of. I sat back, watching and waiting for the right opportunity.

And then I saw her. She was trouble but she was worth a stare. Her six legs streamed behind her - they seemed to be arranged to attract attention. They were visible well above the knee and one of them to the abdomen, which itself was small and compact and capable of expansion. The legs were dimpled and clean, not like the hairy corbicula of my half-sisters, dappled with carelessly strewn bits of pollen. Ms Regina was slim with enough melodic line for a tone poem. She was rangy and strong-looking. Her 2500 eyes were open and alert. She had a good proboscis and a sulky droop to her lower maxilla.

She was worthy of being the mother of my two million children, her lack of maternal instinct notwithstanding.

I made my move. With an alluring RAM (rapid antennae movement) I launched myself in her direction. I’m discrete - as tight as a vault with a busted lock. Valor is the better part of discretion. As a suitor, better never than late. She was coy, turned her back and flew higher, abdomen waggling suggestively. I followed, rival suitors falling by the wayside. Her conditioned proboscis response was increasing; I knew she was interested. At 80’ she slowed and I circled. She spiraled upward and I trailed behind. At 100’ she leveled out and not being one to mince words or waste time, I moved in.

There was evidence of a previous suitor blocking my final approach. I cursed

183silently, a gentleman to the core (so to speak). Ms Regina clearly was not one to limit her favors. Deftly I removed it, backed up, re-set my sights and approached again. This was the moment I lived for, the culmination of my mission in life, my gift to eternity, the reason I was born, and the first of many sorties vindicating my superiority as a male.

I twisted over, flying upside down, made contact and ...RIPDwight the Droneb. May 3, 2017, d. May 24 2017.

BBKA have brought out a new application form for examinations and assessments.

There are two significant changes. One is the inclusion of two new qualifications: (1) Bee Health and (2) Bee Breeding. The other is the removal of the Certificate of Entry Qualification. There is now just a Self Certification of Qualification for the candidate to sign. Old forms will be accepted without the extra signature.

BBKA Exams Application Form is Revised

184

Notes from a Garden ApiaryGrant Elliott

November is often a reflective month for many people, particularly with Remembrance Day being in the month and even more so now, with the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War only a year away. Beekeeping still continued throughout the conflict of World War I. The British Bee Journal of the time* has contributions from solder-beekeepers in

France telling stories of how they have set up apiaries near their squadrons. Most beekeepers still used skeps, as fixed frame hives were only just being introduced back then.

At home, The War Pensions Committee tried to find employment in apiaries for discharged soldier-beekeepers. There was also a national drive to encourage the public to take up beekeeping. In part this was to look after the apiaries of soldier-beekeepers who were sent to the front and in part to deal with the sugar shortage caused by the German U-Boat blockade. In 1917 the first (and I suspect the only) Victoria Cross was awarded to a beekeeper. A typical letter from that year sent in from the front to the British Bee Journal reads as follows:

I thought I must write you a few lines to let you know that I still receive the British Bee Journal safe. My wife still sends it out to me, as I am now serving with the army in France. I have had to leave my bees to look after themselves, so I cannot hope to find much of them when I get back, which I hope will not be long now. There are a lot of bees in some places out here, some of the hives are knocked over by shells, and some are quite alright, but mostly in skeps. Trusting you and the BBKA are doing well,

Pte H. Cheesmur 73320, 123rd Labour Company, BEF, France Meanwhile, back in Devon in 2017, the bumblebee walks have come to a

conclusion for me now the bumblebees start to hibernate for the winter. This is the normal course of events, as their natural habitat dies off in the autumn. Our small wildflower garden has come to the end of its life and we have given what is left a good strim for the winter.

In the apiary, things are also very quiet. I've now completed the Apiguard treatment in the hives for varroa and I have taken off any empty supers and their frames for storage in the garden shed over winter. So the hives are much reduced in size, making them easier for the bees to keep snug.

The bees fly out on occasional days when it is warm enough for them to forage for pollen. To make sure that they are not short of food for the winter I have also now given the bees some fondant to top up their supplies. There is a tradition amongst some beekeepers of giving their bees some fondant for Christmas but I thought I would give mine their treat now.* The Beekeepers Quarterly, June 2017

185

Book ReviewsThe small hive beetle: a growing problem in the 21st centuryEdited by Norman L CarreckPublished by IBRA and Northern Bee BooksISBN: 978-0-86098-278-4

A salutary tale of the spread of Aethina tumida SHB from sub-Saharan Africa to USA, Egypt, Australia and Italy. Norman Carreck as editor has produced a very interesting and detailed account with supporting references. Packages of bees arriving in the UK from Italy, more than 100 Km from the infested area, make it important that we are fully aware of SHB and how to detect it. It is so easily missed and then can become endemic.

In Europe we have been well prepared with systems in place to react immediately to SHB's arrival.

He describes how it was spotted in Southern Italy on 5 September 2014. Three nucleus hives in a clementine orchard were heavily infested with adults and larvae. All three were wrapped, taken to a university, killed and deep frozen the same day. Fifteen adults and larvae were identified as Aethina tumida. Five days later they were confirmed morphologically by the National Reference laboratory and some sent to the European Ref Lab in France for a repeat and molecularly confirmed on 17 September.

Meanwhile the site was treated chemically on Day 1 by the university and again with vets on Day 7 and then ploughed and treated on Day 12. On Days 11 and 12 a team of beekeepers, biologists and vets thoroughly inspected 5 local apiaries, finding 18 adults (6 flew away) from 12 hives, followed by mandatory destruction of the whole apiary. A very thorough programme continues with thousands of colonies destroyed.

At the other extreme in Australia the initial beetles were found in early July 2002, sent for routine inspection and were not officially confirmed as Aethina tumida until 31 October, and a specific plan had not been devised. It had probably been present for a year and with their migratory beekeeping, including pollination of almonds there was no hope of eradication. Beekeepers were given management advice and various restrictions on movements of bees and bees products. SHB in hot humid coastal areas have made queen breeding with mini nuclei impossible. Breeders have gone out of business, used much larger nuclei or moved inland to drier cooler areas.

Norman Carreck gives a very clear account of the spread of SHB, with details of all the things that have gone wrong and the various attempt to combat it. It strongly reinforces our need to look for eggs, larvae and adult beetles every time we open a hive and the photographs make detection very much easier. SHB should be in Beginners Courses.

I enjoyed reading it and am very impressed at the speed and diligence applied to

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The Asian Hornet - Threats, Biology and Expansion by Professor Stephen MartinISBN: 978-0-86098-281-4Published by IBRA and Northern Bee Books

Thirty years ago Professor Martin came across a massive nest in the remote Japanese Alps. Fearless, he started to break off a piece of its surface and was chased away. He kept returning, sticking thermometers into it and wrote his first scientific paper. Social insects became his life’s work.

This book has references and suggestions for further reading at the back, and is full of excellent photographs, and is very readable. There are 12 different Asian hornet sub-species, all adapted over millions of years to their environment and

food sources, be it at 10,000 metres or hot humid sea shore. Likewise, their local food source, honey bees, adapted and developed new strategies to cope with the hornets. (Our Asian hornet came from Central and Eastern China and our honey bees have not had millions of years to adapt.) The ability of insects to adapt in so many ways is amazing.

In some developing countries, the hornet is an important protein food source, and served in restaurants.

Many countries have made attempts to prevent the spread, with very little effect. Most traps kill mostly other pollinators, with very little change in hornet numbers. Best results come from locating and destroying nests at the very earliest opportunity. A salutary lesson.

This is a good read for those wanting the latest up to date knowledge on the Asian hornet with lots of information and comparisons with worldwide hornets and wasps. It is clearly written for the non-specialist with excellent photographs and charts. I like his explanations of how things are done. For example, the pupal cases left by emerging larvae are used to reinforce the pillars between each disk.

Another book for the Christmas list, full of pictures, very topical and a relaxing read.

Peter West, East Devon Branch

the outbreak near the toe of Italy. It is not in technical language and the average beekeeper interested in the threats to beekeeping would find much of interest in it. But all beekeepers should be aware with an eye open, just as we have to be for the Asian hornet: it could turn up anywhere and spread for months before being detected.

It should be in branch libraries and many beekeepers might think it a useful Christmas present!

Peter West, East Devon Branch

187As a beekeeper of several years but by no means an expert, I was interested enough to read this book and would thoroughly recommend it. It is full of fascinating facts about the Asian hornet in particular and other wasps and hornets generally. The facts and figures are presented in a very understandable way, beautifully backed up with some incredible photographs. I have learnt a huge amount (and forgotten a lot too) and would definitely read it again to refresh my mind. The author clearly has a lifelong passion for the subject and it will prove a very useful book in light of the threats we face from the Asian hornet now that it has made its appearance in Britain. If anyone is interested in buying this book it is obtainable from Northern Bee Books.

Lindsay Ticehurst, Torbay Branch

Bees-at-law by Noel SweeneyPublished by Alibi ISBN: 978-1872724041

Bees - are they wild animals or domestic animals? Certainly they are useful. Do they belong to the beekeeper only while they are in the hive or also when they swarm? Is it the beekeeper's fault if they attack someone or the unfortunate recipient of the, sometimes fatal, stings? These are some of the questions examined by Noel Sweeney in his book Bees-at-Law.

He leads us step-by-step through the basics of the history of common law and demonstrates how, due to their usefulness, honey bee colonies, and their keepers, have been looked upon favourably in law through the ages. At the same time he makes you realise the importance of good husbandry, particularly swarm control, to provide a defence in negligence claims. Choosing your apiary site is also important. We are told to avoid nudist colonies!

By the end of Chapter 5 we are presented with a list of possible legal actions that the beekeeper may be subject to, which are examined in greater detail in the following chapters, with reference to numerous case histories. The final chapter is different from the rest and questions what it would say about our modern day civilisation if bees disappeared and how the current legal status of bees needs to be raised.

The historical cases are fascinating, although sometimes, due to the number of court papers quoted directly, getting to grips with the legal language takes concentration. The everyday parlance of lawyers evidentially is rather different to the way most beekeepers I have met speak. The last chapter has a different tone and the passion of the author shines through.

I want my own copy of this book, no matter its content, because of Kate Lynch's beautiful cover pictures entitled Honeybee on blackberry flower and Honeybee on snowdrop as acknowledged by the author. Its roughly A5 size means that it is

188

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Granny Bee by Debbie Carnegie, illustrated by Jane FairesPrinted by Amazon ISBN 978-1-54404-269-5

This book would suit 5 year-old children and younger and tells the charming story of a Granny Bee taking her granddaughter out for her first foraging flight. Unfortunately, the story is not very accurate when telling the story of bees and honey making. Every beekeeper will know that a grandmother bee will by definition be a queen and therefore never be out foraging.

If you want a nice story with colourful, rather impressionistic illustrations, then this book is fine. However, if you want your children or grandchildren to learn what bees do, then perhaps another more accurate account might be better.

Viv Thorn

easy to hold and to pop into a bag, plus it is printed in a font that is comfortable to read.

This is certainly a book that beekeepers would like to dip in and out of, and definitely one that should be available to them via their local branch library. If you face any type of claim against you relating to your bees, you will want your solicitor to have a copy. It tells them where to find the case histories and appeals, plus whether or not the right outcome was arrived at, and it is written in a way that no doubt they would be used to reading.

The messages from this book are clear. On an individual level look after your bees and have a care for non-beekeepers. On a world level give bees a legal voice.

Rachel West, Totnes & Kingsbridge Branch

189

I have just read the Chairman's Brood Box in the October issue of Beekeeping As Tony writes, we are approaching branch AGM time, but then he goes on to use the ‘B’ word.

I don't understand why it is that Devon beekeepers insist on describing Branch AGMs as boring. If your branch AGM is boring then I’d say it’s doing it wrong.

Many years ago when I was a lad, I was in the scouts and our AGMs were an Event. Yes, there was the business of elections to the parents committee, reports from the treasurer and such, but there was also much more than tea and biscuits; there were displays, demonstrations, slide shows and the opportunity to ask questions. I remember those meetings being packed to the gunnels with kids, parents and helpers. Ok, that was about informing parents and getting them to volunteer to join the committee or help out in other ways, but I don't see why beekeeping groups are that much different. There's really no need for officer’s AGM reports to be inherently boring. If members are engaged they will be interested. They might even be moved to volunteer for something. Why not extend the meeting with a question and answer session or members show-and-tell their favourite piece of kit? How about putting up the branch Stevenson display so those who couldn't get to the County Show get to see it, then discuss ideas for next year? With a little imagination there must be many ways to make AGMs attractive and engaging for members. The Branch AGM is one of the few (if not only) opportunities the whole committee and members can get together and thrash out why we belong to this organisation and what we want to do.

I know that not all branches have unimaginative committees. However, let me offer this hint; if I were to say Hey everyone, come round to my place tonight - it'll be really boring, do you think I should be surprised if nobody turns up?

Robert Blackmore, Tavistock Branch

Letters to the Editor

The moment I saw this book I wanted to read it to my youngest granddaughter. It is a charming story with delightful illustrations.

The author has managed to incorporate a few useful facts about bees to increase a child’s knowledge in a very gentle way.

If I have a criticism it is the lack of mention of nectar in creating honey. This may be too picky for what is essentially a lovely bedtime story.

Lindsay Ticehurst

The cover photo of the August edition is ever so cheeky, and no doubt the President has been the butt of many jokes. I suspect he gets a bum rap but remains determined to get to the bottom of all this. Meanwhile Beekeeping remains a model of decorum.

Jeremy Barnes

190

191

Diary Dates

NOVEMBER

Thu 2 7.30pm East Devon Branch AGM plus Ian and Ruth Homer IMYB (Kilmington Village Hall)

Sat 4 All day Holsworthy Branch Honey Show and Christmas Craft Fair 50+ stalls Cafe Free Entry (Holsworthy Memorial Hall)

Sat 4 12 noon DARG Lunch, AGM and Talk: Pam Hunter Pollen, the Miracle Food (Furzeleigh Mill Hotel, Buckfastleigh)

Sun 5 2.00pm North Devon Branch AGM (Castle Centre, Barnstaple)

Thu 9 7.30pm Okehampton Branch AGM (Whiddon Down Village Hall)

Sat 11 2.00pm Newton Abbot

Branch AGM followed by DVD (Clay Lane Clubhouse)

Mon 13 7.30pm Holsworthy AGM and Auction Bring and share supper (The Stables, Chilsworthy)

Tue 14 7.30pm Torbay Clare Densley How to Raise First-class Queens (St. Paul’s Church Hall, Preston)

Wed 15 7.30pm Tavistock AGM followed by blind honey tasting (Tavistock Parish Room)

Wed 15 7.30om Tiverton Members' Evening and AGM (Uplowman Village Hall)

Sun 19 2.30pm Totnes & Kingsbridge

AGM, Ken Basterfield Honey Processing (St Lukes Church Hall, Buckfastleigh)

Mon 20 7.00pm Exeter AGM followed by Richard Ball DARG Pollen Project (Topsham Rugby Club)

Thu 23 7.30pm Plymouth Branch AGM (Elburton Village Hall)

Fri 24 7.00pm North Devon Skittles Evening (The Plough, Bickington)

Sat 25 1.30pm Torbay John Risdon The History of Paignton plus Branch AGM (St Paul’s Church Hall, Preston)

DECEMBER

Thu 7 7.30pm East Devon Branch Xmas Social and Barn Dance (Kilmington Village Hall)

Members may attend meetings of any Branch but it’s advisable to telephone the Branch Secretary first. Contact numbers are: East Devon 01404 841629 Exeter 01392 832956 Holsworthy 01837 318928

Newton Abbot 01626 681458 North Devon 01237 420713 Okehampton 01363 82361

Plymouth 01752 338279 Tavistock 07824 627766 Tiverton 01884 841257

Torbay 01803 844804 Totnes & Kingsbridge 01752 894094

192

Thu 7 7.30pm Tavistock First Aid for beekeepers: stings and anaphylaxis and basic ABC (Tavistock Parish Room)

Sun 10 12.15pm Plymouth Branch Christmas Lunch Arrive 12.15pm for sit down at 12.30pm (Boringdon Golf Club)

Sat 16 2.00pm Newton Abbot

Eleanor Burgess, SBI for Somerse, Finding the First Asian Hornet in UK Followed by mince pies and cream teas (Clay Lane Clubhouse)

Mon 18 7.00pm Exeter David Packham Controlling Varroa using Non Chemical Methods (Topsham Rugby Club)

Wed 29 7.30pm Tiverton Christmas Mystery (Uplowman Village Hall)

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Almost entirely brown or ginger. All three castes look similar, but the queen is slightly larger and the males lack pollen baskets. These bumblebees rarely go bald on the top of the thorax.

It forms a medium-sized colony with approximately 60-150 workers. It may nest above ground, sometimes in holes in trees or bird boxes, but most commonly uses old nests of small mammals, or nests in tussocks of long grass, under hedges, or in leaf litter.

Like other carder bees, moss and grasses are gathered and used to line and cover the nest. The cuckoo bee Bombus campestris parasitises the nest.

Extracted from The BEE, A Natural History, Chapter 6 by Norman Carreck & Dr Andrea Quigley

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascorum

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