It’s Friday the 11th of April and if I don’t make a start now I will never have the Newsletter completed on time. There’s been little to tempt me to sit here typing this when the weather has been so wonderful outside. Dry, warm but not too hot, sunny and with little wind - in fact just ideal weather for making a start after such a wet soggy winter. There are bumble bees and butterflies to be seen every day now (but no wasps) and many bumble bees have already settled down to ‘house building’. The birds have taken possession of the nest boxes and a robin is nesting in the weeping willow right in the centre of the lawn where we walk close by it several times a day. All the spring flowers have been magnificent this year. Add to that the recent idea of the local authorities of planting spring flowers on the traffic islands and it works wonders for the sense of wellbeing as you sit in the odd traffic jam watching bees going from flower to flower - no traffic jam for them. The recent planting of some large areas of trees is now beginning to show results. The massed stands of willow with their yellow catkins provide our bees with pollen to help with that early start necessary to take full advantage of the oil seed rape later. But have we ever known the rape to flower so soon? By the time you are reading this considerable areas of it will be in full bloom. Most of the fields round here are distinctly yellow already and there’s no doubt my bees have found it for they are flying in that direction as though there is no tomorrow. Last weekend saw us travelling up to Willie Robson’s at Chain Bridge Honey Farm and the further north we went the more the fields were yellow with the rape being almost fully in bloom. Maybe they plant theirs earlier for it surely can’t be true that rape normally flowers earlier in the north than it does here.

I opened my bees for the first time yesterday (10th April), the wind was still quite cold but the sun was very hot. I did not hang about, it was simply a quick look, remove a couple of last year’s choked up food frames, note that there was a good egg/brood pattern and close up again. I did have one shock, yes a real shock - for I found I had not removed the Apistan from one colony after treating them last Autumn. That is the first time I have done that sort of thing in all the years I have been treating the bees, which only goes to show that you can’t be too careful when it comes to the details of beekeeping. I can only think that I must have been interrupted as I was about to remove the Apistan strips for the hive records show it as being removed.

I checked three of the four colonies and the bees are well advanced for the time of the year, with 6/7 frames of brood and considerable quantities of nectar and pollen. Even if we have a cold spell now I feel they will cope without any difficulty. Once more I have lost one colony this winter to dysentery. It was the colony that did not go to the moors, i.e., did not get the brood box filled with Heather honey. It did have lots of Ivy (Hedera helix) honey stored in the brood box when I opened it after it had died out and as usual it was dry and crystallised. There was no shortage of food for the bees, just that they could not use the honey they had stored. Clearly I did not get sufficient sugar into them before they began to collect the Ivy nectar, for they much prefer Ivy to sugar and will store it once they have found a reliable source, little realising the danger they are putting themselves in. Ted Hooper in ‘Guide to Bees and Honey’ says:-
"Problems have been caused by this (Ivy) as the white honey very rapidly granulates and has been known to dry out so that the bee was unable to use it during the winter. There have also been cases of bees being found with honey granulated in their stomachs, but whether this is the cause or effect of death is not known for certain".
There is a huge amount of Ivy growing in this area and the bees will gather it right up until it is destroyed by the first real frosts.

Saturday the 8th of June is the YBKA Spring Field Day to be held this year at Preston Park, Stockton. With this in mind I have received the following request from Vera:
Could you find room for a couple of things for the newsletter please.
Eileen Midgley still has one wbc hive and the Bee Hut for sale.
Could you also ask for items for the tombola at the Spring field day. Suggestions are jam, tins, wine or mead (home-made is ok), chutney, unwanted gifts etc. etc. Thanks.

What a super day we had at Kirkley Hall last week end. An excellent turn-out with 13 people joining us for the first time. The questionnaires returned after the conference showed complete satisfaction with all aspects of the day and many requesting more of the same. The facilities provided by Kirkley College were excellent and no-one had a single complaint about the food which was served with first class service. The trip to see the Wild White Cattle at Chillingham on the Sunday was also a total success, the weather being perfect for the short but steep climb to the top of the moor to where the cattle could be seen. It was followed by the visit to Willie Robson’s Honey Farm. Not only did we have a trip round his works to see how he handles the honey from 1,500 colonies of bees scattered round the northern area, but he provided us with the most fabulous lunch we could ever wish for. He then joined us for a very friendly and pleasant question and answer session. A weekend many people will remember for a long time.

Swarming never fails to cause considerable interest and many of you joined in last months discussion after the talk. It is a subject that lots of people only seem to think about just as they are faced with the problem. Your bees will be swarming very soon now, sooner than you would normally expect them to if this spring weather stays as it has started. Keep in front of your bees by giving them new brood foundation where it’s needed, and by adding the first super now; mine have two on already. Super again as soon as they have drawn 3/4 combs in the first super and use fresh clean comb/foundation to encourage them to use it. Remove rape honey as soon as it is capped. Have your extra gear ready well in advance of requirements, determine now what you are going to do when you do see queen cells and above all keep calm and ask for help if you’re stuck. My colonies also have lots of drones, a clear indication that the season is well advanced. Bees will not swarm until drones are on the wing - so keep a look out for them too.

Next months meeting is the first of our summer open air meetings and it will be held at Roger Chapple’s apiary in Brafferton. For beginners there will be a few veils available but please bring overalls and wellies with you. Please telephone Roger before hand to let him know you are going. As there will not be any more Newsletters until September it’s time to remind you of the Cleveland Honey Show to be held in conjunction with the YBKA Honey Show at Stewarts Park on Saturday the 26th of July. Please do support us. Helpers are also required on the day.

May your summer be filled with honey.

Kindest regards to you all,
Bryan Hateley