The end of another beekeeping year and a decade on from when Varroa was first discovered in this area. People said at the time that "beekeeping will never be the same again" and it wasn’t. After the initial ‘shock’ of realising varroa was here in Cleveland, after the initial departure of some beekeepers who just could not face that fact, after a learning period that included many colony losses and after spending relatively large sums of money on equipment to counter the dreaded mite, beekeepers realised that they could, after all, live with the problem. Now we enter yet another period of uncertainty. No beekeeper worth his salt will be unaware of the fact that ‘new’ mites immune to the normally accepted treatment with pyrethroids have been found locally and that it can only be a matter of a short time before they are found on our doorstep.
DEFRA tell us "the number one problem faced by beekeepers will always be varroa" and there is no reason whatever to doubt that. We will not be able to stop the inevitable progress of the immune mites from apiary to apiary, but we could slow its progress down by careful and considerate beekeeping. I said a couple of months ago that "It has been so convenient just to slip a couple of impregnated strips into our hive and to sit back knowing the mites would go away. From now on we can no longer do just that any more. We will need to check thoroughly for immunity and to respond accordingl". For those of us wishing to continue using pyrethroids we will have to check regularly for the presence of immune mites. Beekeeping has, once more, changed and changed for good and maybe it’s not a bad thing. The convenience of using pyrethroids (so called hard chemicals) is beyond question but there is always that niggling doubt about whether they contaminate the honey and wax sufficiently to (ultimately) be a serious problem. So we are forced on to the defensive, once again, and whilst (perhaps) continuing to use pyrethroids we must constantly be alert and to be monitoring to determine that the pyrethroids we are using are working. I now have sufficient immunity testing kits from DEFRA to give one to each of you and I will be demonstrating their use (again) and handing the test kits out to you all next March. In the meantime I prevail on you all to read and understand the DEFRA booklet ‘Managing Varroa’ which deals in detail with the subject. The booklet alternative treatments though at the moment there is only one ‘approved’ alternative (Apiguard, a soft chemical). I have been assured that there is to be a second approved for use early next year. The alternatives to pyrethroids use what are called ‘soft chemicals’ and these are listed in the booklet as ‘Non-Medicinal Curative Substances’ (NMCS). In addition there is the ‘well understood’ alternatives to chemicals of any kind, such as drone breeding and culling, and these are also listed in the booklet. During a recent visit to the National Honey Show in London I learned that mites immune to pyrethroids are to be found throughout Europe and that beekeeping remains successful in spite of that fact. There’s little doubt that if we wish to remain successful, we are going to have to change the practices of the last decade to keep abreast of the changes in the characteristics of the (new) varroa mite. The changes will require positive forward thinking to meet the challenge head on if we are to maintain healthy bees. Cleveland Beekeepers must ensure they are in the forefront of any new developments in order to meet the challenge of the next decade.
Yes, it is the end of another beekeeping year, one that I feel has probably been the best many of us have ever experienced. Folks tell me of huge quantities of honey being gathered for the first time in many years. I have never had so much honey both summer honey and heather honey. But that is not all, for this year I managed to get it all off the bees in good time and into jars almost immediately. In addition I have nearly all my wax cleaned and cast into saleable blocks ready to go for re-cycling. The hives and brood frames are clean, sterilised and stored away ready for next year, in fact I’ve never been so prepared for the next year as I am this time. There’s a great feeling of satisfaction, almost smugness, at having everything completed so soon. So how have I managed it? There can be no doubt that it is at least partly due to deciding on a rigid time schedule. It started by my being determined to make Monday morning my beekeeping period, a decision that I stuck to firmly this year. Once or twice the weather was against me opening hives but that just meant that I could spend time indoors waxing up frames and preparing clean supers. One other factor that has had a big influence on my ‘success’ is having help in the shape of two new beekeepers; people who having had a swarm land in their garden in early May, decided to take up the ‘sport’ there and then. I have reached the stage in life when age begins to tell. I am not as capable of lifting heavy boxes as I used to be; super on top of super become just too much, with arthritis in my hands and ‘beekeepers back’ I know it’s time to slow down. But I have no intention of giving up (yet), so what is the alternative. "To obtain help", said I, and this year help came just at the right moment. I gave up my beekeeping class three years ago, but I feel there is still a need to help new beekeepers through their first few weeks and if it can be done as a mutual benefit for learner/s and beekeeper, beekeeping must be the ultimate winner. I put record my gratitude to those learners who helped me this year.

Lifting heavy weights is, and always has been, a long standing feature of beekeeping. In the world of Industry such practices are actively discouraged these days with limits set by the Health and Safety Authorities. I feel it must be in the interest of beekeepers in general, and new beekeepers in particular, to examine the wisdom of carrying on as we have done for so many years. New thinking must be on the cards. I mentioned last March the ‘Dartington Long Hives’ and said then I would find out more about them. When I was at the Honey Show in London last month I spent some time with Robin Dartington looking at the design of his long (horizontal) hive. His supers are half the size and hence half the weight of National’s, his brood box is never more than one box high though it is just over twice as long as a National. Swarm control is made easier as it is all managed quite successfully in the one horizontal brood box. He proposes the use of deep national frames and we had some discussion on that point; I had the temerity to disagree with him, for he winds up at the end of the year having to extract honey from the large brood frames. I feel the principle of his design is correct for ‘healthier’ beekeeping but I am convinced he should use B.S. National brood frames thus encouraging the bees to put all their honey into the supers. The Dartington hive is also too large to transport to the moors. If BS Standard brood frames were used it would be a simple process to put bees and frames into a National hive for transport to ‘where-ever‘. On the moors half size supers would ensure beekeepers were lifting less weight. If I can find the time I may well make a hive based on Robin’s design just to see if all that he claims for it comes true. I have obtained several of Robin’s booklets to hand out to anyone who may be interested in following up the idea.

Our secretary tells me that some of our members have not yet paid their subscription for the coming year. May I suggest that a good Christmas present, for folks who already have everything, is an annual subscription from your family to CBKA. We are required to send an up-to-date list of members to BBKA soon for insurance purposes, and can only do that if we have received your subscription. So before you spend all you have on Christmas why not send a cheque for £21-00 to Philip, I know he needs it badly.

The National Honey Show was a sight well worth seeing, though I am not convinced I would normally travel from this far north to go. Why doesn’t someone encourage BBKA to hold the show in the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham; it’s much more central, accessible and user friendly than London. We just happened to be in Northampton for a few days, so what better than to pop down, on the train, for a day. How glad we are that we don’t have to travel into and around London each day, for the people are packed closer together bees in a beehive. I feel sure we would be jailed if we packed animals into trains like they pack people each morning and evening. But that aside, we were very pleased to have been there if only to see the success of Allan Jefferson from Whitby, Peter Schollick from Richmond and Ian Copinger from Durham. They are all to be congratulated for they are competing with the cream of the country at the ‘National’. I do not have a detailed account of their success but Allan was awarded a cup for obtaining the most points in the Heather Honey Entries, and a second award for his very interesting beekeeping video filmed with Luke Casey and shown recently on ITV. Peter won for having the Best Sections Overall and the Best Heather Honey Sections, while Ian took third prize for his Beekeeping Essay.

I have received a notice from Ian Molyneux, CSL’s North Regional Bee Inspector. He tells us that CSL are looking for a "Seasonal Bee Inspector for the North Eastern part of the North Region". The advert reads:

We are hoping to recruit a Seasonal Bee Inspector to cover Co. Durham, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland for the 2004 season. The post is a 5 month, permanent and re-occurring, once the suitable applicant has passed the probationary period.
The post will be advertised in the bee press in early spring. Applicants from the Northern borders of Yorkshire will be considered. Contact Ian Molyneux, Tel 01204 394558 or 07815 872604 or Email: I.molyneu@csl.gov.uk.

What a wonderful turnout we had for the Houghall quiz last Wednesday evening, the usual five teams plus a large compliment from Weardale BKA too. The quiz was a mixed one and very interesting too, and with everyone joining in we all had a good time. The honours were shared between Weardale and Cleveland, and it was agreed we will hold the shield for the first six months, passing it on to Weardale later. We thank Judy Wilkinson for all her efforts producing the quiz and Pat Copinger for providing the delightful array of refreshments. Thanks too to all who turned out to make it such an enjoyable evening for without you it couldn’t happen at all. I’m told the next one will be on the 1st of December 2004 make a note of it.
I have just received a message from Kevin, our Purchasing Officer; he tells me that now is the time to be ordering your foundation and jars for next year. A copy of the order form is enclosed with this month’s Newsletter. The last day for returning your order is the 31st of January, orders received after then will be too late to be considered for this years ‘bargain offers‘.

May you all have a super Christmas.

Kindest regards to you all,
Bryan Hateley