We’re continuously being told that we are experiencing a period of ‘Global Warming’ and there are many examples to be seen with each successive year. Without doubt the most prominent example this year is to be seen beside the A1 motorway just south of Catterick. Last Thursday, the 3rd of March, we saw a large field of rape in full bloom. It was almost too good to be true and without doubt quite a surprise. The rape around here is well advanced but nowhere near the flowering stage. We are only just seeing the last of the snow melting away today, 6th of March, but we have a very cold wind and the rape will be making very slow progress as a result of it. There are still large areas of snowdrops and the primroses are showing up well now. Not many bees will have been flying today though and in such cold weather there will not be much nectar available anyway. My bees have been busy recently in the middle of each day, the snow in the apiary bearing witness to that fact. It is well splattered with yellow droppings and the bodies of many bees. How many, I wonder, are dead bees removed from the hive by the workers, or bees that have been tempted out by the sunshine and landed on the snow only to be chilled and unable to get up again. I will never know, but the area looks like a battle ground, a sight we never normally see when there is no snow about.

I have hefted all my hives recently and have been quite surprised at just how heavy they are, a fact that pleases me no end for I do not have to feed or open them up unnecessarily. However, we must be careful for bees consume food very rapidly at this time of the year and many a beekeeper has been caught out believing there to be more food in the hive than there truly is.

By now you should have all your brood and super frames cleaned and ready to receive new foundation. Spare brood boxes and supers should be cleaned and sterilised and all queen excluders scraped free of wax and propolis then scrubbed with soap and water. Pay particular attention to the floors for that is where all the debris falls frequently decaying into a foul smelling messy gunge which must be the breeding ground for any disease. As most of you know, I use open mesh floors all the year round and considerable quantities of such gunge fall through the mesh and on to the ground away from the bees. Winter is a difficult enough time for our bees so we must do all we can to help them through it but without undue interference.

I have to confess to being more than a little disappointed at the poor turn-out of Cleveland members to the Varroa seminar held today at Houghall. Only five folks attended, which it must be said is about the same number as attended from each of the other associations in the northern area. It was an interesting day and I am sure everyone gained something from it. When we realise that 95% of all varroa in the Devon area are immune to treatment with Bayvarol or Apistan, that lots of colonies have died out because beekeepers were still treating with such products and that it will not be very long before varroa in this area are similarly immune, we just cannot afford to be complacent. The seminar was to inform beekeepers of the various alternatives available, just how they should be integrated into an alternating programme of control and how to monitor to determine if the varroa in your colonies are immune to treatment with pyrethroids. It is perhaps true to say that there was nothing that we had not heard before to be heard this time, but it was all put together in a most comprehensive and understandable manner. The morning was taken up with Ian Molyneux giving a slide show clearly stating the situation we are in now, with immune mites beginning to dominate the scene, and a complete description of the various treatments now available. After lunch three workshops were set up to demonstrate some of the methods of treatment. They are mostly detailed in the DEFRA booklet ‘Managing Varroa’ copies of which are available from me if you do not already have one. They included such things as queen trapping, drone culling, the use of thymol based products, open mesh floors and artificial swarming. It is, of course, one thing to read about these things and quite another to see the methods being used in practice, and I believe the workshop to have been particularly valuable for that reason alone. Considerable emphasis was placed upon the use of open mesh floors as a means of limiting varroa mites and an example of the type of floor was available for all to see. I have copies of the design for anyone interested in making their own. People seem to have problems finding a source of suitable wire mesh so I have included a suppliers name on the drawing. At £20-50 a metre it sounds expensive but that is sufficient to make at least four and possibly six floors. Those who wish to continue to use Bayvarol or Apistan exclusively should be checking at least once each year to see if the mites in your colonies are immune to it’s active ingredients. However we all should be looking to a system of variable treatments, keeping comprehensive records of each one and its success in any particular colony. If you have beekeeping neighbours, are aware of feral colonies in your immediate area or collect wild swarms you should be even more alert to the dangers of ‘importing’ mites from them.

Another reminder for beginners wishing to join Rob Andrews ‘Introduction To Beekeeping Course’ should set aside the week end of May the 8th and 9th. It will cost you £25-00 and will be held at Natures World, Middlesbrough. Further details can be obtained by contacting Rob via CBKA.

A reminder too of the two Conferences to be held next month in this area. The first is the Kirkley Hall conference which is arranged by the Northern Beekeepers Association; it is to be held on Saturday the 3rd of April. Kirkley Hall is just outside Ponteland, very close to Newcastle airport. Anyone wishing to attend can obtain all the details from me. The Bishop Burton conference at Beverley, is two weeks later on the 17th of April, and is arranged by Yorkshire Beekeepers Association. Details can be obtained from Ian Brown.

Do try to attend at least one of them, for considerable effort goes into their organization with speakers selected from the wider world of beekeeping in an effort to enhance the beekeeping experience of all who attend. Meals are provided and there is always a friendly atmosphere in which we meet beekeepers from other areas often with different, interesting ideas.

This years YBKA Spring Field Day will be held at Foxglove Covert on Saturday the 5th of June and is being organised by Richmond BKA. It is a bird sanctuary where Richmond BKA have an apiary. Foxglove Covert is part of Catterick Army Garrison and the army have set a limit on the numbers attending. Admission is by ticket only and they are available from Ian Brown on a first come first served basis. Weather permitting it could be a splendid day out, though whatever the weather you will need strong shoes to walk the paths.

An early reminder now of this years Visiting Lecturer talk which will be held on the 1st of November. The speaker will be David Aston, Chairman of York BKA and he has chosen for his subject 'Plants and Bees - their relationships'. David is about take over the roll of 'Science Review' correspondent for the Beekeepers Quarterly, details of which are given in the November issue. It is Cleveland BKA's turn to host the Visiting Lecturer Scheme this year, and it will be held in Stokesley Town Hall (lots of parking space). Do make a note in your diaries.

I mentioned the new honey regulations in last months Newsletter and I have now been given more details of what they mean. Honey should not be stored for more than one year before bottling and should not be older than two years when sold to shops. It must have a sell by date. For some obscure reason if you sell your honey privately the above regulations seem not to apply. A colleague recently wrote to say, "Beekeeping is no longer a country craft. The beekeeper of today has to have more than a passing acquaintance with good laboratory practices relating to the handling of dangerous substances in order to cope with such chemicals as the VMD licence. He also needs the biological expertise to identify and differentiate the alien species which invade the beehive and the education to read and interpret the intricacies of the language woven into regulations by legislative draughtsmen". I wonder what new regulations global warming will bring!

Finally, some people are apparently not receiving the BBKA Newsletter or their membership card by post direct from BBKA Headquarters. If you are one of those people please let Ian know and he will see that the problem is sorted out.

Kindest regards to you all,
Bryan Hateley