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Hello Beekeepers, Wow! The bees are rocketing out of the hives. Hebe, elder, foxglove (saw a honeybee in one for the first time), plus the herbs are flowering well and bramble is already flowering but haven’t seen bees on it yet. I saw honeybees still interested in the laurel hedge next door – no flowers, must be honeydew. The lime is about to flower and as it is the last tree to do so, once it finishes there may be a June gap. Keep alert. I’m finding that the bees are plastered up the front by 10 am. They are in a netted enclosure which usually gives a calm, steady atmosphere but I have pinned up the netting to give the bees what little breeze there is. If this continues I will consider moving them under the cooler trees (but by the time I have moved 2feet per day, it will be winter!) I’ve even showered the hives when watering my pot plants. The weather was thundery and damp for the meeting in May, so we looked into just one hive and retired to Croxteth Hall’s Study for coffee, tea and a good discussion. Trevor Latham showed the new (portable) observation hive he’d bought which stimulated a lot of comment on its advantages and disadvantages Both the Furness and the Wirral Conventions were well worth attending, both for new information and a good talk to other beekeepers in other areas. The trip to Slovenia organised by Doug and Elaine Jones was absolutely brilliant! We visited two or three venues most days including bee and queen breeding, bee tourism, the Slovenian National Beekeeping Centre, Bee Museum, Limestone Caves, The original Lippizaner Stud (Lipis means Lime tree!) Lake Bled and the coast Portoros and the main city, Ljubljana with its market (honey and pollen). It took three days before I could eat again after beekeepers fed us four course lunches, followed by four course dinners at the hotel in Trojane! The coach group was friendly, cheerful, and got on well. Several Liverpool Members attended the Lancs County Queen Rearing Workshop on the 9th. It was demanding, a lot of preparation needed for first timers but very interesting! I took home four grafts in a five frame nucleus, of which three seem to have taken. I fed diluted honey to give the equivalent of nectar (roughly 20% sugars) and when I looked in today the bees were very busy taking it down. I will set up a hive headed by one of these black queens just to see what differences there might be from my existing bees. Next meeting will be at John McCann’s apiary at CHET (Crosby Hall Education Trust) on Sat. 23rd June, at 2.30 pm (map enclosed). Coming from Virgins Lane to Back Lane turn left into the ‘Welcome Car Park’ where we will gather before moving to the hives. Our Bee Inspector, Ian Molyneux will open the hives to discuss what is going on in each hive. He has several topics to talk on but is also happy to be led by members questions. The day is aimed at helping both experienced and new beekeepers so I hope you will all be able to come and enjoy the day. See Map (If you have an email, please let me have it as it is both quicker and cheaper to send the newsletter.)
Good Beekeeping, Sheila Myron, Hon. Sec. |
