Current CBKA News
CBKA One Day Seminar - Saturday 12th March 2011
"Better Bees and Better Beekeepers. The speakers and titles are as follows:
Norman Carreck: Honeybee tolerance to Varroa destructor - the "holy grail" of beekeeping
Roger Patterson: My Simple Approach to Bee Improvement
David Aston:Queen rearing without loss of honey production
Andy Wattam: The twenty minute beekeeper.
Please put the date in your diaries. Booking forms will be mailed out to CBKA members in February. The ticket price will be £17.50. This includes lunch and light refreshments. A vegetarian option will be available if requested in advance.
Young Scientists Study Bees
A class of 8-year olds have published a paper in a leading scientific journal. Pupils from Blackawton Primary School in Devon teamed up with a neuroscientist at University College London to write a paper in Biology Letters, 25. The paper describes how the pupils designed and carried out controlled experiments showing that buff-tailed bumblebees can use a combination of colour and spatial relationships when choosing their flowers while foraging. The diagrams are clearly drawn by hand and the text is written by the pupils. Using a Plexiglas bee hutch in a Norman church near the school, the young scientists trained the bees to solve puzzles in order to gain a reward of artificial nectar. The paper is interesting and heart-warming. It is well worth a read. Click the link to see a summary and find a link to download the full colour PDF of the paper.
Want a fast track to practical beekeeping experience?
We are looking for a new apiary manager at Wandlebury, which will require a couple of hours per week during the season. The apiary manager will not be expected to organise the Sunday inspection rotas or have to attend the Sunday meetings. Basically we are looking for someone to keep an eye on the hives that were not inspected as part of the Sunday Inspection or where the Sunday Inspections identified problems. In addition they will act as the e-mail link between the Sunday Inspection teams and have responsibility for having spare equipment available at the apiary. Hours to suit, can be evenings. Enthusiasm is more important than previous experience as there will support on call or where advice/help is needed. Unfortunately we can't offer a financial reward just a fast track to practical experience. For further information contact John Rayner or Doug Brown (Contact details available here or use Webmaster Contact Form here).
Beginners' Course - Jan 2011
This year's beginners' course schedule kicked off on Wednesday 12th January. If you are a CBKA member who attended the course last year, or previously, then you are welcome to attend any classes this year that you may have missed or feel that you need to brush up. Same place and time as last year.
Healthy Bees Plan
The 6th quarterly newsletter on the Healthy Bees Plan has now been published by FERA. This includes the National Bee Unit's collaboration with Aberdeen University in finding a solution to silence natural functions in the varroa mite's gene, with the potential to make them self-destruct. Click here to view the document.
CBKA Talk - 6th February 15h00
Mo Vaughan, one of our own members, has long had an interest in microscopy applied to beekeeping, including the study of bee anatomy. On this occasion, he is turning his attention to the pollen grains in honey. Please bring along a small sample of one or more different honeys to aid Mo in demonstrating to us how to prepare and examine a sample of pollen, and to identify the source. See our CBKA Talks Programme page for more information.
See the Links page for two articles from Mo on Adult Bee Diseases.
CBKA Honey Show 2010
Our premier show of the year took place at the Fenland Country Fair over the August Bank Holiday weekend. We had 163 entries from 20 entrants, a reasonably creditable turnout. This was down on last year but there were some fine entries with Ray Smith winning the Best Exhibit in Show for the second year running. This year Ray's winning entry was a skep complete with feeder, super and driving irons.
Chris Evans gained the Tebbutt Trophy for Most Points in Show (and four other trophies) closely followed by Glyn Davies and Bill Block.
Once again judging was carried out in public on Sunday morning by our Judge, Fiona Dickson with the confectionery classes having been judged on Saturday afternoon by Joan Hall and her daughters, members of the organisation team of the Fair.