SBKA in the News

Somerset Beekeepers' Association

S.B.K.A.. Publicity Officer: David Morris, ‘Cranford’, Halse, Taunton, Somerset. TA4 3AB Telephone 01823 432686 E Mail: dgmorris@cooptel.net

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The following article is a result of the BBC Sound interview with David Morris 7th June 2009

http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2009/06/10/beekeeping_feature.shtml

Also available in pdf for printing or offline reading, right click here and choose 'save target as'

(article © BBC2009)

Latest Press Releases

25 th May 2009

Members of the Somerset Beekeepers Association (S.B.K.A.), are remarking on the way their bees have survived the winter and how the colonies have rapidly built up during the past few months. After two very disappointing years, bee colonies appear to be taking full advantage of the early spring with the abundance of flowers combined with the many warm days we have had recently.

Swarms were appearing across the county as early as April. This is a very unusual occurrence for this time of year. The month of May has also seen more swarms emerging. This could be nature's way of replacing the many colonies that have been lost over the last couple of winters. Swarming is the natural way that bee colonies increase their numbers and each one will be headed by the old queen or a newly emerged virgin.

Beekeepers will be taking advantage of this situation by establishing new colonies as part of their management techniques to deter the bees from actually swarming. Besides protecting their crop of honey, (bees can take up to 50% of the crop with them when they swarm) the beekeepers will be raising their new queens from selected colonies. Hopefully, many of the empty hives will become occupied in the next few weeks with some good tempered bees that are consistent foragers.

Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the numbers attending local beekeeping courses and becoming members of the SBKA. Some of these new beekeepers will have been disheartened with so little return. Nevertheless, many have persevered, and should soon be rewarded with a worthwhile harvest of honey.

David Morris, the SBKA Publicity Officer who has kept bees for over 50 years, commented, ‘ Many hives have already collected more honey from the fruit orchards and oil seed rape in particular, than the total amounts that were harvested last year or the year before. This will help to alleviate the shortage of local honey from Somerset as well as bringing a smile to the faces of beekeepers across the county.'

15th March 2009

The Annual General Meeting of the Somerset Beekeepers Association (S.B.K.A.), was held on Saturday 14 th March at the Wedmore Golf Club. In his opening address, the President Gerald Fisher, welcomed the 40 plus members present and reminded them that our on-going Introductory Courses across the county had attracted over 200 attendees. He hoped that the Divisions within the S.B.K.A. will benefit from further increases in membership.

Gerald then went on to introduce the speaker, Andy Willis from the Hampshire Beekeepers Association. It was through his work as a horticulturalist that he became aware of the importance of pollination. His introduction to beekeeping was thrust upon him when as head gardener at a manor house in South Lincolnshire, he was put in charge of eight hives.

Now living in Southampton, he started his talk by pointing out that urban bees are at an advantage over rural bees as there is a larger variety of winter flowering and early spring plants in the gardens to provide the bees with vital early pollen. He illustrated his talk with slides of the useful plants, explaining that they need to be in full sun for the flowers to warm up and attract the bees. He told the audience to look for the varieties that have flowers heads pointing down. This ensured the nectar and pollen available is not washed out in downpours. Winter heathers have this advantage over the summer varieties. Double flowing examples of flowers such as snowdrops and cherries, have no attraction for honeybees. He also encouraged the audience to grow almond and apricot trees if they had cherry plums. To ensure cross-pollination, he suggested encouraging the neighbours to do the same but with different varieties. In conclusion, he suggested that whilst we are encouraged to eat five different fruits and vegetables a day, perhaps bee larvae could also benefit from being fed five varieties of pollen.

In thanking Andy for a fascinating talk, Ken Tredgett the S.B.K.A. Chairman thought that some members present could well be off to the garden centres armed with his excellent handout that gave full details of the plants covered in his talk.

The business meeting that followed tea was undertaken efficiently as the various reports, particularly from the Secretary Suzy Perkins, and the Treasurer Gail Johnson, had been circulated before-hand. These revealed another successful year for the Association in terms of the activities and the finances. All the existing officers were re-elected with the addition of Jackie Mosedale from the Somerton Division as Vice-Chair.

In conclusion, David Morris, as the Chairman of the judging panel for the Annual Rose Bowl Award, (given to the member who had made an outstanding contribution to beekeeping), informed the meeting that this year's winner was Tony Richards from the Exmoor Division.

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22nd February 2009

The now prestigious Annual Lecture Day of the Somerset Beekeepers Association. (S.B.K.A.) took place at Draycott, near Cheddar on Saturday 21 st February. All 150 tickets available were taken up by members from Somerset and the surrounding counties.

After the welcome address by the President, Gerald Fisher, the first speaker was Professor Keith Delaplane from Georgia University, U.S.A. Keith is leading a team of researchers into the causes and solutions to ‘colony collapse disorder'. The effects of the varroa mite and minute impregnations within the comb were cited as the main causes. The solution was to select and breed from bees with hygienic behaviour as well as from those bees that displayed a greater immunity from the many viruses that have surfaced with varroa. This is being undertaken using the genetic knowledge now available in respect of the honey bee.

His second talk was about the studies being undertaken on the survival abilities of colonies in a natural environment compared with those in managed hives. He kept the audience's attention with some startling facts such as the need for colonies to have over 40 lbs of pollen and over 100 lbs honey to ensure the brood and adult bees are sustained in the active season. This is before they start storing sufficient food for their winter survival.

Past President of the British Beekeepers Association, Glyn Davies from Devon gave an insight into the laying patterns of queens and how amongst other facets, the colony recognises and deals with the unfertilised eggs laid by up to 10% of workers

Richard Ball, the retiring National Bee Inspector and Alan Vevers the Regional Bee Inspector gave insights into the possible developments being envisaged by DEFRA. How the £4.5 million allocated by DEFRA is to be spent over the next five years on education and research is still awaited.

After the final speaker, Philippa O'Brian on garden design, a presentation was made to Richard Ball on behalf of the Somerset members in appreciation of his 10 years involvement with bee keepers throughout the county. Ken Tredgett, the Chairman concluded the successful day by thanking the organisers and speakers and in particular, Neil Trood, his wife and their band of helpers for providing an excellent lunch and manning the tea breaks so efficiently.

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9th January 2009

The statement issued today by Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary has been awaited by the Somerset Beekeepers Association. (S.B.K.A.) This statement is the result of the consultative process undertaken by DEFRA last summer. The S.B.K.A. submitted their own independent response and an initial study of the statement reveals that a number of our concerns have been considered.

The £4.5 million to be spent over the next five years on education and research is a step in the right direction. Whilst the S.B.K.A. was hoping for guaranteed funding over a longer period of time, we have to accept that any level of funding is welcome at this particular time of economic difficulty. We will be monitoring the situation and if necessary be pressing for further funding to enable the research and investment to continue after 2014.

The statement reads that, DEFRA, ‘will include identifying all those who keep bees and providing expert advice to them on tackling pest and diseases and applying good husbandry.' In their submission, the S.B.K.A. recognised this as just one of the many problems to be faced. We wait to see how the £2.3 million over the next two years for this specific task is to be delivered. David Morris, Publicity Officer of S.B.K.A. said today, ‘That to rely upon existing beekeepers with limited expertise to provide the advice would not be the solution. We will be looking for DEFRA to appoint more full and part-time staff to deliver their objective.'

Further details of the S.B.K.A. and their activities can be found on their website: www. somersetbeekeepers.org.uk

£4.3 million bee health funding increase announced

An extra £4.3 million to safeguard and undertake more research into the health of bees was announced by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn today in a speech at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Mr Benn said that nearly £2.3 million over the next two years would support the work of the National Bee Unit in its efforts to help England's beekeepers deal with the problems facing their bee colonies.
This will include identifying all those who keep bees and providing expert advice to them on tackling pests and diseases and applying good husbandry.

In addition, Defra will put an extra £400,000 towards bee health research every year for the next five years. This extra funding – a total of £2 million – forms part of a comprehensive bee health strategy, which is under development.

Over the last two years Britain's bee colonies have suffered significant losses due to a combination of potential issues including the weather, the varroa mite, and other factors requiring further investigation by researchers.

Mr Benn said:

“Bees are vulnerable to a number of threats. Pests and diseases, when combined with poor summers can leave colonies unable to survive the winter.
“We must get to grips with this, to see just how serious a problem it is, what the impacts on pollination are, and what we can do in response.”

Issued 21 st January 2009

An article in the Mid Somerset Newspaper series Thursday 28th August 2008

BEEKEEPERS DEMANDING ACTION

Beleaguered beekeepers from mid-Somerset are urging action to help the hard-pressed insects.

They want to see millions more government investment in research to tackle diseases causing what they call the "dramatic decline in the numbers of honey bees and other pollinators".

And they have won the backing of Somerton and Frome Liberal Democrat MP David Heath, who has been checking out a bee colony to understand the problems.The Somerton and District Beekeepers Association says department for environment figures show bees providing an annual £165 million of benefit to agriculture.

Just one per cent of that figure, spent over five years, would make a big difference to essential research, says the association.

Despite disease challenges, the association is hoping for a bumper crop from its members' bees for its annual honey show at Long Sutton Village Hall on September 27.

When parliament debated the plight of beneficial insects, Mr Heath was a keen contributor, pointing out the bees' needs and the importance of pollination for the apple and cider industries, and agriculture in general.

Visiting an apiary belonging to Somerton beekeeper Eddie Howe, Mr Heath was met by Somerset Beekeepers Association president Gerald Fisher and young enthusiasts Jack and Lewis Radford

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S.B.K.A. Publicity Officer David Morris, interviewed for Farm Radio talks about C.C.D.

Trouble in the hives, July 2008

An item produced by Geoff Pagotto with David Morris about CCD is on the Farm Radio website.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~David Morris ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Picture courtesy Farm Radio

A startling headline claim that bees could face extinction within 10 years drew Geoff Pagotto to visit Somerset Bee Keeper David Morris. The so called Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has been seen in hives across Europe the UK and the United States, where it was first observed just two years ago. But are bees really at that much risk?  Geoff caught up with David as he prepared for the start of the bee season.

Click on the link below,  then scroll down to 'Trouble in the Hives' and click on the straw bale to listen to the interview.

http://www.farmradio.org.uk/programs_edition43a.htm

Press Release 7th July 2008

The 500 + members of the Somerset Beekeepers Association, (S.B.K.A.) will be hoping for a settled spell of weather during July. This will enable the honeybees to take advantage of the abundance supply of nectar and ensure a satisfactory crop of honey for the beekeeper. With poor harvests over the past two years, Somerset honey is in short supply. This situation is repeated in most areas of the U.K.

The decline in colony numbers as a result of the effects of the Varroa mite and the associated viruses that have become prevalent, has meant that there are fewer colonies of bees to meet this shortfall. A large number of beekeepers in the county suffered winter losses of over 50% which resulted in many empty hives having to be restocked. If the beekeeper is lucky, some of the hives will become re occupied by swarms that are hopefully healthy. Other empty hives will have been filled by the beekeeper splitting his existing stocks or creating artificial swarms. The success of these new colonies will still depend upon the new queens being adequately mated. These new colonies are unlikely to provide any appreciable surplus honey for the beekeeper because they will be building up their own reserves of pollen and honey.

To ensure the present shortage is overcome in future years, the survival of the honeybee is essential. Campaigns are underway to seek more resources for research into the causes and solutions. The S.B.K.A. will be submitting their observations to a DEFRA consultative paper on the future of bee health. If the next winter follows the pattern of the losses over the previous two years then the honeybee is facing a severe decline over the next five years. Such a scenario would have a catastrophic impact on our ability to feed ourselves with the fruits, vegetables and livestock produce we have up to now, taken for granted.

The next event involving the S.B.K.A. will be the Annual Bees and Honey Show to be held in conjunction with the Taunton Flower Show on 1 st and 2 nd August. Organised by the Taunton Division of S.B.K.A., the show stages 44 different classes related to the craft that include honey, beeswax, and meads. The Division also gives practical demonstrations entailing the opening of a hive behind a screened tent on both days of the show.

  S.B.K.A.. Publicity Officer: David Morris, ‘Cranford’, Halse, Taunton, Somerset. TA4 3AB Telephone 01823 432686 E Mail: dgmorris@cooptel.net

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