Sadly, we have lost our normal venue for meetings for the foreseeable future, so the AGM will be held on 20th October 2017, at 7.30pm, in East Challow Village Hall, Main Street, East Challow, OX12 9SR. Our November meeting on 24th November will be held at the same venue.

Evening Summer Meetings for anyone interested in keeping bees.
The Vale & Downland Beekeepers’ Association will once again hold 4 evening meetings during the season for beginners and the public. If you are interested in beekeeping this is your chance to come along and have a chat with one of our experienced beekeepers. These meetings will be held on Wednesday 3 May, Wednesday 7 June, Wednesday 5 July and Wednesday 2 August, all starting at 19:00.  If you know of anyone who would be interested in attending any of these meetings please contact Lilian Valentine on 01235 767524 or email lilian@valeanddownlandbees.org.uk.  Venues for these meetings will be decided upon nearer  the time. If you cannot make a Wednesday evening please contact Lilian and we will see if we can arrange another evening.

Beginners Evening Class: Introduction to Beekeeping

Vale and Downland Beekeepers Association is pleased to announce that their well established and highly informative evening classes for Beginners will be starting again this January, following the successful course last October. The course includes:

Membership to the association
6 weeks tuition on the theory of beekeeping
1 day practical workshop on making up your equipment individual mentoring through your first season with bees weekly practical sessions of handling bees at our association apiary.

Numbers are limited, please contact Lilian Valentine

(jvalentine515@btinternet.com) or tel: 01235 767524 for registration details.

Message from The National Bee Unit – 4 Oct 2016

There has been a confirmed finding of Asian hornet north of the Mendip Hills in Somerset. As with the first sighting, work to find, destroy and remove any nests is already underway, and includes:

• setting up a three mile surveillance zone around the location of the initial sighting
• opening a local control centre to coordinate the response
• deploying bee inspectors across the area who will use infrared cameras and traps to locate any nests
• readying nest disposal experts who will use pesticides to kill the hornets and destroy any nests

Bee inspectors in Somerset will be supported by nest disposal experts who will use an approved pesticide to destroy any hornets and remove any nests.

The first Asian hornet confirmed in the UK was discovered in the Tetbury area. A nest in the area has since been found, treated with pesticide and destroyed. No further live Asian hornets have been sighted in the area since the nest was removed.

Husbandry Advice:
It is very important that beekeepers remain vigilant and monitor their apiaries and surrounding forage for any Asian hornet activity. At this time of the year, Asian hornets can be seen foraging on the ivy for nectar and preying on other foraging insects for protein.

Traps should also be hung out and closely monitored. When using bait, please refrain from using light beer or lager mixed with sugar as this does not work. In France a Dark beer, mixed with 25ml of strawberry syrup and 25ml of orange liqueur has proven to work well.

Additionally, a protein bait of mashed fish e.g. prawns or trout, diluted to 25% has also proven effective. Anyone wishing to make their own traps may find the following factsheet useful: How to make a homemade Asian hornet monitoring trap.

Further guidance on identifying the Asian hornet can be found on the Asian hornet pages of Beebase where you will find a very useful Asian hornet ID sheet and Asian hornet poster. All of this information can be found on the Asian hornet page of BeeBase: http://www.nationalbeeunit.com/index.cfm?pageId=208.

Any suspected Asian hornet sightings should be reported to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk.

If you are not sure, please still send in a sample for ID or report any sightings. When emailing, please include your name, the location of the sighting and if possible, a photograph of the hornet. Please do not put yourself in any danger of getting stung when trying to take a photo.

V&DBKA Members Meeting

Ron Hoskins – The Result of Twenty Chemical-free Beekeeping Years.

Ron Hoskins honeybees now co-exist alongside Varroa. He will tell you how this has been achieved.

Please click this link for the latest newsletter concerning the National Honey Show. We are very excited about the new venue and the opportunity this gives us to put on an even better show. Please let your membership know about the exciting line up of speakers we already have in place for this year and that the videos from last year are available on the website. More news will follow as we get closer to the event. In the meantime we hope everyone has a great beekeeping season.

Best wishes,

Fiona and Helen

The Welsh Beekeepers Association warmly invites you to their annual convention on Saturday 2nd April at the RWAS Show Ground, Builth Wells. Entrance £7 in advance, £9 on the door.

Speakers:

Margaret Ginmam – Bee Farmers Association opening the programme.

Natasha de Vere – Plants for Honey Bees: Using DNA barcoding to understand the best plants for healthy honeybees.

Mike Brown(APHA) – What the Beekeeper should know about the Asian Hornet.

(BDI Sponsored Lecture)

Clive de Bruyn – Making a Start in Spring.

The programme of lectures will be followed by a question and answer session with a panel of expert beekeepers.

The traders hall will have a range of beekeeping merchandise for sale, a canteen and a beekeepers corner where you can meet members of the Bee Inspection Service to answer your questions as well as other experienced beekeepers to offer support and advice.

Further details and advance payment forms can be found on www.wbka.com , just follow the links to the convention from the home page.

Jill Wheeler

WBKA Events Secretary

Beginners Evening Class: Introduction to Beekeeping

Vale and Downland Beekeepers Association is pleased to announce that their well established and highly informative evening classes for Beginners will be starting this October. The course includes:

• Membership to the association
• 8 weeks tuition on the theory of beekeeping
• 1 day practical workshop on making up your equipment individual mentoring through your first season with bees weekly practical sessions of handling bees at our association apiary.

Numbers are limited, please contact Lilian Valentine

(jvalentine515@btinternet.com) or tel: 01235 767524 for registration details.