Monthly meeting May 2006

On Saturday May 20th, we had the first of our outdoor meetings this year, at Roger & Natalia's apiary in Silverdale. We had an excellent turnout with 31 club members present. It was a pleasure to welcome our guest speaker, Bill Poole, who came to talk to us about the BBKA Basic Examination.

Bill is a very experienced member of the Blackpool Beekeeping Association, and has himself successfully climbed the examination ladder and is now a Master Beekeeper. Just as Bill was about to begin, the heavens opened, so we retired to the cozy potting shed for his talk!

He began with a discussion on general aspects of beekeeping, with much encouragement for new beekeepers. He advised us that we should all have a full set of up to date copies of the various ministry pamphlets regarding disease control and prevention. These can be obtained from the branch secretary. We then discussed the siting of an apiary with particular emphasis on minimising the effects on the neighbours.

He then outlined the format of the basic assessment examination, being a practical exam, with a small oral content where the examiner asks various basic questions. To sit the exam, you must have been keeping bees for at least one year.Bill covered various aspects of the exam syllabus, including the importance of recognition and knowledge of bee diseases, bee anatomy, practical manipulation of the hive, and the critical importance of being able to recognize eggs and the healthy appearance of larvae. He talked about the use of the smoker and we discussed which materials we all used. An interesting point was the problem of using corrugated cardboard which may have been treated with fire retardant materials. He gave us a handy tip about using a small wedge to separate the broodboxes/supers when smoking the hive as he goes through.

He finished by encouraging us to sit the basic assesment. His opinion is that we should be in tune with our bees, and the more we understand about them the better we are as beekeepers. Dennis then gave a vote of thanks to Bill. Dennis sat the basic assesment in August 1999, and who do you think was his examiner?....you've guessed it, Bill!

We then adjourned outside as the weather had faired, where Roger gave us an interesting talk on supersedure and swarm prevention and control. He used some well prepared photographs on frames to simulate brood and queen cells.

Thanks to Roger and Natalia for their wonderful hospitality, and thanks to all who brought refreshments along.