Monthly meeting September 2006

The September meeting took place on Tuesday 19th at Hala Carr, when we were pleased to have our guest speaker Dr Julia Hoggard present a talk on the value of bees to the environment. Roger commenced the meeting with his chairperson's introduction, when he reminded everyone to ensure adequate autumn treatment for varroa. Bill then recounted problems he had this year using Exomite© in his WBC hives, when he found the bees reacted in an agitated way on commencement of treatment. Linda had experienced similar problems, and Cyril has also mentioned unusual reactions in the past using Exomite.

Richard then gave the secretaries report which included details of the IPM study day in November run by Cumbria BKA, details of the Lancashire & NW BKA annual convention, and details of the arrangements for entering our Annual Honey Show (see news page). Please could those members who won a trophy at last years show, remember to bring them along on the night so they can be engraved..

Julia's talk was a very thought provoking, scientific presentation outlining the environmental and economic value of honey bees and other pollinators, including Bumble Bees, Wasps, Solitary Bees, Hoverflies and Droneflies. Bees are responsible for 80% of crop pollination in the UK, and account for £50bn in economic terms worldwide. She told us that each hive we have, has an annual value of £800 to the UK economy.

She then outlined the evolution of the 20,000 species of bee, in parallel to the flowering plants. She emphasized the way man has altered the ecosystem, and how farming has intensified, which has had a dramatic impact on the environment, The various species of bee which have evolved different mouth parts and tongue lengths to pollinate different crops. Thus she postulated that we as beekeepers could now be adversely altering the balance of appropriate pollinators in the face of such drastic changes in the natural habitat.

Doris then gave a central delegates report. She commented that the BBKA was desperate to recruit more examiners. She said the Garstang show had been a great success, and she pointed out that there is a certificate for beekeepers of 50 years standing.

Richard S then gave a vote of thanks to Julia for a fascinating , thought provoking talk on our role as guardians of the honeybee population in the UK and the responsibilities we have for bee husbandry.