NORTH LONDON BEEKEEPERS

Click on Asian hornet fact sheet for information on Asian Hornets and a trap for them. This factsheet can also be found on the BeeBase website in the advisory leaflets list.

Alan Byham, the SE Regional Bee Inspector, would like to encourage beekeepers to use this trap, particularly those who live in high risk areas for Asian Hornet, such as along transport corridors as in Kent, or along the south coast. This can be a cheap and effective way of monitoring for the arrival of Asian Hornets.

If any Asian Hornet queens are caught this should be reported immediately using the link in the factsheet.

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PHOTOS OF NLB HONEY SHOW & POT-LUCK SUPPER, 2011

The photo on the left shows the dinner in full swing.

The photo on the right shows Farokh Khorooshi demonstrating his swarm collection kit. It had been successfully used in 2011 for collecting high swarms.


Moyra Davidson, our honey judge, presents John Hauxwell with the cup for the best exhibit	Malcolm Balston receives the cup for the best beewax.

The full results are in the 2011 Annual Review

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MEMBER'S VIDEO ON SWARM COLLECTION

Simon Orchard, an NLB member, has produced an excellent video in 2 parts on the method he used to collect his first swarm from a nursery school in Shepherds Bush.

See it on You-Tube at part 1 and part 2.

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LACK OF NECTAR DROPS HONEY YIELD

Alan Byham, SE Regional Bee Inspector, has sent the following message to local beekeepers:

"Due to the recent lower than average rainfall experienced in many parts of the South East Region it may be that colonies are running very low on honey stores, particularly if a spring crop has been removed. It is possible that a summer honey crop will be much reduced or even non-existent in some areas, as ground water levels are low and plants struggle to produce nectar.

It is not uncommon for colonies to be starving in the traditional ‘June gap’ period and I am therefore advising that beekeepers keep a close watch on honey stores in their colonies and feed with sugar syrup or candy if required."

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BEE SCIENTISTS AIM TO FORCE VARROA MITES TO SELF-DESTRUCT

UK Scientists may be able to halt global honey bee losses by forcing the deadly Varroa mite, lethal in the freezing weather, to self destruct.

The blood-sucking Varroa is the biggest killer of honey bees world wide, having developed resistance to beekeepers’ medication. It is particularly destructive in winter as depleted colonies do not have enough bees huddling together to keep warm.

Now, researchers from the Government’s National Bee Unit and the University of Aberdeen have worked out how to ‘silence’ natural functions in the mites’ genes to make them self destruct.

Dr Alan Bowman from the University of Aberdeen said: “Introducing harmless genetic material encourages the mites’ own immune response to prevent their genes from expressing natural functions. This could make them self destruct.

The beauty of this approach is that it is really specific and targets the mites without harming the bees or, indeed, any other animal.”

Dr Giles Budge from the National Bee Unit, part of the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), said: “This cutting edge treatment is environmentally friendly and poses no threat to the bees. With appropriate support from industry and a rigorous approval process, chemical-free medicines could be available in five to ten years.”

Environment Minister Lord Henley said: “Bees are essential to putting food on our table and worth £200 million to Britain every year through pollinating our crops. This excellent work by UK scientists will keep our hives healthy and bees buzzing.”

David Rea, chairman of Sidcup Beekeepers (www.ruxleybeekeepers.org.uk) said: "Dealing with Varroa is one of the most difficult problems for modern beekeepers, as we all dislike using chemicals unless absolutely necessary. The club has gained many new members recently, all of whom are keen to 'do their bit' in helping honey bees. Our training courses and the practical tuition at the club devote a lot of time to coping with such parasites, so this research break-through may be very welcome."

The process uses the Nobel Prize-winning theory ‘RNA interference’, which controls the flow of genetic information. So far the ‘silencing’ has worked with a neutral Varroa gene, which has no significant effect on the mite. Scientists now need to target a gene with the specific characteristics that are perfect to force the Varroa to self destruct.

Tests by other scientists have shown the treatment can be added to hives in bee feed. The bees move it into food for their young, where the Varroa hides.

The full report is available at full report

VARROA FACTS

The Varroa mite, like a brown crab, is the biggest global killer of honey bees.
It originally attacked the Asian honey bee but jumped to the European honey bee, which has a poor natural defence.
The mite injects viruses, suppresses the bees’ immune system and feeds on blood.
Beekeepers use chemical controls but can never eradicate the mites and over the past decade the Varroa developed resistance to some medication.
If untreated, or given inappropriate chemicals, it can take just 1,000 mites to kill a colony of 50,000 bees.
Honey bees are worth £200 million to the UK economy a year through pollinating crops.
The Varroa mite entered the UK in 1992.
Honey bee populations have dropped by 23 per cent since 1992, potentially costing the economy millions of pounds.
In 1992 there were 23,767 beekeepers and 151,924 colonies. In 2010 there have been 21,000 beekeepers, and 116,500 colonies.
In summer an average colony has 30,000 to 50,000 honey bees.

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RESEARCH SHOW HONEY IS GOOD FOR HANGOVERS

The following article by Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent, appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 24 Dec 2010.

"If you are planning to over-indulge at Christmas it would be a good idea to stock up on honey as well as alcohol.

Scientists claim the natural sweetner is a great way to help the body deal with the toxic effects of a hangover.

The Royal Society of Chemistry claims that fructose in honey - also found in golden syrup - is essential to help the body break down alcohol into harmless by-products. The reason hangovers are so painful is that alcohol is first broken down into acetaldehyde, a substance which is toxic to the body, claimed Dr John Elmsley of the Royal Society.

This is then converted - using fructose - into acetic acid which is then burned during the body's normal metabolic process and breathed out of the body as carbon dioxide.

Serving honey on toast adds potassium and sodium to the meal which also helps the body cope with the alcohol."

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NEW SLANTS ON TACKLING VARROA

See the October 2010 issue of BEECRAFT for 2 good articles.

The first "The Swindon Honey Bee Conservation Project", by Ron Hoskins, describes how he developed "varroa-resistant" bees and what this could lead to.

The second "Varroa: Do We need a Radical New Approach", by John E Dews, describes the same phenomenon in a different way.

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CAMDEN MAYOR VISITS APIARY

The Mayor of Camden, Johnathan Simpson, visited our stand at the Camden Green Fair in June and expressed an interest in seeing our Kenwood Apiary. He was able to visit on 19 September when he watched the "Adopt-a-Hive" teaching session. He was briefed by Johan Kjaer, our Apiary Manager, and was presented with two jars of apiary honey.

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