July - Apiary Report
With temperatures nearly 30ºC, the bees have not been enjoying the heat. They have been desperately searching for water as they have no way of storing it. Shallow dishes with pebbles/stones for stepping stones are required, although the recent rain showers would have helped immensely.
Nearly all of our hives have had colonies bearding in the evenings. This is where bees hang on the outside of the hive to cool down.
The blackberries are lacking nectar, which are in full blossom due to the heat. Sweet Chestnut is just appearing along with the limes.
The club has 11 full supers of honey. Some was extracted last week with more to follow. Supers need to go back on the hives urgently.
It looks like a bumper year for honey as we have taken off 150lb and possibly another 250lb, and then whatever is available for the rest of the season. This will keep us fully stocked for the market every month, along with any other events we decide to hold.
Wasps are just starting to appear. Traps have been put out with apple juice as the lure. I must keep on top of this even though we have very strong colonies.
We have just purchased our Buckfast breeder queens for 2026 from our usual supplier in Germany. In total of 7 F0 queens.
Some queens are being placed in nucs for our beginners. These may be sold at the next Introduction to Beekeeping Course.
Due to demand, Joanne and I will be running our second course this year with all 4 dates at the apiary. Participants will have the opportunity to purchase a six-framed nuc for £180. (Corex box, frames with wax foundation and a new queen.) on a first come first served basis.Dates are Saturday 30th August, 6th, 13th and 20th September 2-5pm.
Noakes Barn Ruckinge TN26 2PE, £100 per person
Please contact Joanne to reserve a place on 07879842779 or joanneknaggs@icloud.com.
Katy Morrison organised our 'Save the Bees' Open Day last month with a grant of £500 from Ashford Borough Council as part of the nationwide Big Green Week campaign. This was very well supported - see the separate blog post about the event.
NBU Hive Safari Health Day
I can't thank everyone enough for making the day a great success with an informative and relaxed atmosphere.
We had guests from Dover, Canterbury and Hastings with 40+ attendances.
We certainly will hold another event next year, perhaps with diseased frames and more workshops. We need 60+ attendances.
Above is a copy Tom's email about the day as I think every member should be aware of how far we have now come and we should all be proud of this achievement, especially as we have never held an event like this and support from the National Bee Unit was a great experience.
The event was important for both parties as it helps in building bridges. For us as Beekeepers, it is less daunting to have hive inspections by the NBU as we know the format and inspectors. For them they know us and we are keen to have them inspecting our hives and accepting their advice and procedure.
The food which everyone brought along was to die for! Such a lovely spread. The barbecue went down well especially with the sunny weather.
After the main introductory talk by Tom Bickerdike we were split into 3 for each workshop.
Tom discussed Varroa and treatments along with Steve our Asian Hornet coordinator. Dan ran through the BIO Diversity. Adam led the hive inspections. Each group had a hive chosen at random by the inspector. We worked on a rotation system.
The bees were calm on the day. A small amount of Sac Brood was found in 3 hives. Only a couple of cells affected and its nothing to be concerned over. The first and 3rd hive inspected also had a very small amount of Bald Brood, Again nothing to be concerned over.
The colonies were given a clean bill of health and he commented on how strong they were and pleasant to work with!
I personally didn't get round to the other 2 workshops as I stayed with the hive inspections, but from the reports and conversations both were equally as good with plenty of queries and questions The event finished at 3.30.pm
Katy and her father donated a barbecue, which saved the day. This will be operational on our club barbecue day in August.
Annie and Robert have kindly purchased a picnic table for the club. These donations are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Tom and his colleagues would love feedback on their presentations. Here is the QR Code that was present if you did not manage to do this on the day, please do it now.
6th July's Meeting, Taking Honey off and general beekeeping.
We dodged thunder, lightning and rain but still had a great afternoon.Next Meeting 3rd August 2-5pm
Clubs Summer Barbeque. All welcome, but please let us know for catering purposes.We have 8 club members taking their BBKA Basic Assessment Exam 1st and 2nd August at the apiary. Wishing them all the best of luck. If anyone is interested in taking this next year please let us know.
