For information on diseases and pests of the Honey Bee, please see this very handy bilingual booklet produced by the WBKA.
Bee Health
Videos
At the WBKA Council meeting last Saturday, Frank Gellatly, Regional Bee Inspector, reported that there were two videos that Welsh beekeepers might be interested in.
One is of a disease inspection he carried out with a bee farmer and the other is on American Foul Brood (AFB).
Warning!!
Our bee inspector has issued a warning about colony starvation so please ensure that you urgently check your hives for stores and act appropriately.
Also note, that with the weather warming up over the weekend, there is a high risk of swarming, so get in there asap and check your colonies before they fly away!!
Starvation Risk
Just to remind all beekeepers that large growing colonies with little or no available forage and/or inclement weather, can quickly result in a shortage of stores.
So be sure to check that your bees have enough food, especially if you have taken off any spring honey. Note that if you add extra frames of sealed stores you should keep them in the brood boxes, so as to avoid getting them mixed up in the honey supers. Also, if you have to feed directly, use a light syrup (i.e. 1:1 sugar/water ratio) with any honey supers taken off during the feeding process.