If you think you may have swarm of Honey Bees, please follow this link for advice.
Please note that we only advise on Honey Bees, we do not deal with wasps, hornets, bumble bees or solitary bees, etc.
Pests
Message from the NBU re Wasps
Many beekeepers are reporting the presence of large numbers of wasps in apiaries and around their bee hives. Please refer to the National Bee Unit factsheet on how to manage wasps: Wasp facts.
Mae llawer o wenynwyr yn cofnodi presenoldeb nifer enfawr o wenyn meirch mewn gwenynfeydd ac o amgylch eu cychod gwenyn. Cyfeiriwch at daflen ffeithiau yr Uned Wenyn Genedlaethol ar sut i ddelio â gwenyn meirch: Ffeithiau gwenyn.
Wasps Alert
Wasps are starting to make an appearance around the hives.
To keep the pesky invaders out:
Reduce the entrance size of the hive, probably opened fully during the recent hot weather, to give the bees a smaller area to defend.
Put out wasp traps, 
these can be bought or easily made with a jam jar with a hole made in the lid or from a plastic drinks bottle as shown. Jam attracts wasps, but not bees. Do not use honey in the bait of course.
Be tidy, keep rubbish away from the apiary which could attract wasps and other pests!
Bee Health/Safari Day feedback
Would all PBKA members who attended the Bee Health/Safari on Saturday 16th July, please fill in a feedback form – they only take a couple of minutes and it will help the National Bee Unit to justify more events like this in the future. Here is the link to the form.
Also the NBU has just (this week) made ‘live’, a video animation demonstrating the work of the NBU and encouraging people to register on BeeBase – click here
Note that all beekeepers have a duty to keep healthy, disease free bees and the PBKA strongly recommends that all beekeepers sign up to Beebase in order to ensure that they receive any warnings and can obtain advice etc. in the event of a disease outbreak.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to the National Bee Unit and their team, for a very interesting and most enjoyable course. 🐝
Successful Pembrokeshire Bee Health Day/Bee Safari held on Saturday 16th July
We would like to extend our grateful thanks to the Bee Inspectors from the National Bee Unit, who presented an excellent ‘Bee Health Safari’ for Pembrokeshire Beekeepers’ Association, at Scolton Manor, on Saturday 16th July.
The ‘Bee Health Safari’ included the Bee Inspectors giving practical demonstrations to attendees on how to perform a health inspection and spot any possible problems using colonies of bees at the association’s training apiary.
The inspectors were also on hand to offer expert advice, presenting information and displays on exotic pests and general bee health.
Many thanks also to the PBKA members who came along demonstrating such enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, with a barrage of questions….many of whom also turned up at the honey extracting demonstration the following day…….
Now that’s what we call dedication!!
Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association 