The British Beekeepers’ Association just issued this press release which confirms the poor harvest experienced by beekeepers in 2012. The average harvest for BBKA Members in Wales* is reported as 9.8 lb per hive compared to 31.6 lb in 2011.
* The sample size is not known for Wales. Most of us keeping bees in Wales are members of Associations affiliated to the Welsh Beekeepers’ Association and are unlikely to have participated in the survey.
From the Vita Europe website “Researchers have discovered that honeybees can bite as well as sting and that the bite contains a natural anaesthetic. The anaesthetic may not only help honeybees fend off pests such as wax moth and the parasitic varroa mite, but it also has great potential for use in human medicine.” Read the full story here (opens new window or tab).
Read full story
If you haven’t already done so you are probably completing your honey harvest and may also have wax you’ve collected during the year ready to melt down.
This article has useful information about how temperature and time impact on honey quality and also contains useful tips about melting wax.
And a reminder about how members can hire the Association’s honey extractor can be found here.
In May of this year eight beekeepers from the Association successfully took the WBKA Basic Assessment. Paul Eades and Jeremy Percy achieving distinctions with Paul scoring ‘the highest mark ever since the WBKA started recording them’.
All those taking part felt that preparing and taking this assessment was very valuable to them and they plan to take at least the Honeybee Management (Module 1) next year.
The full results in alphabetic order:
John Dudman – Credit
George Durham – Credit
Paul Eades – Distinction
John Myers – Pass
Tom Pegg – Credit
Jeremy Percy – Distinction
Gordon Watson – Pass
Chris Welton – Pass
We want to encourage all of our members to take the WBKA Examinations starting with the Basic Assessment. PBKA Members wishing to take the Basic Assessment next year should contact PBKA Training using the form below.
Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association 