Now that the sunshine and nectar flow seem to be established, and that long-lasting cold NE wind seems finally to have gone, most people’s colonies seem to be settling down. Our branch meeting last Saturday (27 June) was well attended and had a variety of activities for people to take part in. Those stalwarts about to take the Basic Assessment were busy practising hive inspections, another group were getting a (gentle) grip on how to mark queens by practising on drones, while others again were discussing the proper siting of a new swarm in a nuc, with a view to it settling down happily. It was a good meeting and our usual raffle raised some more money for branch funds, helped by the goodwill of those donating the prizes.
A reminder now that our ‘Honeybee Day’ takes place at the Horsebridge Centre in Whitstable this coming Saturday, from 11 am to 3 pm. Why not come along to support the branch, answer questions from the public, and try some of the newly-extracted branch honey.
Finally, three more pieces of information published recently (and that can be found also on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/359167444256663/ ):
- For anyone keen to check that they are complying with the new Honey Regulations, full details can be found here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1348/made
- Those beekeepers looking to improve their queen introductions may find this paper interesting: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gateway/file.php?name=perez-sato-et-al-08-hbee-direct-queen-introduction.pdf&site=398
- A new publication from the BBKA looks like being a big hit with beekeepers and children alike – http://www.friendsofthehoneybee.com/about/bee-friendly-with-winnie-the-pooh/
