Training the next generation of beekeepers
News from the Fonmon Apiary – with Harold Williams
THE very unsettled weather conditions are preventing me from carrying out any in depth examination of my colonies.
Brief sunny spells and dry days have provided a window of opportunity for foraging to take place. The training program run by Cardiff Beekeepers Association began recently. Fonmon Apiary hosted nine newcomers to the craft. Although Saturday was somewhat overcast and breezy to start, by 2pm the breeze ceased.
Glorious sunshine burst forth and so three colonies were opened up and our beginners could get hands on experience. With us was one of the National Bee Unit bee disease inspectors. He examined a colony and was able to enlighten our newcomers on the procedure he will go through – and what he is expecting to observe whilst doing so.
Besides the colony inspections, a display table holding many of the various items that a beekeeper must become familiar with were on show, ie smoker, hive tool, Queen excluders, wax foundation, wooden frame making materials, wax sheets to go into wooden frames, and feeding devices to be used when the bees require support.
Why, you might ask, would you need to feed bees? Surely spring blossoms are now abundant, will they not provide the sustenance that a colony must have? Well yes, they certainly can, but only if the weather is suitable for foraging to take place. With the advent of the lengthening days and rising temperatures, our Queens are stepping up their egg-laying activity. At present each colony has around 10,000 inhabitants.
Our Saturday exploration of the colonies revealed eggs, larvae and sealed over larvae all of which point to colony expansion. Although the ladies of the hive (who control everything) adjust to the vagaries of the weather, if they cannot get out and bring in foodstuffs to support the numerous members of the colony due to bad weather then starvation is on the horizon.
So, an alert beekeeper can definitely help out here. Adding a feeding box to the top of a hive that will contain a liquid feed can save the day. Our liquid feed can be made from white processed sugar. It has to be white not brown! To make this emergency feedstuff a two kilo bag of white sugar is mixed with a pint of water (warm) and vigorously stirred until the sugar is dissolved. This is then poured into our feeder that is so made that the bees can enter it and helps themselves to the contents.
By Harold Williams
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