Attended the BBKA General Husbandry practical session

Marking Drones with a white dot

It was held at Warwickshire BeeKeepers Solihull apiary as I couldn't make the date for the Sutton Coldfield one. It was the first time that I had been to the Solihul Aprairy and it was very impressive. We did the practical sessions even though weather wise it wasn't ideal. We had showers that day and its was cloudy and during the sessions we did have a rain.

Celia Davis talking through creating a Nuc

They have about 10 hives and a number of nucs, all grounded and well positioned. The Apiary hut was also very professional, every thing in its place with lots of shelving space where everything was labeled. The whole Apiary is well organised.

Its very impressive, they even have loos. The location is also very well located in a semi rural setting with woodland and farmland on its doorstep.

The training was presented by Celia Davis and David Sutton. Both gave demonstrations and talked through everything well. I asked how a Lateral Flow Device worked and Dave Sutton demonstrated with a real kit.

We had to do an artificial swarm, Clip a drone check for Brood diseases and build a nuc. We all participated in the practical activities and we all had a go at Clipping a queen and checking for brood diseases.

Dave Sutton demonstration looking for brood diseases

I got stung in the head 3 times which put a dampener on the day and I would have preferred smaller practical groups, but we were in 2 groups of 8. The actual talks were fine. Smaller groups of 4/5 would be better.

Not sure if I am ready for the general husbandry exam yet, at least a year away. I could do all the practical activities requested, just not sure it would be upto the standard required for the BBKA.

MSOG Blossom Orchard Walk

Path up-to the community orchard

As a member of the Mid Shires Orchard Group (MSOG) I was invited to the the annual general meeting, which unfortunately I missed (didn't want to take the kids to the meeting) but then in the afternoon I did attend the Blossom orchard walk and picnic in Little Horwood, Buckingham. I took the kids and my sister, they played in the park while I ventured with other members of the group into a showery May Saturday afternoon. 

The Little Horwich Community orchard

Mike Jones Apple and Cider trees in an allotment

We walked around the community orchard with Mike Jones who makes his own delicious cider. The community orchard is a little scruffy but a lovely orchard. They have various fruit trees and and have added to the orchard regularly. Mike told us the history of the orchard and how its came into existence. Mike had worked hard over many years (30+) to establish and build environmental havens that part of the world.

One of Mikes Jones hives in an orchard

Mike also showed use around another orchard which he has 130 trees, it was very impressive and showed what members of the public can do with some persistence.

Then we enjoyed a picnic as the weather brighten up, all in all a very enjoyable day.

Growth now pushing through

Apple blossom

I checked on most of the trees and some of the blossom now has gone mainly on the cherry and plum and you can see the fruit-lets. The apple blossom is still going strong.


In the trees its possible to see small little green fruit-lets mainly on the plums and cherry trees. Lots of them especially on the cherry trees.

The weather has been good for the fruit we have had sun and rain not too much frost and the trees and the soil are responding well and the trees are growing. The leaves are getting bigger and the grass is also getting taller.

Hemish hiding in the grass

I can see lots of dandelions and the buttercups are starting to come out. I am planning on planting more flowers out over the next few weeks. I would like a meadow floor in the orchard lets see how it goes.

That is expensive and time consuming, both things I could with more off. Going to start with some basic flowers. I will see how they do, and then plant more.

My son is able to hide in the parts of the orchard that have long grass. It will have to cut not sure when but I may cut out a path so I and others can walk around.

Ladybirds in the orchards

At present it does look like it might be a good year for the orchard. However its still early in the year and no point in predicting the fruit yet.

I'm not seeing many aphids, yet but I have seen caterpillars.

Some of these caterpillars are going to start munching through the leaves. If it gets to be an issue I will spray either an organic compound or soapy water on the leaves.

Apple blossom starting to bloom

Apple Tree Blossom

Apple Blossom

The Apple trees are starting to blossom finally. I like the smell of apple blossom. I like getting my nose into the blossom and smelling the faint scent. 

Its a wonderful time of year. The smell is a gentle soft smell and its only around for a couple of weeks. Apple tree blossom is very attractive and white and the pink on most varieties of apple trees, within the orchard. Some of apple trees haven't started so I will have a couple of weeks to enjoy the blossom. I recently became a life member of the Mid Shire Orchard Group. I am hoping to gain more skills and talk to people about orchards and the like. Must as I do with the bee keeping. 

Kazakhstan Blossom

Kazakhstan Trees

The Kazakhstan tree that we have the so called father of apples is in full bloom and blossom petals are a beautiful white. This was the first of the apples trees that blossomed fully. Its also the only apple tree that we have that has pure white flowers. Its not proper apple tree its more of a crab apple.

The cherry blossom is still going, but the trees that came into blossom first almost all the blossom has disappeared, and the fruit is starting to grow. Yeah, yum yum.

Cherry Trees Blossom disappearing

I didn't get a chance to go into the hives today as it started raining just as I arrived at the orchard. I could see the bees at the entrance, I need to go into the hive and check if they are likely to swarm this weekend. 

 
The farmers kid dropped off a quantity of horse manure today. I think it was a way of him saying sorry for driving his quad bike on the land. This also gave him a chance to to drive his new quad bike and trailer to drop of the manure.

Blossom here in full effect

Cherry Blossom

Lots of Cherry Blossom

Checked on the bees and wondered around the orchard, the blossom is out and in full effect, some rabbit damage but spring is here. Wondering around its obvious that the whole place is growing and full of energy. The grass is getting longer and the trees are getting taller.

Cherry blossom is out, as is the plum. The pear is starting to blossom and we are still a couple of weeks away from the apple coming into blossom.

As soon as I arrived I could see loads of rabbits out and about. Plenty of bees also whizzing around.

Me checking on the bees today

 I check on the bees and I found a sealed queen cell in the one of the hives, I think I may have lost a prime swarm, but lets see. The bees in the hive was very gentle, lots of brood and eggs I didn't see a queen, and if they have swarmed it would have been in the last 24 hours.

The 1st hive was very aggressive and I didn't spend much time going through that hive. They must have stung me a 20 or so times. I used a new bee jacket and 2 of the ladies managed to get in  a crawl up my body.

I have seen that much of the pollen from the fruit trees has been removed, I can only suspect that the pollen has been consumed by the bees in my hives. 1 point of disappointment one of the quince trees has some damage. Not sure its frost damage or an insect that caused it. Will have to monitor it.
 

Plum Blossom

I recently collected my certificates from the BBKA module exams 1-2. I also sat the Module 5 exam. Not sure how I have done not as great as previous exams. In the previous ones I have only just managed to pass. I have started to study for module 3. The exam is in November so I have some to get up to speed.

BBKA Spring Convention 2014

I attended the convention on the Friday 4th  April and the Sunday 6th April.

On Friday I attended a number of lectures and the trade exhibition

My plan for lectures was 

Wild honey bees in Britain - Catherine Thompson - This was cancelled and Dan Basterfield stepped in and gave his talk on Nutrition for honey bees. 

Dan Basterfield gave an excellent talk on the nutrition that bees need and how in the UK with more diversity of plants makes for healthier bees, with comparison to bees that are forced to live on mono cultures. Bees need protein which they get from pollen and the more types of pollen that bees are collecting from the better. They need essential amino acids just as humans and do and don't thrive well on just one type of pollen. 

Reading Bees - Ken Basterfield

Ken gave an interesting informal lecture in which he explained how he has improved his skills over the years by studying not just his bees but others bees and the more exposure you have to different bees the more you will learn. The point of his talk was the more experience you have the better. Take the time to have a proper look and study, not just the BBKA modules, but books and articles that have been written and make sure that you are think about what your are seeing. He regularly talks to his bee inspector as the bee inspector will have seen more and is more knowledgeable because he handles more colonies and is more exposed to different bees. In hindsight this was my favorite talk although at the time I didn't enjoy it as much as it was informal. 

Beenomics: tools for bee health - Jay Evans

Jay is from the States and gave a rather technical talk on the research he has been carrying out in the states. Jay is a bee keeper but firstly a scientist and that was evident from his talk. 

Age distribution in a colony - Sjef van der Steen

Sjef from Holland gave a light hearted talk about some research he has been doing on bees in Holland. He has studied where bees are in the hive and what they are doing at particular times during a bees lifecycle. 

Inbetween lecture I hit the trade stands talked to couple of people. I bought a couple of books but later found they would have been cheaper on amazon. I also bought a couple of wax moulds for candles. Plans to make more candles in the next couple of weeks.

On the Sunday I attended a single Session Celia Davis Introduction to BBKA Module 6 course

We went over Biological Terms, looked at various pheromones and glands that bees have. The also heard about various dances that the bees does and also the differences between summer and winter bees. The various roles that bees do in the hive and when.

Some of the things I had studied for this exam were in the module 5 exam.

General Update

The orchard at dusk a couple of weeks ago

Its been more than a couple of weeks since my last update and its been busy, tough, lousy and business as usual.

Almond buds

On the orchard front some of the trees are in bloom and the damn rabbits have still be gnawing at the trees. I can't be 100% certain that its rabbits, it could be deer, but they always seems to be in the same area.

The almond trees have blossomed. Thanks to my beekeeping studies I have noticed that when the pollen had been taken the flowers from bees and other insects the blossom changed color. Something I hadn't noticed before.

Quince doing well

The soil is still damp, but its drying up. In some parts of the orchard its dry and back to a normal. It may be a couple more weeks for the parts that were flooded to return to its normal texture. If we have a hot summer then I might want some of the water back. The quince is doing well, but the varieties that we planted do like water. Its not flowering yet, and last year the fruit was nicked, so I'm hoping for some fruit from these trees to make into a jam this year. Lets see though, it still early on in the year.

Pear trees doing well

The pears also have started off well, they have had lots of water this year. They are very dependent on water, and have had plenty in the winter months. Still not blossomed or even begun to blossom but lots of good growth.

Almond Blossom

 This is a picture of the almond blossom after the bees and other insects have taken the pollen. You see how the center of the flower is a darker shade of pink.The yellow pollen is gone.

Its also very attractive.

Almond Blossom

This is a picture of what will be the cherry blossom. Its still very immature but a couple of weeks and its going to be in full bloom. Yahoo.

Cherry Blossom showing Promise