Hallo Conwy bee people,
Tuesday 31st January—CBKA Annual General Meeting
Craig y Don Community Centre
Welcome tea / coffee from 7.20pm, meeting starts at 7.40pm. This is usually our best-attended meeting of the year, and it will be your last chance to renew your subs at the reduced rate.
Conwy BKA committee
Would you like to become a committee member? Please apply by 25th January.
We meet every two months at each others houses, and our committee meetings are usually fairly good-natured.
The 2011 committee consists of Chair Kath McNulty, Vice Chair (vacant), Treasurer David Pitcher, Secretary Peter McFadden; and nine committee members: Hazel Jones, Nicholas Richter, Chris Clarke, Lizzie Hudson, John Humphreys, Mike Kyle, Wesley Evans, Ruth Bethell and Dennis Adams. All of the committee are offering themselves for re-election.
We encourage committee members to take on an active role, including:
- Tal y Cafn apiary, gardening and hive work.
- Instructing at apiary meetings
- Buying and selling frames, foundation, varroa treatments etc.
- Membership admin
- Hire of extractors
- Taster day admin
- Refreshments at meetings
- Attending WBKA meetings
- Nucs for new members scheme
- Liaison with National Beekeeping Centre Wales
- Minutes secretary
Website management and arranging our speakers are done by non-committee members Tim Radford and Geoff Critchley.
The AGM will be followed by a Question and Answer session.
Tuesday 17th January—Welsh honey bee initiative
Capel Curig Community Centre, 4pm to 7pm
Drop-in community information session for the new Tŷ Hyll Welsh honey bee initiative. Mulled wine and mince pies!
25th and 26th February—WBKA Beekeeping Training Weekend
Royal Welsh Showground, Llanelwedd
Contact the CBKA secretary for details and to book a place.
Oxalic acid treatment
The following method is suitable for colonies on brood and a half. It avoids separating the two boxes, which can result in squashing bees, especially in a mild winter, when the bees are in a loose cluster.
Warning. Oxalic acid mixed with syrup is poisonous. Wear rubber gloves when handling it. Dispose of any leftover product sensibly.
Carefully remove the crown board and any top insulation.
- Shine a torch down into the hive and count the number of seams of bees in the bottom box, six for example.
- Count the number of seams of bees in the top box, four for example.
- Total seams of bees = six, not ten. The four seams in the top box are a continuation of the seams in the bottom box.
- Using a 50mm syringe, trickle oxalic acid, approx 5ml per seam, enough for six seams of bees, between the frames of the top box.
- Refit crown board and any top insulation.
- Assess weight of hive.
- Close up hive.
Note: Frame/bees/frame/bees/frame = Two seams of bees. You are counting bees not frames.
Information provided by Geoff Critchley, 29/12/2011.
Contact Chris Clarke to order Oxalic Acid for collection at the AGM.
English
