Conwy Beekeepers – Gwenynwyr Conwy

Beekeeping courses in North Wales with the National Beekeeping Centre Wales, at Henfaes Research Centre, Abergwyngregyn LL33 0LB

Saturday 8^th August—Taster Day

One space left.

Sat and Sun 25^th and 26^th July—Intensive Beekeeping course

September to May 2016—Winter evening course

Now in its 9th year, with two apiary sessions and eight monthly evening classroom sessions, this very successful course has trained hundreds of keen new beekeepers.

Book online at www.beeswales.co.uk or call in at the Visitor Centre at Bodnant Welsh Food.

Saturday 11^th July—Apiary meeting

Tal y Cafn at 2.30pm.
We’ll be checking the hives for honey! The main honey flow from the blackberries should be underway, with the lime trees nearly ready.

Saturday 8^th August—Eglwysbach Show

Eglwysbach
Schedules available at the apiary meeting or at Conwy Strollers Shoe Shop, Castle Street.

Saturday 13^th June—Apiary meeting

Tal y Cafn at 2.30pm.
We’ll be checking for swarming, assessing the spring honey and maybe making nucs. All welcome!
Bee suits and gloves available for newcomers. Bring wellies.

Saturday 20^th June—Growing the Future

A training day on Summer in the orchard at Ian Sturrock’s Welsh Fruit Tree HQ near Tesco, Bangor. Only £10 for the day. All you need to know about summer pruning.

Saturday 4^th July—Disease Recognition and Comb Workshop

Henfaes near Abergwyngregyn from 2pm to 5pm. Spaces are still available.
With Frank Gellatly, Regional Bee Inspector for Wales and Jonathan Garratt and David Hards, Seasonal Bee Inspectors.
Please see the Disease Recognition Comb Workshop Programme 2015 for more details.

• Scroll down to page 2 to see pictures taken at the Comb Workshop at Henfaes in 2012.
• You will see combs infected with American Foul Brood and European Foul Brood, in biosecure conditions.
• Protective clothing provided.
• Open to all. Conwy BK members and non-members welcome.
• Free admission. Email us to book your place.
• Refreshments provided.

Happy beekeeping
peter mcfadden

Saturday 2^nd May—Apiary Meeting

Tal y Cafn at 2.30pm.
We’ll be checking the build-up of the colonies, assessing the need for a super and looking for early queen cells.

The sycamore will soon be in flower. It can be a great source of early honey and pollen, when the weather warms up. The bees love drawing out wax foundation on the sycamore, and it makes a delicious strong-flavoured honey. Be in time with your supers. Conwy Valley Asparagus will be on sale at the Apiary Meeting, direct from the grower Kevin Jones…

Tuesday 31st March—Getting the best from your bees

Craig y Don Community Centre
A talk by Geoff Critchley on spring and early-summer management. Tea/coffee and cake from 7.20pm, talk starts at 7.40pm.

Your bees have now had 12 months of pretty good weather, and they should be in fine  shape for the coming honey season. How do you get the best from them this year? This talk will give us some pointers.

Also, in the Car Park:

• A sale of frames and foundation at pre-season prices.
• A sale of second-hand bee equipment.
• Convert your clean unwanted bee equipment, hives, bee books etc. into cash.
• No used frames or galvanized or tin plated equipment please.
• No seller’s commission. Donations to Bees for Development very welcome.
• Bring your own table.
• Set up your stall at 6.45pm. Buy and sell from 7pm to 7.30pm.
• Cash sales only please.

Sunday 15th March—Beeswax candles and creams workshop

Henfaes near Abergwyngregyn
10.30am to 3pm. Very popular.
See Courses info at www.beeswales.co.uk

Thursday 26th March—Conwy Seed Fair

Stall space still available for plants and seeds, honey, crafts, home produce.

Saturday 28th March—WBKA Convention

Builth Wells
Beekeeping equipment at sale prices, especially hives and honey extractors. Let us know if you would like to share a car. A lovely journey through red kite country. You could make a weekend of it.

Hope we’ll see you at Wally Shaw’s talk on Reactive Swarm Control at Craig y Don on Tuesday 24th February at 7.30pm. Miss this talk and you may well miss some swarms.

Tuesday 27th January—Annual General Meeting and Beekeeping Quiz

Craig y Don Centre 7.30pm.
Nominations are invited for committee members.

Membership subscriptions 2015

• Many thanks to members who have already renewed their subs.
• You can renew your subs very easily, using our new Online Membership form and internet banking.
• You can still pay by cheque if you prefer.
• We offer a very wide range of benefits for the price of a few jars of honey per year.
• Why not renew your subs right now?
• Further details are on our membership page.

Happy New Year to you and your bees.

Our secretary has just returned from a 3½ week backpacking trip in the Ethiopian highlands where he spent time with the Bees for Development (BfD) Ethiopia Director Tilahun Gebey at Bahir Dar. This picture is of BfD honey for sale at Bahir Dar.

Saturday 3rd January—Apiary meeting

Tal y Cafn apiary at 2pm.
Treating the bees with oxalic acid and assessing the state of the colonies. Usually our best-attended apiary meeting of the year. Bee suits and gloves available to borrow. Bring your own wellies.

Saturday 3rd January—Thorne’s winter online sale

Starts at 3am. See http://www.thorne.co.uk/winter-sale for list of prices. Note: We are discontinuing supplying frames and foundation via Chris Clarke, due to falling demand. See our website page Shop for other local suppliers. The Thorne’s sale is a good opportunity to stock up for the coming year at reasonable prices.

Tuesday 25th November—Pre-emptive swarm control

Craig y Don Community Centre
A talk by Wally Shaw, Anglesey
Welcome, tea/coffee and cake from 7.20pm, meeting starts at 7.40pm.

• Do you just accept swarming as something your bees do every year, anytime from late April to August?
• Do you just accept the loss of honey, and be glad with what you get?
• Do you end the season with hives full of random swarms?
• Do you say “Well, I really only want four hives of bees, and now I’ve got eight”

Sat/Sun 25th and 26th October—Gwledd Conwy Feast

all over Conwy town.
One of the largest food events in Wales. See www.conwyfeast.co.uk
Conwy Beekeepers’ stall will be in the Farming for Food marquee in the town centre car park (Vicarage Gardens). We’ll be in with the farm animals. Why not call in and see us?

Tuesday 28th October—North Wales bee breeding group

Craig y Don Community Centre
A talk by Steve Rose of South Clwyd BKA
Welcome from 7.20pm with tea/coffee and cakes. Meeting starts at 7.40pm.

• Are you pleased with your bees?
• Lovely bees to handle?
• Great comb builders?
• Plenty of honey this summer?
• Very few swarms?

If not, this talk is for you!

You could learn how to set up a small bee breeding group with your neighbouring beekeepers, learning from each other and soon making improvements to your bees. South Clwyd’s breeding group now has some 20 members, who are developing and sharing their skills and their bees. We could do the same.
We hope to see you at the meeting.

This picture shows Conwy Honey Fair c1900, with Mrs. John Berry’s honey stall.
Thanks to Conwy Archives http://www.conwy.gov.uk/section.asp?cat=772&Language=1