Nineteen members attended this event when our Chairman, Andrew Halstead, cut the gold ribbon that
was intended to be bright and honey-coloured, but which, on unrolling at the site, turned out to be
transparent and almost invisible on the container to which it was tied! (See photo below). Andrew
made a short speech and the shop doors were opened for the first time, revealing the initial stock of
basic beekeeping equipment. Andrew emphasised the importance of making use of the shop in order
to maintain its presence, and reminded us that the details of its stock can be found on the Weybridge
Division website. The opening was followed by an informal lunch to which all of those present had
made a contribution. The shop then revealed its second important function: the bringing together of
the members when they can share their ideas, experiences and problems with one another. This initial
interaction continued for an hour or so after lunch with no one in any hurry to go home.
So, don’t forget to make use of your new shop. All the necessary instructions for making purchases
are on our website. Our thanks for this shop go to the members who organised the shelving, etc. and
particularly to Jonathan Kernan who stocked it. It is intended to increase the stock in response to
demand. This is a new venture for us so if you feel able to help in any way, do contact a member of
the Committee.
Geoff Cooper
EDITOR’S CORNER
Two questions raised at the recent opening of our new bee supplies shop
I was asked the following questions by one of our members while we were enjoying lunch at the
opening of the new shop. I have tried to reproduce the questions verbatim, but if they are seriously in
error, I am sure that the member will send in the appropriate corrections.
1. 2. Have you made errors in your beekeeping?
What is the most important thing that a beekeeper should do?
I had no problem answering question 1. With, ”Yes!”
However, having thought a few moments about how to answer question 2, during which many
important and vital aspects of a beekeeper’s work flashed through my mind, I had to say that I could
not give just a single answer.
I gave thought to the question for several days after this, and I now feel that the most important thing
that a beekeeper must be able to do is to be sure to be able to identify the brood diseases, AFB and
EFB, or at least be suspicious of it if anything ‘not quite right’ is seen in the brood of a colony. I think
that the brood diseases are so serious, especially if not recognised, that any beekeeper who fails to
notice it is very seriously failing not only their own bees, but also those of other beekeepers in the
area because these diseases spread very rapidly and result in the destruction of colonies found with
AFB, and very often for EFB as well. But some may say, if you have never seen it, how can you
know what it looks like? In view of the many information sources that we now have, including the
NBU BeeBase, the BBKA website and MANY books and articles in the bee press, any who take this
view could well be told that perhaps they should review their suitability for continuing keeping bees.
5There is no shame in having the brood diseases in our hives, this is almost always beyond our control
– the shame is in not finding it, and not dealing with it in the correct manner by immediately reducing
the size of the hive entrance and contacting our local Bee Inspector whose details are given with all
of our other contacts at the end of every Newsletter.
Latest on my carelessly lost queen (see last month’s newsletter)
Looks as if the queen cell I left has failed; there are numerous reports of disappointments with queen
cells this year. The original queen (that I lost, then found with bees under the mesh floor and re-
installed in her hive) is doing very well. I shall report on any future news, otherwise this is the last
bulletin.