Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers: November Meeting

This months meeting was titled Queens and Things and was presented by a guy called Gerry Collins. As you can probably imagine by the title the subject was Queens and included other little bits.
We did have a presentation by him last year. Gerry mentioned that he used to be a biology teacher and some of this was shown in his presentation; he named a few of the pheromones that Bees produce along with the names of the glands that produce them, unfortunately I don't remember the names or I would have included them here. I may in the future need to learn them when taking advanced Beekeeping exams but at this stage I don't think I need to know them.

We were shown many slides throughout the presentation showing pictures of Queens illustrating the possible problems with locating her majesty. For example in one picture she could be clearly seen and then in a second shot taken seconds after the Queen had disappeared into a cluster of Bees. Other pictures included a Queen that was partly into a cell laying a egg making her hard to see and also virgin Queens that are only slightly larger than workers.

We were also advised about looking for the signs of having a laying Queen. One photo showed a group of cells with more than one egg in each cell. This normally would indicate the possibility that there are laying workers in there (which is bad because workers only lay drones). However in that slide what we were seeing was a young Queen that hadn't learned to just lay a single egg per cell; a clue to this is that although there were multiple eggs, they were mostly central right at the bottom of the cell, when you have laying workers the eggs are generally closer to the sides due to workers having much shorter abdomens.

There were plenty of other things covered but I either can't remember them enough to write up or I have previously written about the subject anyway so have chosen to leave them out. After the presentation there was, as always, a raffle with prizes including a bottle of wine, chocolates and honey storage buckets, along with other bits. I didn't win anything this month although I really would have liked to get some storage buckets, I only currently have 2 and one contains whats left of my honey and the other contains some honey my dad acquired for me over a year ago. The honey my dad got me has set solid in the bucket and it's this that I'm using to make my mead, when I have more mead making experience I will use honey from my own Bees, or what I like to call "The good stuff"

Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers: Annual General Meeting

The last monday in October was the annual general meeting for WPBKA. This meeting was a members only meeting and involved voting in the associations president, chairman, secretary etc. As far as I could tell all posts stayed the same as last year. Who knows, when I've got more experience I may run for a position, not yet though! 

We had a presentation about finances going over expenses and incomes of the association. I'm no accountant but the numbers seemed ok to me. One area that interested me was the talk about the website being updated soon and after the main part of the meeting I got talking to the guy who runs the website; he had asked us to email him with any ideas for the site and I have also offered to send some photos for the gallery, which I will do in this next week. There was also talk about a facebook page and I offered assistance with that if needed.

Towards the end of the meeting there was a award presentation where trophies were presented to members who have won various prizes for their honey, mead, wax and honey cakes. To finish off there were several certificates handed out for those who had completed parts of the BBKA exams for beekeeping. I hope on the future I will be able to show off some awards or certificates!

I will also mention that I have bought a raffle ticket at the meeting with the first prize being a full hive, complete with Bees, and second being a nucleus hive, also with Bees. The raffle is for a excellent cause, which is Macmillan Cancer Support, in memory of John Dews; John was a highly respected and talented Beekeeper that unfortunately died earlier in the year. I never met him but have heard that he was one of the most knowledgeable Beekeepers in the area.

Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers: January Meeting

On 31st January I attended my second Beekeepers meeting with Wakefield and Pontefract Beekeepers Association. This months meeting was about British Beekeepers Association examinations and qualifications and was hosted by a lady called Val Francis. In the presentation she covered all the certificates available ranging from a Junior Certificate all the way to becoming a Master Beekeeper.
I am too old to do the Junior Certificate but this seems to aimed more at school children or scout groups etc with the intention of hopefully getting new people into the idea of Beekeeping from a young age. I will be encouraging my 8 week old daughter to help with the Bees and do the Junior Certificate when she is slightly older!
A requirement for the first certificate I will be able to go for, the Basic Assessment in Beekeeping certificate, is that you need to have kept bees for over a year so it will be some time before I can apply for this but imagine I will go for it when I can.
After the Basic has been completed there are options as to what to do next. One path leads you down the theory route and another path leads down the practical route. There is also a Microscopy Certificate available at this stage which involves using microscopes to see inside bees to get a idea of their health and spot disease.
If you go down the theory path there are 7 modules that can be taken in any order with the exception of module 8 (there used to be 8 modules but module 4 has been removed) which has to be completed last. When the first 3 modules and any 1 other (except 8) have been completed you will be awarded the Intermediate Theory Certificate, if you then go on to complete all modules with module 8 last you will be awarded the Advanced Theory Certificate.
With the practical side there is the General Certificate in Beekeeping Husbandry and then the Advanced Certificate in Beekeeping Husbandry. These both require you to have kept Bees for a number of years and involve both practical and theory assessment but mainly practical. They involve you being able to demonstrate skills in taking the hives apart and doing checks on the Bees health. In the advanced part you need to be able to demonstrate queen rearing skills also.
When the General Certificate and the Intermediate theory have both been completed then you get the title of Qualified Beekeeper and when both Advanced Certificates are completed then you can call yourself a Master Beekeeper. I will be aiming towards Qualified Beekeeper as soon as I can with a aim of about 10 years to get there. With the Master Beekeeper qualification I won't be giving myself a time scale as there is a lot of hard work to do and it requires me to be a qualified Beekeeper first. Here is a link to the BBKA site with details of examinations and a flow chart explaining this in more detail.
There is also a certificate in becoming a show judge but I don't think this is something that really interests me.



Also at the meeting this month there was a silent auction to get hold of some equipment cheap. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful in any of my bids. Oh well, maybe next time. Also while I was there I paid my £20 subscription so I am now a official member and will have liability cover when I have my Bees. While I was there I paid for the Beginners Beekeepers course which runs through May and June and includes a option to buy a starter Nuc of Bees locally bred at a discount price. I am not sure exactly how much the Bees will be but believe they will be cheaper than I can get elsewhere so will probably try to get them from the course.



While I'm typing I may as well put a quick update on my meads. My first mead is now about half way through it's fermenting and has really slowed down with it's bubbling, it smells really nice and looks to be starting to get clearer. As soon as it is clear I will be having a taste. My other mead is still bubbling away but not as rapid as when it first started. I have changed the airlock to a different kind that makes less noise as the previous one was rather annoying. This second mead is also smelling nice and possibly smells quite a bit stronger. This mead should be ready to drink in June or July but I will need to rack it before then and will post a update at that point!