With Spring nearly upon us, it's essential that you complete any outstanding cleaning of your beekeeping kit before it is used again. Hive parts will last a lot longer if they are repaired as soon as a problem appears, but if you haven't had the chance to patch things up at the time, make sure you do it soon. And remember, repairing is much easier when the parts are dry.
Rugby Beekeepers Association were approached in 2018 by Pieta Greaves of Drakon Heritage and Conservation. They were looking for local beeswax that could be used in a project focusing on reconstructions of a high-status helmet contained within the Staffordshire Hoard. The project aimed to showcase how the original may have looked and to provide valuable research on the methods used in its construction and evidence of beeswax was found in the original objects during research in both the crest and on the lower design panel.
Rugby Beekeepers Association now provides a newsfeed service from the National Bee Unit's webite, BeeBase.
At the bottom of every page you will now find the latest news from BeeBase.
The newsfeed includes alerts and crucial information that every beekeeper should be aware of and is a valuable resource for us all.
St Andrews parish church held their Festival of Christmas Trees event again and 2018's theme for the festival was ‘Eco and Recycling’. As always, the main purpose of this event is to raise funds for charities that support the local community. This year, in addition to the work of the church, Gift of Years, Rugby and Futures Unlocked were supported.
The branch has a good library containing many a good read.
If you want to borrow a book but are not able to come to a meeting, contact Gail Plester and she will try and arrange for you to pick up the book.
Our Honey Show this year was well represented by 13 members with an entry on the day of 79 exhibits. A number of novice bee keepers entered and did exceptionally well. Our judge John Home made reference to the quality and standard of the honey being shown, and suggested that they were of a standard that could be entered into the County Show, and one or two being of of a standard to enter the National Honey Show. Our members need to be more confident and enter these shows.
First Apiary Day Saturday 21st April
The Sun shone as we all arrived. Lots of anticipation and excitement as we all donned our suits and walked over to the Apiary. We started with a briefing from Margaret around safety and dos and don’ts. We then all had the opportunity to light our Smokers and get familiar with smoke control and some good tips on what to use.
